[Giles Booth]

I have an iMac running OS 8.6, and I've been given a Minolta Dimage V camera which doesn't have a USB connection. Rather than buying a USB serial adapter - which would be slow if it worked at all - I'd rather get a USB flash card reader like the Microtech CameraMate.

The documentation that comes with the camera says it stores its images internally in EXIF format - I understand this is basically JPEG or TIFF plus other info such as shutter speed etc.

My question is this: if I buy a USB card reader will I be able to read the images on the flash card directly in an application like Photoshop? The Mac software bundle for the camera includes a plug-in for importing EXIF images into Adobe Photodeluxe, and yet a Japanese website on EXIF says "you can view Exif format image files by JPEG compliant Internet browser/Picture viewer/Photo retouch software etc. as a usual JPEG image files".

I'm very confused!

[drfrank]

Not sure I totally understand what you are asking.

However, I have a USB Cameramate and when files are transferred to my HD they are in Quicktime format. In order to see the EXIF data contained in the files, I open them in a program called CamerAid. The function of Cameraid is to download photos via a serial connection, then open them and all of the EXIF data is preserved.

Since I use the USB Cameramate card reader I now open the transferred images using Cameraid and save a copy (in Cameraid format). These are the images I save as originals since with Cameraid I have all of the EXIF data if I need to look at it in the future.

I edit images only from copies, that way the EXIF data is not affected by the editing process.

Cameraid can be found at http://www.cameraid.com/ and you can download a demo version. It is a very versatile program, worth the shareware price.


Frank

[Giles Booth]

Drfrank, thanks for the info

I just wondered if I could open the images in Photoshop straight off the card reader without using additional software or plugins... some people have told me the EXIF files will just appear as JPEGs, others have said they won't. Anyway, I'll check out CameraAid, it sounds useful.

The EXIF file format is not so much a format for storing picture data as it is a HEADER file for picture files, usually JPEG format. So, any JPEG reader would work - from your web browser to PictureViewer to Photoshop. They appear as JPEG's.

All the camera card reader's (I have an Antec Photochute III for iMac one, works great on my G4) mount the media cards as disks on the desktop - you drag and drop the images off of the card to your hard drive, and edit them from there. USB card readers are really fast, too!

Dan

[Giles Booth]

Thanks, fisherd

I think I'll plump for the Microtech CameraMate - it'll open up the whole secondhand digital camera market to me, as I won't have to worry about finding a camera with USB. Good to hear that USB card readers are speedy - I've just transferred a batch of small images off the Minolta onto a PC via serial at work and it was *so* slow it would almost be quicker to get a film developed & printed!

[drfrank]

Photoshop will open JPEG files with no problem. My USB Cameramate transfers the images as Quicktime JPEG. I don't suggest opening the images off the Smartcard on the desktop. Copy them onto your HD first prior to opening; this will avoid any accidental writing to the Smartcard from Photoshop which could result in problems.

I also suggest you erase the images on the Smartcard in the Camera as opposed to using the reader. It is safer. Some have reported problems with the card being read after placing back in the camera if erased with the reader (no matter which one).

Frank