Transferring Photos from a camera to a computer

[Colin B]

I have a Nikon Coolpix B700 and my wife has a compact Canon sx730.

For a while now my standard method of downloading photos to the computer has been to simply take out the s.d. Card, insert it into the computer's card reader and when I download the photos to my album folder they are automatically uploaded to Dropbox.

I have been told that this is not a good practice due to the risk of damaging the camera's card slot or the cover with repeated use. Looking at both cameras the covers and slots appear reasonably sturdy and after spending a frustrating hour trying to download and set up the Canon software I have abandoned the attempt and really do not want to have anything more to do with it.

Has anyone ever heard of a card slot or cover being damaged by overuse or are there any other factors which make the manufacturers software preferable for downloading photos?

[J.davis]

Been doing my transfers straight from the card for many years, nothing broken yet.
Keep going with the proven method.

[ameerat42]

Of course there's a risk - to anything.

AFAI'mC, what you're doing is perfectly OK. A simple alternative that should be available is to
connect a USB cable from camera to computer and download them that way. But then there
would be the "risk" of damaging either end connector or even the cable... So there it is, as I
see it.

Anecdote: I have been doing exactly that with a few CF cards since about 2012. Same 3 cards,
same card reader, same computer USB slots...

Recap: I just re-read your post, and this:
"...this is not a good practice due to the risk of damaging the camera's card slot or..."
just takes the I suggest the author might be in serious need of a or...

[bobt]

I used to transfer my photos via cable on the belief that handling the cards posed a greater risk. I still think that's true, but for years have been taking the card out and using a card reader.

The main potential for damage is leaving the door open on the camera, because it's possible to accidentally break that door if you move the camera while it's open. Now I just close the door when I take out the card.

[nardes]

I take my CF or SD card(s) out of the camera and upload the files onto my local HDD using a card reader, as I "assume" it would reduce any unnecessary operating stress on the electrical circuitry and components inside the camera during intensive read/write uploads using a USB cable.

Although modern electronic components are exceptionally reliable and often outlive mechanical components, I still prefer to take the cards out and handle the removal/insertion actions carefully to minimise the potential for mechanical damage.

Cheers

Dennis

[Colin B]

Thank you, people, good to hear from others on these matters.

I did not mention that I tried using a USB cable to connect the Canon to the computer and.....nothing. The camera turned on when I plugged it in but the computer did not recognise the camera as a device so could not read the pics or even safely eject it. I had to shut the computer down before unplugging the camera.

I wll now continue downloading directly from the card.

[ameerat42]

Colin. On the point below, it appears you need to download the (Canon) software called CameraWindowDC.

...
I tried using a USB cable to connect the Canon to the computer and.....nothing. The camera turned on when I plugged it in but the computer did not recognise the
camera as a device so could not read the pics or even safely eject it
...

The user manual (from about p113) shows that there are a number of ways of transferring to other devices:
WiFi, Bluetooth, cable, NFC... But it looks like you need that program.

I'm surprised that the camera itself does not work (as you imply) just as another external drive

[arthurking83]

....

For a while now my standard method of downloading photos to the computer has been to simply take out the s.d. Card, insert it into the computer's card reader and when I download the photos to my album folder they are automatically uploaded to Dropbox.

I have been told that this is not a good practice due to the risk of damaging the camera's card slot or the cover with repeated use. ....

Has anyone ever heard of a card slot or cover being damaged by overuse or are there any other factors which make the manufacturers software preferable for downloading photos?

SD cards use an external contact system, the contacts on the card itself a gold plated(to various degrees) and hence electrically quite reliable.
IIRC, most SD cards have a insertion rating, that is have been tested to be inserted into a card slot x amount of times, where x is usually quite large number .. something like 10000 times or so for good card, and higher for pro level cards.

Cheaper cards (I assume) will use lower quality plating, and may not have a insertion rating, or if they do, may be quite a bit lower than a higher quality name brand card.

Therefore as already commented your current method is fine for SD cards. There is no risk of breaking or even damaging the card(possibly loss of the card is the only real threat!) .. but wearing out the plating on the card could be an issue in about 10 years time!

Back in the day when CF cards predominated the camera storage space .. there was a very high likelyhood to bend card pins. CF cards used an internal contact system, where the card itself has small holes at the end, and the card slot has a series of pins that will be inserted into the card on installation. The pins in the reader could have been bent to a small degree and trying to push the card into the slot only bent them up even more!

My D800 uses a USB3(old style) cable to PC connection, and even tho it was USB3, it's speed wasn't really USB3 speeds. Larger files and more of them can take a lot of time to transfer.
A more recent version of USB3 connectivity can easily halve the time taken to transfer images compared to earlier versions of the USB3 standard.

I did not mention that I tried using a USB cable to connect the Canon to the computer and.....nothing. The camera turned on when I plugged it in but the computer did not recognise the camera as a device so could not read the pics or even safely eject it. I had to shut the computer down before unplugging the camera.

I wll now continue downloading directly from the card.

having looked into the tethered system for this camera, I'd say it'll be much slower than if you stick with the card reader method(assuming that your card reader is a modern USB3 type). As the camera end of the USB cable method is noted as micro B, then it's a USB2 cable and hence slower in data transfers.

But, if you do ever want to try this cabled method, it appears that you need Canons' Camera Window to be installed onto a Windows PC(if that's what you are using). Instructions are on p156 of the manual for the camera.

I'd say stick with the card reader tho.

[Hawthy]

The only issue that I have had with removing an SD Card was forgetting to put it back in the camera. That's annoying.

[ameerat42]

The only issue that I have had with removing an SD Card was forgetting to put it back in the camera. That's annoying.

--And here I was wondering one day why the camera would not auto-focus
and just kept beeping instead. When I looked again it was saying "No Card"

[J.davis]

Andrew, I format when its back in the camera.

[nardes]

Whenever I get a new camera, one of the first settings that I change in the (Canon) menu is turn OFF the Setting "Release Shutter without card" so that if I do forget to put a Card in, the camera will warn me and not operate.

Of course, this assumes you have a Card with you...

Cheers

Dennis

[Boo53]

In reply to the OP I too remove the cards and insert in the card reader. I then use Lightroom to COPY to the Hard Disk and only delete them from the sd after I've confirmed they've copied ok. Been caught once and, whilst I will get back to Borroloola one day, its a damn long way from central Vic.

Whenever I get a new camera, one of the first settings that I change in the (Canon) menu is turn OFF the Setting "Release Shutter without card" so that if I do forget to put a Card in, the camera will warn me and not operate.

Of course, this assumes you have a Card with you...

Cheers

Dennis

I was watching something on YouTube recently (can't remembered what) and the presenter suggested buying some cheap cards and keeping them in the camera bag, glove box, etc:

Seemed a good Idea so I went online and order 4 elcheapo 32gb cards for $10 each. When they arrived they weren't the elcheapo's but sandisk

[bobt]

Whenever I get a new camera, one of the first settings that I change in the (Canon) menu is turn OFF the Setting "Release Shutter without card" so that if I do forget to put a Card in, the camera will warn me and not operate.

Of course, this assumes you have a Card with you...

I have never been out shooting without a spare card and a spare battery. They should be mandatory for everyone!!

[farmmax]

I've always removed the card and used card readers. Been doing that for years and years. Never had an issue with compact flash. Have had an issue with SD cards in that lots of equipment now uses them. I've learned not to muddle up which card goes in each piece of equipment. Sometimes ejecting one from the card reader then putting it in a totally different piece of equipment seems to make the SD card unreadable, and I've not been able to resuscitate a couple of them. Now I name each SD card with the equipment it belongs to, so it only goes in one piece of equipment.