do you DL from the Camera or take out CF and DL from it?

IF I have time I DL with the Camera, change cards when in the middle of a shoot or wedding.

I was at a local cam shop a few days ago and the service guy told a perspective buyer that Nikon was less problems becuase of not having the pins that CF has but CF is better memory. He said if you go with Canon, DL from the camera because putting cards in and out will damage the pins and that is a costly repair.

what do you guys think?

Pretty much all of us here will use an external card reader to transfer shots to our computer. Basically because it's a lot faster than connecting via the camera and it's more convenient.

Pin damage inside camera bodies is pretty rare (I've not seen any instances here since I've joined). The CF card slots in camera bodies are very well constructed so by the time the card hits the bottom, the pins are lined up fine - there's no slackage. The only real way for a pin to be bent is if someone sticks something in there that's not a CF card.

Putting cards in and out of the camera will damage the pins only if you are extremely careless.
Use CF card reader for download, it’s usually faster than directly from the camera.

i use a card reader. i don't konw how you can damage the pins if you just put it in and take it out straight.

KINGoftheVILLE,
I have been taking my CF cards in and out of my DSLR's for over 6 years now and they all still work, no pins ever damaged on all 3 of my DSLR's or card reader (still have the original one). I have never downloaded pictures from my camera to my computer in all these years. The card readers are quicker and don't waste your cameras battery.

As you can see I wasn't worried about it

I almost always plug in the camera with the USB cable. The camera connects to the computer automatically, I press the Direct Print button (yes, it can be used, contrary to popular belief) and all the images crawl over to the computer.

If there are many pictures, it takes a while, but there are always other things that can be done then, so I don't see that as a problem.

The only time I use a card reader is if the computer at hand doesn't have EOS Utility installed.

1: Remove CF card
2: plug in to Firewire 800 UDMA CF reader
3: enjoy ridiculously fast speeds.
4: put CF card back in camera
5: format

I always use usb to transfer files from cam to PC. I'm lazy.
While waiting for the files to be transfered, I browse POTN so I don't get bored.

emorphien wrote in post #5781657
5: format

What is the benefit of formattting each time (or risk of not doing it)? Should I be doing this?

There's no benefit at all. But in some way you have to remove the old images, to free up the space, and formatting is one way to tell the camera that the card should be considered empty.
Delete all images is another.

And formatting is way faster than deleting.

There's no point in leaving things on the card IMO, I need the card to store new things as I take them. If I don't format it then it just gets clogged up with older stuff.

Formatting doesn't remove anything but the directory information about where things are stored on the card. Unless you use the "low level" formatting that's available on some models. That actually overwrites what's on the card. But also takes longer time, I presume. I don't have any model with that function.

Thanks guys, I am one tiny step closer to knowing everything. I have been using bridge or Windows explorer to erase old images off the CF's.

Pete wrote in post #5781712
And formatting is way faster than deleting.

When I transfer images from my CF cards to my PC, I use Cut and Paste. The images are gone from the card without any further steps.

I suppose you could copy & paste then go back and delete the images, but why go through the extra steps? It doesn't take any longer to cut than it does to copy.

Of course I could be totally missing the point again....