When you want to transfer your images from your camera to your computer, how do you do it?
A lot of people will get the USB cable out and connect their camera to their computer to transfer their files. This is not only fiddley to do, but it means you have to have your camera on while you transfer the files, thus using up the battery. OK, for transferring one or two files it won’t drain the battery too much but if you’ve got a full 2Gb card then the camera might be there for a while.
The alternative to connecting your camera is to get a really handy accessory, the card reader. Card readers allow to just remove your memory card from your camera and put it in the card reader, the card reader is connected to your computer by a USB connection and allows fast transfer of your images to your computer without having to connect your camera.
There are currently a range of memory card types available, these are SD Cards, SDHC, Compact Flash, Memory Stick PRO, MultiMedia (MMC), xD-Picture Card, SmartMedia and Memory Stick PRO DUO. These cards are all different sizes so it can make sense to buy a card reader that will work with most, if not all, of them. The multi card reader is a really handy accessory to have, and are relatively cheap compared all the other accessories you can get for digital photography. You can leave the card reader connected to your computer so it’s simple to just download your images.
Just remember to put your memory card back in your camera!