leftj Loc: Texas

That is if they actually used Time Machine backup.

FredCM Loc: Central Illinois

After much consternation I have made peace with Apple's Photos app. I discovered how to use Photoshop within Photos, so I'm happy now. I just let Photos import the photos and put them where it sees fit, usually by date (make sure the time and date set in the camera is accurate!). It keeps a grouping of photos of what was imported when, keeps them together. I can go through that grouping and eliminate those which I don't want, and use Photoshop or Mac's editing software for real quick fixes like white balance or straightening. For those who haven't found how to use 3rd party software to edit from within Photos, right click (CMD+click) the photo, the menu that pops up has a line "Edit with" click that, scroll down to "Other" click that and on the list of apps double click Photoshop, and Photoshop again.

And, Photos puts the photos on the HDD somewhere and keeps track of them, they're DSC files accessible by any app. It's not like iPhoto which keeps its own library.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

Just plug your SD card into your laptop and drag the photos to where you want them.

nadelewitz Loc: Ithaca NY

I love to simplify for people who need it. Does not a camera, when connected to a Mac, mount on the desktop or in the file manager, so you could simply open the camera folder and move/copy your files to the computer? It doesn't take any software but the operating system to do this.
Yes, cameras come with apps (like Canon's EOS Utility and ZoomBrowser), but I don't bother with them (I'm a Windows user) simply to move files from camera to computer.
Putting the camera's SD card into the computer is the same thing. You just have to decide whether you want to handle the card or connect with a cable.

peterg Loc: Santa Rosa, CA

No! That's the problem. With the Nikon D850, D4 and perhaps other newer Nikons, the answer is "No!" With my Sony A6300 plugged directly into my Mac, an SD card inside the camera does appear on the Desktop. Only after I installed Nikon NX 2 and Transfer 2 could my MacBook Pro "see" SD/XQD cards in the camera with Lightroom and "Image Capture". Although these apps saw the in-camera card and permitted downloading, the cards were still not visible on the Mac's Desktop. Strange? Yes. New feature/bug? I think so. Is there another way to see/download pics directly from my Nikon without Nikon NC or Transfer? Perhaps. But, for me, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Latsok Loc: Recently moved to Washington State.

The problem was that the computer does not see either the SD card, or the camera. I connected both in an effort to download, but nowhere on the laptop could I see that I have an external device connected.

Latsok Loc: Recently moved to Washington State.

What is an ardor reader?

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

You actually don't need anything more than your computer's operating system, to simply download images from your memory card to your computer.

First, remove the memory card from your camera and use a card reader, instead of plugging your camera into the computer via the USB cable. There are several reasons it's better to use a reader. One is that the USB socket on most cameras is part of their main circuit board. If you damage or wear out that socket, the entire main board will need to be replaced. That's a very expensive part and replacing it requires pretty much a complete tear down of the camera, so labor costs will be higher, too. The memory card socket(s) of most cameras, on the other hand, are a sub-module that's pretty easily replaced. If it's ever needed, card socket repair or replacement would be a lot less expensive. Second, depending upon the camera, memory card reader and both their connectivity, often a card reader is faster downloading. Finally, using the camera for downloads require it to be powered on for a period of time. If the camera battery is low or it's interrupted in any way during the download, there's risk of corrupting your images.

When you insert the memory card in the reader, it should appear as if it were an additional hard drive. Navigate to it and then to the folder inside that contains your images, select them all, then just drag and drop them into any folder you wish on your computer (copy them, instead of moving... that way the originals remain on the memory card until you can check that the copies on your computer are good... later when you know everything is safe, format the memory card in your camera to allow all the old images on there to be overwritten with new images).

I use a Windows PC, but imaging similar can be set up on a Mac... I've got my computer set to automatically open the memory card as described above, whenever I insert a card in the reader. That makes it even faster and easier.

Once you've copied the images to your computer, open Lightroom and have it "import" them from the folder you've placed the images in. If it's a folder you've used before, all you need to do is "synchronise" the folder and that will import only the new images that were added. If it's a new folder you haven't used before, you'll need to "point" Lightroom to it using the "import files from other source" dialog.

You also can set up Lightroom to automatically download images (during the download it can also automatically do things like creating a folder for the files, adding copyright info, renaming the files, backing them up, etc.... Personally I don't use LR for downloading, but do have it automatically do some of those things when it's importing the images.)

If you insist on continuing to download from the camera via the USB cord, you will probably need to install drivers so that the computer's OS can recognize the camera. Look on the Nikon website for those. (Apple might have them on their site, too.... I know MS has them for Windows.) I know I have "Nikon Transfer" installed on my PC, though I only rarely use it (I shoot w/Canon, but a few friend's and 2nd shooters I hire occasionally use Nikon, so I had to install it to work with their files.)

peterg Loc: Santa Rosa, CA

The discussion is not about whether it's better or worse to download directly from the camera or via a USB card reader. It's solely about downloading/importing directly from the Nikon camera for whatever reason.

When an SD or XQD card is removed from the new Nikon (e.g. D850) camera and inserted into a USB card reader it appears on the Mac Desktop like other cameras' cards. That' not the subject of this discussion. There are times when a user wants to download directly from the camera. The user may not have an XQD/SD card reader handy. This recently happened to me. With only an SD card reader, I had to copy pictures from the XQD card to the SD card, then use the SD card reader. It would have been faster to be able to download pictures directly from the in-camera XQD card to the computer. Without extra software, it seems that this can't be done. My solution was to install Nikon NX2 & Transfer 2 apps. Then, apps like Lightroom and Image Capture can see the in-camera cards. Luminar can't.

To add to the confusion, when I run Parallels Desktop/Windows 10 on my Mac, the Windows 10 Desktop can display the SD/XQD cards that are in the camera. I don't know if Nikon NX2 or Transfer 2 are needed. I think not. These Nikon apps are not installed in my Windows 10.

Trivia: I connected my Nikon D850 to a Windows 7 PC laptop. The Windows 7 automatically installed drivers which made both the in-camera SD and XQD cards visible as external drives.

wmurnahan Loc: Bloomington IN

Do you mean from your old Mac or from your camera? Camera, I use Photos, I think it came with my Mac.

peterg Loc: Santa Rosa, CA

Not sure what you mean. Before installing Nikon Transfer 2, I did not test Mac's "Photos" app to see if it recognized a direct connection to the D850. But, my "Photos" app now recognizes the XQD card installed in the D850. In my Mac's "Activity Monitor" app, Nikon Transfer is NOT running. Whether or not Nikon "Transfer" or "NX" app(s) installed a driver is above my pay grade.

nadelewitz Loc: Ithaca NY

So sum up the problem, I think it's being stated that the "Nikon D850, D4 and perhaps other newer Nikons" do not mount on the desktop of a Mac when connected by USB, right?
Can anyone verify if this is true and normal? Is this with Windows also? Has a Mac user (I'm not one and don't own Nikons either) verified this with Nikon?

peterg Loc: Santa Rosa, CA

Right. In-Camera cards do not automatically connect on my MacBook Pro OS=High Sierra. Cards in card readers work OK.
True with my MacBook. Doesn't seem normal.
With my Windows 10, the in-camera cards appear as an external drive, which seems "normal". I'm guessing new drivers were not needed or invisibly installed.
With my Windows 7 Home, the in-camera cards appear as an external drive after drivers were automatically installed.
I think Nikon knows. Their software downloads web site says in a big red font "New camera models ship with View NX 2 which includes Nikon Transfer 2. For newer cameras and computers, please use View NX 2."My D850 shipment did NOT include any Nikon software; but it's available on the Nikon site.

pbradin Loc: Florida

If you use Photoshop or Lightroom and install them on your new laptop, they automatically update for any new cameras that come out, so that would cover you. If you specifically want the Nikon software, you can download it from the Nikon website, but you may get charged for it.

danatek

I've always used a USB cable to transfer my photos from my digital cameras to designated folders on my hard drive. Just connect the devices and switch the camera on...your PC or tablet will find the camera and automatically set itself up to store and/or view images. If you only shoot RAW, you may need to download a driver file to enable your photo viewing/editing software to open those files. Ive done this successfully with Sony compact cameras, a Canon OES, and Nikon D40x, D-60, D-90, D7200, and my Samsung Galaxy S6 Active...all with no difficulties problems, or complications.