EOS Utilities a huge resource hog on Intel Macs

[bunnspecial]

A lot of the photography that I do is done in my informal studio, with my camera(a Digital Rebel XS) clamped on a tripod. As a result, I almost always tether the computer to my camera and control it using EOS utilities. I use live view mode, and effectively never touch the camera once it's set up-I adjust shutter speed, focus, and everything else from the computer.

Since switching to Macs a few years ago, I've noticed that EOS Utilities seems to be a big resource drain on my computer. Any time I'm using it, the fans rev up to full blast, the CPU usage gets near 100%, and if the computer isn't plugged into outlet power the battery will drop about 1% every minute(I normally get several hours on a charge).

My computer(13" MBP) shipped with 10.7, and I'm currently running 10.9. I initially was using the version of EOS Utilities that came with the camera, but have downloaded the most up-to-date version that will work with my camera. Nothing has really changed.

Not too long ago, I started picking up cheap PowerPC laptops. I set all of them up with EOS Utilities just so that I could grab whatever laptop I wanted and use it. I installed the version that came with the camera, and all the PPC laptops I use are running 10.5.8. I don't think there's a more up to date version of EOS Utilities for these. Interesting enough, the program feels very "light" on these computers, despite the fact that they are in every way inferior to my Macbook Pro and every other Intel based computer I have(a couple of Core2Duo based Macbooks). My 12" Powerbook(1.5ghz PPC G4, 1.25gb RAM) has become more or less permanently tethered to my camera, at least for use on the tripod, and it doesn't break a sweat doing the same tasks I use to do on my MBP. The CPU temperatures stay manageable, the fans barely run, and the CPU usage stays well below 50%(which is more than I can say for browsing the internet on this computer).

Has anyone else noticed something similar with these combinations of components and software?

 

[mofunk]

How much RAM do you have on your Mac? I don't Tether with my camera/mac but if you have a lot of applications open it will slow down your computer. Also you have to take in account all the files that you have too.

If you shoot under the Admin account it will be slow. YOu can try creating another user account on your Mac and have the software accessible for you to tether, I bet it will run smoother.

 

[bunnspecial]

I have 8gb on my MBP...

As I said, I have zero issues on PPC computers with MUCH less RAM. The 12" Powerbook I've been using lately has 1.25gb.

 

[The Bad Guy]

All software is a resource hog these days. Apparently optimisation isn't a thing anymore.

 

[Silver78]

Did you not know? Canon is too busy making their new line off ultra planned obsolessence printers. No time to touch up on their camerasoftware

 

[bunnspecial]

All software is a resource hog these days. Apparently optimisation isn't a thing anymore.

Did you not know? Canon is too busy making their new line off ultra planned obsolessence printers. No time to touch up on their camerasoftware

Good to know-I'll just keep using a Powerbook when I need to tether, and save the Intel Macs for other stuff.

And, yes, I think optimization went by the wayside a long time ago.

I have a friend who is in bioinformatics(basically computer biology/biochemistry work) and optimization is a fact of life for him. Most of his stuff-even optimized-is resource intensive and he has the university's cluster at his disposal. Even so, the difference between optimized code and non-optimized code is maxing out 100 cores for 12 hours vs. 2 weeks(and, yes, that's a real example). He's also a gamer(I'm not) and it's a pet peeve of his how most games today don't really need the resources they consume for what they are accomplishing-they just keep plugging along with bad code and assume that people will keep upping their hardware to keep up them. By and large it works, but it doesn't make it any less of a pain.