Article ID : S1F1192 / Last Modified : 09/09/2019Print

Using your Sony Camera with a Macintosh Computer

    You can do amazing things with a Sony digital camera or camcorder and an Apple® Macintosh® computer, such as creating show stopping slide-shows and movies; sharing images; and teaching the computer to recognize your friends in your photos. Using the USB cable supplied with your camera you can simply move photos and video to your Mac computer. Also, the iPhoto® and iMovie® software are powerful applications available for Mac computers that allow you to import and edit images and video.

    Using your Sony Camera and Macintosh Computer you can do the following:

     iPhoto

    With the iPhoto software you can easily import, browse and edit photos. You can share your pictures via Facebook and through email, as well as make engaging slideshows. For all the features available with the iPhoto software, visit the Apple® website.

    Note: Not all features are available in all versions of the iPhoto software.

    Use the following procedure to import your photos into the iPhoto software:

    Note: Depending on the connection type and capabilities of your camera, the transfer procedure may vary. Refer to the operating instructions of your camera for detailed information.

    1. Turn on the camera.
    2. Connect the camera to the computer using the supplied USB cable.
    3. Set the camera to Mass Storage or USB Mode.
    4. The iPhoto software will start automatically.

      Note: If the iPhoto software does not automatically start, open the iPhoto software manually by using the Dock or you can use the Finder Bar, Go and then select Applications.

    5. Thumbnail images of the photos saved on the memory card of the camera display in the iPhoto screen.
    6. Choose the method you want to use for importing.
      • To only import some of the pictures, click to select the thumbnail images you want and then click the Import Selected button.
      • To import all the pictures, click the Import x Photos button.
    7. In the Delete Photos on Your Camera? window, click the desired option.
      • Choosing Delete Photos erases all the pictures from the memory card or internal memory in the camera after transfer.
      • Choosing Keep Photos will keep a copy of the pictures you transferred to the computer on the memory card or internal memory in the camera.

    For detailed information about editing and sharing photos, as well as other features, refer to the help file in the iPhoto software.

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     iMovie

    With the iMovie software you can easily import, browse, and edit your video. You can create movie trailers from various templates, edit audio and add special effects. With the new People Finder feature, iMovie makes it easy to find video that includes certain people. For all the features available with the iMovie software, visit the Apple website.

    Note: Not all features are available in all versions of the iMovie software.

    Use the following procedure to import video into the iMovie software:

    Important: The iMovie software does not support AVCHD 60p video. To be able to edit your HD video in iMovie, we suggest you set your camcorder to record in AVCHD 60i or AVCHD 24i or MP4. If you've already recorded videos in 60p, you can transfer the video directly to the hard drive of your Mac, and then burn it to a disc to be viewed on a different computer or television. Also, you can convert AVCHD 60p video to MP4 format using Media Converter software.

    Notes:

    • Depending on the connection type and capabilities of your camera, the transfer procedure may vary. Refer to the operating instructions of your camera for detailed information.
    • To import standard-definition video, iMovie '07 or newer is required. However, to import high-definition video such as AVCHD, iMovie '08 or newer is required.


    1. Turn on the camera.
    2. Connect the camera to the computer using the supplied USB cable.
    3. Set the camera to Mass Storage or USB Mode.

      Note: If the iPhoto® software automatically starts, close it.

    4. Open the iMovie software from the Dock or on the Finder Bar, choose Go and then Applications. iMovie will be listed as an icon in the Applications window.
    5. In the iMovie window, click File and then Import from Camera.
    6. Choose the method you want to use for importing:
      • To import all the videos:
        1. At the lower-left corner, click Automatic.
        2. At the lower-right corner, click the Import All button.
      • To import only specific videos:
        1. At the lower-left corner, click Manual.
        2. Under the displayed thumbnails, click to check the boxes of the video you want to import and then click the Import Checked button.
    7. Select the location to save the videos.
    8. In the Create New Event section, type a name for the videos.
    9. Click the OK button.

      Note: The videos are copied to the computer. An Import complete dialog box is displayed when the import is finished.

    10. In the Import complete dialog box, click the Import button.

    For detailed information about editing videos, as well as other features, refer to the help files in the iMovie software.

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     Transfer photos and video directly to your computer hard drive

    Instead of using the iPhoto or iMovie software, you can transfer photos and video directly to the hard drive of your Mac computer using the following procedure.

    Notes:

    • Depending on the connection type and capabilities of your camera, the transfer procedure may vary. Refer to the operating instructions of your camera for detailed information.
    • For AVCHD video, a Macintosh computer with an Intel® Core Duo processor or better is required.


    1. Turn on the camera.
    2. Connect the camera to the computer using the supplied USB cable.
    3. Set the camera to Mass Storage or USB Mode.

      Note: After the computer recognizes the connection, it will list the camera drive or drives as NO NAME or UNTITLED on the computer desktop.

    4. Click the NO NAME or UNTITLED icon on the computer desktop.
    5. Locate the files you want to transfer.

      For photos:

      1. Click the DCIM folder.

      For AVCHD video:

      1. Click the PRIVATE folder.
      2. Click the AVCHD folder.
      3. Click the BDMV folder.
      4. Clock the STREAM folder.

      For Standard Definition (SD) video:

      1. Click the MP_ROOT folder.
      2. Click the 101PNV01 folder.
    6. On the keyboard, press and hold the Shift key.
    7. While holding the Shift key, click to select the photos or video clip files you want to transfer.
    8. Release the Shift key.
    9. On the keyboard, press the Command and C keys to copy the files.
    10. Open the folder or directory on the computer where you want to copy the files.
    11. On the keyboard, press the Command and V keys to paste the files to the desired location.

    After following the steps above, the photos and video from your camera are copied to the hard drive of the computer and can be played with a compatible media player.

    Notes:

    • The Apple Macintosh Web site has an MPEG-2 Playback component for Quicktime 6 or 7 available for purchase.
    • For the Apple Mac OS® X operating system, MPEG editing software (Capty MPEG Edit EX) is available for purchase from the PIXELA Web site. This application is for standard-definition video only.


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     FAQs & Troubleshooting

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