I recently purchased a DC290 and am quite pleased with the results. I am however having a problem once the images are downloaded to the mac. Everytime I disconnect the camera (either by 'trashing' the camera, disconnecting the USB cable, or turning off the camera), the mac locks up requiring a cold boot. I have tried the connections on both my G4 DP450 (640MB) and iBook/366 (192MB), both running 9.0.4 and the latest drivers/software from Kodak. I have run the standard troubleshooting techniques (disabling all extensions, and adding them back in one at time, etc.) I have posed the question to Kodak, but have not yet received a response.

Ironically, the USB connection works flawlessly on VPC (Win98)on the G4.

Anyone else had the same or similar problems? Any help would be appreciated.

Scott

I never got any problems with it. Actually, first trash the camera and then you're safe to do whatever you want but don't remove the cable or turn of the camera before, otherwise it is normal the computer will try to search for it and therefore bug it.

A very nice camera indeed. Too bad the colors are a little bit too saturated. Look at flesh red faces...

I have had problems since I installed the Kodak software also. My G4 with MacOS 8.6 tends to freeze when I hit more than one key at a time. So I keep the alias out of the startup folder, until I ready to download images off my flash card. I'm thinking of getting a card reader, to save the hassle and battery drain. Plus I need on to install MAME (arcade game emulator) on my camera.

-- Good Luck

Scott, I have the same problem. I get a message saying the finder has a problem or something like that, and the machine locks up. I am actually pretty annoyed as I had a windows machine before this that didn't have the problem, and everyone told me that plug and play worked better on a Mac than windows. I'm not seeing that at all.

The machine I have is an MP450 tower. The only solution I have is to shutdown when I've used the camera, then turn it off and remove the cable. Absolutely ridiculous.

And of course MacOSX public beta doesn't support the camera, so I can't use that.

I'm thinking it could be the driver from Kodak. Checked their site and they don't have any updates, and couldn't find any tech help that mentions the problem. I'm going to try and email them to see if they are aware of it. Perhaps you should do the same so that they see this isn't an isolated incident?

[As an aside, MacOS 9 is not very stable. I was really expecting it to be at least as stable as Windows95/98/Me but it isn't even close. If it wasn't for the hope of MacOSX (I'm a Unix programmer) I would be very angry]

I have had three Kodak digital cameras starting with the DC120, and have a poor opinion of cable and application downloads. The solution is to buy a $30 PCMIA card cradle, pop the smart media card into it, and drag the whole pile of pics to the hard drive – I use a PowerBook port, but a hardware solution is available – then erase the card simply by dragging it into and then emptying the trash.
Works in seconds, never lost a pic. If you choose the hardware solution, remember it's portable. Throw away the cables and CD!

Another problem I have with the camera is when transferring files from the mounted camera folder.

If I try and transfer more than 1 photo at a time (drag and drop to the desktop or another folder) it will usually fail with a message about not being able to read the file or something like that. It also locks up a few seconds just before this message appears. Then I have to try dragging and copying again...and again...and again. Sometimes it will copy them all, sometimes (mostly) it will fail part way through.

The only solution is to drag and drop each individual photo one at a time. Very very time consuming, and I have had once or twice this failed message appear.

This is not the camera. I've done this on windows (my old windows machine) and it works fine. I can drag and drop the entire photos directory from the mounted camera to the desktop and it copies all the files without problem on windows.

I've mailed Kodak about this issue and the original issue Scott raised (which is a much bigger problem...a real show stopper). I hope they will help.

I have a Kodak DC 290 as well. I use it with my 500mhz powerbook and I also have issues copying pictures from the camera to my computer. (can only copy a few pics at a time [thankfully I haven't experienced the crashing issue]) I have also had the same issue connecting the camera to an iMac DV and an iBook. In my opinion is certainly Kodak's driver. I would hope that they plan to release an update, but I've had this issue for close to a year and haven't seen a resolution. I absolutely love the camera though. I almost bought the Nikon coolpix 950, and I have no regrets in choosing the Kodak. Considering the quality of the pictures that the camera takes, I feel that the data copy problem is a minor inconvenience.

Just a reminder. If you have any of these problems, let Kodak know. If only 1 or 2 of us tell them, they'll take it as an isolated incident. I'm hoping they realise that is bad for sales if Mac users start telling other mac users that the Kodak drivers crash their computers.

Here's the web address I used to contact them:
http://www.kodak.com/cgi-bin/global/...t/contact.conf

Thanks everyone for the responses. I have now heard back from Kodak and they have acknowledged problems with OS9 and their drivers. In the interim they have offered to send me a card reader, which as several mentioned, will eliminate both the problem and the need to run the battery down!

Once again, thanks!