Problem with A75 and ZoomBrowser

[BlueTit]

I gave my brother my A75 when I got the 20D. He is having freat fun with it except for one thing. He uses ZoomBrowser to download his photos which works 90% of the time, but sometimes when he connects the camera, selects all to download, Zoombrowser creates the folder and looks like it is going to copy, but the blue bars run across the dialogue box really fast and it is finished, but nothing is downloaded.

My brother has a total aversion to computers and is really only interested in the photography, so using Exploerer etc to download is not an option. What really drives him nuts (and me when I am getting support over the phone for hours!) is that he will try it repeatly and it will eventually just work. But that might be the 10th or 12th time. :evil: :evil: :evil:

Has anyone else had this problem and do you have any solution to it?

Thanx in advance.

[BlueTit]

??? Any suggestions at all, he will be here tomorrow looking for a solution :rolleyes:

[Don Schaeffer]

Go to the Canon page to download a newer version of the browser. The one I got with my disk for my A70 didn't work too well either , but the update works perfectly. You may consider giving him a cardreader as a gift. The memory card is a disk drive and you can copy images directly from the card to the hard drive.

--Don

[Poco]

I know this isn't the perfect option since he already uses Zoom browser, but I always suggest Picasa for the computer illiterate. It is very easy to use, is very fast, has connections to some online print services (if he is so inclined to print his photos), and allows some simple adjustments (The favourite has to be the "I'm feeling lucky" button). It will download photos from the camera or card reader. I even suggest it for the computer literate as this is what I use. I gave up on Zoom browser many years ago (I can only hope it has improved since then).

[BlueTit]

Poco, that's an excellent idea, Picasa, I had forgotten about that. Don, you are probably right about the version of ZB, it is 3.1 I have a copy of 5.0 I could give him, but the layout is a bit different so I thought I would leave him with 3.1, but now you mention Picasa that's what I will give him. The is a very clever program for a freebie, I used to use it all the time too. Thanx again.

[Don Schaeffer]

The only trouble with Picasa is that it is a very intrusive program. It will classify his every image and do all kinds of things behind the scenes he doesn't know is happening.

It is a good program though. I didn't know it could be used that way.

--Don

[BlueTit]

Ouch! What kinda things is it getting up to behind the scenes. I don't mind it classifying images as long as it does not touch the actual data within each image file. Please tell me it does not.

[Poco]

One of the reasons why I like Picasa so much is that it DOES NOT change the original image. It simply keeps a text file (Picasa.ini) in the folder with your images indicating the edits you have done. For example...

[IMG_0450.JPG]
backuphash=44062
star=yes
filters=finetune=1,0.000000,0.176842,0.033684,0000 0000,0.000000;unsharp=1;crop=1,601,400,3456,2304;s at=1,0.161800;
crop=rect(601 400 3456 2304)

When you make edits in Picasa it shows you what the image would look like if you had made the edits, but doesn't make them. If you "export" them to another directory or email them or post them to your blog from within Picasa then it will include the edits.

Picasa does store some temporary data on your HD to keep track of the thumbnails (to keep up the speed it showing the thumbnails including the edits) but it doesn't touch the original. All album tools that I know of, including ZoomBrowser and Album, keep extra data on your HD to keep the images organized.

There are some exceptions to Picasa changing your originals though...

1. When you do red eye removal Picasa makes a backup copy of the orginal and applies the changes to the photo at the original location. You can still undo your changes at any time. You just want to keep this in mind if you are backing up the photos outside of Picasa - you should always backup everything in a directory, including any hidden files or subdirectories that Picasa has made.

2. When you add comments or descriptions or tag words to the image I believe that Picasa adds them to the Exif data. Some consider this "modifying" the original but some like it because it means that any other tools that can read that data will work with it. I have not experimented with it much as I am suspicious of tools that modify the Exif data since I have used some that erase other data they weren't editing. They read all the data they know of, add the new data, and write out the data. So if there is an Exif tag they don't recognize it will disappear from the output. I don't know if Picasa does this or not, I just haven't tried.

[BlueTit]

Thanx for that very detailed reply, I now know what those .ini files are for :-)

I till think it is a better option for my brother to use. Thanx again.

[Stompersman]

Does he use Windows XP? That's what I have, and when I plug in the camera and turn it on I get a popup window that includes the option of using the windows camera and scanner utility to download the pix. I find this an easy way to transfer the pictures, then I use another package to edit them.

[BlueTit]

Thanx Stompersman, I think I will leave him with Picasa now becuase he can use the one program to acqure, edi and organise. But thanks anyway.