Shooting Tethered With A Canon, USB, and Mac OS X - The Saga Continues

Seems like a troubled combination lately, and it's often discussed on this

forum and elsewhere. i've even posted a few questions in this forum about

this very subject.

 

And no, using a CF card reader to copy images over isn't the answer. I need to

preview my RAW format capture on something other than my camera's LCD screen.

 

I've tried reinstalling Mac OS X to an earlier version, and not installing OS

X updates. I can get the camera to show up in either Capture One or EOS

Capture, but it's not consistent. And when it does show up, I can only get one

or two images to appear correctly - the others are either white files, or

totally black files.

 

I can cable up my Canon 20d just fine with a 10' USB cable on a Windows

machine, no problem. However, I'm not ready to retire my nice Mac machines

running OS X.

 

So, my question is this: although my Canon 20d doesn't offer Firewire, is a

Firewire connection more reliable on Mac OS X?

 

What combination of hardware/software DOES work to tether a Canon camera to a

Mac?

 

Which Canon camera, Firewire or USB, which capture application, how long of a

cable, and which OS X version are you running? What combination actually

WORKS?

 

 

Thanks!

I don't know if this helps, but I use the Zoom Browser EX, and had to download the current version to get it to work. I have a PC, but had the same issue's. Once I downloaded the newest version of Zoom EX, it worked fine. (Canon 20D, PC, 4' USB Cord)...It seems that I read somewhere, that if you use an extended USB cord, you have to have an inline amplifier (Repeater) on it, but I'm not positive on that.

 

Mike

Thanks, Mike.

 

I questioned the length of the USB cable, also. I wondered if it might be a source of trouble.

 

I'm still wondering if Firewire isn't the answer to all my troubles.

 

Thanks again,

 

Tom Hanser

FireWire will provide a faster connection, but I think you need to quantify what you troubles are, before you can determine whether or not FireWire is the solution.

What communication mode do you have specified for your 20D? Have you tried the other one?

I haven't tried the "other" communication mode, no. But I'll look into that. Normal, or PTP? (peer to peer).

 

Sometimes the camera shows up, and sometimes it doesn't. And in the studio, I get good images, then I get white frames, a good image, and then black frames. Strange.

 

I AM trying to nail down these tethered anomolies, but I have to wonder what these expensive digital backs use to transfer the image to something like Capture One.

 

I used to shoot a Megavision back on an RZ67, but they had their own proprietary serial cable. Very long, but VERY expensive.

 

So, my question is still the same: do Canon cameras work better with a Firewire connection, on a Mac, compared to a USB connection?

 

I'm familiar with the trouble OS X has had with software updates disabling USB connections, but I thought I had that fixed when I reverted to an earlier OS version.

 

I could stand to upgrade my 20d to a Canon with Firewire, that's for sure.

 

Thanks, everyone.

 

Tom Hanser

I haven't a clue how to solve your problem. However I can say I've used both my 20D and 5D

tethered to my old G4 Duel under OS 10.46 and 10.48 (latest EOS Capture app) and it worked

fine. I jacked into a Belkin USB 2 hub which was connected to an IOGear USB 2 PCI card.

 

Whenever I get flaky behavior I rebuild permissions and/or run Disk Warrior and that usually

fixes it. It's also possible you have a corrupt preference file (dump it) or an incompatibility

with a 3rd party piece of hardware or software.

I think the answer may lie in the length of USB cable as well. I have no problems with long

tethers USB cables when I use either my Powered USB hub (Mine is from Belkin) or a

powered USB 2 hub card I installed in my Mac. I've done this both at home on my G4 and

at work on a G5 and it works fine. When I go directly into the normal USB connection on

my Mac's I have problems.

 

I have also used my G4 laptop the same way on location but have best results inserting a

powered Hub into the mix. I use a Canon 10d and a 1ds Mark II. Have also done it with a

20d converted to an IR camera.

 

Michael

Like Michael, I suggest trying a powered USB hub. That has solved several communications

issues I've had, although none involved a DSLR.

Thanks, everyone.

 

I just ran all my updtates for OS X Tiger, and used Onyx to repair permissions, as well as a "complete optimization".

 

After a restart, I can see the camera in System Profiler, but Canon EOS Capture doesn't recognize my camera as being connected.

 

I've tried both a short 4' USB cable, and then a 10' cable. No change.

 

Ironically, I've had this setup working at one time, and it seems intermittent.

 

I don't have a "powered" USB hub, but I recently instaled a USB 2.0 host card internally. Seems to work fine.

 

I've also tried cabling the camera directly to the USB port on the machine itself (which is USB 1.0, as I undertand it). No change - the camera is not recognized.

 

This is why I'm asking if Firewire is any more reliable, and less like SCSI voodoo.

 

Thanks again.

However...

 

Canon EOS Viewer Utility DOES see my camera, but when I select it in the file menu column (on the left) I get an error message that it can't communicate with the camera.

 

What's up with that?

 

On a Mac, there isn't a driver to install, correct?

 

Thanks!

Actually now that you mention it, Firewire has been 100% reliable for me, although I've never

used it with a tethered camera (use it for FW audio and HD). USB can be flaky from time to

time. OS 10.47 basically made USB unreliable and I had to downgrade back to 10.46.

However it works fine with 10.48. EOS Capture works for me both through the powered hub

and directly jacked to the Mac. I prefer the hub for the extra cable length.

 

Have you tried Canon Camera Window? It also has a live capture feature. I haven't tried it

since OS 10.46 but it worked fine with both my 20D and 5D.

I've just installed Camera Window (comes with Image Browser - I downloaded it from the Canon site), but it won't communicate with the camera.

 

This is a pain.

 

I'm thinking of upgrading cameras and trying Firewire. As soon as I hit the lottery...

 

Thanks, everyone. Why doesn't this work on a Mac?

<P>"Why doesn't this work on a Mac?"</P>

 

<P>It does work on most Macs. I have never had a problem on any of my Macs under both

OS 9 and 10. </P>

 

<P>Obviously there is something wrong with your setup. Trouble shooting is a grand

pain. I recall the few times I encountered a hardware or software incompatibilty it was

always due to a 3rd party sofware or hardware conflict. Here's how to do it:</P>

 

<BLOCKQUOTE>1. Remove non-Apple PCI cards and place external drives offline.</

BLOCKQUOTE>

 

<BLOCKQUOTE>2. Reformat your disk and do a clean system install. Of course you'll want

to backup everything (clone the disk if you think you want to restore later). Personally I'd

use an external HD and set it as the new startup disk.</BLOCKQUOTE>

 

<BLOCKQUOTE>3. Install the Canon software and work it. If it's fine, begin to install cards

and non-Apply software one at a time. After each install, test EOS Capture. When it stops

working, you know which one is incompatible. Toss it.</BLOCKQUOTE>

 

<P>One final thought before reformatting. You might try logging out of your user name

and create a new account. If EOS Capture works under the new account, you know your

user account preferences are corrupt and need to be tossed. Happened to me once in OS

10.3. Programs wouldn't load, hardware was invisible, etc. Once I tossed the preferences,

everything when back to normal.</P>

Thanks, Puppy Face.

 

This is a recently re-installed OS, after I formatted the drive. It had been a while, so I decided to nuke the drive and start from scratch.

 

I was able to connect to the camera and shoot a few (intermittently) after the OS was installed, and NO OS updates were downloaded. Then it started to act flakey.

 

I've decided to install all of the updates that were pending, since Onyx was giving me an error when I ran maintenance (repair permissions, etc).

 

So, I can see the camera on the USB chain in System Profiler, and also in EOS Viewer Utility, but if you try to select the camera, or "connect" to the camera, it throws an error message. "Can not detect camera". Strange.

 

Unplug or power down the camera, and the EOS application says "disconnected" from camera. Strange.

 

OK, I'll run through your suggestions, Puppy Face. But I wasn't planning on nuking the drive again, and re-installing the OS. Or pulling out hardware.

 

Thanks, everyone.

I hope this helps.

 

I went ahead and tethered a 5D to a G4/Capture One (using Canon's supplied USB cable).

 

Capture One didn't find the camera. I went through the 5D menu to "Communication." It was set to "Print/PTP." I went ahead and switched it to "PC Connection." I turned off the camera, quit out of Capture One, turned the camera back on, and relaunched Capture One.

 

It works perfectly now. I love tripping the shutter via the "capture" button and having the shot pop up on screen. No more CF sneaker net.

 

rudy

I too have been having the same troubles with the 20D, and my powerbook G4 trying to

use EOS Capture. Except I couldn't even get the camera to be recognized.

 

I went the other way than you did however, and may have found a solution.

 

I uninstalled all of my canon software. Reloaded the CD's that I got with the original

packaging, and now all is running well.

 

I am currently running 10.4.8 OSX, with DPP 1.5, EOS Viewer Utility 1.2.1, EOS Capture

1.2.0, and Photostitch 3.1

 

I've just remotely captured with no troubles as of yet for the last hour.

 

I had kept up with Canon's updates, and think that may have been the root of the

problems.

 

 

Good Luck!

Dale

I'm on a MacBook (Intel) running 10.4.9 with a 20D and can't get this to work. I've tried both the original Canon software from the disk and the updated versions. When I try to open the EOS Capture software, nothing happens. The computer definitely recognizes the camera - I see it in System Profiler and can open it with Aperture.

 

Has anyone got this to work with an Intel machine?

I am having the same problem. Anyone get this to work?

<p>Is it my imagination or is it 1 and half years later and these same issues still exist?</p>

<p>EOS Utility seems to offer great functionality when it functions, but I am not able to take more than a couple of pictures using live view connected to a computer without EOS Utility hanging. I am using version of 2.6.1 of EOS Utility on a Mac running Mac OS X 1.5.6. Additional computer details follow, but is the software really this lame or does it work better than this under the right conditions? If so what are the right conditions? Oh, I am using a 5D MII<br>

Thanks in advance. <br>

Model Name: MacBook Pro 15"<br>

Model Identifier: MacBookPro2,2</p>

 

<p > Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo</p>

<p > Processor Speed: 2.33 GHz</p>

<p > Number Of Processors: 1</p>

<p > Total Number Of Cores: 2</p>

<p > L2 Cache: 4 MB</p>

<p > Memory: 3 GB</p>

<br />

 

<p>hey friends !<br>

I'm using macosx 10.5.8 2ghz intel core duo 2 gb 667 ddr2 , canon eos 1ds mkii , Dpp , eos viewer ,eos utility , everything up to date , camera with latest firmware , new firewire cord , System profiler can see the camera , repaired the permissions , install and reinstall everything , and still can't manage to work tethered ! wft is going on ?</p>

<p> </p>