Canon G3 in Windows 7

Canon only supplies drivers for my G3 that are compatible with Windows XP. They don't work in Vista or Windows 7. Until today, in order to download pictures from the camera I've had to either keep an XP installation on my PC, use Ubuntu Linux or an external flash card reader.

I found a post on the Microsoft TechNet forums (Canon EOS 20D compatibility) about similar troubles with a Canon EOS 20 camera with a work-around that works for me too. It might work for other Canon cameras also.

Just change the "Communications" setting from "Normal" to "PTP". Now Windows 7 recognizes the camera and I can transfer files.

It's a bit slow, like USB 1.1 speeds, but it works!

Hi Ed - thanks for the advice and pointing me to the other forum. I read your post and the other set of postings and I'm not clear on where to make the change from Normal to PTP. Where do I find the "Communications" setting? In the other forum it says on the "camera menu". I tried the Devices and Printers window and right-clicked on my Canon G3 and went through the Properties but couldn't find it. Can you point me in the right direction?

Hi there

Not the answer you want but IMO a decent get around.

It's probably not the Canon G20 per se but the USB 1.1 protocol.

You might find it better to get a card reader rather than read the pics direct from the G20. Some laptops might even have a built in card reader already you can use.

If it's a desktop you can get a reader which fits into a floppy disk bay / 3.5 in slot on your case and they are very cheap.

If this isn't possible or you don't want to do it I'd suggest either a Linux or XP Virtual machine so you don't have to re-boot. VBOX is free as is vmware server.

You can make the VM very small -- much better than dual booting.

Running "XP Mode" might also work -- you'll have to look in the Virtualisation section in the forum.

Cheers
jimbo

Hi there, so I figured out what was meant by "camera menu" - the menu on the camera itself - duh!

So for the Canon Powershot G3, you press the "Menu" button, and select the second set of menus (orange icon with wrench and hammer, presumably "settings"), scroll down to the very last item which is "Communication". The default is "Normal" and you want to change it to "PTP". As WifiEd says, Windows 7 will now recognize the device and install the drivers and give you options to download the info. A card reader may be faster but it's nice to know you can go direct from the camera. I didn't find it that slow.

There may be a way to use ZoomBrowser EX and Canon Utilities Camera Window. I downloaded the latest versions (ZoomBrowser EX 6.4.1 which supposedly supports Windows Vista 64-bit) and am tried running it. ZoomBrowser recognizes the camera and tries to launch the Camera Window but it freezes. One or both the apps may work in Compatibility Mode but I haven't figured out for sure yet.

Canon says that the Powershot G3 is Windows 7 Compatible, but you think they would give more info on how to make it work!

Hey Deep,

Glad you found the menu for the Communications setting! I haven't tried the other Canon software under Win 7 yet, but I use other apps for photo management and processing so I'm happy enough. Like you, I can live with the USB 1.1 speeds and don't want to fiddle with my CF card just to get the pics.

jimbo45's advice about using a VM is good though. I just started using Virtual Box in Linux to run a Win 7 virtual machine for kicks (easy as pie), maybe I'll try a Win XP VM under my main Win 7 installation too

Yeah; I've been trying (fruitlessly) to get this to work on my Windows 7 64-bit machine.

Anyone know where I can get drivers or software?

The company websites are useless... and I can't always pop in my Ubuntu disk just to rip photos.

avery,

Are you saying that changing the "Communications" setting from "Normal" to "PTP isn't working for you?

Changed the communication setting on the G3 from normal to PTP and the driver loaded into Windows 7. Now works like it did with Windows XP. Thanks

Gotta love this... PTP worked just fine for me and my G3 (sounds like a country song)... Thank you very much!

I have the same problem with my SX10 IS - and I do not have a communication mode that I can access out of any menu. Any suggestions? I'm getting useless advice from Canon so far.