Card cloner software for Windows

Question

As part of my workflow I would like to clone the SD card first thing before I do anything.

Does anyone know of a good external USB drive cloner for Windows 7? Mac has this functionality natively (boohoo for Microsoft for not having this yet).

The idea is to clone it as read only, mount the cloned file as an external drive and then read it. (delete it after 90 days, but that's a different story) I would then copy the files and do anything from that cloned, mounted, drive.

That way I can then erase the SD card right after cloning to reuse it right away, but know I have all the info for a while in case I need it. A little extra paranoya, I know, but a healthy one. I've had it where I lost files on a move (don't know how, but it happened).

Asked by Joao

Answer

It sounds like MacOS is just creating a disk image file (.dmg I would guess) for the USB drive, which can then be mounted. I'm curious if you can actually clone an SD card, or just USB drives...SD/CF cards are usually treated differently than USB drives, and the MacOS clone feature is usually intended as a means of backing up literal external USB drives.

Windows 7 actually does have direct support for mountable drive images in .vhd (Virtual Hard Disk) format. You could create a VHD via the Windows 7 Disk Management tool, mount it, and copy the files from the memory card to your VHD (which, being a file, can be mounted, unmounted, copied for backup, etc.), and delete the VHD when you no longer need it. This would not be a 100% exact clone (although I suspect neither is the MacOS clone...its probably a new disk image with the contents of the external drive.) You could also use a backup tool like Acronis True Image to create USB drive clones, however it does not seem to support cloning SD/CF cards (at least, the version I have, 2011, does not.)

To create a VHD and copy the memory card contents to it, which would pretty much be as good as a MacOS DMG, do the following:

• Right-click Computer, choose "Manage"
• Expand the "Storage" node
• Right-click "Disk Management"
• Select "Create VHD"
• Fill out the form
  • Size XYGb (i.e. 16Gb)
  • Fixed Size
• Watch the status bar for progress
  • May take a few minutes...
  • Virtual disk will appear as an unallocated drive when done
• Right-click "Disk" (should appear bright greenish-blue, unlike normal drives which are silver)
  • Select "Initialize"
    • Use MBR format for greatest compatibility
• Right-click "Unallocated Volume" (should have a black "Unallocated" strip color)
  • "New Simple Volume..."
    • Next...
    • Next...
    • Pick a drive letter or mount to folder
    • Next...
    • NTFS or FAT32 (NTFS offers more features)
    • Add a Volume Label
    • Perform a quick format (Checked)
    • Next...
    • Finish
• The drive should automatically mount, ready for use

Once you have a VHD, you can just drag-and-drop copy everything from a CF card to the VHD. In windows, cameras themselves show up as devices in Computer. You can open up the camera, and directly access the memory cards inside them, and just copy the DCIM and any other folders across to the VHD. If you have a card reader in your computer, the cards will usually show up as removable drives once you pop a memory card in. You can again just copy the DCIM and any other folders across to the VHD. Cameras usually have pretty fast interfaces, and copy pretty quick. Some memory card readers for computers, particularly cheap ones, are often limited to USB 1.1 speeds, so you might only get a few mb/s out of them. USB 2.0 ones will usually get you about 20mb/s. If you have the option, even for non UDMA-7 memory cards, picking up a $20 USB 3.0 PCI-e card and USB 3.0 CF/SD card reader will get you about 40-50mb/s (and significantly more, up to 150mb/s, on todays native UDMA-7/USB3 compatible CF cards.)

Answered by jrista

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Why do I get two JPEG files instead of RAW+JPEG when transfering to my computer from my Nikon D5100?

Question

I have a Nikon D5100 and I want to shoot RAW and JPG at the same time. I select RAW+N (RAW plus Normal Size JPG). Now when I export the shots to my computer I end up with two files called DSC_0123 (1).jpg and DSC_0123.jpg. (Both files are the same size). I am missing the raw NEF file. Why is the camera doing this and is something set wrong?

Note: When shooting in RAW only the files are produced normally and function as expected. The firmware is the latest Version (1.01). I have 3 modes for RAW + JPG -- They are RAW+B (Basic) RAW+N (Normal) RAW+F (fine) all three produce JPG and no raw file.

Here are a few ideas that I have tried:

• Reset Camera Settings
• Try another memory card (Note: The memory cards I have are all Transcend 16GB Class 10)

Asked by Lynda

Answer

From reading http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1034&message=38261447&changemode=1

and

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1034&message=21930545&changemode=1

You will need to have Nikon's Transfer software or use View NX 2

UPDATE: As a side tip (maybe you already do this) but I never connect my DSLR to the PC I always use one of these - Bottom line is - I dont want something to go wrong with my camera on the PC - I would much rather a memory card take that hit.

Answered by Rob

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Are there wireless file transfer adapter options for the Canon 550D/T2i?

Question

Is there an equivalent to the wireless adapters available for higher-end Canon DSLRs? The closest thing I have found are the EyeFi cards but was wondering if there are any other alternatives.

Answer

No, there are not any for the Rebel line. The EyeFi is your best option, and works well with the Rebels, especially the T1i, T2i and T3i. The newer EyeFi products support saving to mobile devices running iOS or Android, similar to the Canon wifi adapters pushing to FTP. It also can push video and RAW to your computer or to their servers.

The biggest disadvantage is that you don't have the wireless tethering feature that the high-end adapters provide. There are options though, you can look into something like onOne's DSLR Remote, which uses a USB tether to a laptop, and then you use your iPhone or iPad to remotely control and use Live View to frame your shots. This works really well when framing group shots, and you're out in front of the camera arranging the group, or you're actually in the shot. It's also helpful for nature photography, when a IR trigger won't reach because of the sun and you don't want to be near the camera.

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Is a card reader faster than connecting camera via USB?

Question

I've heard that compact flash readers allow your computer to much faster read the photos off the camera, than when you connect your camera over USB.

Is that true? What about other card formats, like SD?

Answer

It depends.

My last camera only connected at USB1.1 speeds, so was slower than using a USB2.0 card reader.

However, if your camera can do USB2.0 or you have a USB1.1 or USB1.0 card reader, you wont see that benefit.

You can get Firewire or ExpressCard card readers for CF cards, which are faster than USB2.0, (and I think generally limited by the speed of the CF card). Sandisk do the fastest of these - see Extreme Firewire Reader and Extreme Pro ExpressCard Adapter.

Of course with USB3.0 devices beginning to appear, these are (theoretically) faster still than Firewire - but you need a machine that supports them (rather than running in USB2.0 backwards compatibility mode) to benefit from this speed.

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