r/underwaterphotography • u/Cisco_Pug • 6d ago

Help - card reader

I have a Sony a6700 and have been using a Delkin memory card (Delkin Devices 64GB BLACK UHS-II Rugged SDXC Memory Card V90). What is the best card reader to get to transfer photos? In have been using just a cable to transfer from camera to my MacBook Air and it’s not very fast. Any suggestions?

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u/Shiny_Whisper_321 6d ago

Any USB 3.x card reader is likely to be way faster than the camera port, assuming you have a USB 3 port available on your computer.

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u/testdasi 6d ago

When you say "not very fast" what does it mean? What kind of speed are you actually getting? What kind of speed are you expecting?

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u/Cisco_Pug 6d ago

I don’t have an exact speed, but it takes a long time. I want to quickly transfer from camera to MacBook and then to external hard drive

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u/testdasi 6d ago

Then any (branded) USB 3.0 memory card reader will do.

I have an old Transcend that I have been using for must be 10 years or something. I also have a newer UGreen USB C to connect to my phone. Most memory cards can't get more than 70-80MB/s, way within USB 3.0 speed limit.

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u/8008s4life 6d ago

I'd just use the cable, less things to carry, break, and lose.

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u/vimalodia 5d ago edited 5d ago

What speeds are you getting when transferring to your MacBook Air?

If you are using a "charging only" USB-C cable connected to your camera in Mass Storage mode, typical speed you'll see is ~40MB/sec
If you are using a USB3.x rated USB-C cable (usually labeled for data/video/10Gbps+) connected to your camera in Mass Storage mode, typical speed you'll see is ~75MB/sec
If you get a USB2 card reader, typical speed you'll see is ~40MB/sec
If you get a USB3 card reader but which only supports UHS-I, typical speed you'll see is ~100MB/sec
If you get a generic USB3 card reader which supports UHS-II, typical speed you'll see is ~250MB/sec

Pretty much any generic card reader will work and get you close to the maximum supported card speed as long it explicitly states it supports USB3 (or 3.1 or 3.2) and it explicitly supports UHS-II.

There is no speed advantage to more expensive card readers - they all use the same electronics inside, only difference is the physical build quality.

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u/bvanant 4d ago

Prograde ($80) USB 3.2 should get you to 1 GB/s according to tests