SQL Server 2008 converts varchar to varbinary

I try to import image data into a sql server 2008 db with code like this:

INSERT INTO [TAB] (ID_PHOTO,PHOTO) VALUES( CAST('333EFB54-7062-E043-F088-FE0A916C0297' as uniqueidentifier), CONVERT(varbinary(max),'0xFFD8FFE000') )

The string is just a dummy but when I make the insert I found something like this in the database

0x307846464438464645303030

which isn't exactly what I expected. Does anybody know what I have done wrong?

The issue here is simply that a string -- '0xFFD8FFE000' -- is being converted to VARBINARY , and so each character -- first 0 , then x , then F , and so on -- is "converted" to its hex representation:

Character -- Hex value 0 30 x 78 F 46 F 46 D 44 8 38 F 46 F 46 E 45 0 30 0 30 0 30

So, the 0xFFD8FFE000 was seen as just a string of characters, just like "this is a test", instead of as a sequence of bytes.

Fortunately, the fix is quite simple: just add a "style" value of 1 for the optional 3rd parameter to CONVERT :

SELECT CONVERT(VARBINARY(MAX), '0xFFD8FFE000', 1); -- 0xFFD8FFE000