If a digital camera says it can handle USB 2.0, does that mean it won't work in a USB 1.0 port?

July 15, 2006 5:44 PM

If a digital camera says it can handle USB 2.0, does that mean it won't work in a USB 1.0 port? I'm in the market for a digital camera, and have been looking at the Canon PowerShot series, namely the A620, SD450, and SD600. All of these have USB 2.0 listed as the interface. However, my 800mhz G4 Powerbook has USB 1.0. Does this mean those cameras won't play nice with my laptop?
posted by invisible ink to Technology (10 answers total)

Best answer: USB 2.0 is backwards compatible. It'll just transfer at 1.0 speeds.
posted by porpoise at 5:45 PM on July 15, 2006

Best answer: USB 2.0 is supposed to be backwards compatable with USB1.0 - so you can use it, but file transfers will be... slower.
posted by SansPoint at 5:45 PM on July 15, 2006

Darn it. Shoulda used preview.
posted by SansPoint at 5:45 PM on July 15, 2006

Best answer: All USB 2.0 devices are backwards compatible with 1.1 and 1.0 (I'm pretty sure your Powerbook is 1.1, not 1.0). In any event, those cameras will work perfectly with your laptop, however, they will be limited to 1.1 speeds which are MUCH slower than 2.0 speeds. (11 Mbit versus 480 Mbit, IIRC).
posted by birdsquared at 5:48 PM on July 15, 2006

Response by poster: Thanks everyone! You're all best answers.
posted by invisible ink at 5:51 PM on July 15, 2006

It'll work fine, but slowly. I'd suggest getting something like this which you can leave in your PowerBook's slot all the time. When you want to transfer pictures just put the memory card in the reader. It saves having to find wires and will be a little bit faster than USB.

The fastest speeds on your computer will be with a FireWire reader.
posted by cillit bang at 5:53 PM on July 15, 2006

Response by poster: Thanks for the tip, cillit bang. If my budget can handle it, I will definitely consider buying those.
posted by invisible ink at 6:02 PM on July 15, 2006

My SO has an SD450 (loves it) and we've used it with both USB 1 and 2 ports - the difference really isn't that much of a hassle. Youll be very happy with the 450. Im a Nikon nut and even I love it.
posted by datacenter refugee at 10:09 PM on July 15, 2006

If it has a card (MMC, CompactFlash, etc) then you can just spend the $10 and get a card reader. Saves some of your camera battery too. That's what I did with my Nikon Coolpix 2100 camera. When I stick the CF card into the reader, iPhoto launches and everyone is happy.

That's also a great way to go when your cat chews up the nice proprietary USB cable for your camera. ;-)
posted by drstein at 7:10 PM on July 16, 2006

Not what was asked, but I can highly recommend the A620, and would suggest reading the review here for more information.
posted by hankbear at 6:49 AM on July 17, 2006