Okay, time for an update. There is actually an option to set the destination folder for imported photos in Lightroom, when importing from a memory card reader or a camera. This is done in the import dialog itself, not in the Preferences.

I think this is little odd, because I would expect this kind of thing to be found in the Preferences. Since I always import photos to the same location I would like to be able to set it and forget it, not to be asked about it every time I want to import photos from the camera or a memory card reader. That's why I think it would be good if the destination folder could be set in the Preferences of the application, perhaps in addition to the import dialog. One does not have to exclude the other.

While Lightroom is indeed able to copy files from cameras or memory card readers to local disk drives, it cannot copy them without also adding them to the Lightroom catalog. There are situations where I just want to use a photo application, like Canon EOS Utility, to just copy some photos from a memory card to a local disk drive but not actually work on them in Lightroom. This could be a situation where I already have these photos in the Lightroom catalog but they are stored on a different disk drive and I want to copy another set to a different disk drive as an extra backup copy, or when dealing with duplicate files, or slightly different versions of the files but with the same names. (UPDATE: Lightroom apparently does have an option for the purpose of creating extra backup copies on a second disk location. This is also found on the import dialog.)

Also, it's possible to instruct Lightroom to store photo files according to the capture date. There are quite a few formats for this - one of them creates folders in the format yyyy-mm-dd like 2010-08-02. The format yyyy_mm_dd is not available though. This can also be set in the import dialog.

How to import photo files with Lightroom 4

1. Start up Lightroom.

2. Go to Edit, Preferences.

3. Click on General tab, make sure the option Show import dialog when a memory card is detected. This will make sure the Lightroom import dialog shows up when you connect a memory card reader and insert a memory card, or when you connect a camera to the computer.

4. If the import dialog is not shown go to File, Import Photos and Video...

5. From the import dialog, make sure the memory card reader is selected on the Source panel on the left-hand side, under Devices (i.e. N:\(EOS_DIGITAL)).

6. Make sure the option Copy is highlighted at the top of the import dialog.

7. Select the photos you want to import. If you want to import them all make sure All Photos option is checked.

8. On the right-hand side click on Destination. Make sure it says By date in the Organize drop-down menu and select a format in the Date Format drop-down menu. You will see a preview in the folder tree how the photos will be stored. Make sure you choose the disk drive you want.

9. When all is set, click the Import button.

This however, is not exactly what I imagined. Because I only wanted to import/copy the files from the memory card reader to the local disk drive, without actually importing the photos into Lightroom catalog. But it is one possible solution.

In order to only import the photo files to the local disk drive, without adding them to the Lightroom catalog I guess I will have to do some research on third-party software like the Downloader Pro mentioned above. Are there any other good third-party programs for this?

I'm not sure how it is now, but there used to be a dedicated "photo downloader" in Adobe Photoshop Elements at least up to version 6. Is this still part of Photoshop Elements? Or is it just available in Adobe Bridge? I don't remember though if it only imported files to the local disk drive or if it also added them to the library/catalog.

I've tested Downloader Pro and Lightroom 4 now for importing the photos to local disk drive. I also tested one application called Cam2PC Image Downloader.

The latter is actually called Cam2PC Image Browser and as its name suggests it's a software for browsing and doing basic changes to the photos, an image organizer. But it has a dedicated downlaoder called Cam2PC Image Downloader that can be very useful for importing photos. It comes either as a payed version or a freeware version.

I also tested one called Smart Photo Import. This one could be a good alternative to Downloader Pro, but I think it still needs many improvements, and it lacks a lot of the functionality of Downloader Pro. But to be fair, this does cost half as much as Downloader Pro (13 EUR or 17 USD compared to 30 USD).

I am most impressed by Downloader Pro. It has everything I could ask for really. But I was most impressed by its speed. I've done a simple speed test to see which one is faster and here are the results.

Downloader Pro

324 files (162 JPG & 162 CR2)

Max speed: 21,25 MB/s

Time: 02:58.6

Lightroom 4

Set to render "Standard" previews

324 files (162 JPG & 162 CR2)

Max speed: N/A

Time: 03:41.7

Compared to Downloader Pro: 78% done at 02:58.6

Rendering time: 04:35.5

Total: 08:16.12

Cam2PC Image Downloader

324 files (162 JPG & 162 CR2)

Max speed: N/A

Time: 03:30.6

The max speed is the maximum transfer speed that ever occured during the transfer, and this is not something that the application is showing on it's own, it's the highest speed that I have seen with my own eyes. Unfortunately the other applications had no way of showing the speed, only Downloader Pro could show the speed. That's why it says N/A (as in not available).

As you can see Downloader Pro did the same job in shortest amount of time. Note that I could be transfering 2 or 3 cards worth of photos for the time it takes Lightroom to transfer just one.

The memory card was full when I started the test. It was a 4 GB Sandisk Ultra 30 MB/s card. The card reader was a Lexar USB 3.0 Professional. Although it was connected to a USB 2.0 port on Intel chipset motherboard (Intel X38, ICH9R). The destination folder was set to Desktop\(name of the application) on a Seagate 500 GB SATA (ST3500320AS) disk. All done on a Windows Vista PC with SP2.

One way to make Lightroom do this job more quickly is to choose "minimum" as previews rendering option. This way it doesn't spend as much time rendering the photos after being copied to the disk drive. Now, I have not tested this but I believe that Lightroom can start a second import of a second memory card whilst the first one is being copied. I'm not sure how it would affect the speed though, and you would need two card readers for this.

I wish I could skip rendering previews alltogether. I like to leave adding photos to the catalog and rendering previews for the last step. This is because it takes so long time and I like to use 1:1 previews, so I like leaving Lightroom to do this job in the morning or over the night.

I have learned to use prests now in the import dialog of Lightroom. So now it should not be a problem if I always want to copy new photos to the same location. If this location is changed I can recall it simply by choosing my preset. This is very handy.

All in all, Lightroom is very good at importing photos from camera or from a memory card reader to the local disk drive. But it's now my preferred way of importing photos to the computer. Which is why I have decided to purchase Downloader Pro. Thanks all for your help. I appreciate it!