Cameraid Compatibility Notes

In the early days, a manufacturer would use a single protocol throughout the entire product line, so if one camera worked, others would also work with Cameraid.

Unfortunately it never was quite that simple and things are getting worse, since the number of camera models has increased beyond any possibility for me to test them all. I have to rely on reports from customers to determine which models will work with Cameraid and which do not.

MacOS X

Apple doesn't offer serial port support from CarbonLib, so support for downloads from serial devices had to be removed from the Carbon (MacOS X) version. The old "classic" version works under Classic on MacOS X and can be used to download photos, if necessary.

Card readers are an excellent alternative for serial port downloads under MacOS X. Unix-savvy users may want to look into gPhoto.

General Guidelines

These compatibility notes are for photo downloads through an old style serial port only. Cameraid does a lot more than that, so you should read the manual to find out what Cameraid can do for you. If you have a large number of JPEG files (any kind, from any kind of source), Cameraid can be very useful for organizing and renaming them.

Video Cameras

Digital video cameras can take stills and often store them on memory cards. It seems there's very little Mac software to interface with those cameras though.

You can use Cameraid, if you get a card reader or you have some other method of transferring the images to the computer. A card reader is usually the best solution. There's more information on card readers in the manual and below

USB

USB to serial adapters will usually work quite well, although they are not any faster than old style serial ports.

If you only have a pure USB connection to your camera, you can't use the digital camera control window in Cameraid to do the transfers. If your camera came with software, you will either have to use that software, or use a card reader. USB card readers are quite inexpensive and often faster and more reliable than using a direct connection to the camera.

Compability for Serial Transfers

If you have additions or changes to these notes, please E-mail me at jmunkki@cameraid.com.

• Agfa ePhoto
  • Most ePhoto cameras will work, as long as they have an old style serial port
  • Some problems have been reported with the ePhoto 780
  • The new, really low end cameras that come with only Windows software will not work.
• Apple Quicktake
  • Only the Quicktake 200 will work. It was made by Fuji and is thus Fuji compatible.
  • The Quicktake 100 and 150 will not work. I'm not aware of any solutions for these.
  • Occasional QT200 cameras seem to have problems. I suspect these are related to serial communications signal levels, so check the batteries and cable for faults.
• Epson
  • At least older Epson cameras work. I haven't received any reports of models that would not work, but Epson isn't a very popular brand, so there probably aren't that many users out there.
• Fujifilm
  • As far as I know, Fuji has been true to their protocol, so all their cameras should work.
  • The DS-7 is nearly identical to the Quicktake 200 and occasionally exhibits the same problems. Cameraid has been tested and is known to work with this model, but not all individual cameras will work. Try before you buy.
• Leica
  • Leica cameras should work, as they are made by Fuji and are nearly identical to similar Fuji models.
  • This may of course change, if Leica decides to make their own cameras or sell a camera made by someone else.
• Nikon Coolpix
  • As noted in the manual, really old Coolpix models will not work with Cameraid.
  • The first model known to work with Cameraid was the Coolpix 900.
  • Others known to work and tested with Cameraid include the Coolpix 950 and 990.
  • Nikon doesn't ship old style serial cables with their USB-capable cameras. You can buy the cable separately from Nikon and use Cameraid, if your Mac has serial ports.
• Olympus
  • All older Olympus models work.
  • Later models often create folders on the memory card, which may cause problems, unless the folders can be deleted (I don't know if they can, but on Nikon cameras you can delete the extra folders).
  • Version 1.2b1 of Cameraid will feature folder access, so it should work with all Olympus cameras. It will be release "Real Soon Now".
• Polaroid
  • Users have reported success with the Polaroid PDC 640.
  • Other cameras may or may not work. You may have to try them to find out. Please report any successes to me, so I can update this list.
• Sanyo
  • At least older Sanyo cameras work. I haven't received any reports of models that would not work, but Sanyo isn't a very popular brand, so there probably aren't that many users out there. I find it likely that most Sanyo cameras will work with Cameraid.
• Toshiba
  • Older Toshiba cameras were made by Fuji and are compatible.
  • Lately, Toshiba has been designing their own cameras. Compatibility is unknown.
  • I have received at least two reports of problems with the PDR-M4. If you have been successful with this camera, please report to me.
• Canon, Kodak, Ricoh, Sony
  • Not compatible for serial transfers.
  • Get a card reader or use the software you have.
  • Cameraid can be used to browse and process the photos. Find out what it can do for you and you might be delighted.

Other Issues

Other Digital Cameras

If the make of your camera is not listed in the camera pop-up menu, you can reasonably safely try the Sanyo and Fuji protocol settings. They will either successfully wake up the camera or simply fail. I wouldn't expect them to do any harm to your camera or computer, as long as the cable you use is intended for your camera (using an Agfa cable can fry the serial port on a Fuji, even though they use the same connector).

Card Readers

These are the near-universal solution. Nearly all digital cameras produce JPEG files with EXIF headers and most of them now use removable memory cards. Cameraid works very well with all these photos.

In the current version of Cameraid, card readers are accessed through the shortcuts menu. The shortcuts comprise of an alias to the memory card (as it appears on the desktop). If the alias doesn't work, you may simply have to reset it to point to your memory card. As long as all your memory cards are named the same, it should work (the default name is "untitled", since that's how most cameras format the cards).

The second part of card reader support in Cameraid is a batch processor document that moves the files from the memory card and renames them in a single step. The original is first copied and then deleted, if the copy was successful.

The third part is an AppleScript application that will eject any volume named "untitled". You can of course simply use the Finder to eject the memory card. If your memory cards are named differently, you can edit the AppleScript to change the name. The script is really simple, but you do have to know how to edit AppleScripts (see Apple's help for more information on that).

I am currently planning an addition to Cameraid that would combine the functions of these shortcuts and do even more. I don't know exactly when it will be done, but as it is something I feel would be very useful, I'm pretty sure it will get done, eventually.