Since I bought a new G4 Macintosh (USB and Firewire), I have been unable to get my Apple QuickTake 150 camera to connect to my Mac. The QuickTake connects to a serial port and so does my Laserwriter printer. I bought an AsanteTalk adapter which works well for the printer, but it didn't help my digital camera to connect. I would like to know if anyone anywhere has been able to use a QuickTake camera with a USB Mac? And if so, how?

-- Linda Cameron (bija@att.net), May 30, 2000

Answers

Linda:

I have yet to meet someone who has successfully attached a QT 100 or 150 to a newer Mac. Several have claimed to have done it but the claims turn out to be spurious.

The closest I've seen is a QT 200 with the Keyspan adapter. See:

http://www.keyspan.com/products/usb/adapter/

Unfortunately the compatibility page lists the 100/150 as not being tested with the adapter. Perhaps an inquiry to Keyspan might be worthwhile.

Hope this helps.

-- William (wbailey@imaging-resource.com), May 30, 2000.

Linda,

You might want to check out the gPort by Griffing Technology (www.griffintechnology.com). It is the nearest thing to a true serial port for the G3/G4 series of Macs. Because it sits on the modem connector you cannot have it installed and an internal modem at the same time. The MSRP is $49. I don't know if it will work but it is probably your best shot. FYI many serial digicams have difficulty with the USB --> serial port adapters. None of the Nikon cameras will work through one and I do know of one person who has had success with the gPort.

-- Bill Cook (billc@wcook.com), May 31, 2000.

A friend who works for Apple borrowed my quicktake 150. He had difficulty getting it to work, apparently the quicktake software only works with software older than OS9? He had to replace some system files to get things working. And this is without the additional USB-> serial complexity you're adding. Good luck... :)

-- benoit (foo@bar.com), June 02, 2000.