problems with A40 & Zoombrowser

[johno8]

Hi guys! I have been successfully using my A40 for the last month with no problems. Now I go to download the images through zoombrowser and i get the message 'cannot connect to camera'. I tried using the 'select source' button & select my camera model, this allows download of images only.....no movies! I uninstalled all programs that came with the camera including the twain driver, all according to the manual. When I reinstalled software, a message popped up that read 'The MPR.DLL file cannot start. Check the file to determine the problem'. I am running a P3 733 with Windows 98SE........any suggestions?

[bigdave]

Zoombrowser seldom worked correctly for me. Although they make great cameras, the same cannot be said for Canon's bundled software. Try Installing Breezesys downloader. It's free and should do whatever you want. Or your could just upgrade your OS to WinXP and use the WIA drivers to drag and drop files... your choice. Good luck.

[johno8]

At last a resonse! Thanks bigdave....will try breezesys.

[Conk]

Here is a popular freeware I use http://www.irfanview.com/

[caseybea]

I've heard from MULTIPLE sources that Zoombrowser is well... JUNK.

I have had my A40 for about a week (love it, by the way) and have NEVER installed that software.

Instead, I use a CF card reader. You can get them really cheap. It also saves on batteries not using the USB connection.

I *did* however, install photostitch. If you want to see what photostitch is capable of, check this out:

http://www.cpg.mcw.edu/www/livingroom.mov

You'll need quicktime installed.........

[GeorgeM]

I am knew to this forum and purchased an A40 a couple of months ago. I too really like the camera as well.
Have a question about ZoomBrowser. Aside from MSPaint on my Windows XP OS, I don't have any software to manipulate my photos..for example what I can do with ZoomBrowser..crop....embellish color..change contrast..brightness..etc. To that end I would like to upload pics from my hard drive and manipulate them on Zoombrowser. I can't figure out how to do this. Can anybody suggest what to do?..believe it can be done.
Thank you,
George...P.S. knock on wood..my ZoomBrowser has worked OK for me..no issues thus far....also I really like this forum...Thanks again

[bigdave]

Congrats on your Canon A40 purchase George, and thanks for posting. Just so you know... MS paint isn't really made for photo editing, so if I were you, I'd just forget about using that. As for zoombrowser, I don't use it now, but if memory serves, you can adjust the saturation of colors, contrast, and brightness as you said. Also I wouldn't be surprised if you can simply locate the picture you want on your hard drive and just drag and drop it into the zoombrowser window. From there you can edit the photo and then save as a new filename. IMHO you should go ahead and purchase Adobe photoelements. It's a great program for sprucing up your photos, and it's fairly cheap compared to it's better (PhotoShop).

With PhotoElements you have many more tools at your disposal. Eventually, you'll probably end up using something from Adobe, but for now (so long as it's working) zoombrower should be fine. Oh and by the way, just to clear up some confusion... if your editing some photo using zoombrowser, it's already on your hard drive. Well I've typed and typed and typed, I hope my advice comes in handy. Happy shooting!

[GeorgeM]

Hi Dave,
Thank you so much for helping a digicam neophyte like myself. I am new to digital photography and greatly appreciate your advice as I am in a very steep learning curve relative to not only taking photographs using the manual controls on my A40 but how to manipulate the pictures as well. Thanks again for helping out this newbie. Figured MSPaint was a bit clumsy to tweak my pics...did use the stretch mode to reformat/downsize some pics for web posting however.
I will be sure to investigate the other software as you suggest.
Thanks again Dave,
George

[johno8]

Going back to the original question......I downloaded Breeze Systems Downloader v1.5 & I have'nt looked back. Can now download jpeg's & avi's very easily....gave up on zoombrowser. If u r having problems with zoombrowser then I recommend trying downloader v1.5!
Thanks again bigdave...

[GeorgeM]

FYI to those like myself who always felt that the quality of Zoombrowser was not consistent with Canon's excellent family of small digicams. I just purchased my A40 in December '02 and with it came Zoombrowser v3.2. Zoombrowser aesthetics and ergonomics seemed archane...generally agreed to by all that have tried it. Canon has answered the critics with a new and improved version...Zoombrowser 4.0..much nicer...new architecture..less corruptible...much easier on the eyes than the dated v3.2. Another plus..downloading seems much swifter..better interaction with My Pictures directory/Windows XP OP also. On balance a huge improvement. For those inclined to upgrade..Canon has made the new version available on the home page of their web site...click and download.
You will have to move your pictures out of the Program files directory of your hard drive as part of the exercise of upgrading to ZBrowser V4.0.
Wanted to pass this along to the forum.
Since believe my A40 is an unbeatable camera for the price and can't beat Canon's support network.
-George