Thoughts on Canon software and TWAIN drivers [Archive]

Rustle

17th of June 2002 (Mon), 09:10

A lot of people comment that Canon's TWAIN drivers could be better. That's certainly true, but we have to remember that there are trade-offs that software developers have to make.

Canon's TWAIN drivers do what they're supposed to do: connect the camera to a Win98/2000 PC. No more, no less. If you compare them to the Olympus drivers that allow the camera to be an external hard drive, or to companies that build Webcam drivers, then the Canon drivers seem pretty pathetic. However, we get Photostitch, RemoteCapture, and the RAW image format. Since I can get a CF card reader and buy a Webcam, I'm glad to see Canon focusing their efforts in other areas.

Out of curiousity, though, what other driver/software functions would people like to see (besides a better ZoomBrowser)?

Russ

dn7elson

17th of June 2002 (Mon), 12:11

I tend to be somewhat of a purist in these matters. If I purchase a quality digital camera, I expect it to be that and not something else. In other words, I really don't look for the "can opener accessory" for my digital camera.

I import my images directly from my CF via a CF reader (again to let the camera do what it does best and the CF reader what it does best) which is much faster and easier than using the Canon software or G2 direct connect. I just drag and drop all the images or directories that I want. Frankly, if I want to use the CF as a mini-HD, I can just as easily go the other way from PC to CF via the CF reader, as I did with the last firmware update.

So, I guess that I really don't expect much from the Canon TWAIN driver (actually, nothing as I haven't even loaded it ;) yet...I just use the CF reader driver). I can handle the JPG and RAW files in my cataloging and thumbnail program via the Canon RAW filter and then print from there or send to Photoshop to process.

What I really would like to see would be a cable shutter release so that tripod shots, particularly for macro shots of long duration would be easier than having to use the timer. This would be a hardware change vs. your software question.