uter or smart device (such as an iPhone). Upside: Get files off your camera when you want without tripping over cords.
- You have to buy more hardware.
- Wireless transfer sucks up lots of battery power.
Wireless memory card technology
An Eye-Fi card transfers files from your camera to your computer. Upsides: It’s portable, doesn’t require additional hardware (beyond the memory card), is cool, and it gives you an unlimited amount of storage while you shoot.
- Eye-Fi cards use your camera’s battery to transfer, are slower than the other methods, and require a wireless network.
- You have to install and set up software.
After you’ve decided on a connection type, you choose a download method.
You can use a small computer program that automatically downloads the photos to the location you choose. Some are built into your computer’s operating system. Others are extra software applications that come with your camera (such as Canon EOS Utility) or part of your image editor applications (such as Adobe Bridge or Lightroom). These programs often run in the background. They’re ready to bounce into action the moment they sense a camera or card reader with a memory card has been connected. The programs normally have options for where photos are saved (plus folder names and whether to erase the photos from the card when you’re done).
To choose a method, you must select the program you want to handle things when you insert a memory card into an external card reader or connect your camera to the computer, as shown.
The program you choose opens the next time you connect a memory card to your computer. As the figure shows, the choice of Adobe Bridge opens the Bridge Photo Downloader.
You can download photos yourself.
- Drag the folder from the card reader to your drive and rename it.
- Create folders for photos using your operating system and then select the photos and drag them to the appropriate folder.