I read somewhere that the DNG converter can convert to DNG format directly from the memory card without uploading images to the hard drive first.

I'm shooting with a Canon 20D and Hitachi 4GB microdrive.

I can't find where I read that this is possible. Did I make it up? Can I do this with the card still in the camera or do I need an external card reader? It doesn't seem to work with the card in the camera and I don't have a card reader to try.

I'd love to skip this first step if possible.

You weren't hallucinating, the article was from PhotoshopNews:
http://photoshopnews.com/2005/05/25/dng-workflow-part-ii/

You know, Daniel, that's a very useful thing to know. I'm still using flash cards I bought years ago, such as an IBM 1GB card I bought for my D60. For some infuriating reason, each card remembers the numbering sequence it's been used to and then seems to transfer that to another camera. I started off with my new 5D with a new 2GB Sandisk; faster than all my other cards. The numbering system was fine till one day I ran out of memory and wacked in the IBM card. When downloading the images, I found to my dismay that the numbering sequence had jumped from around 500 to 8,000. It's caused quite a bit of inconvenience creating separate folders for images that belong in the same group. I have 4 different cards with different but overlapping number sequences.

Yeah, that's an irritating effect. The trick to getting around that is to format the card as soon as you put it in the camera before using it. Then the camera will wipe it clean and continue on with the numbering system it had instead of what was already on the card created by the other camera.

Hey! Not true with my 5D. Is this a glitch in the firmware perhaps? I always delete images by formatting the card. It's simply quicker than 'deleting all'. Hhmm! Or maybe I made the mistake of forgetting to format a card at the time it was inserted and continued shooting with a fresh card that was half full of images from another camera. No, that can't be it. I might forget to format a card once or twice, which would temporarily upset the numbering sequence, but subsequent formatting would soon bring everything back into line, wouldn't it?

Thanks for the comments. I knew I saw that somewhere.

Jeff says early in the article that using the camera to download images from the card isn't the best method. I guess that was a very subtle way of saying, "this doesn't work when using the camera to download images."

Hmm.. It doesn't seem that slow to me, but I've never used a card reader. I think I'll stick with my current workflow for now.

It should...

I've never had any issues when sharing a CF card between 10Ds, 20Ds or my 300D as long as I remembered to format the card first thing after putting it into a camera. I don't have 5D so I can't investigate myself... maybe it is a bug.



The 20D is USB 2.0 so it wouldn't be as bad as other USB 1.1 cameras but a card reader is certainly faster. Especially if you switch to a FireWire reader.