Software
The EOS 30D is provided with the 'Canon EOS Solutions Disk 12' which includes:
- Canon ZoomBrowser EX 5.6
- Canon RAW Image Task 2.3 (RAW plug-in for ZoomBrowser)
- Canon EOS Utility 1.0 (transfer / settings / remote capture)
- Canon EOS 5D WIA driver
- Canon PhotoStitch 3.1
- Canon Digital Photo Professional 2.1 (updated to 2.1.1 here)
Note that Canon has now dropped EOS Viewer Utility, RAW Image Task becomes its replacement and can only be used through ZoomBrowser. RAW Image Task (RIT) is essentially a 'DSP emulator' in that it for RAW conversion it produces identical output to the camera (with the same settings). Digital Photo Professional however uses its own RAW conversion algorithms and so images have a different 'look' to them.
Canon EOS Utility 1.0
Canon EOS Utility is a new application introduced with the EOS 30D, it encapsulates image transfer from the camera, camera settings and remote (tethered) capture (including timed and timelapse shooting). By default it is installed to launch automatically when the camera is connected to the computer (and disappears once disconnected). Upon connection the following window appears:
As you can see the first image indicates that you can initiate image downloading by pressing the 'direct print' button on the rear of the camera (which is illuminated in blue when the camera is connected), doing so will simply transfer all images based on the conditions chosen on the camera (all images, select and transfer, wallpaper). The second option ('Starts to download images') transfers images depending on the conditions set in EOS Utility's preferences. The third option provides the option to select images to be transferred and then initiate the actual transfer:
Camera settings / Remote shooting
The 'Camera settings / Remote shooting' option launches an updated version of the EOS Capture remote control application which allows you to control camera settings and trigger exposures on a tethered camera. Images are saved to the local hard disk (and optionally also the storage card).
Settings are adjusted by clicking on the display panel and pressing the left or right adjustment arrows. Note that camera settings are now adjusted using the record and setup icons at the bottom of the remote capture window. You can also execute 'Timer Shooting' (time lapse) which can be configured to take an exposure at specific intervals.
Picture Style settings
The record tab allows you to program the image parameters for the camera's in-built Picture Styles. It also allows you to load new Picture Style definitions (.PSE files) into the camera, these are provided on the Canon Picture Style website.
Canon ZoomBrowser EX 5.6
(Note that this section is from our EOS 5D review, as nothing of significance has changed).
ZoomBrowser is Canon's centralized transfer / browsing / organization / editing and printing application. The default browsing mode is 'Zoom Mode' (as seen below, and hence the name) it provides an overview of folders and sub-folders with a unique automatic sizing thumbnail display. Sub-folders are shown as boxes within a box of thumbnails, you can click on a folder to 'Zoom' into it and display images under that etc. Two other view modes are Scroll Mode (a more traditional thumbnail display with collapsing folder headings) and Preview Mode (a kind of film-strip display). Hover your mouse over any image to see a larger version of it, double-click to view the image in a full size window (see below).
View Image
'View Image' mode shows one image in a large window, you can of course browse through images, magnify and scroll around the image (a navigation window opens when you do so), view images two, three or four at a time and even lock images side-by-side for comparison purposes. You can also enable display of AF points and shooting information (as shown below).
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| Single image view, magnified with navigator, shooting information and AF points. (5D focus points) |
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| Four-way comparison view, four consecutive shots shown 'synchronized' together at the same magnification and position. |
Tools
In Edit mode you apply some basic adjustment / correction; Red eye reduction, Auto adjustment, Color/Brightness, Sharpness, Trim and Insert Text. Clips of four of these tools are shown below.
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| Auto adjustment | Color/Brightness adjustment |
|---|---|
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| Sharpness | Trim Image |
Returning to browse mode you have a series of buttons shown in the 'Task Area', these provide access to the various features available in ZoomBrowser. Each feature is listed below:
- Acquire & Camera Settings - starts CameraWindow
- Acquire Images
- Set to Camera
- Remote shooting
- View & Classify
- View as a Slide Show - start a slide show
- Rename Multiple Files - rename files based on a mask
- Classify into Folder - copy/move images based on date
- Search - find cataloged images based on various conditions
- Edit
- Edit Image - red/eye, correction, trim, external edit
- Stitch Photos - starts PhotoStitch
- Process RAW Images... - starts RAW Image Task (see below)
- Export
- Export Still Images - export selected images, resize, reformat
- Export Shooting Properties - output shooting data to a text file
- Export as a Screen Saver - produce a screen saver based on the selected images
- Export as a Wallpaper - export as a wallpaper image and activate
- Backup to CD - backup the selected images to a CD-R
- Print
- One Photo per Page Print - print a single image on a page
- Index Print - print an index of images
- Layout Print - starts PhotoRecord in Layout Print mode
- Easy-PhotoPrint - optional Canon software
- Print Using Other Software
- Internet
*
- Email Images - email selected images, includes resizing / quality
- Canon Image Gateway Register / Login
- Canon Image Gateway Top Page
- Canon Image Gateway Album
- Upload to Canon Image Gateway
- Download My Camera Contents
* This option may not be available in certain regions
