Question about Rebel 300D... yeah, I need a new camera.

[Flatz]

So, I still use my Rebel 300D (mostly for archiving my artwork).
Sure, it would be nice to get a nice new camera, but I just spent my budget on this new Mac I got last week.


I just tried hooking up the 300D to my iMac... but can't figure out how to download images.

iPhoto shows the images that are on the camera, but only the thumbnails.
If I try to download, then I get error messages.

I tried some googling, but couldn't find anything to fix the problem.

Is there a solution to this?

Thanks.

 

[El Cabong]

What do the error messages say?

Does the memory card/camera show up in Finder?

 

[HBOC]

do you not have the correct drivers? G o to Canons' website for the correct drivers. Also, do you have DPP?

 

[Flatz]

What do the error messages say?

Does the memory card/camera show up in Finder?

Strange... I just hooked the camera up to the iMac again to see what the error message was...
But now the images are downloading.
Not sure why it didn't work before... hmmmm...

But no, the camera does not show up in Finder.

 

[funkboy]

Check whether the camera is set to point-to-point or mass-storage mode.

Personally I have a tiny little collapsable CF/SD reader (the Lexar UDMA USB2 model in this review), that is about a gazillion times faster than the USB1 interface in your 300D (or my 10D .

 

[AlaskaMoose]

Strange... I just hooked the camera up to the iMac again to see what the error message was...
But now the images are downloading.
Not sure why it didn't work before... hmmmm...

But no, the camera does not show up in Finder.

Connect the camera to your computer, and then turn the power switch ON. Keep in mind that the camera turns itself off after a few seconds. If this happens, press the shutter button just enough to wake the camera.

 

[Abstract]

Your Mac comes with a program called Image Capture (I think....not typing from a Mac at the moment), which always works for getting your images off.

If I recall correctly, your camera would only show up in Finder if it was treating your memory card as something akin to a flash drive (i.e. like external storage). Perhaps your 300D isn't capable of being detected as such?

If I recall correctly, there were some 'ew' features of the 350D that were supposedly not available on the 300D, but were actually hidden away in the onboard OS of both systems. Essentially, the difference between the cameras was just the sensor (8 MP vs 6 MP, I think), while the other differences were available on the 300D, but were locked by Canon as a way to make you upgrade to the future 350D (when released). You had to somehow "unlock" these features in order to use them on the 300D. Maybe being detected as an external storage device was one of these features?

Sorry if I can't be more helpful, but I shoot Nikon and can't remember the specifics of an old Canon DSLR.

 

[jackerin]

For the record I have never had any Canon camera show up in the Finder as a USB mass storage device.

 

[Flatz]

Connect the camera to your computer, and then turn the power switch ON. Keep in mind that the camera turns itself off after a few seconds. If this happens, press the shutter button just enough to wake the camera.

hahaha...

You remind me of those tech assistance folks.
Their fist question to the customer is always, "Is your computer plugged in and turned on?".

I'm pretty familiar with the camera and how it functions.
I've been using it for quite a few years now... since it first came out.
But I always used it on a PC with the appropriate software.

At any rate... despite it not showing up in Finder, it now seems to be working in iPhoto.
Not sure why it didn't work the first few attempts... but it's ok now.

And then it took me a short while to figure out how to edit the downloaded photos in Photoshop instead of iPhoto.
It's probably just me learning my way around a Mac, since this is my first one, and I've only had it for a week.

I admit though, that I envy some of my friends who have some sexy new cameras.
Just gotta start saving my pennies.

 

[funkboy]

I admit though, that I envy some of my friends who have some sexy new cameras. Just gotta start saving my pennies.

You'd be surprised how much detail you can eek out of that good old 6mp sensor at low ISOs (unless you're trying to make huge prints of course). I upgraded from a 10D to the 40D for a lot of reasons, but resolution wasn't very high on my list.

If you've already got a good solid tripod and good lighting, and your sensor is nice and clean, drop a hundred bucks on a Canon 50mm f/1.8, set your ISO to 100, aperture to f/8 or f/11, use the self-timer to avoid vibrations from touching the camera, use RAW mode, and expose to the right. iPhoto will handle the RAW images alright, but Lightroom and Aperture were designed from the ground up to handle this sort of workflow.

BTW there's a modified firmware out there for the 300D that enables some "crippled" features that are available in its 10D stablemate. One of these custom functions is "mirror lock-up", which drops the mirror a few seconds before the actual exposure in order to avoid vibrations caused by moving the mirror. Works very well with the self-timer. Just don't forget to switch if off when you're done...

Canon stopped simply disabling features via software in less expensive cameras (at least to a certain degree) as a result of this fiasco.