Compatibility with Canon computer software

[rwg717]

I use a Canon 1D Mk IV and have installed all the Canon software.....my question is, if I connect a Canon 650D to my laptop, can this camera (650D) use the 1D Mk IV software to download and process images? I do not have the 650D supplied discs but I assume that the Canon 1D Mk IV software is "backwards compatible"? Can anyone help so I don't have to connect the 650D camera?

Cheers
Richard.

[nardes]

If you have EOS Utility V2.11 it looks like both cameras are covered according to the manual.

Cheers

Dennis

PS – the latest version I have on my Win 7 64bit system is 2.14.

[arthurking83]

I would find it completely improbable that Canon's software wouldn't be backwards compatible.

So if you started out with v1.0.0 on your first camera, and ran through to v9.9.9 with your current camera, the v9 software SHOULD!!! still recognise the older camera.

In general where you may find camera compatibility issues is with newer cameras. Older software generally doesn't support newer cameras(for obvious reasons) and this is acceptable as well as to be expected.

With your use of the term "connect the camera", I'm assuming for the purpose of transferring images to the computer?

I would find it very unlikely that you would need to install the software version that came with the 650D, unless this software is a different program altogether.

That is, if the older 650D software is called (as an example) Canon Camera App Pro v9.9 and the newer 1DmkIV is called Canon Super Pro App for Pro Photographers v1.0 then you could (or should be) able to install both software concurrently.

But, if your software is called EOS Utility, and you currently have the latest version, there may be a possibility that you can't install the older software, or that if you do, it may revert the current latest version back to the older version.
It's not often that you will find software that will allow concurrent version installations(it can happen, but it's not common).

Just connect the 650D and (hopefully) all should be OK for you.

[Tannin]

Short answer: yes.

Longer answer, all of Canon's software supports all of Canon's cameras. They are very good about this; presumably they regard it as an important part of their overall support policy. (And full kudos to them for that.) Note, however, that certain special cases apply where the particular model has something different about it needing unique drivers. My old 20D, for example, had to have a particular driver for Windows to recognise it at all, which the newer models did not. But once you installed that one driver, all the other Canon software worked with the 20D in exactly the same way as it worked with any newer model. (Obviously, that's within the limitations of the individual design: for example you can't use Live View software functions on a model that doesn't have Live View.)

[rwg717]

Many Thanks Dennis, Arthur and Tony, I suspected that the latest software would handle the older camera models, I don't own the 650D but I have to work with my laptop and another photographer next week, not a lot of time to handle images after the event so I just wanted to check there is unlikely to be hassles on the day.
I also found out that my previous "dead" laptop can be brought back to life relatively cheaply, so all I need to do is install the software from the 1D MkIV and its all good:)

Richard