Digital camera accessories

[Hannah]

I've been using the cable that came with my digital camera to transfer images to my computer. Is it better to use a memory card reader?

[Deb]

Hi Hannah, using the camera-to-cable-to-computer approach does drain your camera's battery and prevents you from using your camera for shooting while the transfer is in progress. You also need to have the camera's software loaded on the computer on which you will be transferring the card's contents.

If you use a card reader, your camera is free to be used for additional shooting (assuming you have more than one media card) and no software needs to be loaded to transfer the images. In many cases, you don't even need to load the card reader's driver. Therefore, you are free to transfer images to any computer regardless of what software they have loaded.

For what it's worth, my personal preference is to transfer my images via card reader.

[bdery]

Hi Hannah,

I fuly agree with Deb's comments. I tend to use a card reader too. There are two things, however, that are worth noting:

1-some cameras do act as a card reader, and thus need no software. Your camera is still being used to transfer, though.

2-Some cameras will automatically transfer images in specific directories, sorted by date. My Canon S2 does that, and frankly, being lazy, I really enjoy having my pictures sorted for me. But that's a small advantage, nothing significant.

In any case, remember to format your memory card IN YOUR CAMERA fairly regularly, especially if you do use a card reader.