How do I get Canon EOS 5D Mark II RAW files using a USB cable and bypassing the EOS utility?

I had my CF card reader die on me a few times (i.e., it suddenly stopped working: instead of being recognised, and then allowing me to access the CF card, it was "cycling", i.e., appearing/disappearing from Windows). So I decided to do a backup using an USB cable.

What happened:

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  My PC had [historically] the EOS utility installed

  
  


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  For personal reasons (mostly: special workflow, and avoiding the clumsy download interface) I wanted to just copy the files over, bypassing the EOS utility

  
  


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  However, when plugging the USB cable between the 5DMkII and the PC, it only got recognised as the camera, and when exploring that I could see each image twice in JPEG (one with extension, the other without, but both JPEG, whereas I know that on the CF one is .JPG, and the other .CR2, larger and with more details). I tried, however, to copy both, each in separate directories (as they had the same name), but it really ended up as two identical files each time, as if it "hides" the raw and instead shows another instance of the associated JPEG file.

  
  
  

Example: using a CF reader I would get IMG_0001.JPG and IMG_0001.CR2, the 2nd raw and much larger in details and size. Via cable I saw "IMG_0001" and "IMG_0001.JPG", both ending up as "IMG_0001.JPG" on my computer, and no raw file...

How can I retrieve the .CR2 files? (if possible, without uninstalling the EOS utility! But still bypassing it... I.e., how do I use a USB cable to access the files as if by a card reader?) (Should I boot on some linux boot CD and try from there?)

Answer

First of all, I always recommend a card reader instead of a direct USB connection. It will be faster, you don't need special software, and it doesn't use your battery while downloading. I prefer the current USB 3.0 readers but many options exist.

This looks like what you are looking for:

I wish I could tell you more about it here but I don't understand much of what the linked to website says.

This forum seems to have an answer:

Overall I think that the EOS Utility is really the way to go for direct USB transfers. The other options seem to be either complex, incomplete, or non-existent. Beyond that, I would advise picking up a USB card reader as they are typically much faster and also don't drain your battery.