EOS R3: USB-C Copy Images to PC Slower than via Card Reader

[skramit]

I have a Canon R3 where I transfer my RAW files from Camera to Windows PC.

If I use USB-C cable from PC to Camera, the copy speed is approx 50MB/s (usb 2 speeds). If I plug in my CFExpress card reader, and plug in the card to PC, it copies from the reader at around 850MB/s or about 7gbps (USB3.2 Gen 2 speeds). So my PC USB port, hard disk and USB cable speed are not the bottleneck. I'm using the same USB-C 10gbps cable for both scenarios.

The R3 is meant to have a USB-C 3.2 Gen2 port which supports 10gbps supposedly. Is there some reason I cant seem to copy files using direct USBC cable from camera to PC?

Spec on Canon website: SuperSpeed USB 3.2 Gen 2 USB C connector

I can't get my head around this. Is it a setting in the camera to enable faster USB? I couldnt find one. Tried various high speed usbc cables, same result.

Do others here successfully get high speed usb 3.2 gen 2 speeds direct from their Canons EOS R cameras or use card readers?

[Hazel_T]

Hi skramit,

There can be some variance in transfer speeds when importing from the camera verses importing through a USB card reader. There is one thing to double check in this case.

What software are you using to transfer the images when the camera and computer are connected through USB? Our import software EOS Utility can transfer photos and videos quickly. If you want to try that software it is available HERE. Once you are on the web page click on the Software & Drivers button and the current version is 3.18.40. You may need to hit the Load More option a couple of times to see it in the list. 

Once that is downloaded open the EOS Utility and you will see a black window with camera and computer icons in it. When you see that window connect the camera and computer with your USB cable and once the EOS Utility detects the camera it will give you the import options.

[skramit]

Hi Hazel, thanks for replying.

I downloaded the EOS utility and use the Download to import photos. They still came through at ~92MB/s when using the utility.

So I suppose my question is - is this expected? That despite the R3 having a USB 3.2 Gen 2 port, it can only copy at fraction of those speeds. (noting 92MB/s) is faster than USB2.0 which I first assumed was the restriction.

Has anyone out there actually managed to copy from a R3 (or other camera) at high speed e.g. 600-800MB/s? If not then I guess I'll just use the card reader. But if it IS possible to copy quickly direct from camera USB then I'd prefer to do that, save having to remove the card all the time.

Is my camera USB port broken or is this expected behavior?

I did some tests just to show you the difference is quite large.

Test1: EOS Utility from CFExpress Direct to PC as suggested

199 RAWs  4,949,400,376 bytes took 53s = 92MB/s

Test2: Windows Copy from CFExpress Card reader to PC

199 RAWs  4,949,400,376 bytes took 6.75 seconds = 725MB/s

Same USBC cable used in both tests.