Digital Camera

October 27, 2005 10:59 AM

I'm looking for a digital camera that doesn't require a driver or software. Just USB.
posted by madmath to Shopping (20 answers total)

what kind of computer are you on? Most cameras can just plug into a Mac without a driver. My Canon did.
posted by dobbs at 11:00 AM on October 27, 2005

As does my Canon PowerShot SD400. I plug it into my PowerBook via USB, and iPhoto automatically opens and imports. No drivers needed.
posted by cribcage at 11:03 AM on October 27, 2005

Most digital cameras -- brands like Canon, Kodak, Nikon, HP, etc. -- can plug into Macs and WinXP machines without drivers. Just USB.
posted by pmbuko at 11:03 AM on October 27, 2005

Response by poster: I am working for a public library; we are not allowed to add drivers. We can just use USB.
posted by madmath at 11:05 AM on October 27, 2005

Many cameras support this capability. On top of that, you can get a USB reader for whatever flash media your camera uses, so that way you can get photos off of *any* digital camera via the reader. They're relatively cheap and found at most electronics and office supply stores.
posted by knave at 11:08 AM on October 27, 2005

Don't buy Olympus if you would rather avoid drivers or software. I lost my install disk, and after a drive crash discovered that Olympus did not supply replacements for free. It's a good camera, but when I have to comb BitTorrent in order to use it....
posted by solid-one-love at 11:10 AM on October 27, 2005

My Minolta just plugs in. I didn't have to install anything, though I already had Picasa.
posted by MrMoonPie at 11:15 AM on October 27, 2005

That would be... almost all of them nowadays.

If it says "USB Mass Storage" anywhere in the specs, you don't need any special driver. (Although the manufacturer may still include its own funky crappy software to install - you can just skip it.)
posted by jellicle at 11:17 AM on October 27, 2005

I have no problem using my Olympus C-4040 ZOOM with my Mac, but I don't connect the two. I slip the memory cards into a USB media reader that came with the camera. No problem.
posted by cribcage at 11:17 AM on October 27, 2005

I use OSX and I've plugged plug several digital cameras in the USB port without any problems. iPhoto takes care of it. I hear WinXP does the same
posted by matteo at 11:20 AM on October 27, 2005

Jellicle makes a good point: Don't be scared off by the fact that the manufacturer may include software with the camera. Most do. Remember those old, ubiquitous AOL CDs? Same thing. Toss 'em in the trash.
posted by cribcage at 11:33 AM on October 27, 2005

Sony cameras will mount to Windows and Macs without drivers. They show up as removable storage and XP will recognize the jpgs and open up a box to let you do stuff with the photos. And as said plenty of times before, Mac OS will open iPhoto.
posted by birdherder at 11:36 AM on October 27, 2005

Response by poster: So, if I were looking at the Canon PowerShot SD400 and it says it contains a CD-ROM featuring Canon Digital Camera Solutions, ArcSoft PhotoStudio, and drivers, is it necessary to use this software, or is it optional? Thanks.
posted by madmath at 11:38 AM on October 27, 2005

Best answer: So, if I were looking at the Canon PowerShot SD400 and it says it contains a CD-ROM featuring Canon Digital Camera Solutions, ArcSoft PhotoStudio, and drivers, is it necessary to use this software, or is it optional? Thanks.


Totally optional. I have a canon camera too, and you just plug it in (on Win2000/XP or a Mac anyway)
posted by stupidcomputernickname at 11:41 AM on October 27, 2005

seriously - 15-20 dollar USB card reader will solve any and all problems. Saves battery life on your camera - and just tends to work with much less hassle than moving pictures directly from your camera.
posted by Wolfie at 11:47 AM on October 27, 2005

I second Wolfie's suggestion. I've never bothered trying to plug a digital camera into a computer - I just pop the cards in a card reader. No drivers, no custom apps, everything just magically works.
posted by Mars Saxman at 12:02 PM on October 27, 2005

dobbs writes "what kind of computer are you on? Most cameras can just plug into a Mac without a driver. My Canon did."

Hey - it could be an Amiga, it could be an old 8-bit machine which has been "pimped", it could be a completely customised Linux kernel; the rest of the world doesn't solely revolve around Windows and Mac, y'know ;-)
posted by Chunder at 12:51 PM on October 27, 2005

Not all Canon's made in the last 18 months will just show up as a drive letter, instead requiring Canon's special software. Be aware that some models of even mainstream brands can cause problems.

We've been going the 6/7/15 in 1 card reader solution. It's a lot easier and allows are students to use CF/SD instead of flash drives for storage if they want.
posted by Mitheral at 1:01 PM on October 27, 2005

Don't buy Olympus if you would rather avoid drivers or software.

I have owned two Olympus cameras. Neither has ever required any special software or drivers. Plug 'em into Windows, get a mapped drive, no fuss, no muss. On Linux, set 'em up in fstab and mount and unmount them as needed.
posted by gimonca at 9:42 PM on October 27, 2005

"the rest of the world doesn't solely revolve around Windows and Mac, y'know ;-)"

... but most of the world does!

My canon ixus works straight into USB, no need for the manufacturers disk. Worth knowing, though, that Win XP Pro seems not to notice cameras plugged into USB if you also have a scanner plugged in.

Cost me 4 hours of Googling on Xmas day last year to discover that you need to unplug the scanner when you plug the camera in.
posted by Pericles at 1:38 AM on October 28, 2005