USB Card Read vs USB Cord

[jamesino]

With a Canon Rebel XTi, is there a difference in download speed if I hook the camera directly with my computer's USB port with the provided USB cable compared to removing the CF card and inserting it into a USB CF card reader connected to my computer?

Please note neither equipment is UDMA enabled.

 

[Crosby]

Shouldn't be, unless when hooking the camera up, a program opens vs. putting the card in a slot and just going straight to that drive and looking at the pictures on the card.

 

[davebmck]

I've read that it is less reliable to use your camera rather than a card reader. I don't really see why that would be. Personally, I use a card reader for convenience. You can just put another card in you camera and download the file with the reader at your convenience.

 

[JimmyO]

I use card reader for safety reasons. Dont want my camera getting yanked off my desk.

 

[mrodgers]

I use card reader for safety reasons. Dont want my camera getting yanked off my desk.

That would be a good reason.....

I have a 9-1 card reader in the PC so I use that. Previous to this PC, I had always used the cord because I didn't have a card reader that plugged into the USB. My first digital camera was in 2002 and I bought this PC with the reader in 2005. So that's 3 years of using the cord.

 

[usayit]

Readers are cheap and easily replaced. Your camera is not.

 

[Garbz]

I've read that it is less reliable to use your camera rather than a card reader.

Cables are the point of failure especially when they are plugged and unplugged a lot. I went through 4 usb cables before I finally bought a card reader. And at that point I had enough of cables altogether and bought an internal card reader.

 

[Big Mike]

I use card reader for safety reasons. Dont want my camera getting yanked off my desk.

:thumbup: Me too.

 

[iain1971yxfa]

I use card reader for safety reasons. Dont want my camera getting yanked off my desk.

Same here, plus i find using a card reader don't run down your batteries in your camera.

 

[JimmyO]

Another good point there. Most batterys will only take so many charges, probably not good to waste them.

 

[mrodgers]

Another good point there. Most batterys will only take so many charges, probably not good to waste them.

Shouldn't be a problem. Take care of the batteries, charge and discharge them correctly and they should last a very long time.

The batteries I have in my camera that lasts for well over 8 hours of the camera being turned on and used all day came from an RC controller that was used to charge a 130 mA lithium polymer battery of an RC airplane hundreds of times. The 4 in my camera plus the 2 others I had are NiMH 2500 mA and they charge the lipo in 20 minutes. I probably got about 10 charges of the lipo from a single charge of the NiMH. I probably have well over 200 flights just on the one airplane itself. I also have a 2nd airplane that I fried modifying it and also a helicopter that I charge the 90 mA lipo with the same NiMH. They are still perfectly fine and lasts all day as I've said.

I would think a Lithium Ion that comes with most dSLR cameras would be even more robust than the AA NiMH batteries.