[GordonSBuck]

Seems that DL Pro is creating a problem with owner name and clock setting

Using DL Pro 1.6.2; just updated from 1.6.1 which had same problem

Canon G3 with firmware 1.0.2.0 Window 2000, Photoshop CS2

Something odd going on. I can

1. set owner name and correct time in Canon Zoombrowser
2. confirm time in G3 menu
3. take picture, copy file directly using memory card in PC adapter
4. copy file using Zoombrowser
5. everything is OK

BUT, if I use DL Pro to copy the files then under DL Pro "camera settings" the owner's name does not show up at all and the time is wrong. All other settings are correct. If I try to sync to the computer time, it is synced off by one hour (daylight saving?). If I type in my name and click OK (or "Apply" then "OK") the name isn't retained. That is, if I check "camera settings" a second time, the owner name is once again blank.

But the worse part is that "Owner Name" in the camera has actually been changed to one of the odd ASCII characters (I think) -- a single character that looks like a vertical solid bar. If I take a picture and then examine that picture in Photoshop's new "Bridge", the owner name shows up as a hollow square (one character). Apparently that character causes a problem in the Bridge program's .xmp "sidecar" file because thereafter the image file cannot be loaded until the .xmp file is deleted. (If I don't use .xmp files, then there is no problem except that the owner name still does not show up.)

Am I using DL Pro incorrectly? Problem with the Canon G3? Photoshop?

[Chris Breeze]

I think this is a problem with the Canon SDK. Their engineers seem to have got confused over how to handle time correctly and different versions of the SDK and/or different cameras make different corrections for time zone and DST. I think they handle current and recent cameras consistently but unfortunately there may be problems with older cameras like the the G3.

There also appears to be a bug in the Canon SDK when setting the owner string in older cameras. It works on all the recent cameras I've tested (A70, A75, A80, A85, A510, A520, S60, S70, G5, G6, Pro1...).

A new PowerShot SDK is due to be released next month and it's possible Canon may have fixed some of these problems. In the meantime it is best to avoid using the camera settings dialog in DLPro with a G3. You can still safely use DLPro to download images directly from the camera and this won't affect the shooting data of the downloaded images.

[ave]

FYI, same problem with Canon Powershot S30.

[GordonSBuck]

Thanks, Chris. Sounds reasonable that the Canon SDK is at the root of the problem. Although I didn't mention it (to avoid confusion and typing), I don't have the same problem with my Canon 20D.

I sure like DL Pro, it has been a big help in my workflow. I figured out, by trial and error, that I could still use DL Pro so long as I didn't "correct" the owner name and time.