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Nikon users - free tethered shooting

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  • 08-10-2008 8:32pm
    #1
    GristlyEnd
    Registered Users Posts: 2,063 ✭✭✭


    Free tethered shooting without the need for Camera Control Pro. Follow the instructions on the link below.

    Tethered shooting

    I've tried it out and it works fine. Trying to come up with some ideas for using it at Charleville Castle later this month.


Comments

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    #2
    Arciphel
    Registered Users Posts: 2,839 ✭✭✭Arciphel


    Nice one Darren, cheers! :D


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    #3
    Dodgykeeper
    Registered Users Posts: 1,459 ✭✭✭Dodgykeeper


    Cool and could be useful, have tried it and works great!


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    #4
    RaymondL
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11 ✭RaymondL


    Thanks for trying out my tethered shooting script! I'm glad you find it interesting and possibly useful.

    I'm always interested in hearing how it has been used or suggestions. Let me know here or on my blog.

    I've just discovered Photoshop Droplets and have come up with some ideas about some interesting integrations there. But as a geeky sort of person I'm just doing it because it is interesting and it may or may not actually help anyone so input from real users is always great.

    Yours,
    Raymond
    www.diyphotobits.com


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    #5
    Stephen
    Registered Users Posts: 18,484 ✭✭✭✭Stephen


    Nice one! Can the script control the camera's shutter? i.e. get it to shoot once every 5 seconds, or whatever?


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    #6
    RaymondL
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11 ✭RaymondL


    Stephen wrote: »
    Can the script control the camera's shutter? i.e. get it to shoot once every 5 seconds, or whatever?

    Not yet, but that is something I want to do next -- for timelaps. Of course some cameras have this built in - e.g. D300. But a scripted version should offer more options -- I'm thinking exactly what options would be most interesting though.

    Given that you asked about it -- what would you intend to use it for? And what features or options would be good for you?

    Yours,
    Raymond


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    #7
    Stephen
    Registered Users Posts: 18,484 ✭✭✭✭Stephen


    Time lapse was exactly what i had in mind. Nothing more specific than that, I just saw someone's attempt at the same thing on Vimeo :)


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    #8
    RaymondL
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11 ✭RaymondL


    Stephen wrote: »
    Time lapse was exactly what i had in mind. Nothing more specific than that, I just saw someone's attempt at the same thing on Vimeo :)

    Ok I'm almost there with that, I've had to recast the code into a different format first. Given it a proper GUI and an installation routine so it is a bit less "geeky".

    http://www.diyphotobits.com/2008/10/16/diyphotobitscom-camera-control-10/

    This lets me have onscreen preview when a shot is taken etc.

    Now I'm working on shutter speed and aperture control via the PC.

    Then plugging time laps into that should be pretty easy -- and if I can control the shutter speed etc I should be able to bracket each shot as well.

    Are you thinking like once a second for a few minutes -- or once an hour for a day? While doing all this testing I'm find that the battery doesn't last very long!

    While tethered it seems the camera doesn't sleep and uses a lot more power. :-(

    Yours,
    Raymond


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    #9
    Thirdfox
    Registered Users Posts: 7,110 ✭✭✭Thirdfox


    Well even added functionality would be great (aperture, shutter speed, white balance?)


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    #10
    RaymondL
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11 ✭RaymondL


    White balance? I hadn't thought that would be interesting. Ok I'll look at it.

    What worries me is that different cameras may have different values for things like that -- e.g. "WB=1" might be Auto on one camera but Daylight on another. I've only got a D40 and a D300 to test against. I hope that other Nikon DSLRs will be the same -- but there's not guarantee.

    For some values the camera actually does tell me what permitted values are -- but others it is a bit obscure and you have to just change the dials on the camera and see what you get. Wish I had the Nikon SDK!


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    #11
    Thirdfox
    Registered Users Posts: 7,110 ✭✭✭Thirdfox


    Just a slight caution though... is all this coding fully within what Nikon allows us to do? i.e. will this infringe on any patents/legally protected coding? It might be something to keep in mind as you expand its functionality (which I'm very grateful for) - the WB I mentioned because it'd be nice to have it take a reference photo for manually setting WB for tethered studio shots etc.

    Oh and I see you have the new programme out - if we want to use that do we just delete the old .dll files and install the new programme?


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    #12
    RaymondL
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11 ✭RaymondL


    Thirdfox wrote: »
    Just a slight caution though... is all this coding fully within what Nikon allows us to do? i.e. will this infringe on any patents/legally protected coding? It might be something to keep in mind as you expand its functionality (which I'm very grateful for) - the WB I mentioned because it'd be nice to have it take a reference photo for manually setting WB for tethered studio shots etc.

    Oh and I see you have the new programme out - if we want to use that do we just delete the old .dll files and install the new programme?

    That's a good thought but I think I'm in the clear there. I've avoided looking at any Nikon software so I'm not going to infringe copyright, and what I'm doing is "obvious to someone skilled in the art" so it can't be patentable. Besides, lots of other software does similar stuff - it just isn't free.

    You can just delete the old version of the script - including the dll -- and install the new "Camera Control 1.0". That's a lousy name but I'm a bit stuck for ideas!

    I have basic WB control working in the test version of CC2.0 which I'll have ready soon. Take a look at a screen shot and let me know what else you might need in this area.

    R.


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    #13
    Thirdfox
    Registered Users Posts: 7,110 ✭✭✭Thirdfox


    Hey Raymond, I've finally gotten a chance to delete the old script and install the new programme...

    I've run into a snag/bug however, every time I take a photo this error appears on screen (it doesn't seem to affect performance other than being an annoyance):

    4B353801847D4D32948F3AB1B60B7416-800.jpg

    Any solutions?


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    #14
    Thirdfox
    Registered Users Posts: 7,110 ✭✭✭Thirdfox


    Oh and as for further suggestions how about time-lapse (useful for some) or self-timer facility (one of those "you never know when it might be useful" features...).


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    #15
    RaymondL
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11 ✭RaymondL


    Thirdfox wrote: »
    I've run into a snag/bug ...

    Thanks for the bug report. Hm, this is odd though. When tethering the script downloads the image to a temp directory then when transferred it quickly moves it into the right directory. This is to stop things like Bridge trying to process the image before it is fully downloaded and choking. It doesn't appear in the destination folder until it is complete.

    In your case the file already seems to exist in the destination folder. Perhaps you have duplicate file names from a previous shot? If you have file numbering to restart each time you shoot that might be it in which case just empty the destination folder before starting.

    If that's not it I'm not sure what is happening and will have to think on it a bit.

    Anyway I should code some better way to handle this -- maybe save the files with a new name, or named by date time instead of the original camera generated name.
    Thirdfox wrote: »
    Oh and as for further suggestions how about time-lapse (useful for some) or self-timer facility (one of those "you never know when it might be useful" features...).

    Time lapse, intervalometer, is a todo -- self timer I didn't think of but doesn't sound hard; it's sort of a subset of time lapse.

    Thanks for your continued interest in the script -- I have a lot more to do on it and not a lot of time recently what with work and kids.

    R.


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    #16
    Thirdfox
    Registered Users Posts: 7,110 ✭✭✭Thirdfox


    Hmm - well I have found that the pictures created in the temp directory are located in the "temp" folder in my destination folder...could that be what's causing the problem? (I'm not using the default c:/tethered folder)

    So I do end up with two sets of photos in the destination folder (though one is located in the subfolder "temp").

    Oh and being able to remember what the destination folder is between closing and reopening the programme would be good for saving that extra 30 seconds of time every time we use the programme.

    And how about continuous shooting...is that possible too? Especially if you want to shoot animals from a remote location...


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    #17
    RaymondL
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11 ✭RaymondL


    Thirdfox wrote: »
    Hmm - well I have found that the pictures created in the temp directory are located in the "temp" folder in my destination folder...could that be what's causing the problem? (I'm not using the default c:/tethered folder)

    So I do end up with two sets of photos in the destination folder (though one is located in the subfolder "temp").

    Oh and being able to remember what the destination folder is between closing and reopening the programme would be good for saving that extra 30 seconds of time every time we use the programme.

    And how about continuous shooting...is that possible too? Especially if you want to shoot animals from a remote location...

    Err.. Scratching my head over this one. Does it work correctly if you do use c:\tethered? What path are you actually using -- is it a network drive or something like that?

    The other things, yes they are on my ever-growing TODO list.


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    #18
    sunny2004
    Registered Users Posts: 2,538 ✭✭✭sunny2004


    Very interesting, keep up the good work its appreciated !


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    #19
    Thirdfox
    Registered Users Posts: 7,110 ✭✭✭Thirdfox


    RaymondL wrote: »
    Err.. Scratching my head over this one. Does it work correctly if you do use c:\tethered? What path are you actually using -- is it a network drive or something like that?

    The other things, yes they are on my ever-growing TODO list.

    Using c:\tethered I get a different error similar to using a different address (still a problem with the CameraControl.hta file):
    On Line 62 (instead of 65)
    Error: The system cannot find the path specified (instead of it already existing)

    And no preview picture comes up...

    Oh and normally I just send it onto my photo folder in the d drive - so just a partition, not a networked drive.

    edit:
    scratch that - when I first load up the programme it defaulted to c:\tethered - but that folder wasn't created in my c drive yet. Once I clicked on the "output folder" - the folder was created in the C drive and everything seems to work fine now (as long as I'm using c:\tethered)


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    #20
    pixbyjohn
    Registered Users Posts: 6,250 ✭✭✭pixbyjohn


    Hi , thanks for script . Nice to have and my son added some lines to give a time lapse setting which worked. very good. still some small teething problems with a message coming up after each photo taken.
    Is there a full screen view or can 1 be added. Would be great for a class /lecture on a big screen.


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    #21
    RaymondL
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11 ✭RaymondL


    Thirdfox wrote: »
    I've run into a snag/bug however, every time I take a photo this error appears on screen (it doesn't seem to affect performance other than being an annoyance):

    Finally worked that out -- the file is getting downloaded twice and so the second time it's a conflict. The first time is by the "Start Tether" button and the second time is by the "Shutter Release". So until I fix it basically use only one or the other at one time.

    See : http://www.diyphotobits.com/2008/11/03/cc2-oh-what-a-lot-of-bugs/
    Thirdfox wrote: »
    it defaulted to c:\tethered - but that folder wasn't created in my c drive yet.

    That's another bug isn't it!
    pixbyjohn wrote: »
    Hi , thanks for script . Nice to have and my son added some lines to give a time lapse setting which worked. very good. still some small teething problems with a message coming up after each photo taken.
    Is there a full screen view or can 1 be added. Would be great for a class /lecture on a big screen.

    Great that you are able to hack the code to do more you want -- that's the big advantage of scripts!

    I presume the message popping up is the file exists one -- so can be avoided as above and I'll fix it in the next vers.

    Full screen -- well I use an external viewer for this. I thought of trying to view the preview in a separate IE widow and have that auto update but it will still not handle raw. Maybe I'll do it anyway for the jpg shooters.


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    #22
    Thirdfox
    Registered Users Posts: 7,110 ✭✭✭Thirdfox


    Guys just to let you know - Raymond has updated the Nikon Camera Control app to include a lot more features now (version 2.1) - aperture, shutter speed, iso, WB etc.

    Works like a charm on my D40 - pushes the image directly to picasa3.

    http://www.diyphotobits.com/2008/11/28/diyphotobitscom-camera-control-21-greens/


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    #23
    RaymondL
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11 ✭RaymondL


    Stephen wrote: »
    Time lapse was exactly what i had in mind. Nothing more specific than that, I just saw someone's attempt at the same thing on Vimeo :)

    Stephen, I did finally do time lapse -- version 3.0 of the script can do that, so if you try it out let me know how it goes? I'm still thinking of some good subjects to use it on.

    Raymond


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