Best Camera + Software for Remote Telephoto?

Hi there

I have a project which requires an SLR with a very long focal length
lens mounted in a difficult to reach location. I would like help
choosing a camera and lens that would allow me to take photos from a
little distance away, connected with a data cable. Here are my
detailed requirements:

1) 1000mm (35mm equivalent) focal length at 12 Megapixels. (I need to
see 500 dpi at 20 feet, but the field of view doesn't need to be any
larger than 1 degree, so I won't be using all of those pixels)

2) At most 5000mm minimum focal length

3) On-screen preview at at least 3 frames per second (no need for
capture at this speed, just preview). This will likely require that
the shutter mirror lock-up.

4) Perform from a PC, through USB or firewire, without access to the
camera:
*digital zoom (optical zoom will be fixed)
*digital pan
*focus
*capture

(The numbers are high because the camera is for remote visual
inspections)

I know I can get high end cameras (Fuji S3 Pro, Canon EOS 5D, Nikon
D2S) and lenses (500mm telephoto with 2x crop ratio) to do this, but I
don't know whether the 'remote capture' software that comes with these
(used for studio sessions?) is up to the task.

Can anyone with experience with remote software let me know? Should I
be looking at high end digital video cameras with still capture
instead?

Thanks,
Brendan

2) should be: 5000mm minimum -focus distance-
Sorry,
Brendan

writes:

I have a project which requires an SLR with a very long focal length
lens mounted in a difficult to reach location. I would like help
choosing a camera and lens that would allow me to take photos from a
little distance away, connected with a data cable. Here are my
detailed requirements:

1) 1000mm (35mm equivalent) focal length at 12 Megapixels. (I need to
see 500 dpi at 20 feet, but the field of view doesn't need to be any
larger than 1 degree, so I won't be using all of those pixels)

2) At most 5000mm minimum focal length

3) On-screen preview at at least 3 frames per second (no need for
capture at this speed, just preview). This will likely require that
the shutter mirror lock-up.

4) Perform from a PC, through USB or firewire, without access to the
camera:
*digital zoom (optical zoom will be fixed)
*digital pan
*focus
*capture

I don't know of any cameras that can do this. Certainly none of the
DSLRs can -- they don't do LCD (or remote) preview at all, because
their sensors lack the circuitry (and use the space for bigger and
hence better pixels). Also, none of the DSLRs perform digital zoom
that I'm aware of. That's always done in post-processing if you
really need to crop. If digital pan means what I think it does, same
thing.

(The numbers are high because the camera is for remote visual
inspections)

Ah. I thought the requirements were looking a mite peculiar :-).

I know I can get high end cameras (Fuji S3 Pro, Canon EOS 5D, Nikon
D2S) and lenses (500mm telephoto with 2x crop ratio) to do this, but I
don't know whether the 'remote capture' software that comes with these
(used for studio sessions?) is up to the task.

I've made only moderate use of the remote capture software with my
Fuji S2. I don't think it will run at the speed you need. I should
point out that the S3 Pro doesn't meet your stated megapixel
requirements. And, um, what's the Nikon D2S? I know of the D2H and
the D2X, and the second of those makes your 12 megapixels.

The coming-out-in-december Nikon D200 may be a good bet for this in
the Nikon line. It's a more-pro-level body than the Fuji S2 or S3 or
the Canon EOS 5D, in particular shoots faster sequences. Obviously I
have no actual experience with this camera, though!
--
David Dyer-Bennet, , http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/
RKBA: http://noguns-nomoney.com/ http://www.dd-b.net/carry/
Pics: http://dd-b.lighthunters.net/ http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/
Dragaera/Steven Brust: http://dragaera.info/

Thanks David.

I'm sorry to hear you don't think the remote software would be
appropriate. In the time since I compiled this list, I found the names
of the manufacturers softwa

Nikon Capture Control
Olympus Pro Studio
Canon Remote Capture

I have no experience with these, so if anyone has used them, please
speak up!
I also found some third party remote softwa

Breeze Systems DSLR or PS Remote
(http://www.breezesys.com/products.htm)
Pinetree Camera Controller
(http://www.pinetreecomputing.com/camctl_features.asp)

Both of the above seem to have hacked a 'live remote viewfinder' (no
better than 3fps, and no digital panning or zooming). They can control
the shutter speed and aperture, and (in non-slrs) the zoom, but they
cannot control the lens' manual focus which is a dealbreaker.

So I might be looking at digital camcorders instead, but since they
have poorer pixel density sensors, I need an even LONGER lens - up into
telescope territory. This isn't going to be as easy as I hoped

(I did mean Nikon D2X, sorry)
Brendan

wrote:

So I might be looking at digital camcorders instead, but since they
have poorer pixel density sensors, I need an even LONGER lens - up into
telescope territory. This isn't going to be as easy as I hoped

If you need to control manual focus on the lens, I don't think *any* of
the digital SLRs are going to meet your requirements.

--
Jeremy |

If you need to control manual focus on the lens, I don't think *any* of
the digital SLRs are going to meet your requirements.

You're right Jeremy. I think I'm going to try a different approach:
(The following is for the poor souls who google their way here years
from now trying to do the same thing as me)
There is a class of digital cameras called "machine vision cameras" or
"firewire cameras" or (if they're low light) "microscopy cameras. A
couple of good (3 MegaPixel - 6MegaPixel) examples are he

http://www.xlimaging.com/content/products.html
http://www.pixelink.com/products.asp?id=9
http://www.prosilica.com/products.htm

These cameras have NO optics, or media. They are designed to attach to
your own instruments (I will probably use a "spotting scope" like this:
http://www.birdwatching.com/optics/zeiss_diascope.html to compensate
for the fewer pixels) Most importantly, they come withsoftware that
lets me preview the live image at better than 15fps, digitally pan and
zoom, and capture frames to disc.

So in the end, not really an SLR question at all. Sorry to research
out loud. I hope someone else finds this useful
Brendan