Mac laptop, iphoto, Canon A590IS

[kaneohe]

I have a Mac laptop not quite a yr old. Recently entered the modern world and got a Canon A590IS digital camera. Don't know what I'm doing yet.

Camera came w/ software on a CD. But....the Mac has iphoto and when I clicked on it , it asked if I wanted to use iphoto when I hooked up a camera.

Can I just hook up the camera w/o installing the software that came w/ the camera? If, for some reason that doesn't work.......does it just not work or can it create some other havoc w/ the Mac? If it would work with either,
what are the pros/cons of each?

The camera book only had instructions about loading the software onto
the computer but nothing about how to use it after that was done. Is it going to be (wishful thinking....) obvious what to do next?

As you can tell, I know nothing so any help is greatly appreciated.

Just out of curiosity......the camera instructions seemed to make a big deal out of loading the software that came w/ the camera first before hooking up the camera to the PC. It didn't say that for the Mac. Does that mean that all Macs come w/ some kind of camera software. What happens if you have a PC (not a Mac) and you hook the camera up w/o the camera software installed?

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

You can likely use just the camera and iphoto. If there is mac based s/w on the disk, that may offer more capabilities than iphoto does. There may also be additional tools and whatnot on the cd that osx doesnt come with standard.

Some cameras wont hook up to the mac or windows without some s/w from the manufacturer, but they'll work if you pull the memory card out of the camera and put it in a usb reader.

If you were using a windows pc and hooked the camera up, it would probably ask for a driver disk.

Oh, and dont lose that CD. Canon doesnt let you download a lot of whats on it and will want to charge you a bunch of money to send a replacement...

 

[ERD50]

I've used a few different cameras with iPhoto - and I never loaded any of the manufacturer's SW.

Like CFB says, keep it, but I would not load it. It *might* try to conflict with iPhoto, and I really can't imagine that it would do anything you can't do with iPhoto and a good generic photo editor for more advanced stuff.

-ERD50

 

[Ronstar]

Same here - 2 different Canon cameras without loading software with iphoto

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I'm not sure what the mac offerings look like, but the canon photoeditor provided for the PC is way, way more sophisticated and powerful than iphoto is.

But if you dont need all sorts of bells and whistles, I wouldnt bother.

 

[CuppaJoe]

Psst, the "iPhoto Missing Manual" tells all.

I have a Canon 560 with a Canon printer, great fun.

 

[cwatson69]

The iPhoto won't conflict with the Canon software. I've used both and I prefer the Canon software. I don't care how the iPhoto actually stores the photos. (I have a Canon Digital Rebel XT SLR.) I take a lot of duplicate photos and delete the ones that I don't want to keep. I also renumber the ones that I keep so they are all numbered sequentially.
Good Luck,
Chuck

 

[kaneohe]

Thanks all for the replies. They were useful.

Another newbie question: When I connect the camera to the Macbook, do I need to worry about whether they each are off? In the old days w/ PCs,
I somehow got this notion that the PC and peripherals needed to be off when you unplugged/plugged cables in. Still true? Or was it ever?

 

[CuppaJoe]

Don't know if this is the best method, but this is my habit: I use the same plug as for the internet so go out of net and other programs to get to desktop, leave laptop on, camera off. Plug in laptop and camera, then turn camera on. When the camera is on, the laptop will go right into iPhoto. After everything is imported, right click on the camera icon, unplug then turn camera off when it says "unmount." I don't know how to do that without a mouse and that is one of the reasons I bought a mouse for it.

Anyone know how to do it with the built-in track pad?

 

[travelover]

I don't have a Mac - I use a PC - but I find it convenient to just plug the memory card into a USB adapter and transfer the digital files like I would off from any memory stick.

It works for any computer, no CDs and no messing around learning a new program.

 

[kaneohe]

Psst, the "iPhoto Missing Manual" tells all.

CJ---this was the magic step I needed to boost my confidence. I'm an old school paper manual type guy and I keep forgeting about online help. I took a leap of faith that my camera was on the approved list because I couldn't get on the website recommended (it was), and it worked following the instructions and I didn't need a mouse. So now I'm off and crawling.....thanks!!

btw...the disconnect instructions are to drag the camera icon to the iphoto trash can (I guess that's the equiv. of your right click on mouse?), turn off camera, disconnect. Might be different from your camera.

 

[CuppaJoe]

I don't have a Mac - I use a PC - but I find it convenient to just plug the memory card into a USB adapter and transfer the digital files like I would off from any memory stick.

It works for any computer, no CDs and no messing around learning a new program.

-
Probably a lot faster and easier on the camera battery.