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How do you transfer you pictures to your PC

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You are correct to be concerned. I have a D70s that barely makes contact with the cf card pins. I have to push the card in very firmly to make contact. I should have used the cable. After 4 1/2 years my usb socket is new and my cf slot is pretty much worn out. Original battery still holds a charge as good as when new so all is not lost.
egami said:
I use the USB cable because I worry about the contacts on the camera body wearing out with insertion/removal cycles.

I have a handful of SDHC cards and they do get swapped from time-to-time.

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Jim G
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Everything happens for a reason. #1 reason: poor planning
WSSA #44
 
In 10 years since the introduction of the D1 you have had 6 cameras. Sort of hard to assess the long term effect of removing the card more often than necessary.
Michel F said:
I leave my camera in the bag and use a card reader. I've done this with all the digital cameras I ever had (about 5 or 6). I've never had a problem with contacts in the cameras or with any of my memory cards.

I find it more practical for me. My computer space is cramped and the last thing I want is an expensive camera sitting at the edge of the desk where it can easily fall.

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http://www.pbase.com/michelfleury
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Everything happens for a reason. #1 reason: poor planning
WSSA #44
 
pavi1 said:
You are correct to be concerned. I have a D70s that barely makes contact with the cf card pins. I have to push the card in very firmly to make contact. I should have used the cable. After 4 1/2 years my usb socket is new and my cf slot is pretty much worn out. Original battery still holds a charge as good as when new so all is not lost.

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Everything happens for a reason. #1 reason: poor planning
WSSA #44
Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing your experience. I have seen other similar reports; in some cases owners had to send their cameras in for repair.

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Jim G
 
card reader. never thought too much about contacts bc i've never had a problem with it...besides, card reader seems to be fastest/easiest for me.
 
I use the USB cable and connect the D90 directly to the computer.

For me it’s easier and faster to start the transfer. I don’t have my card reader constantly connected to my computer and the transfer speed difference isn’t very noticeable if I only transfer up to 100 images. In both cases the time it takes to transfer the images to the computer is short enough for me.

I use my card reader if the transfer itself has to be fast, I want to transfer many images (full 8 GB card or multiple cards) or if the camera has been in the cold (it’s faster to get the SD card up to room temperature compared to the whole camera).

I don’t think that using a card reader or the USB cable has any affect on how long it takes until either part gets defective.
 
Card reader all the way and a proper file manager software (Total commander). Why drain the camera battery?
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Pushed the button and the world stood still.
 
By USB cable.

I would love to see all high quality cameras have built in Wi-Fi. That would make transferring images easy to you PC or wireless printer or any other wi-fi enabled device i.e. iPhone, HDTV, Media hubs.

It would also be an ideal way for your camera and its accessories to keep themselves up to date by checking for updates automatically across your network and the Net.
 
I used to be an advocate of the card reader method until, a couple of months ago, the SD card (Sandisk Extreme III 4G) became difficult to remove and insert from my D90. On inspection I found that a small piece of plastic had broken off the SD card and become stuck in the bottom of the slot in the camera. I could not get the piece out, but I managed to move it to a position where it did not interfere with the SD card (which still works fine despite the piece of plastic broken off it).
I now use the USB cable and try to avoid removing the card.
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/95274920@N00/
 
My lap top has a card reader buit in. Transfer is instant regardless of the number or size of the images.

You wont' wear out contacts by removing and inserting continually.
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John
 
Just had another thought. If you believe you'll wear out the card slot contacts, wouldn't you also wear out the cable contacts by inserting and removing the USB cable?
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John
 
Seems like folks are a bit obsessive about wearing out contacts. I doubt Nikon would produce a product as sophisticated as a DSLR and not provide durable contacts. Afterall, memory cards are going to be one of the most used features. It's like asking if a high end film camera's take-up spool will wear out with too many roles of film being loaded.
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John
 
Over years of looking at threads like this I have seen the cable end quit working more often than the card , some times the cable end (easy to fix get a new cable) sometimes the camera fitting itself ( call Nikon or now use a card reader)........

I use a reader......built in my computers ...and a portable one for my friends or families computers.

I also do not like exposing my camera to the strange contents on someone elses computer.
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Gene from Western Pa

http://imageevent.com/grc6
http://grc225.zenfolio.com/
FZ10....20 and 30 and FZ18

D50 ....D80 - 18 to 200VR- 50mm 1.8 - 80 to 400 OS



Just trying to learn and it's slow going!
 
Skatterball said:
My lap top has a card reader buit in. Transfer is instant regardless of the number or size of the images.

You wont' wear out contacts by removing and inserting continually.
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John
Click to expand...
Funny to hear this. Cause there's this obsession with fast cards on this forum. People actually test the card speed. Cause you've got to speed up transfer of pics to computer. One can't wait. As if it matters if it takes 12 second or 37 seconds!

Of course the other argument is rapid bursts. As if the average person here needs to shoot raw at maximum rate beyond 9 pics at a time (exceeding the buffer) and fill his hard drive in 1 month.

People, get the slowest cheapest card you can find.
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Larry
 
I use a USB cable and Windows. I haven't even loaded the Nikon software yet but I'll take a look at it when I get a chance. I'm not concerned with wearing out cards or contacts... I just find the cable very easy. The one time I tried to "simplified" things was about 5 or 6 years ago: I tried Kodak's "Easy Share" with one of my P&S and it was anything but!! I used it for a coupla months before I realized it had totally trashed my photo filing system.
Steve
 
Seeing as this is my new D90, I have been doing lots of test shots and using the USB cable to transfer them to the PC. Even after just a few shots. So if I continued down that route, there would no doubt be more wear and tear on the mini USB socket on the camera.

So from now on, I will be filling my card up with a lot more photos before I transfer them to my PC. :O)
 
True. Then again, I'd be very surprised if most people in these forums keep their camera bodies more than a few years. When the new model comes out the old one serves as backup or gathers dust.
pavi1 said:
In 10 years since the introduction of the D1 you have had 6 cameras. Sort of hard to assess the long term effect of removing the card more often than necessary.
Michel F said:
I leave my camera in the bag and use a card reader. I've done this with all the digital cameras I ever had (about 5 or 6). I've never had a problem with contacts in the cameras or with any of my memory cards.

I find it more practical for me. My computer space is cramped and the last thing I want is an expensive camera sitting at the edge of the desk where it can easily fall.

--
http://www.pbase.com/michelfleury
Click to expand...
--
Everything happens for a reason. #1 reason: poor planning
WSSA #44
Click to expand...
--
http://www.pbase.com/michelfleury
 
Card reader only.

Not sure how a D90 would handle accidental break in the link during transfer. I believe that the card could get corrupted and the D90 would be fine, but why take the chance.

The only cameras that I would worry about broken contacts would be compact flash slots. Those have been known to get bent pins at times.

-g
 
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