Canon 550D - CF card mechanism broke; shoot in tethered mode?

[Mike_J_Smith]

I have a Canon 550D which I use to take photos of miniature models - so stationary and from home.

I havent used it in a while but I dug it out today, took some photos, removed the CF card to transfer to my computer, then wanted to take some more photos. When I put the card back in, it felt like it pushed in further than usual and got a bit stuck. I managed to pull it out, but now the cf card isnt locking in place and just gets pushed back up by the spring.

Does anyone know if I can hook the camera up to my laptop and shoot directly onto that, bypassing the CF card?

Thanks! Mike

 

[TimHughes]

I don't know that model. If it has USB and you have a cable you can try, mabye LR works? If not, try the Canon own software, EOS utility, again not sure which version you'll need for the 550D

 

[Mike_J_Smith]

OK great thanks, I checked and it does indeed work. I had to do some ridiculous work around becuase I don't have the original CD with the EOS utility on it anymore and you can only download an updater from Canon which requires an original CD / instillation. Luckily there's a guide to add a key to the registry to circumvent it. Not sure why Canon are so protective over it! Anyway; I downloaded it and it seems to work quite nicely, should do everything I need

 

[stickytape]

I have a Canon 550D which I use to take photos of miniature models - so stationary and from home.

I havent used it in a while but I dug it out today, took some photos, removed the CF card to transfer to my computer, then wanted to take some more photos. When I put the card back in, it felt like it pushed in further than usual and got a bit stuck. I managed to pull it out, but now the cf card isnt locking in place and just gets pushed back up by the spring.

Does anyone know if I can hook the camera up to my laptop and shoot directly onto that, bypassing the CF card?

Thanks! Mike

Isn’t the 550D /Rebel SD? In which case it’s pretty hard to damage the pins, did you maybe just put the Card in the wrong way?

 

[Mike_J_Smith]

Isn’t the 550D /Rebel SD? In which case it’s pretty hard to damage the pins, did you maybe just put the Card in the wrong way?

Not sure what Rebel it is, but I don't think it's a pin that I've damaged. It's whatever acts as the locking mechanism for the push to eject system. Whereas you'd normally push down, you get that little click sound and the card would stay down until you pushed again, with mine now it doesn't stay down and just pushes back up.

Definitely not the card in the wrong way though