Mounting my camera in Finder, and/or viewing my camera photos in iPhoto.
 

When I connect my camera to my Mac, iPhoto opens up and the camera gets mounted inside iPhoto. ONLY inside iPhoto, not inside Finder.

I cannot see any of the photos on my camera. And I can only import ALL the photos, I cannot choose which ones to import. I can also not delete any photos form the disk inside my camera.

However, when I put the memory card of the camera into a memory card reader, the card gets mounted in Finder as well as in iPhoto.

Is there a way, to mount my camera in iPhoto so I can also see the photos, instead of just a camera icon? Is there a way to also mount the camera in Finder, and not just in iPhoto? And is there a way to view the photos in my camera in iPhoto, so i can view and/or import and/or delete as I want, instead of only all of them?

what Camera is it? What version of OSX are you on?

have you tried 'image capture.app' in your Applications folder... it will give you previews... allow you to download some pics and delete too.

Canon S400, OS X, Version 10.4.10

You didn't answer Photek's question.
I think I recall that the preferences for Image Capture allow you to specify what happens when you connect a camera.

With all due respect, he didn't answer any of my question(s). He asked a question that had little to do with my questions, other than that this is an alternative way to import photos. And you didn't answer any of my questions either. :)

And yes, I did try Image Capture. But that is not what I asked. Please read my original post.

To refresh your, and Photek's memory, this is what I asked: "Is there a way, to mount my camera in iPhoto so I can also see the photos, instead of just a camera icon? Is there a way to also mount the camera in Finder, and not just in iPhoto? And is there a way to view the photos in my camera in iPhoto, so i can view and/or import and/or delete as I want, instead of only all of them?"

I did not ask, "Is there an alternative way to import photos to my Mac, one where I can import photos at will and delete photos from my camera?" I asked three very specific and precise questions.

Please don't get me wrong, I do appreciate your interest in the topic, and your willingness to help, but it would be a lot more useful if you would answer the questions I asked instead of offering solutions that are not the solutions I am after, and which are not answers to my questions.

It could be as simple as no, no, and no. Or it could be yes, yes and yes, and this is how you do that. Or, if you don't know, say nothing. Or, steer me in a direction of someone who does know.

Thanks in advance.

I think I remember reading that somehow Canon cameras, by design, do not get mounted as an external harddisk. If true, you'd always need an app to interface with it. "Image Capture.app" might work, but connecting to the camera via Finder may not be possible.

1) First off, when you ask for help, you should supply as much info about your situation as possible. And you should be prepared to happily supply the answers to any questions put forward in good faith attempts to help you. The questions may be relevant whether you realize it or not.

2) And you seem to have ignored (or at least not responded in any way that explains why this is not what is desired) my point about what is in the preferences for Image Capture. To help you out even further, I supply a screen capture of the relevant preferences.

Has anyone got a solution for this? I need to browse the CF card in my Rebel XTi, and it won't mount on my desktop with iPhoto 8.

I don't think most Canon cameras support USB Mass Storage. Translation: They can't be seen as disks by the Finder.

That's why some other software is always needed to browse them. Image Capture's better for that than the Finder or iPhoto anyway, since it does allow both photo browsing and selective import of any subset of images.

The camera has had a Firmware update... can anyone tell me if this is supposed to allow for mounting the camera? (I haven't been able to apply the patch yet).

-------
EOS Digital Rebel XTi firmware update 1.1.0

The firmware update incorporates the following additional functions and corrections:

-Adds support for the new Media Transfer Protocol (MTP) USB Protocol.

This firmware update applies to cameras with firmware versions up to 1.0.5 installed. If your camera's firmware is already version 1.1.0, it is not necessary to perform this update.

I don't think the firmware upgrade will help you. Here's the details on Media Transfer Protocol.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_Transfer_Protocol
It sounds to me like the firmware update is basically to give your camera Windows Vista compatibility.

Some cameras use the USB Mass Storage protocol referenced in the article above. Those cameras show up in the OS X Finder with no problems. Some cameras, like yours, use PTP and they do not show up. Some cameras have an option in their setup menu to use either PTP or Mass Storage. Yours does not seem to have that option.

I think your only hope is to try again with Image Capture. My cameras use the USB Mass Storage so I don't know if this will work, but it's all I can think of to try. Perhaps someone else who has a Canon or other PTP camera can tell you if they have had success with Image Capture.

Another option is to install Canon's software and see if it will let you browse the files in the camera before downloading them.

Have not loaded it yet, but I understand that iPhoto in the new iLife '08 will allow you to import only specified photos. Is that what you are looking for? I know this does not answer the mounting issue, but does seem to address the issue of being able to see and import specific photos.

My older Canon SD800 allowed me to browse the directory in OSX, that's why i'm a bit confused...

Maybe Canon doesn't want people to change the contents of the camera while it is connected to the computer, in the event it is taking pictures or the user is modifying the contents with the camera at the same time.

Ron

This is indeed a potentially serious issue if there is not a simple explanation for it, though it is not well expressed so far.

I have experienced the exact same problem myself as follows; before Leopard, i.e. in 10.4.x and prior, my Nikon D200 would mount in the Finder just like any other USB device and if I chose I could drag the image file to the Desktop prior to opening them with an application such as Aperture or iPhoto.

I then also still had the additional option of downloading directly into those applications from the camera if I chose. I am not sure whether under 10.4.x when I dragged to the Desktop Image Capture opened or not. But the important points are that under Leopard the ability just to drag the file to the Desktop for some users (including me) appears to have been lost, and I will explain why this is very important in a moment. Presently under Leopard, when I connect my camera the images are certainly available for download through either (in my case) Aperture, iPhoto or Image Capture all of which recognize the camera and are available to do the job. If I had checked one of the relevant preference items one of these programs will even open automatically when the camera is connected to download the images if so specified. If this item is not checked nothing will happen until you open one of them and perform a download. Aperture, however, if already open, will automatically come to the front and ask me if I want to download.

The reason why this is not good enough is as follows; once one of (again in my case) these three programs actually download images the image capturing process they contain somehow alters the EXIF data and this can prevent some other important programs from working properly which may be critical parts of one's image processing workflow.

For example, I use frequently a terrific program called DxO which, among other things, adjusts for lens distortion on the zoom lens of my D200. For that program to work properly it is essential for them that the EXIF data is not modified or lost by any other program used in front of it and right now therefore I am unable to use DxO at all. Before Leopard, just dragging to the Desktop under 10.4.x did not touch the EXIF data and everything was OK when I subsequently processed the images in DxO. After processing I would then take them all into Aperture for archiving and selection purposes. I have spoken to DxO and they recommend in the mean time using a card reader until I can get the Finder/Desktop to mount and show the camera all by itself again. They also tell me their copy of Leopard does not demonstrate this behaviour ..... l have checked all the preference panes I can think of but am so far unable to get the Finder to recognize the camera by itself outside of one of the other programs.

If they are right there should be a simple fix and I am just doing something foolish somewere; if they are being disingenuous there may be a current bug in Leopard - but it it is certainly a problem for me right now and so it also seems to be for Zews the initial poster of this thread as well.

Perhaps Leopard is still mounting the camera, but not placing it on the desktop.

With the camera attached, open the folder "/Volumes" using the Go -> Go to Folder… command in Finder. If it's there, we should be able to force it onto the desktop in short order.

cminchom, in addition to troubleshooting the issue in the manner that Las_Vegas is advising, there's an easy workaround: Use a USB Compact Flash card reader, and remove the CF card from your camera, placing it into the CF card reader. These card readers are very inexpensive.

Trevor

There is a very helpful description of disappearing drives in Leopard (and earlier) here on the web site of Francine Schwieder at: http://pinkmutant.com/articles/invisible.html.

It seems it is not uncommon as a phenomenon. The solution she recommends in Terminal is described as:

When it comes to drives the situation is more complex in Leopard than in Tiger. For instance, the drive may get the invisible bit set and disappear from the Desktop, the Computer section of a Finder window, but still be present in the Sidebar. Also, depending on the drive, it may be necessary to issue commands to change things using a "super user do" (sudo) command. Here's the command for a drive:

sudo chflags nohidden /Volumes/"NameOfDrive"

I assume a device is the same as a drive for this purpose. Trouble is I do not know the "official" mac name of the D200 in order to do this! I tried a few variations but so far no luck.

If you think that the drive is actually mounted but not showing up in the Finder, it's easy to check that, and find out the name of the camera volume at the same time. Just launch your Terminal and copy/paste the following command:

ls -al /Volumes

Let us see what it says and we can help further.

Trevor

Before I plug the camera in this command yields:
total 88
drwxrwxrwt@ 5 root admin 170 Dec 24 09:55 .
drwxrwxr-t 37 root admin 1326 Dec 23 17:26 ..
-rw-rw-rw-@ 1 cminchom admin 6148 Dec 23 16:45 .DS_Store
lrwxr-xr-x 1 root admin 1 Dec 23 16:24 The British Museum -> /
drwxrwxrwx 1 cminchom staff 32768 Dec 24 09:55 WD Passport

i.e. it shows my internal hard drive "The British Museum" and my external USB drive "WD Passport"

When I unmount and disconnect the external drive and then connect the camera the command yields:
total 24
drwxrwxrwt@ 4 root admin 136 Dec 24 09:58 .
drwxrwxr-t 37 root admin 1326 Dec 23 17:26 ..
-rw-rw-rw-@ 1 cminchom admin 6148 Dec 23 16:45 .DS_Store
lrwxr-xr-x 1 root admin 1 Dec 23 16:24 The British Museum -> /

i.e. the external drive is gone but the camera certainly does not show instead. Nevertheless it is visible in the image applications themselves.

Even the Apple documentation on Leopard states the camera should still mount as a volume for direct downloading; so now I am stumped.

Open System Profiler (Option-Apple menu -> System Profiler…) and look in the USB section when your camera is attached. Post the information presented there about your camera.

Also, take a look at your System Log (Console in Utilities) at the time stamp that you connected your drive. This may also indicate a system failure when trying to read the camera.

I know this won't solve the problem but I would certainly agree with using a card reader in general. A direct connection to the camera via USB is problematic in all kinds of ways and is usually slower.

When the external hard drive is connected it shows as present on the USB High-Speed Bus. When it is removed it goes away, but when the camera is connected it does not show up instead. However the imaging applications themselves continue to recognize the camera and to download images if asked.
Console shows no message on connection of the camera.

Did you "Refresh" System Profiler after connecting the camara? If iPhoto sees it, it will be there.

You are quite right. Re-starting System Profiler brings up the camera as: NIKON DSC D200.
Trying the change flags command in terminal, using this name to make it visible (and with quotation marks around it as it is several words), however still brings back:
no such file or directory

I have a camera that lets me choose the mode that it works under when connected via USB. When I set it to operate in "Card Reader" mode, it opens iPhoto and mounts on the desktop. This is what is displayed in Apple System Profiler:Now, if I change it to "PictBridge" mode, it still opens iPhoto and works the same way there, but it does not mount on the desktop. This is what is displayed in System Profiler:As you can see, the difference it quite obvious. Now, how the OS determines what mode is what, I haven't the faintest idea. It has to be responses from USB queries to the drivers. You might consider looking through your camera settings to see if there is some mode setting you can change.

There's an experiment you can perform to see if the problem is some driver in the OS, or a setting in the camera. Boot the OS X CD (either Tiger or Panther) and launch Disk Utility from the DVD. Now, connect your camera and see it it shows up as a recordable device. If it doesn't appear while booted from the CD, it must then be a setting in the camera preventing it.

Running Disk Utility under the Leopard install-disk did not show a volume.

Your conclusion that the issue then must likely reside in the camera indeed turned out to be correct. Deep in the menu banks of the D200 there is a USB setting that permits the camera to show either as a drive or as a device. Lo and behold - it was set to show as a device. Somehow I must have changed it unknowingly while playing with the settings in the weeks gone by. As soon as I changed this the camera again shows up in the Finder and Desk-top as a volume.

However my original issue is unchanged: even images downloaded directly from the new-found volume will not process correctly in the DxO program which, in particular, still no longer performs its distortion corrections. I will now report this to them; if it is a larger Leopard compatibility issue they will need to address this, including in their new version 5 which is supposed to come out for the Mac imminently after already having been launched for Windows.

Many thanks to all who have helped with this detective hunt - I have certainly learned a good deal in the process.

After eliminating the Drive issue, the folks at DxO were able to provide an updated lens adjustment module to take the place of a corrupted file and their program is now running again with 100% functionality. Their response to the issue throughout I must say was excellent: both forensic and supportive.

Altogether therefore a happy ending.

I have this same problem.

None of the above suggestions work, and I still cannot access my camera from the finder.

I recently upgraded to Leopard, I never had this problem when using Tiger.

Before I could simply open up my camera straight from the finder and drag-copy everything onto my HD.

I do not like having to use an app to do this, I just want to copy the pictures as files, and not have to deal with fancy consumer software.

The only options on my camera are Auto or PictBridge.
The camera is an A560.

I have yet to try using my XSI with Leopard, but I hope it works at least!

Some cameras, notably Canon cameras do not show up on the desktop or finder - they don't mount as drives. Only way to get around that is to use a card reader.