Shooting Software on a non-FireWire PowerBook

[Tom V]

I have done it!

I got my Fuji Hyper-Utility Shooting Software to work with my Apple PowerBook G3 (1999, Lombard, bronze keyboard). Since the computer does not have built-in FireWire, I knew this could be something that would not work.

Set up: PowerBook G3, 333mhz, 320mb ram, virtual memory off, OS 9.1, $30 Century 2-Port Firewire PCMCIA slot Card, no special driver, Shooting Software 2.0, Firewire cable from the S2 to an external Firewire 60gb hard drive, Firewire cable from the hard drive to the PCMCIA card, AC adapter powering the S2, CR123 lithium batteries removed, AA batteries left in camera.

I could not get the camera recognized when it was hooked directly to the PCMCIA card. I had to route the signal thru an external hard drive.

I have to set up the camera, and turn everything on before turning on the computer. I am able to turn the camera off to change lenses, without disturbing the firewire system.

When I use the FinePix viewer with the above setup, the firewire system reports an error if I unmount the untitled drive from the desktop (drag to trash) and turn the camera off. The computer will not allow anything else to happen until I turn the camera back on.

The attached masterpiece shows me hard at work cleaning up my desk when I decided to try getting the S2 to work on the laptop. I am able to shoot while in front of the camera, and clean the 14mm lens at the same time!:cool:

[Tom V]

After thinking about how goofy this software is, and how it sometimes works/sometimes doesn't work, etc. I decided once again to try without an external Firewire hard drive, and instead going directly from the Camera to the PCMCIA card.

Now it works. This time.

Previously, I was not able to get the Camera Shooting Software to find the camera, using a direct connection. I tried different cables, different startup sequences, following the instructions, ignoring the instructions, going by intuition, asking my 6 year old, doing everything twice, - and just could not get it to work on my PowerBook.

So I am perplexed at why this does not work, then it does, then it wont, then it will. (At least on my PowerBook.)

I have also had less than 100% success using the Shooting software on my G4 desktop. I hope Fuji (fat chance) figures out a way to make this software more robust, so it works all the time instead of just some of the time.

While it has not crashed or locked up my computer, its unpredictability makes it impossible to depend on.

I have a difficult shoot coming up, and I wanted to have a quick reliable way of looking at some large screen previews and histograms during the shoot, to insure that what I want to get in the image actually gets there. I cannot preview well enough on the S2 LCD. I was hoping that having a PowerBook hooked to the camera during the shoot would be a help - but now I don't know if I should bother spending the time to get it to work at the shoot's location.

I do like that you can shoot RAW, jpg, or tif, right from the software, which is easier to do than on the camera’s menu.

[Marvo]

Hi Tom,
Nice to be able to put an office to a face.
Couldn't help noticing that I've got a post-it stuck in exactly the same place on my LaCie as you have! It must be a phtographers thing, along with tidy offices!
I've just taken delivery of my HS S2 EX software - £125 extra to us Brits and thought I'd be in business with my not-so-old ibook G3 333Mhz, built in USB and Firewire, 10Gb HDD, 320Mb RAM. But NO. This laptop, capable of landing a man to the moon and bringing him back again is only capable of 800 x 600 and it looks like the Fuji software needs 1024 x 768 to see the whole window. I've tried shooting with scrolling it around the screen but it's a hassel I don't need and one that looks a bit pathetic in front of the clients!
I suppose this means I've got to find another 2 or 3 £grand£ for a new Powerbook. Does anyone feel like they're running to stand still in this computerised, digitized, obsolescent world?

Marvo.:(

[jenbob]

I have a G3 iBook w/firewire and really want to hook up my S2 to it. Where did you get the software? I have tried buying it/finding it and no one seems to stock it. Can someone dupe the install disk and send it to me? I would be forever in your debt.

thanks,
bob peak