Canon 50D stalls when downloading images.

[daniel flather]

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>Has anyone else had this happen to them; my 50D will slow and sometimes turns off when downloading images. I have updated the firmware to the latest version. It has happened a few times now. Last night I was downloading 80 RAW files off the camera; it slowed, stalled, the red light blinked slowly, and then went back top normal speed and finished the download. I've had a few incidents when the download slows then the camera turns off.</p>

<p>The images are always fine, and all accounted for. This is very odd behavior.</p>

<p>I'm downloading via USB to an iMac.</p>

[mendel_leisk]

<p>Let me be the first to suggest: just get a USB card reader. Transfers are quicker, no Canon software is needed on the destination computer, and there is no drain on your camera's battery.</p>

[kari v]

<p>Card reader, best $10 ever spent on photo gear.</p>

[KenPapai]

<p>For the 75th time this year, the 500th time since 1/1/08, use a Card Reader (e.g., Addonics makes good ones).</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>Card Reader, noch einmal. If you do install the Canon software on the computer, that is <em>one</em> way you can control the downloads as to location, file name, etc.</p>

[peter_mckone]

<p>Was anything else running on your computer? Perhaps it was your computer that slowed down, and not your camera. A card reader won't help with that.</p>

[mbkissel]

<p>Daniel, I download from my 50D with a USB cord to my PC all the time. I rarely, if ever, use the card reader built into my PC. I've never noticed a slow down and it has never stopped as you describe. Do you format your CF card in the camera? After downloading (and verifying), I always format the CF card in the camera to make it ready for re-use.</p>

[Mark Keefer]

<p>Could your 50D battery be low or is it a real slow CF card? How old is your computer USB 1 or 2? I have a card reader but don't really use it any more, not really because of the story I will tell, but because I picked up a real fast 8 gig Card that holds a lot of shots and takes no time to transfer with the Canon EOS utility and USB cable. I use a PC, Dell Notebook and I save on an external USB hard drive. It is really pretty fast...of course 40D raw are not as big as 50D raw, but could the time difference be that dramatic? Anyway...Here is the story...<br /> A friend of mine has the 450D, he called me asking for a good place to get his camera repaired. Seems his wife was using a card reader and when reinserting the compact flash, bent several pins in the camera. Ended up costing him $250 for the repair. Ouch! I have about 10 CF cards so I have swapped them many times, just take a little care when inserting them. I never thought bending pins was a real risk if you take a liittle care and thought. But lately I am using the 40D with and 8 Gig CF 45 Meg/Sec card and have been using the CANON EOS utility software to download via USB it really doesn't take that long. The darn card holds so many shots I usually never fill it in a day of shooting. Maybe sticking with the USB most of the time isn't a bad thing and will put less wear and tear on the card and camera pins. I will still have to swap the cards sometimes but not as often as I used to.<br /> I am wondering what others thoughts are on this? Can you wear out the card/pin connections on these cameras like an old Nintendo 64 game cartridge to make an analogy?</p>

[Mark Keefer]

<p>Have you tried downloading to a PC and see if the camera shuts off or slows down? Maybe a Card Reader is just needed for MAC?</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>You don't <em><strong>need</strong> </em> a card reader for the Mac, it just works better, faster, and with no worry about how much charge is left in your camera batteries. I'm pretty sure this is not a matter of platform.</p>

[daniel flather]

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>My iMac is new and I think iTunes was running. After I download the images I makes sure they are on the PC; then I run a backup. I always reformat the CF card. The CF card is a Sandisk extreme 3. I'll probably just keep doing things the same, unless it becomes a big problem. It's odd that it happens, but we'll see if it gets worse.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>Reformat the card in the camera it is going to be used in, just to be on the safe side.</p>

[lizard]

<p>I have the same problem with my Rebel xsi and my iMac. The problem appears to be with the EOS Utility and/or Camerawindow programs. They freeze up before all images are downloaded, and the camera turns off. Usually restarting the computer and starting over works, but sometimes it gives me a lot of trouble before it finally works. This doesn't always happen, only about half the time. The same programs work fine on my PC. I just assumed they don't work as well with Mac. I use SD cards and always reformat, and having no other programs running doesn't seem to help. If a cheap card reader would solve this, it would be worth it to me.</p>