trying to sync up my new camera to a mac

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siguy

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Aug 26, 2006
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i just got a Canon Powershot A590 IS a couple days ago...

it works fine with my PC laptop here, i like to just plug the camera in and then pull up the folder through my computer and transfer the photos into another folder to save them.

with the mac, the camera is funky...

when i first got it, i took a couple of quick pics and plugged the camera into the mac (using a USB through the keyboard) and it pulled up iPhoto. it wouldn't come up as a drive though, only through iPhoto (other cameras always worked like a USB drive on other macs).

but after i unplugged it and took some more photos (with my SD card instead of the one it came with) the mac won't even recognize the camera at all. still works fine with the PC.

i'm really honked off, since my mac is much faster and better for doing image stuff than the laptop, but i can't use it.

any tips from you guys that might help?

by the way, apart from that i like the camera quite alot, it seems to be behaving really well and i like the wide array of shooting options. apart from this issue it gets a :thumbup::thumbup: from me.
 
wanted to add: just tried plugging it right into the back of the CPU via USB...still no recognition from the computer at all.

the camera "knows" its plugged into the computer-when in view mode and plugged in and turned on, the screen shows an image for a second then goes blank, same as on the PC laptop...
 
Try using the Image Capture application to download the photos. It needs to be in playback mode, too.

Does the camera show up as a USB device in system profiler?
 
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Make sure your iPhoto and Mac are fully updated. This is a weird problem. I use several cameras on several Macs and they all come up like drives on the desktop and work flawlessly with iPhoto. Something needs to be updated or reinstalled (which is rare on a Mac).
 
jennifer, i'm not sure what the system profiler is, but the camera doesn't show up as a USB device in the dock or on the desktop.

i just tried using the image capture function, and it is working fine. thanks for the help guys!
 
Cannon makes you use their client software to download images from their cameras.

It's clunky, poorly written, and slow. Personally, I got fed up with it, and bought an external card drive.

Now I just remove the camera card, plug it in, and it mounts like an external drive.
 
enderwiggin said:
Cannon makes you use their client software to download images from their cameras.

It's clunky, poorly written, and slow. Personally, I got fed up with it, and bought an external card drive.

Now I just remove the camera card, plug it in, and it mounts like an external drive.
Click to expand...

:thumbup:
The added advantage is you won't burn out your camera by syncing all the photos. Card drives are cheap these days. At Costco you can usually find a deal where they sell a card and card reader for the same price as just the card.

Although the tech is totally different, you can think of it like a VCR and a tape rewinder. Instead of rewinding the tape past all the heads on the VCR and gradually wearing them down, you use the rewinder.
 
Yeah.

Here's the low down: Mac's don't show cameras as external drives. Some cameras have funny folder configurations, etc.

It should open up in iPhoto no problem. No special "Canon" only drivers and such. Mac's handle multimedia better then any other OS.
 
Jennifer_B said:
Burn out your camera downloading photos? That seems a little far fetched.
Click to expand...

It depends on a lot of things, like how many times you're downloading lots of photos.
True, most people wouldn't have much of a problem, because they just take and the occasional snap and download it.
But remember also that most electronics these days, including Canon are not built for really rigorous long term use. One thing or another conks out after a relatively short time. Using a card reader just prevents that from happening to one particular part of the camera too soon.
Card readers cost almost nothing, while a camera doesn't.

Also the tape head or reader/writer system ona video camera or a still camera is usually one of the most expensive things to fix on a camera.
 
bobofish said:
It depends on a lot of things, like how many times you're downloading lots of photos.
True, most people wouldn't have much of a problem, because they just take and the occasional snap and download it.
But remember also that most electronics these days, including Canon are not built for really rigorous long term use. One thing or another conks out after a relatively short time. Using a card reader just prevents that from happening to one particular part of the camera too soon.
Card readers cost almost nothing, while a camera doesn't.

Also the tape head or reader/writer system ona video camera or a still camera is usually one of the most expensive things to fix on a camera.
Click to expand...

You've also got to remember that because SD (and all flash based memory) is solid state. No moving parts to wear out. Tape heads tended to actually develop micro scratches that either started ruining the tape, or preventing it from being read.

Unless you plan on executing over 10,000 read/writes per bit block on your memory card, I doubt you'll have problems.
Solid state is like a fixed blade knife. Not much to break, but if it breaks it is trashed.
 
Jennifer_B said:
I'll bet you wear out the card slot door on your camera before you burn out the USB port.
Click to expand...

Or the tiny bit of plastic that the catch latches on will snap off. So now my nice camera has duct tape holding the door shut. Damned if I'll buy another one just yet. Makes it less desirable for thievery perhaps.
 
Duct tape works. Replace it once a month or so, less often if you don't use the camera every day. It comes in colors.... :)
 
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