Ok. So I'm new to still photography. Right now, I just plug my camera in via USB and use it like a hard drive, and simply drag and drop my photos. Is there anything wrong with this?

Nope, that's fine. I do it all the time.

...Though the files will generally transfer faster if you use an external card reader.

On the other hand, I use Downloader Pro (http://www.breezesys.com/Downloader/index.htm) from Breezesys (http://www.breezesys.com). It has tons of features. For example, you can give it a job name and it'll automatically download the images into folders based on the job name and date... or and/tag the photos with GPS coordinates... etc etc!

Coupled with BreezeBrowser, you can even create complete web pages with just a couple of mouse clicks!

Julian

...Though the files will generally transfer faster if you use an external card readerMuch, much faster. The Lexar Firewire 800 Compact Flash reader is the fastest that I have found. It is noticeably faster than USB readers. Lexar Professional FireWire 800 CompactFlash Reader. on eBay, also, Memory Card Readers, Input Devices, Computing (end time 10-May-09 11:49:51 BST) (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Lexar-Professional-FireWire-800-CompactFlash-Reader_W0QQitemZ220409082824QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Photography_MemoryCardReaders_RL?hash=item22040908 2824&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1683%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50)

John, to echo some of the comments so far...nope, nothing wrong with that. I'm not a real high volume still shooter so transfer speed isn't that big a deal. I just do a file copy.

One caution I have read in the user manual of previous cameras (not sure if it is stated in the 5DmII manual or not) is to NOT delete files from the camera via the computer file browser (Win Explorer or whatever), or use "cut" (rather than "copy") because it may confuse the cameras internal tracking of file numbers and your card's address spaces or some such hassle as that. Not sure how likely that is to be an actual problem but just to be safe, I always just copy-paste to the computer. Then I use the camera's built-in delete function to remove images from the CF card after I've disconnected from the computer.

I've deleted photos using the PC without a single problem, but if I really want to clean up the card, I format it in the camera.

Thank you ALL for the helpful and quick responses.

...I always just copy-paste to the computer. Then I use the camera's built-in delete function to remove images from the CF card after I've disconnected from the computer.

This is what I have been doing, and now that I know this works for others, I will continue to do it. I'm always "particular" with the way I do things, so even if someone told me it was ok to delete them in the windows browser, I would still just use the camera ; )

Thanks again for all the replies.

JS


OH YEAH, and thanks for the tip on the card reader! When I have longer shoots I'll be sure to use it, I've had one laying around for about a year now, never plugged it up!

I took a look at the manual and there is nothing to indicate that deleting files from the CF card using the computer OS will cause any problems (but I'll probably keep doing things the old fashioned way anyway for extra peace of mind).

However, do read page 74 of the manual about using more than one CF card -- that CAN mess up continuous numbering if the second card isn't freshly formatted in this camera, like Jon said.

I haven't checked in the camera's manual recently, but generally Canon recommends formatting the card onlyusing the camera.

Julian

Copying or cutting/deleting files via Windows should work fine, but some people (myself included) have experienced lock-ups when using Windows to copy video files of a certain length rather than the supplied EOS utility.

What happens is Windows times out with a semaphore error, and then it won't recognise the camera again even after turning the camera on and off. If I remove the battery from the camera for a few seconds, then turn back on, Windows will redetect the camera.

I haven't worked out if it is the particular USB drivers on my PC, or just Vista, or something like that. Thought I'd mention it again though in case you come across the same problem.

Yup, sure enough...ran into that for the first myself yesterday. Filled up my UDMA card and a 1.74GB video file -- which HAD transferred to another (Vista x64) computer -- would not copy to the PC (XP 32 bit) even though all other CR2 and MOV files copied fine. Deleted a bunch of other files using the camera's delete function, but no change in the behavior. Will try it again this evening on the same computer and on the one to which it originally transferred properly.

I didn't need to remove the battery for Windows XP to recognize the camera again; just cycled the camera's power switch.