D5, Mac OS X, iPhoto, Firewire reader

I'm about to buy my first digital camera after using a 35mm Maxxum for many years. I'm considering a Dimage 5, but I want to find out from other Mac OS X users just what I'm about to get into.

I want it all. I want to be able to use a firewire cardreader with iPhoto but Apple's website reports that it only supports USB ones. Has anyone out there successfully used a firewire cardreaders with iPhoto?

Does connecting the camera directly to USB work in iPhoto? The Dimage 5 isn't listed as a compatible camera on Apple's iPhoto site, but it's uncertain whether it has been tested and doesn't work, or whether it just hasn't made the list yet.

I've read in this forum that DIVU only works in classic mode. Any word whether Minolta will eventually make their software OS X native? (Maybe they're waiting for PhotoShop....)

I've also read about the colorspace issues. Is it correct that only RAW photos need to have their colorspace adjusted? I think I read somewhere that all pictures need to be adjusted. Can someone who really knows clear this up?

Luke Lin said:

I'm about to buy my first digital camera after using a 35mm Maxxum
for many years. I'm considering a Dimage 5, but I want to find out
from other Mac OS X users just what I'm about to get into.

Click to expand...

I'm running OS X on my laptop, and I have a Dimage 7.

Luke Lin said:

I want it all. I want to be able to use a firewire cardreader with
iPhoto but Apple's website reports that it only supports USB ones.
Has anyone out there successfully used a firewire cardreaders with
iPhoto?

Click to expand...

Check out this thread for some info on this...
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1017&message=2151185

Luke Lin said:

Does connecting the camera directly to USB work in iPhoto? The
Dimage 5 isn't listed as a compatible camera on Apple's iPhoto
site, but it's uncertain whether it has been tested and doesn't
work, or whether it just hasn't made the list yet.

Click to expand...

I have misplaced my USB cable, so I can't say for sure, but I THINK it will work. I say this because Image Capture (and presumably iPhoto) recognizes the camera's card when inserted in my USB reader or PC card adapter, so I assume it would be the same if the camera were connected via USB.

Luke Lin said:

I've read in this forum that DIVU only works in classic mode. Any
word whether Minolta will eventually make their software OS X
native? (Maybe they're waiting for PhotoShop....)

Click to expand...

Don't know about this, but I wouldn't hold your breath. If DIVU didn't work fine in Classic, Minolta would probably be more likely to carbonize it sooner, but since it does work, they'll probably take their time.

Luke Lin said:

I've also read about the colorspace issues. Is it correct that only
RAW photos need to have their colorspace adjusted? I think I read
somewhere that all pictures need to be adjusted. Can someone who
really knows clear this up?

Click to expand...

Opinions on this vary... some folks feel perfectly satisfied with color straight from the camera, while others like to run everything through DIVU. I usually leave "snapshots" of the kids and stuff like that unconverted.

--Mike-- http://www.pmgraphicsllc.com/mike/wrlDimage7Powerbook G4Canon S800

FYI: when I installed the Minolta software (on G4, OS9) for DIVU and downloads the installation was NOT completely automatic as Minolta leads you to believe--even though it tells you installation was successful. It was not until I manually dragged 2 library files on the installation CD into the Extensions folder inside the System folder that I could download images without repeatedly crashing. (Doubleclicking these 2 files tells you to do this.) This was true both for direct camera to Mac downloads and card reader downloads. On a PC the installation is completely automatic. (We tried it on my husband's Dell.) I didn't bother complaining to Minolta as they were such a pain in the neck to contact. You may have a similar experience with OSX. Once I copied the files into Extensions everything worked smoothly.

mcaswell said:

Luke Lin said:

I'm about to buy my first digital camera after using a 35mm Maxxum
for many years. I'm considering a Dimage 5, but I want to find out
from other Mac OS X users just what I'm about to get into.

Click to expand...

I'm running OS X on my laptop, and I have a Dimage 7.

mcaswell said:

I want it all. I want to be able to use a firewire cardreader with
iPhoto but Apple's website reports that it only supports USB ones.
Has anyone out there successfully used a firewire cardreaders with
iPhoto?

Click to expand...

Check out this thread for some info on this...
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1017&message=2151185

mcaswell said:

Does connecting the camera directly to USB work in iPhoto? The
Dimage 5 isn't listed as a compatible camera on Apple's iPhoto
site, but it's uncertain whether it has been tested and doesn't
work, or whether it just hasn't made the list yet.

Click to expand...

I have misplaced my USB cable, so I can't say for sure, but I THINK
it will work. I say this because Image Capture (and presumably
iPhoto) recognizes the camera's card when inserted in my USB reader
or PC card adapter, so I assume it would be the same if the camera
were connected via USB.

mcaswell said:

I've read in this forum that DIVU only works in classic mode. Any
word whether Minolta will eventually make their software OS X
native? (Maybe they're waiting for PhotoShop....)

Click to expand...

Don't know about this, but I wouldn't hold your breath. If DIVU
didn't work fine in Classic, Minolta would probably be more likely
to carbonize it sooner, but since it does work, they'll probably
take their time.

mcaswell said:

I've also read about the colorspace issues. Is it correct that only
RAW photos need to have their colorspace adjusted? I think I read
somewhere that all pictures need to be adjusted. Can someone who
really knows clear this up?

Click to expand...

Opinions on this vary... some folks feel perfectly satisfied with
color straight from the camera, while others like to run everything
through DIVU. I usually leave "snapshots" of the kids and stuff
like that unconverted.

--Mike
--
http://www.pmgraphicsllc.com/mike/wrl
Dimage7
Powerbook G4
Canon S800

Click to expand...

I'm using a Dimage 7 and OS X...but with a microdrive as the storage device in the camera...just pop that into my pcmia slot (it came with a travel kit/pcmia slot adapter) and it just shows up on the desktop as a disk. I just drag the files onto my harddrive...fast and easy...

Read the reviews right on this site. Phil explains it all at length. Short answer: All file types need to be converted with the DIVU for best results. It's not hard, although certainly one shouldn't HAVE to do it. And when Minolta doesn't say a word in the manual is beyond comprehension. The DIVE doesn't have a gamma adjustment, either. Major oversight. Even freeware Irfanview does that one better.

mcaswell said:

mcaswell said:

I've also read about the colorspace issues. Is it correct that only
RAW photos need to have their colorspace adjusted? I think I read
somewhere that all pictures need to be adjusted. Can someone who
really knows clear this up?

Click to expand...

Opinions on this vary... some folks feel perfectly satisfied with
color straight from the camera, while others like to run everything
through DIVU. I usually leave "snapshots" of the kids and stuff
like that unconverted.

--Mike
--
http://www.pmgraphicsllc.com/mike/wrl
Dimage7
Powerbook G4
Canon S800

Click to expand...

Alan Cook said:

I'm using a Dimage 7 and OS X...but with a microdrive as the
storage device in the camera...just pop that into my pcmia slot (it
came with a travel kit/pcmia slot adapter) and it just shows up on
the desktop as a disk. I just drag the files onto my
harddrive...fast and easy...

Click to expand...

I never thought about that route. It will work for my PowerBook Pismo, but not the white iBook or blueberry iBook. I've got to imagine the speeds through the PCMCIA slot have got to be as good if not better than FireWire.

Have you used this mechanism directly with iPhoto? Supposedly when you put a card into a USB reader, iPhoto knows to launch and start importing files to your hard drive automatically.--Dimage5white iBooknothing but OS X

Paul vzo said:

Read the reviews right on this site. Phil explains it all at
length. Short answer: All file types need to be converted with the
DIVU for best results. It's not hard, although certainly one
shouldn't HAVE to do it. And when Minolta doesn't say a word in
the manual is beyond comprehension. The DIVE doesn't have a gamma
adjustment, either. Major oversight. Even freeware Irfanview does
that one better.

Click to expand...

I read the Minolta Dimage 5 review, but didn't completely comprehend the colorspace part. I'll re-read it again. Ideally, it would be nice to have a plugin to iPhoto that takes care of these conversions. Maybe with OS X 10.3 or the next iPhoto upgrade?--Dimage5white iBooknothing but OS X

Unfortunately, I don't speak Mac. I can hardly speak PC!

Luke Lin said:

Paul vzo said:

Read the reviews right on this site. Phil explains it all at
length. Short answer: All file types need to be converted with the
DIVU for best results. It's not hard, although certainly one
shouldn't HAVE to do it. And when Minolta doesn't say a word in
the manual is beyond comprehension. The DIVE doesn't have a gamma
adjustment, either. Major oversight. Even freeware Irfanview does
that one better.

Click to expand...

I read the Minolta Dimage 5 review, but didn't completely
comprehend the colorspace part. I'll re-read it again. Ideally, it
would be nice to have a plugin to iPhoto that takes care of these
conversions. Maybe with OS X 10.3 or the next iPhoto upgrade?
--
Dimage5
white iBook
nothing but OS X

Click to expand...

Paul vzo said:

Unfortunately, I don't speak Mac. I can hardly speak PC!

Click to expand...

Well, since you don't speak Mac, I'll try to enlighten you just a little, hopefully without sounding like an ad. iPhoto is a piece of software that Apple released about a month ago which might truly revolutionize digital cameras and their usefulness. I've been holding out from doing digital photography for quite some time - partially because I wanted a real SLR-like camera but before the Dimage 5/7 they were all in the $2000 range - and mostly because although Photoshop is really powerful, it's really not a good way to organize pictures. Trying to organize your files on a hard drive, by renaming them or sorting them is really a pain. Then, when you have hundreds or thousands of pictures, things can get really out of control.

Take a look at http://www.apple.com/iphoto

Apple's hope is that you'll love the software enough to want to buy a Mac. --Dimage5white iBooknothing but OS X

Luke, I exaggerated a bit. I actually speak PC extremely well! Build 'em, teach 'em, fix 'em. But I did take a look at the page suggested, because I like to know what's going on all over the computer world. iPhoto appears to be a good, comprehensive photo management program, sort of all-in-one, and geared for those who might be afraid of deeper waters.

God bless Apple, I hope they stay in business many years. But I could/would never own one. First, I save lots of $$$ building and upgrading my HW myself. Second, I have a huge SW selection. I have a half dozen imaging programs alone that I use because for certain jobs I prefer certain programs.

To me, the choice of Mac or PC is like D7 or Nikon 5000. Both good, both take pictures, but some will like one or the other because their needs or skills vary.
Thanks for showing me the site!

Luke Lin said:

Paul vzo said:

Unfortunately, I don't speak Mac. I can hardly speak PC!

Click to expand...

Well, since you don't speak Mac, I'll try to enlighten you just a
little, hopefully without sounding like an ad. iPhoto is a piece of
software that Apple released about a month ago which might truly
revolutionize digital cameras and their usefulness. I've been
holding out from doing digital photography for quite some time -
partially because I wanted a real SLR-like camera but before the
Dimage 5/7 they were all in the $2000 range - and mostly because
although Photoshop is really powerful, it's really not a good way
to organize pictures. Trying to organize your files on a hard
drive, by renaming them or sorting them is really a pain. Then,
when you have hundreds or thousands of pictures, things can get
really out of control.

Take a look at http://www.apple.com/iphoto

Apple's hope is that you'll love the software enough to want to buy
a Mac.
--
Dimage5
white iBook
nothing but OS X

Click to expand...

mcaswell said:

Luke Lin said:

Does connecting the camera directly to USB work in iPhoto? The
Dimage 5 isn't listed as a compatible camera on Apple's iPhoto
site, but it's uncertain whether it has been tested and doesn't
work, or whether it just hasn't made the list yet.

Click to expand...

I have misplaced my USB cable, so I can't say for sure, but I THINK
it will work. I say this because Image Capture (and presumably
iPhoto) recognizes the camera's card when inserted in my USB reader
or PC card adapter, so I assume it would be the same if the camera
were connected via USB.

Click to expand...

Thanks to the answers from other helpful Minolta/Mac owners, I received my Dimage5 today and can conclusively say it works just fine under OS X, Image Capture, and iPhoto.

I plugged the camera in, set it to transmit, and Image Capture popped up with a dialog that allowed me to capture the image automatically or choose another application to receive the capture. I chose iPhoto, and all the pictures in my camera appeared in my iPhoto application. I didn't even have to drag the files to my hard drive.

No driver to install, it just worked. I love it!!!

I ended up buying a SanDisk ImageMate card reader, although now I might regret it. Just reading files from the 16MB card that comes with takes forever. I can't imagine how long it will take to load up 256Mb when my compactflash card arrives. I should have paid a bit more for a FireWire card reader.

Luke--Dimage5white iBooknothing but OS X