The current versions of Canon’s tethering software packages EOS Utility 2 and EOS Utility 3 (for the 1Dx, 5DMK3 and 7DMk2) and their RAW processor Digital Photo Professional are not compatible with the latest version of Mac OS X 10.10 aka Yosemite. I’ve spoken to several Canon technical representatives and public relations people who are quietly aware of the issue. They report they have no information about when these applications will be updated. The workaround for those who tether is to use Lightroom.

The Problem…

The workaround has a big issue. The two versions of EOS Utility sense when a Canon camera is connected to a Mac’s USB port and automatically launch. A dialog for each of the programs appears indicating its incompatibility.

EOS Utility 3ScreenSnapz001

As soon as they launch and the dialog box is closed by clicking OK or LSK_Button_OK, a conflict with tethering a Canon camera to Lightroom sends the word busy to the viewfinder of the camera.

Workarounds

Sometimes powering off the camera off then on again will allow Lightroom to connect. Sometimes a restart will help. The only real solution is to either delete the Canon software from the Mac so it cannot auto launch or to downgrade back to OS X 10.9 Mavericks.

Concerns

Apple made beta versions of Yosemite available to developers at the World Wide Developers Conference 2014 last June. Public betas were available as a free download beginning on July 30, 2014. It is concerning that a major supplier of professional as well as prosumer and consumer DSLR cameras would not have its software updated before Mac’s much publicized operating system was released. At the minimum, Canon might have been concerned enough to warn it’s customers many of whom make their living shooting tethered, not to upgrade their computers. As it is, Canon acknowledges that there are no updates available to solve the issue at this time as a note under the Drivers & Software section of each camera as shown for my Canon 1Dx.

SafariScreenSnapz003

Canon’s website knows about OS X Yosemite and even detects that it is running on the computer that browses the page. The sad part is they also note that “There is no software [or] utility for the OS version you selected.” Photographers that rely on tethering their Canon cameras either with Canon’s software or with Lightroom have not been well served in this case. That said, Canon will fix the problem and all will be well again.