Mac 101: Connect Your Camera

Digital Cameras

Though there's only one way to connect your camera to your computer, unless your camera comes with USB and FireWire options, you can specify what happens depending on your camera model and the image editing software you want to use. Though many cameras can be connected to your computer without installing any software, check the documents that came with your camera to see what your model requires; some manufacturers require or recommend that you install software to get the full benefits from your camera.

iPhoto makes it easy to download your camera's photos to your hard drive—just click Import.

If you want to use iPhoto to view and edit your pictures:

1. Using the USB cable that came with your camera, connect the appropriate ends to your camera's USB port and computer USB port.
2. Turn on your camera. If your camera needs to be set to a certain mode to transfer photos, do so now but check your camera manual if you're not sure how. The camera or more precisely, its media card, appears on the desktop as a mounted volume.
3. Open iPhoto, if it does not open automatically. If a dialog displays, asking if you want to use iPhoto when you connect a camera, click Use iPhoto.
4. iPhoto switches to Import mode, and displays your camera or rather, the name you gave your media card in the Source list.
5. Type a name for your group of photos in the Roll Name field, such as "Vegas Vacation" or "Company Party Blackmail Photos."
6. Type a bit about your photos in the Description field.
7. Click Import to transfer photos or any movies from your camera to your iPhoto Library.
8. To disconnect the camera when finished, click the eject button next to the camera icon in the Source list. When the camera disappears from the list, you can safely disconnect it.

To transfer images from your camera using Image Capture:

If you'd rather not download images into your iPhoto library,
you can use Image Capture to copy them anywhere on your hard drive.

1. Using the USB cable that came with your camera, connect the appropriate end to your camera's USB port and plug the other end into an available USB port on your computer.
2. Turn on your camera. If your camera needs to be set to a certain mode to transfer photos, do so now by simply checking your camera's manual. The camera or more precisely, its media card appears on the desktop as a mounted volume.
3. From your Applications folder, choose Image Capture. A dialog, bearing the name of your camera should appear.
4. From the Download To pop-up menu, choose where you want Image Capture to download your files. If you want more options, click Options, select what you want, and click OK.
5. To download your images, click Download All.
6. To disconnect the camera, drag the volume icon to the Trash which turns into an Eject icon. When the icon disappears from the desktop, you can safely disconnect your camera.

To manually download photos:

You can also copy your camera's photo and movie files by simply dragging and dropping
the files from the camera volume to your hard drive.

1. Using the USB cable that came with your camera, connect the appropriate end to your camera's USB port and plug the other end into an available USB port on your computer.
2. Turn on your camera. If your camera needs to be set to a certain mode to transfer photos, do so now. You may want to check your camera manual if you're not sure how.
3. Your camera should mount like a removable volume on your desktop, you should see a removable disk icon appear.
4. Double-click the volume to open it and open the DCIM folder, which holds your pictures.
5. Drag the image files or a folder of files to your desktop or any folder on your hard drive to copy them. You can then open the files in any graphics application, and even import them into iPhoto if you wish by dragging the files onto the Libary icon in the iPhoto Source list.
6. To delete all photos from the media card in your camera, you can either drag the DCIM folder to the Trash and then empty the Trash, or delete the images using your camera's controls.
7. To disconnect the camera, drag the volume icon to the Trash, it turns into an Eject icon. When the icon disappears from the desktop, you can safely disconnect your camera.

DV Cameras

Unlike digital still cameras, digital video (DV) cameras require an application to capture the footage from the camera onto your computer hard drive. In other words, you can't just mount a DV camera and drag and drop movie files onto your desktop like you can with a digital camera. Here's how to connect a DV camera to your computer and capture footage in iMovie HD.

You can't drag and drop movie files from a DV camera to your computer
like you can from a digital still camera—instead, use a video capture application,
such as iMovie HD, to import footage.

1. Using the FireWire cable that came with your DV camera typically, a 6-pin to 4-pin FireWire cable, plug the small end (4-pin) connector into your camera's FireWire port.
2. Plug the larger 6-pin end into a FireWire port on your Mac.
3. Turn on your camera and set it to VTR (playback) mode.
4. Open iMovie HD
5. iMovie opens in camera mode; if you don't see an Import button in the interface, slide the mode switch, the short slider with the camera and scissors icons, toward the camera side.
6. You can use the playback controls in the iMovie interface to view your camera footage in the iMovie monitor pane.
7. When you find something you want to capture, click Import or press the spacebar.
8. Click Import again to stop importing.