Does anyone upload their Kodak camera to software other than Easyshare?
 

I was trying to upload my Kodak digital photos to Picassa and it wasn't happening. When I looked at Picassa's help, they imply that Kodak won't let you upload to anything but EasyShare. Has anyone figured out a way to upload Kodak cameras to Photoshop or Picassa or any of the other photo editing software that isn't EasyShare?

I have two Kodaks and use Picasa exclusively, however I use an SD card for storing my shots on the camera. Do you have that option with yours?

I have an SD card in my camera but I don't have an SD slot on my computer. I either use a USB cable or an old printer dock to transfer photos from the camera to the computer. Are you using an SD computer slot to upload?

Easyshare sucks! I stopped using it after the first month.

Remove Easyshare off your computer and windows should do the rest automatically. Download your pics to a folder and use from there!

Easyshare is awful! And I downloaded Picasa and loved it but it messed up all my photos in EasyShare. It sounds like you got rid of EasyShare and haven't had any problems. Thanks for reassuring me!

Thanks for the info. There isn't an SD slot on my printer either but I like the idea of buying the adaptor for the SD card! I have two Kodak cameras -- and I do love them! But EasyShare is driving me nuts!

Yep, I'd get the adapter. They're dirt cheap and you can often get a single one that reads all kinds of cards.

I tried the EasyShare software when we got the first Kodak. What a mess! I just love Picasa, though. When I discovered it, I deleted ES. I just got my new Kodak yesterday and didn't even take the ES disk out of the box.

Sorry I was late getting back in here. I had a mini-show tonight and just got back in. Should have stayed here! :rolleyes:

I used to have a Kodak camera and I know I used the Kodak software, but I'm pretty sure I was also able to just open the pictures directly in my photoediting software. It's been awhile since I had that camera though. I have a Sony now and I just open the pictures in my photoeditor.

Thanks everyone! I backed up my photos last night and got rid of EasyShare. I haven't taken any photos to transfer yet so I don't know how it'll work but I loved getting rid of EasyShare!

I spent the afternoon testing everything and then cleaning up my computer (defrag, etc). And everything is so much faster! And, I like Picasa so much better! Thanks for the help!

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who has issues with the Easyshare software. It really sucks!!

Staci, Picasa is a free download from Google and it is miles better than EasyShare. I cannot believe how much EasyShare was slowing down my computer! It's so fast without EasyShare that I feel like I got a new computer. I got rid of EasyShare, then plugged the USB cable into the camera and windows popped up with a message asking me which program I wanted to use. Since I had Picasa on my computer already, I checked that one and Windows opened it up and it was very easy to transfer my photos to Picasa. I can't believe that I waited so long to get rid of EasyShare!

I have seen others mention Picasa too. I don't use the easyshare program at all, but it is still loaded on my computer. I'm going to uninstall it and see if my computer is any faster. It has never worked like its supposed to. I have a printer dock and it should let me transfer pics from the dock to the computer but it never has. I always upload pics by putting the memory card in the slot in my hp printer.

Oh I hate the printer dock even more than EasyShare! I've switched to a little HP photo printer but it's an inkjet rather than dye-sub printer. However the little HP works so much better! Anyway, I'd had nothing but problems with the printer dock and it started only printing half the photo. We switched all the paper and ink and still had the problem, so it has now become nothing but a battery recharger since Kodak charges more than it's worth to fix it.

Anyway, I did print fine from Picasa to my little HP. However, if you're still using the photo dock to print out photos, it may require print drivers that are only in EasyShare. When I uninstalled EasyShare, I did get a separate message at the end about hanging on to some of the device drivers and I didn't but you may want to and you can always download EasyShare from Kodak again if the printer dock doesn't work.

Well, sounds like we have a lot in common - lol! My printer dock is also now just a camera charger. It stopped working right a few months ago. It would leave fine lines in the pictures and then it stopped feeding paper correctly. I took it apart to try to figure out what was wrong (yeah, right - what was I thinking!?!). I just bought an Epson photo printer. I like it so much better than the Kodak. The print quality is great - and it's so much faster!

Does anyone upload their Kodak camera to software other than Easyshare?
 

I just found the answer. It's hidden in a readme file at Start > Programs > Kodak > Camera Connection Software > Readme.

You have to get rid of the Kodak Easyshare software, which blocks your computer from detecting your camera as a drive connected to the USB port.

In Windows 2000, you go to Start > Settings > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs > Kodak Easyshare > Change. In the wizard, choose Modify and mark the Kodak Easyshare software as Not Installed. When the process is complete, you'll have to restart your computer.

Then you should find that your computer detects the camera as a drive (click My Computer on the desktop). You can open the camera drive, find the foilder containing your photos and drag thems to whatever folder you wish. Picasa will probably save you the trouble by volunteering to download the photos for you.

It's a little different if you're running Windows XP (see excerpt below from the readme file). I don't know about Windows Vista.

Anyway, it's clear you can use a Kodak digital camera without the Easyshare software.

I prefer Picasa as a photo organizer, but I find Easyshare is better at producing good colours on my Dell 922 printer. I keep the Easyshare software on an external drive that I can connect when I want to print and disconnect when I want to connect directly to the camera.

Cheers,
js

ReadMe Kodak Camera Connection Software
May 2006

This ReadMe file contains information relevant to Kodak Camera Connection software.

Windows XP Operating System

When running the Windows XP operating system and EasyShare software is not installed, there is no communication with the camera. To establish communication, uninstall Camera Connection software.

1.


Choose Start -> Control Panel -> Add or Remove Programs.

2.


Select Kodak EasyShare software, then click Change.

3.


In the Setup Wizard, click Modify.

4.


In the Custom Setup dialog box, select Kodak camera connection software, and then click Remove.

Microsoft Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) software now provides communication with the camera. The operating system displays a camera icon next to the device in the My Computer window. To access your pictures, double-click the icon.

Windows 2000 Operating System

Camera Connection software was designed and manufactured to existing industry standards as of this release date. Future hardware and operating systems may or may not support Camera Connection software. Please contact your hardware or operating system manufacturer or retailer if you encounter compatibility problems between Camera Connection software and future hardware products or operating system.

Camera Connection functionality is available only when you use Custom to install it as a stand-alone application. The connected device shows as an icon in the My Computer window and in Windows Explorer. On some systems, the Windows hard drive icon may appear instead of the device icon. Use the device drive letter to transfer pictures to your hard disk and to interact with the device.

If the device does not appear as an icon, press F5 to refresh the display. If the device still does not display, turn off the device, and then disconnect it from your computer. Restart your computer, then reconnect the device. On some systems, you may need to press F5 to refresh the display when the device is connected.

Plug-n-Play installation of digital camera drivers is not supported. The drivers for Kodak digital cameras are automatically installed the first time a supported device is connected.

OK, well, this didn't work for me. I did erase all of EasyShare and the Printer connection. Unfortunately, when I then connect my camera, Win XP does locate it on the USB port. But it doesn't appear as a Camera or a (logical) disk drive. It only shows up under the USB ports in Control Panel->System->Device Manager.

The Add HW manager works fine: it says new hw detected, and then your Kodak C653 is ready for use. But I can't "see" the camera or access it at all. At least not without EasyShare. Picassa (which I want to use) doesn't see the camera, either.

So, is it because I'm using an inexpensive digital camera that is some how firmware-bound to EasyShare? If so, what a load of sh*t. I didn't buy the camera for EasyShare - I bought it to take pictures. How I get them off my camera should be up to me! And no, I don't want to have to pop the card out everytime I want to download the photos.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Steve

I plug in the USB cable.

Turn on the camera.

I then get an XP message asking me to associate the camera with a piece of software and I pick Picassa.

I then go to Picassa and go to the import photos section.

I also downloaded a trial copy of Photoshop Elements 6 yesterday and when I plugged the USB cable into the camera, PSE6 immediately found it.

I'm using two cameras -- LS 743 & DX7590. They're about 4 years old and I think that the C line is a bit newer. I did read in the Picassa documentation that Kodak cameras can have difficulties with using Picassa. And I have to say that after using Picassa for a bit that I would buy a new camera rather than suffer with EasyShare!

I did do a new firmware download for the DX7590 a couple of months ago but maybe they did something proprietary with the C line that they haven't bothered doing to the older cameras.

Hope some of this helps but it sounds like you're doing everything right. I certainly wouldn't put it past Kodak to have done something in the firmware to ensure that you have to stay with EasyShare.