iPhoto no longer recognizes photos from my Kodak EasyShare V803

Welcome to Apple Discussions,

Your profile indicates you are running Mac OS X 10.0.x. This is not possible if you are also running iPhoto '09.

The message you indicate could be caused by bad (corrupt) pictures on the camera.

Give these steps a try just in case it is an issue with the program and not the pictures:

Remove the following to the trash and restart the computer and try again:
Home > Library > Caches (I remove the whole folder. It will be re-generated upon restart.)
Home > Library > Preferences > com.apple.iPhoto (There will may be more than one. Remove them all.)

If the issue persists try importing a different set of images to ensure iPhoto is functioning correctly.
Try going to File > Import to Library > Macintosh HD > Library > Desktop Pictures. If these images import then we know there is something wrong with the images on your camera.

Try importing the pictures using Image Capture found in Macintosh HD > Applications. If Image Capture can import the pictures you can then try importing them to iPhoto again.

If you find the issue is with the images on the camera consider using these best practice tips to avoid or minimize the impact of issues in the future:
_Ensure your camera has a full charge on the battery before you import (Or run off of AC if possible).
_Ensure the date and time on the camera are correct before importing.
_If you are using a media card reader and are getting regular failures, try using a different reader or the camera itself (The same is true about importing directly from the camera. Try a reader instead.)
_Plug the camera directly into the computer with a solid connection, no loose cables. Don't use a hub.
_Reformat the camera's media card using the camera itself between uses.
_Alternate between multiple media cards during photo shoots (trips, etc) so that if one card goes bad (they are just little bits of plastic after all) you don't lose the entire shoot.

Hope that helps.

I'm having the same issue; after being able to import my photos from this same camera with no issues, not all of a sudden I get this import error that the files are in an unrecognizable format and won't import them. I must say as a new Mac-ian, the instructions/suggestions provided are not clear to me. Where is "Home" so I can get to Library and cache?

'Home' is your user account`:

HD/ Users / Your Name /

Regards

TD

Welcome to Apple Discussions,

As TD indicates "Home" refers to your Home folder which is where your files are stored. This is represented by a small house icon you see in the Finder with your Name next to it.

To get to "Home":
In the Dock (long strip of icons at the bottom of the computer screen) click on the Finder icon.

Look in the sidebar on the left hand side of the resulting window. You will see the Home.

FWIW, my daughter has a similar issue with a Kodak EasyShare C182.

When attached to a MBP or iMac, the thumbnails are fine up until the time of the first *.MOV file. From then on, sorted by date, every picture and *.MOV file appears as a blank box, and when I try to import any picture --- before or after --- the file format (*.jpg) was not recognized.

The pictures/files are not an issue: they were readable on a Fusion/XP machine on my MBP. I moved them to a USB drive and from there I was able to add them to iPhoto '09 without any issues. So it's not the camera, the pictures, or my hardware.

The problem is located somewhere between the camera, drivers, and iPhoto '09. And I think it was caused by a recent software update, because we didn't have a problem with the last download on May 16th (or so).

I did not try removing the Caches & Preferences, as suggested, partly because I'm hesitant to delete things I don't understand. But also because if the problem is happening on more than one Easyshare, it needs a better fix.

I would tend to agree with doly135. Seems like it stopped working all of a sudden and I do remember getting an update. Plus I looked in my cache, thanks to the detailed description of the previous poster with icons, and there are a lot of things in my "caches" folder that I'm not too in hurry to delete, especially if it means I have to re-enter passwords and web address, etc. I will try saving the pics to my external storage and then importing to iphoto. I assume that is what you meant by moving them to a usb drive.

If multiple computers cannot import the files successfully then I would agree that pulling plist and caches is unnecessary (The cache file is a temporary file used by many programs on the computer. Removing this folder has very little impact as the computer will just recreate it.)

It would be a good test to remove all pictures from the camera and re-format the card.

Inconsistencies in card formatting or the file creation (picture and movies on the card) may cause issues with iPhoto. Even if a windows program overlooks those variances, iPhoto may not.

A little bit more information: The only updates I installed between working and not working are Safari 5.0 (unlikely), iTunes 9.2 (unlikely), and OS X 10.6.4.

Also, my Canon camera still plays nice with iPhoto, but I pulled out an older Kodak Easyshare DX4330, and that has a similar problem as my other one. One difference: none of the thumbnails appeared when it connected and launched iPhoto. When I attempted to import a photo, iPhoto didn't recognize the *.jgp file format, same as before.

So I doubt it's a problem with the SD cards (although that was on my list of stuff to try when I have time). If I were to bet at this point, it's that the last Snow Leopard update has some issue with the Kodak Easyshare drivers.

Aside from this post and two others back in May and earlier I haven't heard of any issue with Kodak cameras and iPhoto recognizing images since the 10.6.4 update was released on 6/15. But it's only been a few weeks. I'll keep my eyes out.

Consider the suggestion offered here of a card reader:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=11473415&#11473415

A bit more experimentation: I reformatted the SD card, and camera->iPhoto handled a *.jpg without any issues. BUT when I took a video with the camera, that replicated the problem I had previously: the first picture showed a thumbnail, but not the video or the picture taken after. And as before iPhoto said that it could not recognize the format *.jpg.

FWIW, this was definitely NOT an issue right before installing 10.6.4. My daughter was able to load both her videos and pictures from her camera into iPhoto without any issues.

I will experiment to see whether this is a problem with the older Easyshare and the Canon, but I have to run off now.

Yep same issue here guys, I also have a Kodak Easyshare camera and never had any issues until I got the 10.6.4 update. Can't load them into iPhoto, Aperture or Image Capture, just see blank previews.

One thing which may help, for now, is to download Kodak's Easyshare software for Mac, that application imported the files fine!

For both of my EasyShare cameras: if there is any video (*.MOV), the whole SD card can't be read from the camera by iPhoto. On both, thumbnails load from the first picture (by date) until the first video, and from then on iPhoto shows only empty thumbnail boxes.

If the videos are all deleted, then there is no problem at all. Pictures that I couldn't upload, are loaded without a problem. If I record a video, all the pictures are once again unrecognized.

With my Canon, there is no problem with videos.

I'm 99% convinced that it's an issue between the EasyShare drivers and 10.6.4, directly related to the video files, and I hope somebody knows how to pass on a bug report to the right people...

Same thing for me. I don't know the exact model number of my camera but it is a Kodak and up until last week I had no problems downloading images and movies into iPhoto. Then I tried to download a new batch of vacation photos (with a couple small videos interspersed) and got the unrecognizable format message). I thought maybe I had a corrupt memory card since I've had it for awhile. Bought a new 4 GB card...took some new photos at a birthday party...and 2 videos...and again..can't load any of it to iPhoto. I hope Apple can fix this issue..its annoying!

I have the same problem with my Kodak M530. Once I deleted my ONE movie, I could import my pics to iphoto. Sidenote - I imported the photos onto my iPad with no problem. I sure wish I could have kept my movie...I'm sure there's a way, but I couldn't find a way to get my Mac Mini to recognize it.

Well, that's pretty definitive, pbouker. If your iPad could handle it (iOS), but iPhoto on OS X could not, it's almost certainly an issue with OS X 10.6.4.

I put in a bug report at www.apple.com/feedback/ to the iPhoto group, but maybe it should go to the OS X group. In any case, it should be on some programmer's radar now, and with luck it will be fixed in the next update.

In the mean time, we now have a few workarounds: a usb card reader may work. Or use another machine to get the videos onto a usb drive and transfer from there (or onto your iPad and transfer the files wirelessly --- if possible --- I don't have an iPad), then delete the clips from the camera, and the pictures will likely load into iPhoto just fine.

Somehow 10.6.4 is confused by the presence of the Kodak video clips.