Is there a simple way to download multiple cards at one time? I'm assuming that I need multiple card readers, but which ones are best for this? I use sandisk cards.

And how do I set up my mac to automatically download all the raw files to a specific location on my computer?

lexar makes a solution, I haven't tried it, but its able to stack multiple card readers ontop of eachother and use one cable. Theres some reviews here on it.

The Lexar solution is the stackable Lexar Professional FireWire CompactFlash Card Reader.

It has two Firewire connections in the back so that you can daisy-chain the readers...

...but are you sure you want to download your cards at once?

hmmm, i'm not sure - do I?

I guess that's part of the question - I dont' want to do anything that's going to cause more complications - just looking for an easier way.

What problems do you foresee?

Let me first state that I'm a big fan of the KISS principle.

Downloading multiple cards at once will probably work fine 99% of the time, but odds are one day you'll be downloading a large batch of cards and miss one or accidentally copy one onto the other.

You'll be the judge of whether that risk is worth running multiple readers. If you have a good FW reader it should take 2 minutes to copy down a card, so just consider that part of your Quality Control process.

We've had some issues with card readers and our Mac. Occasionally cards won't unmount or will freeze the whole system if they're left connected too long (I suspect it's related to Spotlight but I'm too lazy to figure it out).

Our download process is very deliberate and patient. It's worth the extra 10 minutes to make sure those pictures make it onto your machine, backup server, and onto disc/tape exactly how they came out of the camera!

...just in case this happens:

I have two USB Sandisk readers - they are SUPER fast. 1 gig = 80 seconds. I run them at the SAME time so there's no way I should overlap files. I push the copy button on both, pick the two directories and go. When they are both finished I pull both cards, put them separate and put two full cards in and repeat.

I can basically download 20 gig in about 15 minutes. Two usb readers - NOT a usb splitter. Too much chance for error that way. Just two readers, two ports, two cards, it's pretty KISS.

Wow, Matt... cool idea!! I've never thought of using two readers at once!!

I forgot to say YMMV.

I still vote one-reader-at-a-time, but that's because I'm guarding against my [potential] incompetence.

By the way, 80s to a gig seems a little slow when compared to FireWire, but then what's a 20-30s difference in the grand scheme of things?

Does anyone know can that Lexar solution work with SanDisk cards??

Thanks everyone. For some reason, my reader is just slow. So, maybe if I invest in a single good-quality firewire, it will work just fine.

I appreciate everyone's help!

Karen,

just pickup a usb 2.0 or firewire reader and you'll notice a world of difference...stacking readers doesn't make the overall download any faster if they're all going through the same port anyway.

It works with SanDisk cards. We have both and the reader does the job.

My only gripe is that the Lexar ImageRescue software makes the icon for CF cards Lexar-branded when it shows up on your desktop (Mac) -- even when it's SanDisk!

Actually, it does. At least with the FireWire ones -- not sure about the USB. I've heard of people losing data using multiple USB readers because USB wasn't really designed for that. FireWire, on the other hand, was designed for daisy-chaining.

Of course, it depends. Lexar just came out with some 300x (or something) cards. And that might push the limit of the FireWire port. But then they go and release a stackable FireWire 800 reader to make it go twice as fast as "regular" FireWire. Smart folks, those Lexarians.

100% agreed. Take it slow, download one card at a time and make sure you do it right. There's no reason to risk your images to save a couple of minutes.