Kate's loss of digital pictures and video from her camera was frustrating, and now the card reader she had has failed entirely. We're not sure if they're directly related occurrences, but it seems fishy. She had gone to Radio Shack where they recommended a card reader to her instead of a replacement cord because, they said, it's cheaper, faster and doesn't use camera battery power to transfer. A clerk at the local Ritz Camera store said that the card readers are more reliable than the cords because if the camera's battery runs out while it's transferring photos, you can loose them entirely.
So should Kate get a card reader or buy a proprietary replacement cord for her camera?
i have always had good luck with the cords that came with the camera. yes it does use battery life, but i mean it really only takes a few minutes to transfer photos each time, so it's not using that much. plus you can take the cord with you anywhere and plug it into any usb port there is.
about a year ago i borrowed a camera from my sister when i went to new york, but i didn't have the cord when i got back, so i used the card slot on my printer to transfer them over. and then 50 of them corrupted and i lost them. of course it's the ones from the top of rockefeller center that were pretty good, and i had taken them in a full 360 so i could make a giant panorama...
so i just go with the cord because it's made for your camera by the company, sometimes i don't trust third party things.
view jmorey's profile
As a photography student, I highly recommend getting a card reader. They are much faster, particularly the Firewire 400 versions. They also won't run out of batteries during a transfer, potentially corrupting your files (as you mentioned). They run around $30, but look at B&H Photo (or Ritz), not Radio Shack.
As far as the lost files go, have you used that memory card since? There is a lot of software out there that can help recover those files. I use PhotoRescue, which has saved me a few times. Check it out!
view napk's profile
Ritz recommended a card reader to me as well. So much easier than wiring up the camera. I have a few different cameras so now I don't have to worry about having the right wire.
I'm glad this question came up because I've been wondering if there are any external hard drives that are recommended for photo storage. I know that are many choices but are there any that have a card reader or usb port built into them for a card reader. I would like to dump all of my cards into an extra hard drive and reformat my cards. I'm using a mac so I'm not sure if there are any that are more suited for macs.
view art's profile
get a good card reader and ditch the cord. card readers are way faster and eliminate the dead battery/image loss issue.
view kdkaboom's profile
My HP laptop has a built-in card reader...I can't imagine life without it!
view Talloush's profile
card reader. I have one I got super cheap that reads both SD and microSD and I use it for so much more than just the camera transfers I bought it for. It is small enough to fit in any side pocket and can double as "flash-sh" drive if you're ever stuck without. I keep some important info on my 2G camera card in case I need it. And it has also saved more people from, "oh but i don't have the cord" than I can count.
view Laurie's profile
When I had a camera I had a SD card that had USB built in. Very convenient! Now I just have my camera phone, and use Bluetooth to transfer, also super easy.
view fuel.shy's profile
The card reader, hands down. It's dumb to use a cord and use your camera's battery life and it's as easy to take the card out and plug in a card reader as trying to fumble around with the camera and those little rubber cover thingies. Plus like everyone says, you can get faster card readers than the cords can transfer.
view Marbargarbo's profile
An eye-fi card allows you to access the card in the camera over your wireless network.
http://www.eye.fi/
view iynque's profile