MacBook Pro not finding Canon camera

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Level 1

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MacBook Pro not finding Canon camera

When I plug my Canon camera into my MacBook Pro it doesn't show up in devices or anywhere in the finder. I looked in the system profiler and it recognizes that a Canon is plugged into the USB port, but I can't figure out how to access it. Any ideas?

Little background - This is a brand new MBP and I installed the software updates. I've already tried more than one port. Our Windows machine recognizes the canon without any trouble so I feel confident it's not a camera issue. The MBP recognizes my Nikon without problems so it would seem the port is ok. Someone I spoke with at the Apple store suggested I try the USB cable that came with the camera. That didn't work either.

Thanks!

Message was edited by: rmsrms

MacBook Pro

Posted on Mar 17, 2008 7:53 PM

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Answer 1

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Neville Mayfield

Level 4

1,305 points

Mar 18, 2008 2:00 AM in response to rmsrms

Have you checked whether it appears in iPhoto? If it does the Mac is certainly able to access it. My Canon doesn't appear in the Finder either but it's not a problem in terms of usage.

Have you installed the Canon software for the camera - Image Browser? If not, you should. There is a recent update available for download from Canon. This should allow you to do whatever you need to between the camera & the computer.

iPhoto allows you to access the camera. I haven't tried other applications other than Image Browser.

Neville

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Answer 2

rmsrms Author

Level 1

3 points

Mar 18, 2008 10:45 AM in response to rmsrms

Thanks for your reply. iPhoto doesn't recognize it, either. At least not when I go to "import photos" - is there something else I should be doing in iPhoto? (I'm not planning on using that program - I'm waiting on Elements 6 to arrive)

Can you tell me more about how installing the Canon software will help? i.e. how will I use it to move the photos off of my camera. I'm hesitant to install extra stuff.

I really wish I understood why it's not showing up in the finder when the computer obviously knows it's there. I'm thinking about just getting a card reader.

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Answer 3

Mar 19, 2008 4:58 AM in response to rmsrms

I'm using iPhoto 08. When I plug in my Canon it shows in the LH column of the iPhoto window between the Recent & Albums headers under a new header - Devices. Any photos not yet transferred to iPhoto will appear and can be selected & imported. If there are no new images you won't see any - only the camera name.

Because the camera is not recognised in the same way as a hard drive it doesn't show as an option in iPhoto's Import window. I can't see how to browse it in Elements either (and am waiting for delivery of PE6).

I'm not sure what happens in iPhoto 6.

Canon provide 2 main programs for downloading & viewing the camera's photos - Camera Window & Image Browser. (There are other components in the Canon Utilities folder after installation.) CW is used to transfer photos from the camera to the Pictures folder on the Mac. IB allows you to view the images and to do some editing. Because the images have been moved to the Pictures folder you can then use the Import function in iPhoto to import the images into iPhoto.

These applications should be on the cd provided with your camera but can be downloaded from the Canon website. Updates are provided by Canon on their website from time to time.

Depending on how you set the Canon software preferences your camera can automatically start CW for downloading photos when you plug it in/switch it on.

IB creates its own library index of your photos and you can do similar things to what's available in iPhoto - slide shows, export for email, etc.

I'm no expert in all this - probably more of a basic user.

All of the downloaded photos can be opened in programs like Photoshop for more sophisticated editing and usage.

Hope this helps you.

Neville

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