Canon EOS 400D/Kiss Digital X/Rebel XTI Raw & iPhoto

[robbieduncan]

I'm currently in Japan on holiday and bought an EOS 400D (well actually a Kiss Digital X) a few days back (they are already availably here).

It's really great but iPhoto does not understand the RAW files it generates (.CR2). It's not listed on the Aperture compatibility list either. Is there any way to use the files or do I have to wait for an iPhoto update?

I intend to buy Aperture when it supports the camera, but as there is talk of a new version soon I want to hold off till then...

 

[annk]

I was under the impression that the only thing you can do with RAW in iPhoto, is to save them as .jpg, or to indicate that they'll be edited in an external editor.

Edit: Sorry, my bad - I did things in the wrong order, I posted here THEN checked iPhoto's help files. I see that iPhoto does offer the possibility to edit in RAW on some cameras.

 

[Abstract]

I think you're going to need to wait, or use the software that came with your camera.

Maybe import the photos with a card reader, and see if OSX can let you see it through the Finder. You never know.

 

[robbieduncan]

I think you're going to need to wait, or use the software that came with your camera.

Maybe import the photos with a card reader, and see if OSX can let you see it through the Finder. You never know.

Nothing can open the files at the moment. The forums over on dpreview seems to indicate that this is normal. The Canon software that came with the camera works, but it's not very friendly...

 

[seenew]

my 350D's RAW files are .CR2, and iPhoto and PS CS2 both read them..

 

[ChrisA]

my 350D's RAW files are .CR2, and iPhoto and PS CS2 both read them..

The format of a .CR2 file is different for every model of camera. The whole point of RAW format is that the file contain data from the sensor that has had only very minimal processing so the format is very specific to the sensor unsed inside the camera.

 

[cgratti]

My 30D's RAW files are .CR2 and iPhoto reads them fine. Needed the plugin for PSCS2 from adobe tho.

 

[robbieduncan]

From what I've read elsewhere the data format may well be the same but each camera records a unique identifier in the file. This identifier is used by the software to work out how to turn the data into an image. None of Apples software has this identifier in its lookup tables yet so it refuses to open the images. 10.4.8 may well solve this (or maybe Aperture 2.0?)...

 

[Abstract]

Well you'd think that just because the RAW format is the same, the files would be different because of the different sensors. This is why the software would need to be able to translate the RAW file data from each specific camera into an image, and without a "map" or whatever, the data inside is just goobly-gook.

 

[mistafreeze]

i just bought one to use as a backup on a vacation next month, i thought since it was cr2 it would also just work, the 300d had a crw and 350d had cr2, but bleh.

apparently adobe just released camera raw 3.5 but it doesnt support the d80 or the 400d, they are working on getting 3.6 out by fall, fall is 3 days away and they released 3.5 on 9/19 so who knows, maybe it will come out at photokina

i hope it drops soon, as well as an updated version of aperture.

the lcd screen is kinda nice, but the camera seems cheap to me, the knob you twist to change modes feels cheap, and the side where you put in your usb cable is very cheap, my 350d looks and feels much nicer.

 

[Abstract]

the lcd screen is kinda nice, but the camera seems cheap to me, the knob you twist to change modes feels cheap, and the side where you put in your usb cable is very cheap, my 350d looks and feels much nicer.

The 400D feels even cheaper? This is one thing I thought Canon would try to improve upon, since majority of people seem to think that the 350D felt cheap and too small. I was surprised to hear that the 400D was basically the same size, but I thought that they would surely improve build quality and overall feel.

I hope others don't agree with your opinion.

 

[Clix Pix]

I guess it's a language thing, but it tickles me to see a camera named "Kiss!" Somehow I couldn't take that one very seriously.

Sorry to hear that it feels as cheap as the original Digital Rebel. They'll lose out on a lot of sales, then, as potential customers who object to the way the original Digital Rebel felt won't like this one either. Well, that's OK: Nikon's D80 is waiting for them....

 

[Blue Velvet]

Well, that's OK: Nikon's D80 is waiting for them....

I wish that were so. Just ordered a 400D for work at £580 with kit lens... but the cheapest I could find the Nikon D80 for in the UK was about £800 including kit lens. That's a £220 difference, over US$400, between the two.

Still, it's only for work. When I come to buy a DSLR next year for myself, it'll be a different story.

 

[Clix Pix]

That will be a real advantage, BV, using the one at work for a while so then you'll know if you want to go into the Canon line for yourself or if you want to buy a Nikon or some other brand instead. As far as costs, I think that here in the US it's a similar situation, with the D80 priced at $999.99 whereas the new Canon is a bit less.... In the end I suspect that there are more similarities than discrepancies between the two camera bodies and that they will each turn out nice photographs with their respective lenses.

 

[Fuzzy Orange]

I bought an XTi. I might be one of the few who actually think that Canon improved the feel and build quality. But I am having the same problem with iPhoto. I hope Apple solves it soon.

 

[robbieduncan]

As noted Lightroom Beta 4 is out. This has preliminary support for the 400D RAW files. I hope to get some time to try it tonight...

 

[revdlc]

Still No XTi RAW Support from 10.4.8.

I'm glad to hear Adobe's working toward XTi RAW support; I just downloaded 10.4.8 and there's still no support for the XTi. It will come, I hope soon; in the meantime, it's still a fine camera. I like it better than my original Rebel this one replaced.

There's a RAW plist file buried in the system folder that contains all the specs for supported RAW formats. It includes the 300D and the 350D, but not the 400D. When the 350D first came out, there was a hack published to add 350D support to that file. Anyone know such a hack for the XTi?

 

[miloblithe]

That's disappointing. I just bought this camera and was hoping that 10.4.8 would add RAW support. I'm OK with waiting a while, but I imagine for lots of people this is a bigger frustration.

 

[robbieduncan]

I'm glad to hear Adobe's working toward XTi RAW support; I just downloaded 10.4.8 and there's still no support for the XTi. It will come, I hope soon; in the meantime, it's still a fine camera. I like it better than my original Rebel this one replaced.

There's a RAW plist file buried in the system folder that contains all the specs for supported RAW formats. It includes the 300D and the 350D, but not the 400D. When the 350D first came out, there was a hack published to add 350D support to that file. Anyone know such a hack for the XTi?

I tried copying the 350D definition to make a 400D one. No dice

 

[robbieduncan]

If you have a 400D and want Aperture support (well OS level support really) then send Apple feedback. I just did this. If enough of us request it perhaps they will release a Raw support update before 10.4.9 (which I can't see being available until Christmas at the very earliest).

 

[Abstract]

Tried Lightroom yet? It might work. You may have to install it just to get the RAW files out and usable. I know it's not the ideal method, but better than nothing.

 

[robbieduncan]

Tried Lightroom yet? It might work. You may have to install it just to get the RAW files out and usable. I know it's not the ideal method, but better than nothing.

Lightroom will work but there is no way to get it to output the RAW files as RAW in a format that will work in Aperture. As Aperture is basically designed to work best off RAW not TIFF/JPEG this is a substandard solution. All the shots I've taken were as RAW+JPEG so I have the JPEGS which I can use but this is not really the best solution...

 

[Abstract]

All I'm saying is that if you want to get the RAW files off your camera and take a good look at the photos, this is the way to do it.

And since Lightroom can import and understand the 400D RAW files, and export the files as TIFF, PSD, and DNG files, it would allow for a similar amount of editing freedom. That, and you'd still have the original RAW files on your computer, with all the photos you don't like weeded out and deleted, and with all metadata. After that, move those TIFF files to Aperture.

Other choice is to wait until January for another OS X update.

 

[Teddy's]

I am using 'RAW + (fine)L' and I just take the jpegs and save the .cr2 files for later. Hopefully later.

 

[Blue Velvet]

Bugger...

Does anyone know how to get the images off from the camera (400D) without using the EOS utility?

Because the EOS utility won't run in Rosetta on an Intel Mac running OS 10.4.6 or higher, much to my amazement and disappointment. No Intel Macs at work but tried it on a friend's iMac and yeah, no dice. So I had a quick look at the readme file...

Even on PPC Macs, the camera doesn't seem to mount as a drive as many other models do so you can't do a drag and drop from the camera.