Card reader or download from camera

[brian_hooks]

<p>Thank you all for the different opinions and options. At this point I think I may continue downloading from camera as I am not really needing them downloaded that fast and I have extra batteries. What I was really fishing for was a few people to state that by doing so the electronics in their camera were damaged. That way I would learn from their mistakes. <br>

Thanks much for the help.<br>

Brian</p>

[plangereis]

<p>I have been using a multi-card reader for three years. I leave it connected to my computer for convenience, and have never had a problem with bending pins etc. I find the transfers are very fast and I am shooting full frame with large files.</p>

[stan_schurman1]

<p>I just don't understand this hype about battery drain or frying the camera by downloading directly from the camera. I've done it that way forever. It never takes more than 1-1.5 minutes to download and the battery drain is miniscule at most, almost immeasurable. If you remember to have the camera turned off when you plug in and unplug the USB cable there will be no damage. Once or twice I've done it with the camera on and there were no consequences. It seems to me that the wear and tear on the card using a reader exceeds any minor inconvenience using a USB connection to do the job. I guess the only thing to remember is to use the "format memory card" feature to delete the photos rather than clicking on the 'erase after download' box.</p>

[ariel_s1]

<p>Stan, you should always format the memory card in-camera, regardless of whether you use the computer to delete the images or not.</p>

[kari_oinonen]

<p>D700 + 8G Sandisc Extreme, nef 14 bit + medium jpg takes only 5-6 sec/photo. For 200 photos it makes 1200 seconds. That is 20 minutes via the camera.<br /> With a card reader I get 5x the speed. Takes then 4 minutes. This is with usb2 in the PC and usb3 compatible card reader.<br /> With this setup I can gain a lead worth 15 minutes, at least. I have a L-bracket to mess with when loading via the camera :-)<br>

<br /> Formatting the memory card: I believe that it may matter if you use the same card in many different cameras. I have not formatted my memory cards after the day one.</p>

[stan_schurman1]

<p>Ariel: I do format in the camera. That's what I was saying. I don't click on the box that asks if I want to erase after the photos are downloaded. I delete and reformat in the camera.<br>

Kari: I have never taken even near that long to download from the camera. Even 300+ photos take not more than a couple to maybe three minutes. The 1 - 1.5 I cited is about average.</p>

[kari_oinonen]

<p>Stan: Nikon transfer makes the backups at the same time. So besides the transfer it is copying the files in two separete places. Also I have medium quality jpgs. One picture is about 27M (NEF+JPG) together.<br>

The file opening and closing is supposedly a "slow" process. Actually I get 4x the amount of file open and close per one photo. Maybe this explains.<br>

My copying rate is close to 25MB/sec using Nikon Transfer from the card reader that is connected to usb2. I think this is close to the level usb2 does. My next PC will have usb3, that is said to be about 10x faster in practise than usb2.</p>

[errol young]

<p>Bent a pin first week in digital. USB only now. I put the camera in the desk drawer so it cannot fall while connected. </p>

[errol young]

<p>I use the D7000 as the main camera. better features than the D300. U1, U2 alone are great. Just wish the mode dial locked.<br>

The D300 is now second camera with portrait lens.</p>