Slowest downloads to Lightroom

[SANJANA]

Hi everyone, I love my Z6 camera except when it comes to downloading my files in Lightroom. I use the Sony XQD card reader and the cards as recommended. It converts to DNG files in Lightroom ( I have the latest version) and I have a new Imac computer with a lot of memory. I do download the files in my external WDeasy 5TB harddrive. The setting for file handling is set to medium in presets. SO to download a 120GB memory card, it really takes me 6-10 hours ( I lost track) but it is making this not so fun to download files. Does anyone have any ideas or issues like mine. I am sure I am doing something wrong..please advise. Let me know any more info you need for making my life easier here.

 

[Replytoken]

Welcome to the forum! It sounds like you are using a USB 2.0 connection with your computer. Do you know what rate of transfer the computer shows during transfer? And do you know if you have any USB 3.0 ports (usually colored blue on the connection)? And best of all do you have any USB-C ports that you can use? These would be the fastest, and would work great with an SSD drive that uses USB-C. The differences in speed can be quite dramatic.

--Ken

 

[SANJANA]

Thanks so much. I think I might have a slow Hard Drive. I am not sure how to find the rate of transfer. I was told to look at a few things: Back-up my lightroom ( I am guilty of that), use Nikon's software ( I am not sure on that) for converting to DNG files, and thirdly get a USB-C hard drive or something similar.

 

[Palouse]

I can move 100, Z7 NEF files (XQD card, Sony reader, USB-C, Nikon Transfer) onto my 2019 MacBook Pro in less than a minute.

 

[SANJANA]

Hi Palouse I am moving them directly to my external HD..maybe I should do it on my new Mac and then transfer over to the HD.

 

[hotrod4x5]

There are several things that can slow down this process. I would definitely copy them to your internal hard drive first through finder, then again, through finder, copy them to the external. If you are using Lightroom to download and convert them, that is a bottleneck. I would definitely put them on the internal, then the external drive, then convert them to DNG.

 

[SANJANA]

Thanks so much! I am certainly going to give this a try and report back. Really appreciate all your input. Also any recommendations on HD for Mac?

 

[Palouse]

I've had good luck with these folks: https://www.owcdigital.com/products/solid-state-drives

 

[Replytoken]

There are several things that can slow down this process. I would definitely copy them to your internal hard drive first through finder, then again, through finder, copy them to the external. If you are using Lightroom to download and convert them, that is a bottleneck. I would definitely put them on the internal, then the external drive, then convert them to DNG.

LR may slow the process, but copying 120GB twice is not that fast. I would agree that doing the copying outside of LR is better, but I would argue that the external drive needs to be updated to as fast of a connection as the PC will support. Then the files can be copied directly from the card reader to the external drive. And the XQD card also needs to be rated fast enough to move that much data quickly.

--Ken

 

[Replytoken]

Thanks so much. I think I might have a slow Hard Drive. I am not sure how to find the rate of transfer. I was told to look at a few things: Back-up my lightroom ( I am guilty of that), use Nikon's software ( I am not sure on that) for converting to DNG files, and thirdly get a USB-C hard drive or something similar.

The rate of transfer is dependent on the weakest link in the chain. So, if you are routinely going to move 120GB of data and want it to move quickly, I would recommend checking the following:

• XQD card speed - most XQD cards should be reasonably fast, but it is good to check (if it is less than 400 MB/s, then consider a faster card)
• XQD card reader - Ideally the fastest would be USB-C to a native USB-C port. Next would be USB3 (blue tip inside connector plug) to native USB3 port. Last would be USB 2.0.
• External hard drive/SSD - Ideally a SSD or NVMe drive using Thunderbolt or USC-C to a native Thunderbolt or USB-C port. Followed by USB3 then USB 2.0.

If the port or hardware is slow, then the whole process is slow. I suspect that the 5TB portable is USB3 given when they were released on the market. If I had to assess the situation, I would see what ports my machine offers, and then find a drive that can take advantage of the port.

Good luck,

--Ken

 

[SANJANA]

The rate of transfer is dependent on the weakest link in the chain. So, if you are routinely going to move 120GB of data and want it to move quickly, I would recommend checking the following:

• XQD card speed - most XQD cards should be reasonably fast, but it is good to check (if it is less than 400 MB/s, then consider a faster card)
• XQD card reader - Ideally the fastest would be USB-C to a native USB-C port. Next would be USB3 (blue tip inside connector plug) to native USB3 port. Last would be USB 2.0.
• External hard drive/SSD - Ideally a SSD or NVMe drive using Thunderbolt or USC-C to a native Thunderbolt or USB-C port. Followed by USB3 then USB 2.0.

If the port or hardware is slow, then the whole process is slow. I suspect that the 5TB portable is USB3 given when they were released on the market. If I had to assess the situation, I would see what ports my machine offers, and then find a drive that can take advantage of the port.

Good luck,

--Ken

You all rock and so much for all your great advice and for taking the time to respond to me. I am totally not a techy person so this info was great for me to call into OWC and they helped me. I really really appreciate it you all.