Why can't iPhoto handle my 1GB CF?

[hob]

I have a Canon PowerShot S50, which is a lovely camera. It came bundled with a 1gb CF card. I've not had any problems using iPhoto for 50-100 photos, but I just went on holiday, and almost filled the entire card. Now I plug my camera in, iPhoto loads - goes to import, then i get the beachball... then nothing! The hard disk CF spins down and I can't import my photos!

Anyone know what's going on?

Hob

 

[Freg3000]

I once filled up a 512 MB CF card last summer, and when uploading to iPhoto, it took a good couple of minutes "thinking" a.k.a. beachballing before it allowed me to import. I was using iPhoto 2 of course, so that may have been cleared up with iPhoto 4.

How long have you waited before you gave up on it? 10 minutes? An hour?

 

[javabear90]

You could try image capture. That usally seems to work.

 

[crap freakboy]

Granted I've only got a 256mb card and its SD (if that makes a difference)but I only beachball for say 5 seconds in iViewmedia Pro.
FYI G4 400mhz, 10.3.4, Canon Ixus II. Personally I've never got on with iPhoto, always seemed laggy to me....but hey I'm Mr.Sawtooth

not much help was I?
If you do try the 21 day trial of IViewMedia I'd be interested if you still get that amount of beachballing.

 

[realityisterror]

even with my 256MB card, it takes a good minute or two for the camera and computer to have a nice chat and see what's going on....

maybe you need to be more patient? if that doesn't work, just try image capture...

reality

 

[wordmunger]

Yep, I'm with everyone else here. Plug that thing in (make sure the camera has fresh batteries), then head on down to starbucks and sip down a latte, slow. Don't come back in less than an hour. Make sure your energy saver settings don't put your computer to sleep before the import is finished. I've got just a 128 MB card, and it takes a good 5-10 minutes to import.

If you expect to be filling up your card regularly, you'd probably be happier if you got a separate cardreader.

 

[crap freakboy]

I've got just a 128 MB card, and it takes a good 5-10 minutes to import.

5 to 10 for 128mb??? So glad I dont use iPhoto, with over 20,000+ archived photos I would have spent weeks waiting for it to decide to download them.

Please, anyone serious about photography please give iView a try.

 

[seamuskrat]

I have a Sandisk 1 gig card in CF format and the Canon A70.
I find that connecting the card via the camera takes about 5 minutes to initialize and read.

But I also have the Epson R300 which does direct prints. So, I plugged my CF into it, and it appeared on the desktop immediately and iPhoto read it in 20 seconds.

So, I think the delay is more camera to Mac than Card to Mac.

I would look into a cheap external CF reader as that should speed it up.

In my case its night and day, so I never plug the Canon into the Mac anymore.

 

[reaper]

I've got a Sony-T1 and I use the USB cradle to transfer to iPhoto. I have never had a pause longer than 10-20 seconds while it "reads" the card and asks me if I want to import the photos. Then the transfer is limited by the speed of USB of course (so my 512MB memory stick duo takes about 2-3 minutes), but that's it. I would probably use a card reader if I were you.

- reaper

 

[kaltsasa]

I've found that importing in iPhoto can have some quirks sometimes, usually image capture will import anything I throw at it.

 

[wordmunger]

5 to 10 for 128mb??? So glad I dont use iPhoto, with over 20,000+ archived photos I would have spent weeks waiting for it to decide to download them.

Please, anyone serious about photography please give iView a try.

I bought a USB card reader for my camera when I first bought it, but then the manufacturer stopped supporting Mac OS X with new drivers (I think they never issued an update beyond Mac OS 10.1.5).

I've thought about getting a new cardreader, but then I realized I only take a lot of pictures 2 or 3 times a year when I go on vacation. Usually it's just a few snapshots of family/friends. So, it's not really much of a problem to wait 5-10 minutes 2 or 3 times a year.

 

[jxyama]

i have canon s230 (3 mpx) and use it with a 512 MB. i use an external CF reader and it never takes more than a few seconds for the iPhoto to get up to speed.

importing them takes time, since it's over USB1, but iPhoto recognizes the card fairly quickly.

it made a big difference when i went to iPhoto4. with iPhoto2, i remember having to wait quite a long time even with a 128 MB card.

 

[lha72]

Same Problems

I experience similar problems with IPhoto and my Nikon D70 and Kodak LS443. I first experienced problems when going to Panther and trying to download from the Kodak LS443 using 256MB and 128MB SD cards. The transfer would hang up. I called the expensive Apple Care, and the tech told me to "Just work around it by using a card reader and importing them to a folder on the desk top, then copy them into IPhoto."

I have the same problems with my Nikon D70 using CF cards, no matter what size - 256MB, 512MB, and 1GB. The problem is the same whether the card is in the camera, or in a card reader. My workaround is to plug the card reader into an open USB port on the computer, then when the icon comes up on the Mac, open it and copy the digital images to a folder on the desktop, then drag and drop them into IPhoto.

I'm doing this on a Dual 1GHz G4 with 1.5 GB RAM running Panther 10.3.4, so it's probably not the machine or operating system. More than likely a quirk in IPhoto.

Learned two valuable lessons here. Never buy Apple Care, and buying the upgrade IPhoto CD with all the other stuff I don't need such as garbageband was a waste of money.

 

[abhishekit]

You could try image capture. That usally seems to work.

I second that. I never use iPhoto to import, image capture is faster and better.

 

[superbovine]

if you buy one make sure you buy the is USB 2.0 and acutally transfer at that rate. it makes a difference in transfer time. i transfer streetpilot maps in and out of my CF, it a lot quicker that way.

I bought a USB card reader for my camera when I first bought it, but then the manufacturer stopped supporting Mac OS X with new drivers (I think they never issued an update beyond Mac OS 10.1.5).

I've thought about getting a new cardreader, but then I realized I only take a lot of pictures 2 or 3 times a year when I go on vacation. Usually it's just a few snapshots of family/friends. So, it's not really much of a problem to wait 5-10 minutes 2 or 3 times a year.

 

[7on]

hehe, I use a card reader while I'm like out with my laptop. But when i'm at home with my Powerbook in it's dock, my Kodak also has a dock. So I just pop it in and import. It takes longer to import and delete with the camera than it does with the cardreader. I'm usually not in a rush so it doesn't matter.

 

[hob]

guess i'm just not being patient enough! the canon software for the camera works better but looks rougher. Guess i'll just try the starbucks idea

What's image capture?!

Hob

 

[jxyama]

image capture is another app that should be present in the Applications folder. you can use it to import images or movie clips from cameras attached via USB. it's more versatile than iPhoto for importing images/movies... (and quicker)

since no one mentions it, i assume everyone here has iPhoto4. if not, get it because it's much, much faster than iPhoto2.