camera USB or compact Flash card reader

I use a Canon D20 in my dental practice to digitize files and take patient photos; usually just several shots at a time. I'm downloading these files to my computer for storage, to print, to fax, to edit, etc. Which is better for my camera in the long run: to download photos via a USB cord connected directly to the camera? Or taking the compact Flash card out of the camera and using a reader?
Thanks for all your input.

That's a long running debate. The usb people say that the risk of bending a pin in the camera slot is less if you pull the card less and the reader advocates point to ease of downloading without needing EOS Utility, greater speed, less chance of an elbow knocking the camera off your desk and no camera battery drain. I'm a card reader man.

I put a 16gb Sandisk card in my camera 1 year ago. I never removed it.
I'm happy about using the USB cable but I know most people use card readers.
I don't use card readers because they sometimes scramble the contents of a CF card, too many stories about the card reader messing with the card. So far I have 0 corrupted photos using the USB cable and the pins in my camera are safe. But that's me, everyone has its own way of doing things.

I never tried using the USB to camera but I've been told by a few photographers it's the slowest way to download. I've always used a card reader.

I was told to use the card reader, for this one reason alone: the camera is a computer, the USB is a link to another computer, that 2nd computer is on the internet alot and full of downloads. If I don't have to link my camera to a computer that might hold unknown who knows what, why would I? I pull the card, load it in a reader that is integral to my computer, and move the files, not copy, into a file on the computer and onto a CD. That leaves the card empty and i reformat it when I put it back in the camera. Also, I have ZERO corrupt files.

I think both have equal "risks", both of which I consider nothing to really worry about.

I currently use USB cable cause I need to plop my camera down somewhere anyways, so might as well plug the cable into it. If it is several hundred RAW files I may use a card reader to speed up a bit.

tzalman wrote in post #9628695
That's a long running debate. The usb people say that the risk of bending a pin in the camera slot is less if you pull the card less and the reader advocates point to ease of downloading without needing EOS Utility, greater speed, less chance of an elbow knocking the camera off your desk and no camera battery drain. I'm a card reader man.

I've never used the any Cannon software to move files from my camera to my PC. WIndows or Pacsa handles both my Canon 400D and my Panasonic P&S. I don't shoot in RAW though so I don't know if it is different.

I don't think either method is "better" or "worse" for your camera. As long as you use a bit of care when reinserting the CF card, the chances of bending a pin are very slim. Same goes for plugging and unplugging from the USB port - I'd think it would be highly unlikely to damage or wear it out during the normal life of the camera. Personally, I choose to use a card reader.

Card reader for me - mainly for speed but also for the ability to bypass the Canon software!

Straight to Adobe Bridge and on into ACR without the hassle of EOS Utility.

Rechargeable battery technology has a finite number of recharges associated...so why create more need to recharge the battery more often, by running down the battery in powering the camera while it is tethered to your PC?

Card reader for me as well. Faster, easier for me to control where the files go, doesnt require the presence of my camera or consuming battery life. Honestly, I dont even have the canon utilities installed on my current computer.

Howdy,

We've used a number of card readers over the years, but my current favorite is this small two slot Lexar UDMA reader:

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com/c/search?Ntt=LEC​FSDUSBR&N=38

In fact, I'm probably going to buy a second one today. It's the fastest USB reader that I've tried, and it has everything that I need (CF and SD) and nothing that I don't. It also snaps shut for convenient storage in my camera/laptop bag.

I've tried reading the images directly from the camera as well, but this takes about eight times as long with our relatively old camera bodies (1D Mark IIn and 5D classic), so that's not really an option for us. Might be fine with newer bodies.

I guess there's a risk of bent pins and worn contacts in the body with repeated removal/insertions, but we've shot quite a lot over the past five years with no problems so far--and we always pull the cards after each shoot. Many folks retire their camera body after five years anyway (even if they are still working fine) because the new bodies have so much to offer. We'll probably buy at least one new body this year if we can decide which one. Canon is making the choice harder than usual, but that's another discussion.

Hope this helps.

I prefer card readers aswell.

I use a card reader, but for your purposes, assuming that you don't get more than a few shots per day, downloading from the camera will be the easiest. If you photograph every patient every visit though, you might want to get a second card and a card reader and then alternate cards every patient, letting your staff download the previous patient while you're working on the next. Alternatively, if you have a secure wireless network in your office you might consider getting an EyeFi wireless SD card and an SD-CF adapter and letting the camera transmit the photos to your computer as you shoot. No cables, no fuss.

birdfromboat wrote in post #9629248
I was told to use the card reader, for this one reason alone: the camera is a computer, the USB is a link to another computer, that 2nd computer is on the internet alot and full of downloads. If I don't have to link my camera to a computer that might hold unknown who knows what, why would I? I pull the card, load it in a reader that is integral to my computer, and move the files, not copy, into a file on the computer and onto a CD. That leaves the card empty and i reformat it when I put it back in the camera. Also, I have ZERO corrupt files.

I strongly recommend AGAINST your suggestion to "move" the photos. When you "move" the photos, you are effectively doing a "copy" and then a "delete", which adds an extra write cycle to your NAND flash chips.

For years now, I've been copying the photos to my computer and then doing a "quick format" of the flash card. A "quick format" only rewrites the FAT table on the card and not touch the other NAND cells, this limits the "wear" on the flash cells.