Thank you all that replied on this. Turns out, there WAS a solution. Thanks go out to Longshadow, CH_Canon and Bebulamar for pointing out what was not obvious to me - the SIZE of the card. That and one of the threads I linked to gave me the answer. It wasn't the age of the card or the condition of the card, but it was the size. What threw me was that there was a 16GB card with the camera that had old photos I was able to download onto my laptop. I assumed it had been used in the camera, but was apparently a card from a different camera my daughter had.
The manual did NOT make this clear, but apparently, the SD450 camera cannot read/handle any card over 2GB. I bought an old 2GB card off eBay and bam - as soon as I plugged it in, it started right up and worked perfectly.
And - yes, I was aware it is an old camera and frankly not worth bothering with. But I was hoping to get it going because it meant a lot to my daughter. (It was her grandfather's camera.) You should have seen the excited look on her face when I handed it back to her and told her it was working again. :)
Hey Gang - this is a specific question related to an old PowerShot SD450 I gave my daughter, so isn't for everyone. She really enjoys the camera but said it stopped working. I got a new battery charger, then started it up. I keep getting the message: 'Memory Card Error'.
What I have tried: restarting, blowing out slot, making sure card is not locked, re-formatting the card using my computer and trying different cards from the same era. I also looked into Canon's repair shop, but it definitely wouldn't be worth the price - I could buy one off eBay cheaper.
I also have been trying to re-format the card IN camera. However, sadly, the Canon is not allowing it. That option, of all the settings, is grayed out. I have tried everything but have no idea why I can't re-format the card in camera.
I would hate to toss the camera after getting this close, but I've Googled every variation of memory card problems with Canon and come up empty. This is my last ditch effort in case one of the Hoggers happened to have had the same problem and remembers a solution. Any takers? :)
Rick
I had been planning on buying an R6, but by the time I got the money together, the R6 Mk II just came out. I am SO glad I bought it, and I love it. It improved on all the things the original R6 needed, and is a great value for the money.
The video issue of overheating was fixed, the higher but not too high resolution (quality vs. storage size) and incredible low light capability far surpass the older Canon I had. The lightning fast focus and image stabilization has made possible a LOT of photos that were never possible before. I don't think you can go wrong with the R6 Mk II.
If you are trying to find the original file, try using the Mac finder. Use all the variations of that date you mentioned, if it was part of the name of the file, it will pop up and show you where it is on the computer. If you remember the name of the file, try variations of it and see if any appear. Once you can find it in the finder - you'll know where it is buried on your Mac.
I am suggesting you look into ACDSee - their software is designed primarily to organize your photos and is native for PCs (Though I've been using their Mac version and am very happy with it.). It has facial recognition, locations, can do minor editing but really the reason I bought it was for its DAM capabilities. This was something that Mac lost in the transfer from iPhoto to Photos, and I'd been looking for a good replacement. It is reasonably priced, keeps things well organized and the learning curve is pretty simple. They also have a free test mode to try it out.
I'll keep this short and sweet: per the OP's request, the alternatives I have landed on are:
Affinity Photo for editing - only about $50, no subscription fees and basically does everything PS does.
ACDSee for photo management - does a great job organizing, has facial recognition, key words, etc.
I use a Mac system, but both softwares are available in Mac and PC.
I have been very happy with both, though there was a 'transition' learning curve on Affinity. They do have tutorials to help.
You'd almost think someone planned it that way!
To get back to the OP's specific question, which is; "Are there alternatives to LR I can use offline", I would suggest a couple options. LR is great for DAM and light photo editing. I have a Mac as well, and - while I frankly hate the new 'Photos' (vs. iPhoto and/or Aperture), Photos is one option available to you and is free with your operating system. It does handle photo organizing and light editing.
A much better alternative - IMHO, that I have been using now is ACDSee. This software only costs $50 bucks, (One time), totally manages and organizes your photos, has tagging, rating, face recognition, locations and does a fair amount of light editing. It is still not as good as Aperture, but it's close and the company stands behind it's software. :) Plus they make it easy to switch your files from LR. Here is their URL if you want to check it out:
https://www.acdsee.com
The mountains here are amazing right now. I don't think I've ever seen them so white and beautiful! Great shots to capture the moment.
I am a Mac user who loved iPhoto and Aperture and have been looking for a good alternative to solve the DAM issue for a long time. After exploring every option I could find, I landed on ACDSee.
As others here have said, it basically handles the organizing of my photos beautifully. I waited to upgrade until they finally came out with facial recognition on their Mac counterpart (the software was originally created for PCs). Do I like it as well as Aperture/iPhoto? Not really. Those programs were amazing. But life moves on.
One great thing about ACDSee is that it does not need to 'ingest' the photos, but can identify and catalog them wherever you have them - whether internal or external HD. You can batch name, add keywords, find people by their faces, do minor editing/color corrections, basically I think for what the OP asked about ACDSee is a great choice. Under 50 bucks, you don't have to subscribe, it handled the asset management very well, and is pretty easy to use.
I think this trend might be to help set 'professional' photographers apart. If you look at a photo and the colors feel somehow stylized, it justifies the high cost of a wedding photographer. If the photos look 'natural' - i.e., colors are life-like, maybe they seem like Uncle Joe could have taken them. (albeit a well-composed shot). If the pros give you something that stands apart from all the photos friends and relatives take, it keeps their services more relevant. Just a thought...
I have had Mac for many years and I also recently purchased an R6II (which I love, BTW). I don't love everything about Mac (Photos is far less of a program than the iPhoto it replaced, for example), but what you are trying to do should be fairly easy.
I don't like them going to Photos, so I use their 'Image Capture' software (free with every OS) to download my photos from either the camera or the card directly to whichever folder I wanted. I haven't had any problems with the R6II in that regard. As others have said, Apple has excellent technical support, so if it isn't operating as it should, they would be able to help you. Good luck with it!
Rick
If you get Topaz 'Black Friday' deal, you can upgrade all of their softwares (with the exception of the video) for $79.
Hello there - I have been using Affinity for some time now, though still learning it (coming off PS), and they DO have some options under preferences that will help make it 'so good' for you. There is a setting to change the font to a larger size (not huge, but definitely bigger) and another setting to choose between dark mode, light mode and to follow the OS settings. I was playing with it and using it in light mode felt so weird to me since I've had it in dark mode for so long. And - their tech support is very good too. They would probably be willing to add more text size options in another upgrade. Don't give up on Affinity! :)