Camera Card Reader

"Don Stauffer" wrote in message
...
Rodan wrote:
December 21, 2008 SD Card Reader Olympus
no longer supports my C-2100 camera, bought
in 2001, so I can not download pictures from the camera to my new ( Vista
OS) computer.

If I buy a card reader, can I take the 32MB card from my
camera and put it in the card reader connected to a USB
port and download the pictures, or is there some special
formatting on the card that will prevent this?

Thanks for any information.

Rodan.

Is that one of the cameras that used SM cards? I have one that is unusable
because the cards are so hard to get.

If you shop for a card reader, make sure it is one that can READ SM, if
that is the card it uses.

My old Oly eats cards when batteries get low, which is why I need a source
of cards for it. Have better, newer cameras now anyway. I'd sell it on
eBay, but purchaser would have same problem :-(

My Canon Powershot A720 tends to eat cards if they aren't formatted
in-camera, but it's good when it formats the cards.

It's interesting to note that, when cards are formatted in-camera, my
computer won't recognize them, so I can't use a card reader to copy files;
I have to move pics from cam to comp using the USB connection on the camera.

Given that the computer formatted cards will work in the camera for a while,
the camera can evidently read standard Windows formmatting. So, I don't
understand why they die so soon.

Initial tests seem to indicate that my Rebel XSi is the same, although it
hasn't eaten a computer formatted card yet.

Take Care,
Dudley

On Mon, 22 Dec 2008 15:43:23 GMT, "Dudley Hanks"
wrote in
vAO3l.2016$sM.1162@edtnps83:

It's interesting to note that, when cards are formatted in-camera, my
computer won't recognize them, so I can't use a card reader to copy files;
I have to move pics from cam to comp using the USB connection on the camera.

Are you running a very old OS on your computer? If not, that shouldn't
be true, unless there is something wrong with your computer.
--
Best regards,
John
[Please Note: Ads belong (only) in rec.photo.marketplace.digital]

On Mon, 22 Dec 2008 01:41:42 +0000, Rodan wrote:

December 21, 2008 SD Card Reader

Olympus no longer supports my C-2100 camera, bought in 2001, so I can
not download pictures from the camera to my new ( Vista OS) computer.

If I buy a card reader, can I take the 32MB card from my camera and put
it in the card reader connected to a USB port and download the pictures,
or is there some special formatting on the card that will prevent this?

Thanks for any information.

Rodan.

1) you should be able to plug the camera in, mount as a mass storage
device and transfer files (both ways).
2) any card reader I've ever seen will take the card as is, mount as a
mass storage device and transfer files (both ways).

On Sun, 21 Dec 2008 20:06:12 -0800, Jürgen Exner wrote:

Maybe. It will work if the camera is operated in "mass storage device"
mode, i.e. basically telling the computer, it is a flash memory device.

If the camera is switched to "I am a camera and will talk only to the
proprietary software that came with me" then you are kind of out of
luck.

Many (most? all?) cameras can be switched from one mode to the other.

Many cameras, with the exception of many (most?) of Canon's
Powershots, have a "mass storage device" mode. My S3 IS has a
pseudo mass storage device mode though, that uses the PTP mode.
When the camera is connected to the WinXP computer's USB port, most
apps (including file browsers) don't recognize the camera or the SD
card it holds, but the Fuji FinepixViewer software that Windows
automatically opens when the camera is connected, can see many (but
not all) of the images contained in the card's DCIM folder. The
Windows driver that allows this has a mode that makes scanners and
cameras visible to the computer.

Images previously saved from on the computer and moved into
folders in the card's root directory or elsewhere aren't seen by
FinepixViewer. When FinepixViewer is used to open a Windows
Explorer window which can show all of the computer's drives and
folders, and it also shows a Canon PowerShot S3 IS device and files
contained within the card's DCIM folder, even though it doesn't show
the DCIM folder nor any of the folders within DCIM which contain all
of the JPG files that it's able to show. Initially, DCIM contained
two Canon folders and one Nikon folder and all of JPG files in these
folders were seen by Windows Explorer. After taking one more
picture using the S3 IS, a third DCIM folder was created for the new
picture file. But now the Explorer window is only able to display
the files contained in DCIM's first and third Canon folder as well
as those in the Nikon folder. It's not due to a bug in Windows
Explorer, since when the S3 IS displays pictures in its LCD, it also
only shows images from the same three folders. It's a Canon
software bug since when the same card is placed in my latest Fuji
P&S (which now only supports PTP transfer mode, vs. earlier models
that also had a mass storage device mode), the JPG files from all
four folders are visible in the camera as well as in the Explorer
Window. Lesson learned? It's riskier transferring files from the
camera to the computer than to transfer them from a card reader,
particularly if you're using a Canon camera. Newer Canon P&S models
haven't corrected this bug although they operate differently, now
creating a database in a CANONMSC folder that's stored within the
DCIM folder.

From a quick search of the internet it appears that Win ME, Win
XP and Vista support this PTP transfer protocol, but for computers
using earlier versions of Windows, a WIA (Windows Imaging
Acquisition) driver is needed. This driver is included on Canon's
Digital Camera Solutions CD starting with version 4.0

"John Navas" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 22 Dec 2008 15:43:23 GMT, "Dudley Hanks"
wrote in
vAO3l.2016$sM.1162@edtnps83:

It's interesting to note that, when cards are formatted in-camera, my
computer won't recognize them, so I can't use a card reader to copy files;
I have to move pics from cam to comp using the USB connection on the
camera.

Are you running a very old OS on your computer? If not, that shouldn't
be true, unless there is something wrong with your computer.
--
Best regards,
John

Sort of, John, I'm running Windows XP Pro, SP2.

I should note that, I also have a Fuji e510 that works just fine with either
the camera or the card reader. This is only an issue with my Canon cams:
A510, A570, A720, Rebel Xt and Rebel XSi

It's not really a problem, since I can still copy pics using Windows
Explorer without having to go through the Canon software. But, it's
annoying because I can't use these SD cards for other, temporary, storage
purposes without reformatting.

Take Care,
Dudley

Dudley Hanks wrote:
"Don Stauffer" wrote in message
...
Rodan wrote:
December 21, 2008 SD Card Reader Olympus
no longer supports my C-2100 camera, bought
in 2001, so I can not download pictures from the camera to my new ( Vista
OS) computer.

If I buy a card reader, can I take the 32MB card from my
camera and put it in the card reader connected to a USB
port and download the pictures, or is there some special
formatting on the card that will prevent this?

Thanks for any information.

Rodan.
Is that one of the cameras that used SM cards? I have one that is unusable
because the cards are so hard to get.

If you shop for a card reader, make sure it is one that can READ SM, if
that is the card it uses.

My old Oly eats cards when batteries get low, which is why I need a source
of cards for it. Have better, newer cameras now anyway. I'd sell it on
eBay, but purchaser would have same problem :-(

My Canon Powershot A720 tends to eat cards if they aren't formatted
in-camera, but it's good when it formats the cards.

It's interesting to note that, when cards are formatted in-camera, my
computer won't recognize them, so I can't use a card reader to copy files;
I have to move pics from cam to comp using the USB connection on the camera.

Given that the computer formatted cards will work in the camera for a while,
the camera can evidently read standard Windows formmatting. So, I don't
understand why they die so soon.

Initial tests seem to indicate that my Rebel XSi is the same, although it
hasn't eaten a computer formatted card yet.

Take Care,
Dudley


Dudley, perhaps it would help if you told us more about the fate of the
cards that are "eaten". What are the symptoms? Does XP give you any
specific error messages when you try to read or reformat one of these
"eaten" cards? Anything else you know about the process might be helpful.

On another subject--congratulations on either your wisdom or luck in not
converting from XP to Vista. My old XP machine died right when my wife
was in the middle of a big project and I didn't have time to special
order a machine with XP, so I had to buy an off-the-shelf Vista box.
There should be an investigation to determine just what the MS designers
and programmers were smoking and/or inhaling when they produced Vista. I
have been dealing with computers since 1954--analog, mainframe, minis,
PCs--and I have never seen anything like Vista, except for Bob and Win ME.
Allen

Allen wrote:
[]
On another subject--congratulations on either your wisdom or luck in
not converting from XP to Vista. My old XP machine died right when my
wife was in the middle of a big project and I didn't have time to
special order a machine with XP, so I had to buy an off-the-shelf
Vista box. There should be an investigation to determine just what
the MS designers and programmers were smoking and/or inhaling when
they produced Vista. I have been dealing with computers since
1954--analog, mainframe, minis, PCs--and I have never seen anything
like Vista, except for Bob and Win ME. Allen

What didn't work about Vista for you? I have it on a number of PCs here,
and all seem to be working well, doing a variety of tasks.

Cheers,
David

On Tue, 23 Dec 2008 14:48:26 GMT, "Dudley Hanks"
wrote in _S64l.183$z%.51@edtnps82:

"John Navas" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 22 Dec 2008 15:43:23 GMT, "Dudley Hanks"
wrote in
vAO3l.2016$sM.1162@edtnps83:

It's interesting to note that, when cards are formatted in-camera, my
computer won't recognize them, so I can't use a card reader to copy files;
I have to move pics from cam to comp using the USB connection on the
camera.

Are you running a very old OS on your computer? If not, that shouldn't
be true, unless there is something wrong with your computer.
--
Best regards,
John

Sort of, John, I'm running Windows XP Pro, SP2.

I should note that, I also have a Fuji e510 that works just fine with either
the camera or the card reader. This is only an issue with my Canon cams:
A510, A570, A720, Rebel Xt and Rebel XSi

It's not really a problem, since I can still copy pics using Windows
Explorer without having to go through the Canon software. But, it's
annoying because I can't use these SD cards for other, temporary, storage
purposes without reformatting.

FWIW, I've not seen such a problem myself with Canon cameras (including
some of those) and Windows XP, and didn't find anything with a Google
search either. I still think you have some sort of problem.

--
Best regards,
John
Panasonic DMC-FZ8, DMC-FZ20, and several others

On Tue, 23 Dec 2008 09:50:07 -0600, Allen wrote
in :

On another subject--congratulations on either your wisdom or luck in not
converting from XP to Vista. My old XP machine died right when my wife
was in the middle of a big project and I didn't have time to special
order a machine with XP, so I had to buy an off-the-shelf Vista box.
There should be an investigation to determine just what the MS designers
and programmers were smoking and/or inhaling when they produced Vista. I
have been dealing with computers since 1954--analog, mainframe, minis,
PCs--and I have never seen anything like Vista, except for Bob and Win ME.

Likewise. Only Windows Me came close in terms of pain. I have Vista in
virtual and dual boot environments for client work, but will stick with
XP for my own work, at least until I see Windows 7, and what I've seen
of that thus far suggests I will be sticking with XP (which is more or
less Windows 2000 updated) until Microsoft stops supporting it.

--
Best regards,
John
Panasonic DMC-FZ8, DMC-FZ20, and several others

"Allen" wrote in message
...
Dudley Hanks wrote:
"Don Stauffer" wrote in message
...
Rodan wrote:
December 21, 2008 SD Card Reader
Olympus no longer supports my C-2100 camera, bought
in 2001, so I can not download pictures from the camera to my new (
Vista OS) computer.

If I buy a card reader, can I take the 32MB card from my
camera and put it in the card reader connected to a USB
port and download the pictures, or is there some special
formatting on the card that will prevent this?

Thanks for any information.

Rodan.
Is that one of the cameras that used SM cards? I have one that is
unusable because the cards are so hard to get.

If you shop for a card reader, make sure it is one that can READ SM, if
that is the card it uses.

My old Oly eats cards when batteries get low, which is why I need a
source of cards for it. Have better, newer cameras now anyway. I'd sell
it on eBay, but purchaser would have same problem :-(

My Canon Powershot A720 tends to eat cards if they aren't formatted
in-camera, but it's good when it formats the cards.

It's interesting to note that, when cards are formatted in-camera, my
computer won't recognize them, so I can't use a card reader to copy
files; I have to move pics from cam to comp using the USB connection on
the camera.

Given that the computer formatted cards will work in the camera for a
while, the camera can evidently read standard Windows formmatting. So, I
don't understand why they die so soon.

Initial tests seem to indicate that my Rebel XSi is the same, although it
hasn't eaten a computer formatted card yet.

Take Care,
Dudley


Dudley, perhaps it would help if you told us more about the fate of the
cards that are "eaten". What are the symptoms? Does XP give you any
specific error messages when you try to read or reformat one of these
"eaten" cards? Anything else you know about the process might be helpful.

On another subject--congratulations on either your wisdom or luck in not
converting from XP to Vista. My old XP machine died right when my wife was
in the middle of a big project and I didn't have time to special order a
machine with XP, so I had to buy an off-the-shelf Vista box. There should
be an investigation to determine just what the MS designers and
programmers were smoking and/or inhaling when they produced Vista. I have
been dealing with computers since 1954--analog, mainframe, minis, PCs--and
I have never seen anything like Vista, except for Bob and Win ME.
Allen

Regarding symtoms, there's not much I can say. If I format the card
in-camera and put it in a card reader (I currently use two different
readers), the computer doesn't recognize the format. An error window pops
up asking me if I want to format the card, so the operating system knows
something is there, it just doesn't recognize the format.

On the flip side, if I format the card in a reader attached to the computer,
it will work just fine in the camera, for a short time. Then, the card
fails, and neither the computer or the camera can do anything with the dead
card. They won't reformat. But, as noted above, the computer knows a card
is there; it just can't reformat it. Sorry, it's been a few months since
the last card died, so I forget the exact error message I get if I try to
reformat. It was pretty generic though, something like: Error accessing
(writing to?) removable disk. Format halted..."

Now, it isn't like I've killed that many cards, although I've done several
experiments with formatting on computer versus in the camera. Cards
formatted in-camera consistently won't work in the computer, while the
opposite is true of computer formatted ones. But, once I lost a couple of
computer formatted cards, I quit formatting that way. Further testing might
yield cards that don't die, but I just can't be bothered (or afford) to get
to the bottom of the problem.

Regarding Windows Vista, it took me a long time to get my screen reader to
work properly with XP, so I figure I'll hold out until most of Vista's bugs
are eliminated. My wife and I are contemplating buying a new desktop for
family use, so I'll experiment a bit with that for a while before upgrading
my laptop.

Take Care,
Dudley