Faster to Download Photos by USB or Card Reader?

Most card readers are in-fact USB devices themselves, so no matter what you are limited to USB speeds. Unless your camera or computer is in the signifigantly older category, it is likely USB 2.0 which means nothing more than, the second revision of USB, which as one might guess means its faster than the 1.0 version.

USB 2.0 is 480 megabit per second, or 60 megabytes per second, or to put it another way if you could take full advantage of the USB speed it would only take:

• 8.5 seconds for 512 MB
• 17 seconds for 1 GB
• 34 seconds for 2 GB

But in real life, it doesn't happen that quick, however there is a noticeable difference in speed between card readers that read the card from your camera and plugging the camera in directly. 90% of the time, the card reader is faster.

Here's the drawbacks to using a card reader:

• If you have only one card for your camera, your card is no longer in the camera while you're reading it which means you can loose it, forget it, or not have it for that quick picture.
• Taking the card out slightly increases the chances that it could get damaged, should something happen it would be akin to opening a film camera before rolling the film up into the canister. Generally however, the cards are made fairly well and can undergo quite a beating, and there are nifty cases that usually come with them to keep them safe.
  

Here are the positive aspects to using a card reader:

• If you have more than one card, you can keep shooting on the alternate card while you or someone else downloads the full card. Very nice for photographers, as it frees the camera to do what its supposed to do: Take pictures.
• Generally a card reader will be faster than the camera's connection as its optimized to read cards.

Which is better? You decide. I like using a card reader because its faster, I take 10 megapixel pictures (which are BIG!), and because I have multiple cards. If you take few pictures, only have one card, and/or your photography is of lower resolution (less megapixels) then perhaps downloading from the camera works.

How much is a card reader? You can get them for as little as $3. Check NexTag and PriceWatch for great prices (wayyyy cheaper than your local store).