Transferring images

[Ige]

When I want to transfer pictures from my FZ50 tothe pc which way shall I use: Use the camera andUSB or take out the SD card, put it in a card reader ? The reason I ask is I don't want to "wear out the contacts/connectors in the camera. (I say to my self: If the USB breake I can take out the card and read it somewhere else, but if the card contacts break, the whole camera is gone...).

[happy_peasant]

I have taken 80,000 pictures with my FZ7 and take out the card all the time, so I think the contacts are tough. This is just my personal opinion, but I would think that taking the card out and putting it back would probably help keep contacts clean. I know with battery contacts in remote controls, every now and then I have to clean some contacts with an eraser because they get dirty, and perhaps the card coming in and out prevents that with the camera.
Steve