Those of us who make a living regularly shooting photos and videos with mirrorless SLR cameras understand the importance of saving time. Press events and professional shoots are a case in point, and timing is everything when it comes to being the first to publish an article with original content.

The last thing I needed was an obstacle preventing me from doing this in a timely manner. Until I found this $9 phone accessory. It has changed my workflow so much that I use it religiously not only for transferring photos and videos, but other files as well.

Up until a year ago, I relied on the Wi-Fi file transfer connection on my mirrorless camera to transfer footage to my smartphone for tweeting. Now you might wonder why I don't use my best camera phone. You might think, "But in the low-light conditions of a press event, camera phones still don't perform that well.

If you've ever tried to transfer files via Wi-Fi at major press events like Apple's WWDC 2023 or Samsung's Unpacked event, you're well aware that it's nearly impossible. You end up fighting with all the other people doing the same thing, and you end up clogging up the network bandwidth to reliably transfer the files.

Don't get me wrong, there are situations where this process runs perfectly.

That's why I can't help but rave about the Beikell USB memory card reader adapter I got earlier this year. It has saved me countless times at press events and professional video shoots.

First, there is the convenience of being able to easily retrieve the content captured from the camera's memory card. Simply remove the memory card from your mirrorless camera and slide it into the appropriate slot (SD or microSD) on the reader. From there, simply connect it to the USB-C port on your Android smartphone and copy what you need.

The phone recognizes this as an external hard drive, so I could also transfer files from my phone to the card.

It has both USB-C and USB-A connections, so you can also transfer files between your favorite gadgets. Since few laptops these days have built-in memory card readers, I like that Beikell's USB memory card reader adapter is about the size of a flash drive and can be easily stored in a backpack. This eliminates the need to bring other accessories like a bulky USB-C hub.

The Beikell is also useful as a backup solution for smartphones because of its fast 512 Mbps transfer rate over USB-C. When copying 2 or 3 gigabytes of 4K video, using Android's Link to Windows feature Beikell is very fast, only a few minutes, whereas it would take several hours to transfer it wirelessly to a computer.

If this is not enough, Beikell can also technically function as a flash drive when you are in a pinch trying to copy files from one computer to another. With a full-size SD card slot and a microSD card slot, files can be copied at the same time, saving even more time.

I could go on and on about this simple cell phone accessory, but it has become a staple in my daily work arsenal.