Hardware timelapse IR for Nikon

Check out Whiternoise over at Hexus.net who has this great post about building a hardware timelapse device using programable chips.  He has posted circuit diagrams and great shots of the plastic breadboard set-up.

Looks like a real fun project if you like that type of DIY – the electronics with wires and solder type – and if your Nikon DSLR is one with an IR receiver for a remote; e.g. works with a ML-3.

Iphone Nikon remote control

I’m glad to see more and more things that make my Camera Control script obsolete! See this Iphone Nikon remote control application.

Now you can get full control of your Nikon (not just PTP things but full SDK control including liveview) via an iphone or itouch. It’s only $20 too so very reasonable – there is a “lite” version for $2 also.

Downside is that it isn’t really the iphone controlling the DSLR, actually the iPhone talks to software on your PC (via what they call “server” software) and the PC talks to the DSLR so you do need a PC (windows or apple) meaning this is not quite the lightweight solution it appears at first glance.

I have not actually tried this myself (I don’t have an iphone) but it sounds like a great idea.

[via Scott Kelby]

Free Mac Nikon Control Beta

Stefan Hafeneger , has built a Nikon specific camera control app for macs which is now beta and freely available.   He is using the Nikon SDK as well so should be able to implement much more Nikon specific controls than I am able to via WIA on Windows in my script.  

Apparently he is able to understand the SDK as well – which means not only can he program better than I but his English/Japanese parsing skill is much higher than mine as well and I salute him!

[via dptnt]

DIYPhotobits.Com Camera Control 4.0 – Basic Bracketing

It is here, it is basic, but it works (somewhat) — Bracketing.  Once again I find myself either spending an hour I have available to work on the code, or publishing what I already have working, limited though it may be.

So here we have 4.0 – the Basic Bracketing version.

DOWNLOAD

Expect bugs — that’s why the version is a .0 one!  However it should do you for some basic HDR or timelapse uses.

Update:

  • Only works in P, A or S modes as the bracketing is controlled by adjusting the exposure compensation. I’ll do M mode support later.
  • The package has the wrong version number (3.1) on the Start menu icon,but once you open the script itis the correct 4.0
  • Tested on D300 and D40 ok

Want Voice Activated Shutter Release for a Nikon?

The software you need is:

  1. Microsoft Speech SDK 5.1
  2. DIYPhotobits.com Camera Control 2.1

Then to get voice activated shutter release:

  1. Install both.
  2. Turn on the Language Bar (in control panel, regional and language, languages, details, language bar)
  3. (Optional) Train Microsoft Voice recognition (in control panel, speech)
  4. Turn on the microphone (click the mic icon in the language bar)
  5. Run DIYPhotobits.com Camera Control 2.1
  6. Say “Voice command”
  7. (optional) Say “What can I say” then scroll down to the bottom of the list where it says “Menus and Buttons” and expand that list, ensure that “Shutter release” is one of the listed commands
  8. Say “Shutter Release”

And yes, of course this thought is inspired by ShutterVoice,  the Canon EOS front end that provides much better control via voice — with voice feedback even!

I wondered if I could do something like that myself — but when I checked I realized that basically everything I wanted was already either built in or a free microsoft download.  I’ll have a think about if I can adjust the UI of my script so more features can be voice controlled, but for now shutter release is fun.

All together now, say “Shutter release”.

Demo Video for DIYPhotobits.com Camera Control 2.1

I thought it was well past time that I did some more explanation of how to use the new features in DIYPhotobits.com Camera Control 2.1.

Turns out my video skills need a bit of work though as I ended up putting together a 10 minute video, the YouTube limit, and only covered half the features. Still, I hope this is helpful both to see what sort of thing the script is useful for — in this case I’m covering self-portrait balancing flash vs ambient ala Strobist.

 

(Click through and view the high quality version if you want to read the text!)

Equipment used:

  • 1 x SB-600 at camera left set at manual 1/4 power with a folding paper grid spot  on a bamboo light stand
  • 1 x SB-800 at camera right, also manual 1/4 power
  • Nikon D300 with a 18-55mm 
  • Pop-up flash on the D300 is the trigger for the flashes
  • Long USB cable, plus a USB extender cable
  • Thinkpad X31

I cover the use of the remote shutter release, combined with shutter, aperture and ISO controls to take and download images as well as using Bridge to view them.

What I ran out of time to do before the YouTube 10 minute limit was tethered shooting from the camera, and external viewer push.  Perhaps I’ll try to do another short video covering those, but I do really want to work on the next features!

While doing this demo I also noted some odd slowness of the script in some situations, particularly M vs P mode that I’m unable to explain at the moment, so will spend some time to investigate that and hopefully speed the whole thing up.

What works and doesn’t work

This is a summary of what Nikon DSLR models have been seen working, or not working, with the script.

DIYPhotobits Camera Control 2.1 – Greens (updated with feedback upto 5.2)
XP Vista / Win7
D300 Yes
Yes
Yes
D40 Yes Yes (vista home, raw works)Yes (vista, raw ok)
D80 Yes No
Yes
D50 No
Yes
YesYes
D200 / Fuji S5 Almost
YesYes
YesYes
PartialYes, Win7, jpg only
D60 Yes Yes
D70 / 70s – yes Yes Yes (win7 32bit) but no mode changeYes (vista)

Yes (vista, jpg only)

D90 – yes /w issues Yes
D3 – yes
D2x – yes
D100 — nobody has this working yet, I think (not sure) it may be impossible due to it not fully supporting ptpD1 – No
D5000 Yes
D3000 YesYes
D80 – yes with 1.01 firmware, no with 1.11 firmware No (64bit Win7)
D300s – yes
D700  yes Yes (64bit Win7)Yes Win7 jpg only
D3100  Yes
D3200  Yes
D3000 Yes
D800/D800E  No
D7000 Yes
D5100 Yes

As you can see it is quite a mixed bag – I’d love to hear more input on what works and doesn’t work.