It isn't SP2 per se that's the problem. I run SP2 and CS, and do not see this behavior. Have you checked to see if the system is still using CS to capture, or has the new installation defaulted to some Microsoft utility for photo capture?

OK, let me get this right - The issue is that Luis used to be able to hotlink his camcorder via firewire connection - and the images (?) are now coming in at about 1/4 size of pre SP2 installation. When you say images, are you talking still images or video ? In any event, it could be something as silly as a virtual memory issue that Photoshop uses.

Let me put my old senior tech support thinking cap back on ... it's been about 10 years.

"Delete, re-install everything, contact Bill Gates in the morning !!" (oh wait, that never worked before, why would it work now?)

My first step would be to find a nice large portion of one of your hard drives, defrag that drive and reset your Photoshop to use that portion of that drive for your virtual memory that Photoshop uses.

If that doesn't work, then proceed to semi-drastic but always a good idea step two:

a) try using a different firewire port on the back of your puter ... just try it. If it doesn't work, nothing gained, nothing lost.
b) reseat your firewire card. I know it doesn't make sense considering the issue, but it IS always a good practice.
c) Delete your hardware ref in Control Panel, delete and re-install your firewire and camcorder drivers.
d) Re-install the drivers (camcorder and firewire), boot again ... Control Panel should see the new install. If not, manually configure it.
e) Thoroughly check any settings with your camcorder software (if any) AND your firewire software.


Another possibility - and yes, it CAN happen. Try another cable ... perhaps you've got a kink or glitch in the cable, or worst yet (circumstansially) you've slightly damaged the cable after messing with stuff after the SP2 installation fiasco. This coincidence happens all too often, trust me.
Anxious to hear what actually fixed the problem, if that fix ever comes about.

Good Luck.

Vidguyz

Thanks, Vidguyz, but the solutions you propose are essentially moot since this is happening with all the dv camcorders and computers that I've tried so far, and that is about 15. Additionally, my students, and posters on other forums, have reported the same results on their own. Different cameras, cables, computers make no difference. By the way, I mean still image captures from the camcorder connected via firewire and accessed in photoshop. It's a nice way to do stop motion captures that are full dv video quality. In sp1 they are 720 x 576. In sp2 they are 360 x 288.