Downloading from a Nikon P5100?
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From: Jonathan Sachs on 9 Jan 2010 10:55 I appreciate everyone's efforts to help, but so far, it's not helping. First, I have a card reader, and I have no trouble at all with it. Bit my wife sometimes uses the camera, she hates card readers, and I need to solve this problem to restore domestic tranquility. Also, I actually have a reason to want to use a cable myself: I sometimes have to transfer pictures at clients' sites, and a cable is a lot easier to carry around for very occasional use than a card reader is. Second, I have XP SP2, and I have installed the Nikon software, and it still doesn't work. Third, I've got the manual. I mentioned that in the OP. Fourth, as nospam mentioned, the instructions on Nikon's web site apparently are obsolete, and refer to an option that doesn't exist on my camera. (I'm rather disappointed in Nikon. They evidently put much less care into creating their web site than into creating their cameras.) Is there anything else I can try?
From: Robert Coe on 9 Jan 2010 10:55 On 7 Jan 2010 04:22:27 GMT, ray <ray(a)zianet.com> wrote: : On Wed, 06 Jan 2010 20:18:16 -0800, Jonathan Sachs wrote: : : > Does anyone have suggestions on how to make this work? : > : > When I attach the camera to the computer, the camera appears to know : > that the computer is there; the LCD turns off and the power light : > flashes. The computer does not appear to know that the camera is there; : > there's no "new hardware" message and the camera doesn't appear as a : > disk. : > : > I found a troubleshooting guide on Nikon's web site, but it appears to : > be for an older camera. It talks about how to make sure the CF card is : > supported (the P5100 doesn't use CF) and it says to be sure the camera : > is in MSC USB mode, something I can't find on the camera's menu or in : > its manual. You don't say what computer and operating system you're using. Only fairly recent OSes support USB correctly, and some computers can be set in BIOS to handle USB devices peculiarly. Do other USB devices work as expected on that computer? : So get an inexpensive USB or firewire card reader. Using that will : guarantee 'compatibility'. It will also save your batteries. Good advice, but I never heard of an inexpensive firewire card reader. OTOH, unless you're a news photographer on deadline, USB is plenty fast. Just make sure you have enough cards that you don't have to do a download in the middle of a shoot. Bob
From: Robert Coe on 9 Jan 2010 16:15 On Sat, 09 Jan 2010 07:55:41 -0800, Jonathan Sachs <081012(a)jhsachs.com> wrote: : I appreciate everyone's efforts to help, but so far, it's not helping. : : First, I have a card reader, and I have no trouble at all with it. Bit : my wife sometimes uses the camera, she hates card readers, and I need : to solve this problem to restore domestic tranquility. : : Also, I actually have a reason to want to use a cable myself: I : sometimes have to transfer pictures at clients' sites, and a cable is : a lot easier to carry around for very occasional use than a card : reader is. : : Second, I have XP SP2, and I have installed the Nikon software, and it : still doesn't work. : : Third, I've got the manual. I mentioned that in the OP. : : Fourth, as nospam mentioned, the instructions on Nikon's web site : apparently are obsolete, and refer to an option that doesn't exist on : my camera. (I'm rather disappointed in Nikon. They evidently put much : less care into creating their web site than into creating their : cameras.) : : Is there anything else I can try? I guess I'd at least try upgrading your XP system to SP3. It's been out long enough that it isn't entirely implausible for Nikon to assume that computers running their software have it. Bob
From: ray on 9 Jan 2010 21:59 On Sat, 09 Jan 2010 10:55:01 -0500, Robert Coe wrote: > On 7 Jan 2010 04:22:27 GMT, ray <ray(a)zianet.com> wrote: : On Wed, 06 Jan > 2010 20:18:16 -0800, Jonathan Sachs wrote: : > : > Does anyone have suggestions on how to make this work? : > > : > When I attach the camera to the computer, the camera appears to know > : > that the computer is there; the LCD turns off and the power light : > > flashes. The computer does not appear to know that the camera is > there; : > there's no "new hardware" message and the camera doesn't > appear as a : > disk. > : > > : > I found a troubleshooting guide on Nikon's web site, but it appears > to : > be for an older camera. It talks about how to make sure the CF > card is : > supported (the P5100 doesn't use CF) and it says to be sure > the camera : > is in MSC USB mode, something I can't find on the > camera's menu or in : > its manual. > > You don't say what computer and operating system you're using. Only > fairly recent OSes support USB correctly, and some computers can be set > in BIOS to handle USB devices peculiarly. Do other USB devices work as > expected on that computer? Well, thanks Robert, but I'm not the one with the problem. For the record, I run several Linux distributions and I don't have any problems copying files in from various cameras. And, yes, all the other USB devices work properly too. > > : So get an inexpensive USB or firewire card reader. Using that will : > guarantee 'compatibility'. It will also save your batteries. > > Good advice, but I never heard of an inexpensive firewire card reader. > OTOH, unless you're a news photographer on deadline, USB is plenty fast. > Just make sure you have enough cards that you don't have to do a > download in the middle of a shoot. > > Bob That could be read as "get an inexpensive USB card reader or get a firewire card reader" - some folks prefer the firewire alternative since it's a lot faster. "plenty fast" depends on how much you're transferring and how often - plus what else you have to do while you wait. Personally, I use an inexpensive USB card reader and I have enough cards to carry me for a month or two.
From: ray on 9 Jan 2010 22:06
On Sat, 09 Jan 2010 07:55:41 -0800, Jonathan Sachs wrote: > I appreciate everyone's efforts to help, but so far, it's not helping. > > First, I have a card reader, and I have no trouble at all with it. Bit > my wife sometimes uses the camera, she hates card readers, and I need to > solve this problem to restore domestic tranquility. > > Also, I actually have a reason to want to use a cable myself: I > sometimes have to transfer pictures at clients' sites, and a cable is a > lot easier to carry around for very occasional use than a card reader > is. > > Second, I have XP SP2, and I have installed the Nikon software, and it > still doesn't work. > > Third, I've got the manual. I mentioned that in the OP. > > Fourth, as nospam mentioned, the instructions on Nikon's web site > apparently are obsolete, and refer to an option that doesn't exist on my > camera. (I'm rather disappointed in Nikon. They evidently put much less > care into creating their web site than into creating their cameras.) > > Is there anything else I can try? There are some pretty small card readers - I have one that's not much bigger than the SD cards it accepts. Another option - Linux. You could pack a Damn Small Linux or Puppy Linux Live CD along. |