Does Image Capture exist in Mojave and Big Sur?

[whiteboard]

I need to upgrade from macOS, and one of the applications/workflows that is very important to me is Image Capture.

One of my hobbies is shooting video on my iPhone, and this application makes it very easy for me to download videos from my iPhone to my MacBook Pro.

I like this application, because it mimics the Nikon application I used to use for my DSLR.

You plug in your camera/phone, launch the app, the app displays thumbnails of all of your photos/videos, you choose a download folder, and then click "Import All" and all of your photos/videos get *moved* to the destination folder.

(It is stupid to "copy" hundreds or thousands of photos/videos, so I like how Image Capture lets me "cut and paste"!)

Before I migrate to Big Sur (or Mojave), I figured I better check if this much loved application and workflow will still exist.

(I looked online, but couldn't find a definitive answer to this question.)

 

[chrfr]

I need to upgrade from macOS, and one of the applications/workflows that is very important to me is Image Capture.

One of my hobbies is shooting video on my iPhone, and this application makes it very easy for me to download videos from my iPhone to my MacBook Pro.

I like this application, because it mimics the Nikon application I used to use for my DSLR.

You plug in your camera/phone, launch the app, the app displays thumbnails of all of your photos/videos, you choose a download folder, and then click "Import All" and all of your photos/videos get *moved* to the destination folder.

(It is stupid to "copy" hundreds or thousands of photos/videos, so I like how Image Capture lets me "cut and paste"!)

Before I migrate to Big Sur (or Mojave), I figured I better check if this much loved application and workflow will still exist.

(I looked online, but couldn't find a definitive answer to this question.)

Image Capture is built into macOS and is still there.

 

[Fravin]

Included with a bunch of other bloatwares from Apple.

Image Capture is built into macOS and is still there.

 

[whiteboard]

Image Capture is built into macOS and is still there.

Good news!

 

[KaliYoni]

I'm on Mojave. I'm not sure if my copy of Image Capture was imported from an earlier version of macOS but Get Info says I have version 8.0 and the file was created in 2019.

 

[MacCheetah3]

I'm on Mojave. I'm not sure if my copy of Image Capture was imported from an earlier version of macOS but Get Info says I have version 8.0 and the file was created in 2019.

I was wondering if it was perhaps migrated from earlier versions as well. However, Get Info states “Universal” and it launches instantly on my M1 Mac. By the way, the app version is still 8.0. Evidently, Apple hasn’t added features, changed the UI in at least a couple of years — I don’t know based on a quick visual scan because I haven’t used the tool in a long while.

And I also found it in the Big Sur User Guide:

Apps included on your Mac

Your Mac comes with a wide range of fun and useful apps already installed.

support.apple.com

 

[Saturn007]

I'm on Mojave and didn't migrate anything. The Image Capture app shows up when I search for it. It's in the Applications folder, it is version 8 as mentioned. Copyrighted by Apple, 2000-2018.

Incidentally, the Photos app can automatically open whenever you insert a particular SD card or connect a particular camera — and it lets you choose which folder to import the photos to — and you can choose which ones to import. You do NOT have to Import All.

 

[whiteboard]

I'm on Mojave and didn't migrate anything. The Image Capture app shows up when I search for it. It's in the Applications folder, it is version 8 as mentioned. Copyrighted by Apple, 2000-2018.

Okay, thanks.

Incidentally, the Photos app can automatically open whenever you insert a particular SD card or connect a particular camera — and it lets you choose which folder to import the photos to — and you can choose which ones to import. You do NOT have to Import All.

Does it allow you to copy photos from your SD card or does it allow you to move photos?

That is the key requirement.

I don't want to copy, I want to move. (Copying seems to be an old artifact of Steve Jobs time at Apple and it's stupid, because why would you want to duplicate your photos?)

 

[chrfr]

I don't want to copy, I want to move. (Copying seems to be an old artifact of Steve Jobs time at Apple and it's stupid, because why would you want to duplicate your photos?)

Copying files rather than moving them off a camera card is smart, not stupid. If something goes wrong in the move process, you've lost your photos. It has nothing to do with Steve Jobs, it's just best practice when importing photos from camera to computer.

 

[MacCheetah3]

@whiteboard Continue to use Image Capture if you like. Nonetheless, to address the Photos app concern…

Import from a card reader or SD card​

Some Mac computers have built-in SD card slots. If yours doesn’t, you can connect a device called a card reader that is compatible with your Mac and use it to import photos from a memory card, such as an SD or Compact Flash card.

1. Insert the card into your computer’s SD card slot, or connect a card reader to your computer and insert the card into the card reader.
2. In Photos, choose File > Import, then select the photos or videos you want and click Review for Import.
3. If you selected multiple photos or videos, do one of the following:
   • Import all new photos: Click Import All New Photos.
   • Import a selection of photos: Click the photos you want to import, then click Import Selected.
   • If a message asks whether you want to delete or keep the photos on your card after importing them, click Delete Items or Keep Items.
   Photos then imports your photos and videos. To cancel importing, click Stop Import.
4. When all photos have been imported, eject the card from your computer or card reader.

Imported photos appear in the Imports and Photos albums in the sidebar.
Some card readers may not be compatible with Photos. For more information, check with the device’s manufacturer.

Import from storage devices and DVDs in Photos on Mac

In Photos on your Mac, import photos and videos stored on hard disks, CDs, DVDs, flash drives, card readers, and SD cards.

support.apple.com

*Emphasis mine

 

[whiteboard]

Copying files rather than moving them off a camera card is smart, not stupid. If something goes wrong in the move process, you've lost your photos. It has nothing to do with Steve Jobs, it's just best practice when importing photos from camera to computer.

The assumption is that whenever you do a "move"in an OS, the OS makes sure that the file has been successfully transferred *before* it deletes the original.

So that would be safe, and as far as I know, that is how all move/cut-and-paste operations work in file systems like Windows/macoOS/Linux.

Also, if you copy 1,253 photos to your hard-drive, then it is a pain to make sure all of them were copied over.

Who wants to have to reconcile that everything got copied? And what if you think you copied everything, and you didn't and then you delete your originals and now it us YOU that created the loss.

And, yes, the whole "we don't need no stinking move feature" is totally a relic from Steve Jobs time at Apple. (It also caused a lot of consternation among users, including me in years past.)

 

[Saturn007]

I used to check the box for delete after copying — i.e., after transferring into Photos. However, I ran into a case where an import failed and the photos disappeared! I had to go through a recovery process on the SD and managed to recover *most* of them. But it was a nuisance.

Ever since then, I leave the delete box unchecked. I simply look at the final photo imported and see if matches the last one I took. If so, I reinsert card in my camera and delete All photos — and, occasionally, reformat the card (low-level) to avoid glitches.

Haven't had a problem since then.

One wrinkle. Photos displays a small circle with a black section filling it up to show transfers. Once it's *supposedly* transferred them all, that circle vanishes. Typically, though, it take ps a couple more seconds before the transfer is finished and the final photos appear in the Import windows pane or the folder pane where they are being transferred to. So, don't give up or make a hasty decision that the transfer didn't work or hasn't finished.

Something I only recently discovered is that you can select which folder the photos will go into! There's a pull down menu at the center top of pane which says Library. The different folders are under that.

 

[HDFan]

Ever since then, I leave the delete box unchecked.

Absolutely. Don't delete until your 3-2-1 photo backup is complete.

 

[Kontikonsumi]

Is the Bug, that pictures are being imported with dupicates (when importing from image capture) still there in Big Sur? (Using it on Mojave and having hte bug there.)