20D won't let me download images from the CF to my computer

Hi, there. I hope that you all can help a newcomer to this forum...

I have a 3 year old, well used 20D. I have a cord (yeah, I'm not the most

technically sophisticated) that goes directly from the camera to the computer

that I use to download my images. Well, of course, tonight I need to download

these images of a bridal portait shoot to send to the printer...time is of the

essence and...the camera keeps flashing "busy busy busy" but won't let me

download the images.

The battery is fine.

The connection is good, as the computer recognizes the camera and the camera is

aware that it, too, is connected.

Has this ever happened to anyone?

Can you recommend a way to get the images off the CF?

THANKS!

Lauren

Hey Lauren

 

Well first of all I do not own that camera but downloading photos to a computer via memory card or your cord AKA USB cable is pretty standard across the board.

 

Did you format your CF card with your 20D? I am not 100% positive but if you did not this may cause issue with the card itself in your camera and prevent you from getting your photos into your computer. Whatever you do now, do not format your CF card because it will remove any photos you currently have on there.

 

I recall getting a memory card for a camera awhile back and not formatting it. I went out testing the camera for the girlfriend and when I tried to remove the images from it onto my computer it would not work. I do not want to make you feel discouraged but I ended up losing all the images on my card due to this and could not get them back as I did not format the card with the girlfriends camera.

 

Now this could be the case with your CF card but maybe it is something totally different. I just wanted to ask first of all if you did format it or if you knew about formatting a memory card prior to using it.

 

It could be your camera that is at fault but my guess lies with your CF card.

 

I do hope this is not the case since you mentioned it was a bridal portrait shoot and those moments are valuable. Maybe it is something simple and you can still get your images off the card, let's hope!

 

Good luck.

 

Jay

I just re-read your message (sorry it is late and I am about to go to bed here).

 

From what I gather you have a memory card in your camera and you are not using that to unload your photos but instead are using your USB cable? So I assume you do not have a card reader with your computer where you simply take the card from your camera and slide it into your computer to download your photos? This is usually the way I get my photos on my PC and I never use the USB cable unless I absolutely need too.

I'm not sure if maybe your "cord" has an issue or not or perhaps it could be your PC and some drivers that are needed, who knows. What you can do if all else fails ( i know you are trying to get this done asap BUT...) is get a USB card reader for your compact flash card. You simply place the card into the card reader and then plug the USB part into your computer as you would the "cord" and if you have properly formatted your CF card then you should not have any problems.

 

You can use the USB cable but I find it easier sometimes just to use the card itself as I seemed to have issues in the past with mine as well.

 

I'm not sure if any of this helped at all but I wish I could help you more.

 

All the best! Jay

Oh, boy. Thanks, Jay.

I have to confess that much of the digital experience is still quite new to me. Let me say this: I can view my images on the camera and I have used this CF card since I bought the camera like 3 years ago. I regularly use it, fill it, empty it and do it all again. Do CF cards have a "life"? I am very open to getting a new cord and trying that. I really, really hope that my card is not damaged and these images are lost. That, to say the least, would be bad.

Thanks

Lauren

Thanks, Jay.

Your advice is simple and logical (two things I like). Tomorrow, I am going to buy a card reader.

Thanks so much! Hopefully, I will have good news to post tomorrow. Yes, it's late here, too, and I like you need to get to bed!

Lauren

Memory cards do have a life span but are pretty resilient and can last quite awhile. It could very well be your card but if you have never had any issues with it, and with this camera before then the issue could be your usb cable or maybe your PC itself as you try to download your images.

 

Do you get any kind of message when you try to connect your camera to your PC (or MAC ;) )?

 

If you know anyone who has a card reader you can ask them to see if you can download your images that way by inserting the card into the computer directly and see if this works.

 

Whatever you do, do not FORMAT your card now as you will surely lose your images and never get them back. Try every other alternative to see how you can get the photos to your computer and hope for the best!

 

You may check out this link as well and see if this helps (about drivers and such). http://www.askmehelpdesk.com/advice/t-12397.html

yes, it is better to use a card reader... BUT, the immediate answer to your problem may be...

 

Which communication mode is your camera set on? You need PTP.

Lauren, If you don't have a card reader on your computer, buy one and take the card out of the camera each time you get the pictures off. As far as losing the pics, everyone should have this FREE software called "Rescue Pro". Even when your card is formatted most of the pictures are still recoverable. check this out. http://www.cardrecovery.com/?rid=google&kid=cr5001

Download with a card reader.

 

In the future, never erase and rewrite. Reformat the card downloading as you go along as necessary.

 

Do not reformat now as it will require some of the image rescue programs to recover the data.

Lauren, (sorry Hopefully this link works, if it doesn't I'll give up)If you don't have a card reader on your computer, buy one and take the card out of the camera each time you get the pictures off. As far as losing the pics, everyone should have this FREE software called "Rescue Pro". Even when your card is formatted most of the pictures are still recoverable. check this out. <a href="http://www.cardrecovery.com/?rid=google&kid=cr5001

the "Sandisc" rescue pro disc that I have came free when I bought the Extreme, 1gb card

"In the future, never erase and rewrite. Reformat the card downloading as you go along as necessary."

 

Why?

Lauren - the card reader is a good thing, do that, but, I have had this 'busy,busy' thing with my 30D before - do you have software that automatically detects the camera and downloads when it connects? (EOS Utility, Photoshop Elements, ...). It could be that these are trying to read the card. <br><br>

If you want to try and load before you get the reader then start from a known clean position:<br>

1. Turn off the camera and remove the battery.<br>

2. Turn off the computer and remove the camera lead.<br>

3. Refit the camera battery<br>

4. Boot the computer<br>

5. Insert the camera lead to the (USB?) drive. <br>

 

What happens?

6. Turn the camera on :-)

Did you shoot RAW ?

 

The Windows WIA driver is not able to download RAW pictures directly from the camera. You should use DPP (provided with the Camera on CD).

 

Did you change the USB settings in the camera e.g. for direct printing via pict bridge ?

 

Go through the camera menu and check the file transfer mode.

My first thoughts are

1) Have you used this camera and computer before?

2) Are you plugging the camera's cable into the same USB slot onto the computer that you normally do?

3) Have you taken the same number of photos that you normally do, or did you full up your card?

4) How do you normally access your photos once you've plugged your camera in?

 

If your camera is taking a "longer-than-usual" time to find/download images on the card, it could be because your camera is using the USB 1.0 standard and not USB 2.0 (which is a lot quicker). Because the 20D supports USB 2.0 it is possible that you're plugging the camera into a USB 1.0 port on your computer and experiencing this apparent slowness (which would be exaggerated if you've taken more photographs than you "normally" do - it just takes the PC longer to read them all).

 

Another problem is that if you're trying to access the photos directly from Windows Explorer you often need to hit refresh (F5) before the photos show up (when you first plug the camera in you'll see the red data-access lamp on your camera light up for a while, but nothing will display in Explorer. Hitting refresh while in the folder starts the light going again, and this time the photos magically appear). Alternatively just open up Explorer, right-click on your camera's icon, and select "Get Pictures" (this launches the Camera and Scanner Wizard, which is pretty easy to use).

 

Hope this helps :) Leon

From all accounts it is good practise to ALWAYS reformat your card (using the camera) once you have finished downloading your photos. This avoids corruptions and other problems with the card.

 

The other thing I can think of is if the card was a cheap one it may have just failed.

 

And the other thing is, it is SLOW using the camera and USB cable! I have a 30D and it's a little faster than the 20D, but still terribly slow!

I have a Sandisk Extreme III card + Sandisk Extreme firewire reader, and it FLIES! The Extreme IV cards are twice as fast again.

Wow...

I have learned a lot. To answer your questions, I have used this camera and this card (yes, I now get loud and clear to not erase and rewrite and to format after downloading the photos--i did not know that) before. I did buy the cardreader, and when i tried it, the folders on teh CF card came up, but none of the images were visible through it. I think I may have messed something up there. I am calling in my "technical advisor" that would be my husband.

 

I think that Leon may have hit the nail on the head. I did switch USB ports on my laptop just because of location, and maybe they are different types of ports. i'll switch back; also, I think I am going to try Glen's advice, too--you know, revert back to basics!

I'm of course panicking--the bridal shoot was three weeks ago and the wedding is in THREE weeks! I need to get that image off and fast. I suppose in a pinch, I could take it to a moto photo or Penn Camera and have them download it onto a CD for me? do they do that?

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the advice. You would never guess that in other aspects of my life, I am actually quite savvy....

 

Thanks!

Lauren

Now I am really panicked. I changed cards, just to see whether it was the card or the camera/cable/card reader. the new card worked just fine: I could see and download the images. So now, how do I get the images off my card?

Also (man, you guys are going to htink I'm really limited) can you use CF cards between cameras? I recently acquired an EOS 1-D and I've been switching the CF cards back and forth between the cameras. Is that a no-no? Are CF cards only good for one camera?

thanks!

Lauren

I am of the understanding that you shouldn't take a card with images from one camera and

try to use it in another camera, possibly they will not have 100% the same type of files and

one won't necessarily be able to read images from another camera. If you copy JPGs from

computer to card the camera usually won't read them. I don't know if this proves it or not,

but I would suggest to avoid panicking and just go to your local camera store, those Kodak

kiosks will let you burn a CD from your card, apparently.

To all of those who were so helpful in this process...

Thank you! Chris seems to have already known what I just learned, that cards should not go between different cameras. Who knew? (well, I didn't!)

All's well that ends well: my husband used a different software to download the images off the card. I will reformat it and keep it dedicated to one camera. I am no longer panicking (thank you, Chris) and have learned much through this process and this helpful forum.

Thanks, everyone!

Lauren