Skip to Content

Mac 101: Camera-specific application launching

by Aron Trimble Sep 15th 2009 at 4:00PM

Courtesy molenlavapit.com
If you're the proud owner of a multi-camera/single Mac household then you've probably run into the problem of what happens when you plug in a camera not necessarily being what you intended. For instance, my wife used to have an issue where iPhoto would always launch when she plugged in her iPhone. This was because her Canon camera launched iPhoto whenever it was plugged in via USB.

Creig Sherburne has discovered that in Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, however, camera/application management woes are tackled via an Apple utility that comes with the system. The latest iteration of Image Capture (version 6.0 at least) includes a preference setting for specifying which application to launch when connecting a camera. There's an even option for having no application launch, which is a nice feature if your Mac is running on scarce resources and some rogue program is taking up memory when trying to open.

Lest you think that by not upgrading to Snow Leopard you're in the lurch (though if you can, you should, it's only 30 bucks) fear not. There is a third-party solution for this issue; Cameras prefpane from Flexibits, which we noted back in July, beautifully (and freely!) solves this problem for Tiger and Leopard users.

Got any other handy, camera-related tips? Let us know in the comments!

[Via Daring Fireball]


View Tags
 

Add a Comment

Sign in »
*0 / 3000 Character Maximum

10 Comments

Filter by:
Ben Treston

If previously you had Automator handling your automated Image Capture duties, it is all kind of different now. I have a very stable 10.6.1 install, but trying to do an action that Imports Images, puts them into a folder and then renames the files can cause a Kernel Panic.

I have tried using the 'Other' setting to launch an Automator app, but that does not work - neither does an Image Capture Plugin...

In the end, I used AutoImporter, and then set a Folder action on that folder...

This needs some looking at from Apple engineers - at least to avoid the Kernel Panics...

September 15 2009 at 4:53 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Ben Treston's comment
Darick

I recently realized that AutoImporter has some preferences that you can set. You can access the preferences as you would in any other application: while AutoImporter is running, go to the AutoImporter menu and select preferences. I don't know if this helps you any, but it helped solve some of my problems.

November 19 2009 at 1:21 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Matthew Smith

I have Snow Leopard, but still use "Cameras" b/c i like the ability to choose what application is opened EACH time i connect the camera. I don't have to choose one application to open every time.

September 15 2009 at 4:39 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
netstidios

Tiger and Leopard users don't need 3rd party software to solve this problem.
Same thing can be achieved by launching ImageCapture --> preferences --> "when camera is plugged in:" set to no application.
: )

September 15 2009 at 4:32 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
3 replies to netstidios's comment
Scott

What is the advantage of connecting your camera to your computer? I've been using a card reader for years and they are still faster than the camera transfer speeds.

September 15 2009 at 4:28 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to Scott's comment
Bill Mac

uh, the "advantage" is not buying a card reader in addition to a camera.

September 15 2009 at 4:41 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Scott

A little snippy there YodaMac, having a bad day?

September 15 2009 at 5:00 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Buy an ad here

Hot Apps on TUAW

Tweets

© 2012 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.