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Help connecting camera to computer, please.
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Feb 6, 2019 13:57:12   #
Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England
 
amfoto1 wrote:
Stop connecting your camera to download. Start using a card reader instead.

Your problem helps illustrate why it's a better idea to remove the memory card from the camera and use a card reader, instead of connecting the camera to the computer to download images.

Connecting the camera may work fine. But the connecting cables or the mini USB socket of the camera are vulnerable. Things can also get screwed up with a download applet on the computer if that becomes corrupted or there's an update that makes it incompatible. And if a download fails mid-stream, there's some risk to the images on the card, too. Those can become corrupted. (No matter how you download, always use "Copy" images instead of "Move" images. That leaves the original images on the mem card until certain the downloads are successful and safely backed up, only then format the card in the camera to "erase" the images).

The USB socket on many cameras is part of the main board. If that socket gets damaged or worn out from use, there's good chance the entire board will need to be replaced. Both the part and the labor to do that will be pricey. The memory card socket, on the other hand, is designed for frequent removal of the cards... And in many cameras it's a separate sub-assembly, cheaper and easier to replace if that's ever necessary.

Yes, I connect my cameras to my computer using the USB cable.... but not to download images. Only to synchronize their clocks prior to events where I'll be shooting with multiple cameras, which is much less often. On a few rare occasions I've also used the cable for tethered shooting. Either way, it's far less use of the cable and USB socket than using it to download images would require.

A bonus, downloading with a card reader is often faster than using the USB cable. Sometimes a whole lot faster! It depends upon the connectivity of the card reader and the camera. A5DIII will use USB2... and the built-in card readers of both my laptop and desktop computers transfer data 2X or 3X faster than that. An external card reader USB3 or other fast connection (if your computer has them) would handle the downloads a lot faster than that USB2 cable.

20+ years shooting digital I've always done downloads removing cards from the camera and using a card reader. I've never had a camera get damaged or worn out doing that. Out of many hundreds of such downloads... maybe even a thousand or more... I've had problems on exactly two occasions. One was a failed memory card (brand new). The other was when I had changed the connection of the card reader to the computer, routing it through a USB hub (in order to add something else). That caused some corrupt image files. It was an easy fix and nothing was lost because I always "copy" instead of "move" images. I now use built-in card readers that are even faster.

I also don't use anything more than my computer's operating system to "download" images. For downloading, a program like EOS Utility or Lightroom or whatever is simply unnecessary. When I insert a memory card into the reader, it shows up like another hard drive. I just use the OS and click to open the folder containing the image ("drive" letter > DCIM > 100EOS5D), select any one image, then press "ctrl A" to highlight them all, then drag and drop them all to a folder I've set up in advance on my computer to receive them (a left click dragging automatically uses "copy"... a right click drag opens a menu where that's one of the choices). This takes a lot longer to write or read about it here, than it does to do it (especially since I've set my computer to immediately open a browser window whenever I insert a memory card). This also eliminates a software automatically creating folders, renaming images, etc., which can sometimes cause problems.

I don't know if it's related, but many years ago I was told to "eject" memory cards suing the computer, prior to removing them, after download is complete. I think with old operating systems this was necessary. Maybe it's not now, but I still do it out of habit. It's as easy as a simple right-click on the drive name, a menu pops up and one choice is "eject", then the computer gives a "safe to remove device" notification.
Stop connecting your camera to download. Start usi... (show quote)


Alan … "That caused some corrupt image files. It was an easy fix" …. explain!!!!!

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Feb 6, 2019 14:04:17   #
Polock
 
did you ever turn the pc off, unplug it, have a coffee and start up it again

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Feb 6, 2019 14:04:18   #
Polock
 
did you ever turn the pc off, unplug it, have a coffee and start up it again

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Feb 6, 2019 14:04:33   #
Guion
 
Thank you for all this information about card readers. I am a newbie, and have been lurking for a while.
You are all so helpful.

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Feb 6, 2019 14:20:55   #
Leitz Loc: Solms
 
These card reader vs USB cable debates are always good for some laughs - a lot of strong opinions, few facts. When I bought my first digital camera I asked the rep which I should use. Removing the cover on the camera he asked,
"What's this port for?"
"A USB cable."
"What comes with the camera?"
"A USB cable."
"Do you have another question?"

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Feb 6, 2019 14:51:04   #
Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England
 
Leitz wrote:
These card reader vs USB cable debates are always good for some laughs - a lot of strong opinions, few facts. When I bought my first digital camera I asked the rep which I should use. Removing the cover on the camera he asked,
"What's this port for?"
"A USB cable."
"What comes with the camera?"
"A USB cable."
"Do you have another question?"


I like that, Leitz ….

I don't even OWN a card-reader … whatever for?

It's just an unnecessary extra step.

Each camera, bought new - comes with a USB cable, wrapped securely, with a black twist thingie, and inserted into a nice new plastic bag. Furthermore, that bag is vacuum-sealed, and requires a knife or scissors to open it. (So, nothing can happen to it, in transit.) Smart thing to do, after one opens it, is to put in a little card, with the name of the camera on it, and always be sure to seal it, after use, and place it in the camera bag with the camera, in the same pocket which contains your spare card and spare battery. This way, there can be no confusion, in the future. And, don't worry about something happening to your camera, when you connect to the computer. Viruses can't swim UPSTREAM!!!!! ...

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Feb 6, 2019 14:56:56   #
OZMON Loc: WIGAN UK
 
if you connect the cable to your pc lots of times it is possible that the socket on the pc can get damaged, as suggested buy a card reader and just use that.

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Feb 6, 2019 14:58:00   #
chrissybabe Loc: New Zealand
 
Cable plugs slog out especially with frequent use. They may end up working in some ports but not in others because the port tolerances are different. Try a brand new cable.
Dell and Microsoft have many mismatches. MS updates will install their own USB driver with each update. The driver is supposed to be provided by Dell who can be a little tardy so an old driver gets reinstalled. Check with Dell and download their latest USB drivers, uninstall the old ones and install the new ones, reboot. This fixes a lot of my problems.
Or use a card reader which I do anyway.

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Feb 6, 2019 15:10:29   #
Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England
 
OZMON wrote:
if you connect the cable to your pc lots of times it is possible that the socket on the pc can get damaged, as suggested buy a card reader and just use that.


Yes, Oz - that happened to my upper one. For me, the initial solution was to do my camera uploads via one of the SIX USB ports on the back. But, then, one day - I decided to re-plug the little plastic thingie - which provides wireless support for my mouse - into the damaged port. Hey, Presto! … The mouse still worked, and now - I have full access to my LOWER port - the one more easily reachable by the cameras which came with short USB cords (silly manufacturers!!!!) and all is well on the Western Front!!!!!

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Feb 6, 2019 15:33:27   #
Jimbo1947
 
Sounds like a computer problem, try using a friends computer, if it works ok there, then you know it's your computer, and narrows down the problem.

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Feb 6, 2019 15:43:27   #
Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England
 
Jimbo1947 wrote:
Sounds like a computer problem, try using a friends computer, if it works ok there, then you know it's your computer, and narrows down the problem.


Think he knows that, already, Jimbo … everything works fine on the laptop, but, he wants to download all his pics from his cameras onto the PC - where he has his PP programs. Think he needs to Update Win 10.

That'd be my first course of action. Once successfully downloaded, the Updates should iron out any and all glitches, which have developed since the PC was purchased. The newest version is 1803. If he has that, he should still look for further driver updates. If he doesn't, he needs to sort that part out, first ….

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Feb 6, 2019 16:11:07   #
Brokenland
 
Couple of things I happen to think about with some of the above mentions. chkdsk is the command to repair corrupted drives of your SD card etc.. Also, if your version of win10 is below the 1803 and you attempt to update, you may suffer with hanging or a stalled black screen system. If this happens you'll need to locate the "mirror drive" via micorsoft's page and do a complete reinstall of the system as this would override any issues and update the system automatically. One method of doing this would be to download the mirror copy onto a flash card/memory stick for future reinstalls.

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Feb 6, 2019 16:26:04   #
Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England
 
Bokehen wrote:
Couple of things I happen to think about with some of the above mentions. chkdsk is the command to repair corrupted drives of your SD card etc.. Also, if your version of win10 is below the 1803 and you attempt to update, you may suffer with hanging or a stalled black screen system. If this happens you'll need to locate the "mirror drive" via micorsoft's page and do a complete reinstall of the system as this would override any issues and update the system automatically. One method of doing this would be to download the mirror copy onto a flash card/memory stick for future reinstalls.
Couple of things I happen to think about with some... (show quote)


Bokehen - on most recent PCs (all the ones upon which Win 10 is pre-installed) there is a mirrored copy of your OS - (reflecting all you have connected to it) stored on the computer, itself - in a separate partition of the Hard Drive. When the user instructs the PC to do a rebuild, the computer uses this mirrored copy, in order to do so. However, it's a lengthy process, and it WILL remove all PROGRAMS downloaded from the Net, and EVERYTHING which was installed from CDs, so be sure you have a full backup on hand, first!!!!

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Feb 6, 2019 16:37:16   #
k2edm Loc: FN32AD
 
yeh,me too. I bought a usb card reader, plugged the memory card into it and moved the files over that way...I didnt care for the way the cable plugged into the 5D mrk IV anyway....de k2lck Ed

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Feb 6, 2019 16:45:25   #
scooter1 Loc: Yacolt, Wa.
 
ecobin wrote:
Why not use an SD card reader. I’ve never connected any camera to my computer and never had an issue with my very cheap multi card reader.



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