The Little Digital Camera Book
Looking for a friendly, comprehensive primer on digital cameras that assumes you know next to nil about digital photography, yet manages not to treat you like a dummy? Look no further. In The Little Digital Camera Book, authors Cynthia Baron and Dan Peck help you go digital by providing a no-nonsense, jargon-free introduction to shooting, enhancing and sharing images from a digital camera. The Little Digital Camera Book covers everything nonprofessional photographers need to know about purchasin
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Question by iowan4life: How do I import videos I took on my digital camera onto my Mac Book?
I tried using iPhoto and it imported pictures but just skipped over the videos. I think they might be i the wrong format or something. Is there a program I can download or another way to do it other than iPhoto? Also, my camera doesn’t show up in finder so I can’t do it that way.
Best answer:
Answer by Faith Machine
If you look in your Applications folder, you should find a little program called “Image Capture.” Assuming your camera’s connected to your Mac with a USB cable, Image Capture should have no problem seeing all of the videos and still images in your camera’s memory. At that point, you’ll be presented with the option of downloading some or all of these files to your hard drive.
Image Capture is free and included in any normal installation of the Mac operating system, so if -for some strange reason- it’s not currently on your machine, you should be able to install it from the system CD or DVD that came with your Mac, or perhaps download it from the Support section of Apple.com.
Also, if your camera stores pics and vids on a Compact Flash, San-Disk, or other type of removable smart media card, you could always invest in a USB card reader, which would allow you to connect the removable storage media directly to your Mac without even involving the camera. USB card readers have become very affordable in recent times, to the point that if they were any cheaper, they’d be free.
Now then, that covers actually getting the files from your camera onto your Mac, which I suspect is what you meant by “importing” them.
In the parlance of Mac software users and creators, however, “import” is what happens when you tell a program –say iMovie, for example– that you want it to open up –and copy or move– a file while simultaneously adjusting the file’s format so that it can be understood, played, and/or edited by the program in question.
If you happen to be using iMovie to edit video clips, or think you might do so at some point, –or if you plan to purchase a camcorder– you should be aware that Apple specifically configures their hardware and software in such a way as to make it nearly impossible for iMovie to import or capture video footage through anything other than your Mac’s IEEE-1394 “Firewire” port.
So, you can use a USB connection to copy movie files from your camera to your Mac, but if you actually want iMovie to be capturing and importing footage from a mini dv camcorder in real time, as the camera plays back its digital tape storage media, you’d better make darned sure that camcorder has a firewire port!
Regarding your suspicion that your camera may be shooting videos in a format that’s not Mac-friendly, this is quite possible, especially if it’s one of those cameras that had all kinds of Windows system requirements listed on its box, and no mention whatsoever regarding Apple or OS X compatibility.
If, after you’ve successfully transfered these videos to your hard drive, you discover that they are in a format that can’t be played or edited by your existing Mac applications, I would recommend using Visual Hub:
http://www.techspansion.com/visualhub/
This is the only program I’ve encountered that consistently laughs in the face of weird, Windows-only video files, and then just hunkers down and magically converts them so they can play on a Mac with no problems. At less than twenty four bucks, it’s a huge bargain, but if you look around you can also find free-ware that does similar conversions, albeit without Visual Hub’s uncanny success rate.
Good luck, and I do hope I’ve been helpful!
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
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Review by Shayne Bowman for The Little Digital Camera Book
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If you are a newcomer to digital photography, this inexpensive book is for you. The Little Digital Camera book covers the gamut of your needs: How to use your camera; share pictures with friends and family; organize and protect your digital files; find a photo editor that suits your skill level and needs; along with digital photo creative projects. The writing is thorough, clear and informative, without being overwhelming. Thankfully, the content is truly cross-platform, viable for both Mac and PC owners. Overall, excellent value for your money.
Review by Tim E Robertson for The Little Digital Camera Book
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If you were lucky enough to receive a digital camera for Christmas you may be wondering just how to use said new gizmo. Perhaps your questions are even more fundamental: Is this the camera for me? If it’s not can I exchange this camera for a cheaper one and keep the difference? Just where does the film go anyway? Cynthia Baron wants to answer your questions and she wants to make a little dough in the process. To achieve this laudable goal she and Daniel Beck have written The Little Digital Camera Book. The Little Digital Camera Book is a good read for anyone who just bought a digital camera and a great book for anyone who is getting ready to buy a digital camera. The Little Digital Camera Book is not as well suited for the intermediate user or for the budding Ansel Adams who understands the technical aspects and aspires to take better pictures.The Little Digital Camera Book opens with a very brief history of photography followed by a few steps to prepare your computer for the imminent image exchanges. If you have more than a passing familiarity with RAM and why you need it skip to Chapter 2 that’s when the book first becomes useful. Chapter 2 of The Little Digital Camera Book is a potentially big money saver if you’re one of those bigger numbers must be better type of person. If you read carefully you’ll realize you don’t need that 5-megapixel-money pit, a 2 megapixel will likely suit your needs. The rest of the chapter is fairly useful as well, though you are not going to end up saving a couple of hundred bucks by continuing to follow Cynthia L. Baron’s advice. If you just can’t bring yourself to part with the … cover price of The Little Digital Camera Book at least stand and read chapter 2 in your local bookstore; the advice therein is well worth following.The rest of the book is not as immediately useful to the novice user but the majority of The Little Digital Camera Book will be useful to the average digital camera owner at some point. You get your basic photo composition tips (rule of thirds et al), your basic image editing tips (though these a bit too general to truly be useful), some info on storage options and just enough info on online versus local printing options. All of the information is pertinent and all of it is well presented. The information you find most useful will undoubtedly not be the info I find most germane but there’s something in The Little Digital Camera Book for everyone.I do have a few gripes about The Little Digital Camera Book. The same camera is used as the model throughout the book. This is fine if you own an Olympus but if you use any other brand of camera you might feel a bit cold-shouldered. Since The Little Digital Camera Book is (presumably) a book aimed at just about any novice user it might have been more interesting if a variety of cameras were used for demonstration purposes. My last gripe regards color photographs. Photography books have to address color and color correction owing to the nature of the subject but a precious few actually go to the extra expense of providing color plates to illustrate the point being made. I regard this exclusion as a necessary omission but a few color plates could have put The Little Digital Camera Book at the top of my must have list.Bottom Line: The Little Digital Camera Book manages to cut a wide swath without being over simplistic or overly detailed. The Little Digital Camera is a nice book for beginners, pros should look elsewhere.MacMice Rating: 3.5 out of 5————————————————————————Chris Seibold
Review by Robin for The Little Digital Camera Book
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This is a great book for people who, like me, only have rudimentary knowledge of digital cameras. It answered so many questions that I had about both taking photos on a digital camera, and then editing them on the computer and using online. Highly recommended!
Review by Roz Goldfarb for The Little Digital Camera Book
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For anyone learning to use a digital camera, this book is simply indispensable. Be it a typical beginners question or the need to learn and master the more advanced nuances, the examples are clear, easy to understand and of great help. I would highly recommend this excellent guide that clears many of the questions often posed by non-professional photographers. I use it as a constant reference.
Review by Pamela J. Segni for The Little Digital Camera Book
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There are no books that tell you what to do between when you take your digital photos and when the prints arrive on your doorstep. The Little Digital Camera Book tells you how to transfer photos from your camera to your computer, store them, name them, edit them and everything you need to know. As a novice on the computer and with digital photography, it helped me a lot.