Image Browser downloads to wrong folder

Question

I couldn't find a better category for this question than iPhoto. Sorry if there is one.
I just got a Canon powershot A630 camera. it's great. I was using iPhoto to download images and that was fine. But I thought the Image Browser software that came with the camera would offer more functionality. And i guess it does but I'm having a lot of difficulties with it.
I called Canon and spoke with tech support but they just tell me it works for them so it must be my problem. They are using mac 10.4 and I have 10.3.9 so that might be part of it. The Image Browser version is 5.7.
Here's what happens:
I have specified under "Preferences" in the "Camera Window" (that comes up when I connect the camera to the computer) for the images to be downloaded to a folder I created called "Powershot A630" which resides in the Pictures folder. The default location for download is that same Pictures folder. And that's where the images go, NOT to the folder I specified.
I've tried also setting that in the EOS window (which can only be started when the camera is NOT connected to the computer). Still doesn't help.
The Canon guy ran me through a scenario where I "select" pictures for downloading. In this scenario I get a chance to specify the destination, and in fact, it shows the destination I chose in preferences. And it does download to the correct place. But then, where the Image Browser main window lists "favorite" folders, my destination folder is now listed twice. Not desireable I think.
At this point, I think I'll just go back to iPhoto, but if anyone has a solution, or other reasons why I should use Image Browser I'd love to hear.
One more thing. The second Canon guy I talked with took me into "Image capture" utility and had me set the destination folder there. Don't see where that has any bearing on the activity at hand, though.
Thanks a lot,
Bruce
powermac g5   Mac OS X (10.3.9)  
powermac g5   Mac OS X (10.3.9)  

Answer 1

Smtr,
See my responses (marked "B-") interleaved with your great note...
Bruce,
I love my Canon Powershot A620. The 630 looks
awesome. My Image Browser is version 5.5, and I don't
know what changed with the next versions.
B- Yeah, the a630 is really nice. I previously had an A40 and this is a major step up.
Anyway, the second Canon guy sounds a bit more
knowlegdeable about Macs. The preferences in Image
Capture are where you set which application (or none)
opens automatically when the Mac detects a camera or
card. So if setting it in Image Capture doesn't work,
then I'm not sure what will. I'm afraid I can't
answer your core question here about how to download
to your preferred folder.
B- Thanks for explaining that. It's very clear. I did not understand that from my conversation with the Canon rep.
As for your choice of which app to use, consider
this: Image Browser is just that - an application for
browsing your hard drive and displaying the image
files in various ways. iPhoto is NOT an image
browser. It is a photo organizer with lightweight
editing capabilities and limited version control.
B- That's good to know, too. I was assuming that Imagebrowser was a substitute for iPhoto and I was hoping for increased funcionality. And it does have lots of stuff in it, which was more confusing than anything else.
iPhoto is a database application, so when you use it
you should NOT manipulate items in its library folder
structure from within the Finder.
B- yeah, I had discovered that
With an image
browser you always manipulate the files yourself from
Finder. You alone are responsible for the
organization of your images. With a database you
manipulate your files from inside the application,
and let it take care of the file management
automatically. The two apps are incompatible. If you
import your photos to iPhoto you should not access
them using Image Browser, because you could damage
the library. I know you weren't suggesting combining
the two, I am just trying to highlight the
differences between them.
So ask yourself if you like iPhoto's capabilities. If
you were happy with it before, then there's really no
need to switch to Image Browser. It's like apples and
... cows (oranges are too similar) and the choice is
up to you.
B- the one thing I like so far about imagebrowser is the easy way to view the image full screen. Have not figured out how to do that in iPhoto.
BUT, there is a task inside my Image Browser that I
absolutely LOVE because it does something I can't do
with iMovie. Its called "MovieEdit Task" in
Applications>Image Browser>DVCUtility. It's a great
little thing that lets you take separate video clips
and combine them into one movie. It's much simpler
than iMovie, and optimized to work with your Canon's
video clips. (Whereas iMovie prefers miniDV tape.) It
will allow you to rotate a video clip 90 degrees, so
if you turned the camera on its side to record a
movie clip you can rotate it to portrait view. I have
done this and used the clip in iMovie, and it was
perfect. Without it I would have needed an iMovie
plug-in or had to buy QuickTime Pro.
B- I'll have to look into that. I also have a digital camcorder and have used iMovie. And I'll definitely look into the rotation. My novice friend used my camcorder and shot a bunch of shots of our band with the camcorder rotated 90 degrees.
So, I sometimes use Image Browser due to the way it
handles video clips. Here, it is superior to iPhoto.
But for every day use and for the storage,
organization, and manipulation of my photos, I use
iPhoto (in conjunction with PhotoShop Elements for
real editing).
Just my 4¢.
B- Thanks for the great letter!
Bruce
powermac g5   Mac OS X (10.3.9)