Sorry OT - Needed USB Camera to use with "Timershot"

"Nicholas" wrote in message



[...]

If you want complete and absolute camera control from your computer,
so your computer is the Master and the camera is the robot Slave, my
Nikon Camera Control Pro and D80 will do the job.

Maybe there are other camera companies that can do this: call a pro
photo camera shop and ask away. Please let me know what you find out.

My Canon EOS 50D has the same capabilities via the supplied EOS Utility.
Using Remote Live View I can see whatever it's focussed on, DOF preview,
histogram, etc. I can change the camera settings (except perhaps for Custom
Functions; I haven't played with this much). I can even switch to remote
manual focus. You need to remember to switch Auto Power Off off, otherwise
the camera will auto power down which rather defeats the purpose.

For set-and-forget interval shooting I use a Micnova MQ-TC1 remote timer.
It does what the Canon RS-80N3 does for less than half the price.

"." wrote in message

On Jan 29, 9:19 pm, "DRS" wrote:

[...]

My Canon EOS 50D has the same capabilities via the supplied EOS
Utility. Using Remote Live View I can see whatever it's focussed on,
DOF preview, histogram, etc. I can change the camera settings
(except perhaps for Custom Functions; I haven't played with this
much). I can even switch to remote manual focus. You need to
remember to switch Auto Power Off off, otherwise the camera will
auto power down which rather defeats the purpose.

[...]

Do you know if this same EOS Utility with identical, or nearly so,
abilities is available on earlier Canon models?

As far as I know the Canon supplied software is the same for all EOS models.

"." wrote in message

On Jan 29, 9:19 pm, "DRS" wrote:

[...]

My Canon EOS 50D has the same capabilities via the supplied EOS
Utility. Using Remote Live View I can see whatever it's focussed on,
DOF preview, histogram, etc. I can change the camera settings
(except perhaps for Custom Functions; I haven't played with this
much). I can even switch to remote manual focus. You need to
remember to switch Auto Power Off off, otherwise the camera will
auto power down which rather defeats the purpose.

For set-and-forget interval shooting I use a Micnova MQ-TC1 remote
timer. It does what the Canon RS-80N3 does for less than half the
price.

Thanks for input. I've been reading these last few days and am pretty
sure I'm getting close to getting involved with either Nikon or Canon.
I'm inclined toward Nikon only because of experience during film days.
I want to read some more about the capabilities of the EOS utility.

Canon EOS cameras come with the EOS utility for downloading images from the
camera as well as doing other things, ZoomBrowser EX as a picture manager,
Digital Photo Professional for processing RAW images, and Picture Style
Editor. All in all it's typically clunky Canon software (a longstanding
weakness of Canon) but they get the job done.

The EOS utility controls a whole bunch of things (each apparently done by a
different programmer), such as Remote Live View, Original Decision Data,
Wireless File Transmitter if you have the optional WFT-E3A, and many camera
settings. If you're serious enough about investing in time lapse gear you
should consider the WFT as your camera then becomes part of your home
wireless network and you don't have to worry about USB cables.

Did your time lapse experience start with the use of this system or
have you had experience before. I guess what I'm really asking is do
you think this is a very long learning experience for someone just
starting time lapse?

There's nothing particularly special about time lapse photography per se.
Program the camera or the timer remote, click the shutter and wait until
it's finished. Since the intervalometer in most cameras is quite limited
you'd want a timer remote cable like the previously mentioned Canon RS-80N3
or the Micnova MQ-TC1 (MQ-TC2 for Nikon).

Timer remotes are basically just primitive electronic counters and have been
around for many years. Say you set your camera and tripod up at the beach,
you can set the timer to trigger once every 10 minutes for the next 12 hours
and (in principle) go away until it's done. At the end of the day you'd
have 72 images of the beach. Or point it at a flower in the morning, take
one picture a minute for an hour while the sun comes up and it opens, and
you have 60 pictures of the flower. That sort of thing. Pictures taken
this way will be on the memory card in the camera, although these days
that's less of an issue (I currently use a 4GB CF card, good for roughly 180
large RAW shots or 740 large JPEGs at 15MP, but you can get 8GB or even 16GB
memory cards at the moment).

Remote live view shooting is a more recent development. I haven't had much
reason to use it, mainly because of what I like to shoot. I'm not really
interested in taking all my gear plus the laptop to some location so I can
have the camera take 60 shots of a flower or whatever while I read a book.
Obviously it offers you more flexibility and direct control than traditional
intervalometer shooting but at the cost of extra complexity. From the very
brief discussion here it seems Canon might have an edge on Nikon but you
very much need to find a local photography club and check them out for
yourself (you would be unlikely to find a camera shop setup to demonstrate
remote shooting).

Speaking very generally, Canon has traditionally been regarded as having an
edge in lens quality, Nikon in ergonomics. Lens quality is why I bought
into the Canon system many years ago, but I have L-series pro lenses, not
kit lenses. My reading is that Nikon has been working hard recently to give
Canon some decent competition, just as Canon has been improving its
ergonomics, so once again it is a case of seeing and handling actual kit
rather than relying on the advice of strangers.

You will need a *good* tripod. I use Manfrotto but there are other brands
professionals will use. Buying a cheap and nasty that flexes in the merest
hint of a breeze will only disappoint and frustrate you. My Manfrotto is
heavy (when I'm not using it as a tripod I can use it to beat back the
invading barbarian hordes) but it's heavy and strong for a reason.

AC adapters have been mentioned. They have the AC/DC converter at one end
and a dummy battery at the other. Alternatively you can look at a battery
grip like the Canon BG-E2N. It will let you use two Canon proprietary
batteries or 6 AA batteries. For myself I insist on AA batteries, partly
because I can use low-discharge rechargeables (I use Imedion) and partly
because if my batteries ever run flat in the middle of the Gobi desert and I
don't have a backup set I can always pop over to the nearest tourist kiosk
and get some alkalines to keep me going.

DRS wrote:
"." wrote
"DRS" wrote:

[...]
My Canon EOS 50D has the same capabilities via the supplied EOS
Utility. Using Remote Live View I can see whatever it's focussed on,
DOF preview, histogram, etc. I can change the camera settings
(except perhaps for Custom Functions; I haven't played with this
much). I can even switch to remote manual focus. You need to
remember to switch Auto Power Off off, otherwise the camera will
auto power down which rather defeats the purpose.

For set-and-forget interval shooting I use a Micnova MQ-TC1 remote
timer. It does what the Canon RS-80N3 does for less than half the
price.
Thanks for input. I've been reading these last few days and am pretty
sure I'm getting close to getting involved with either Nikon or Canon.
I'm inclined toward Nikon only because of experience during film days.
I want to read some more about the capabilities of the EOS utility.

Canon EOS cameras come with the EOS utility for downloading images from the
camera as well as doing other things, ZoomBrowser EX as a picture manager,
Digital Photo Professional for processing RAW images, and Picture Style
Editor. All in all it's typically clunky Canon software (a longstanding
weakness of Canon) but they get the job done.

The EOS utility controls a whole bunch of things (each apparently done by a
different programmer), such as Remote Live View, Original Decision Data,
Wireless File Transmitter if you have the optional WFT-E3A, and many camera
settings. If you're serious enough about investing in time lapse gear you
should consider the WFT as your camera then becomes part of your home
wireless network and you don't have to worry about USB cables.

What about a laptop? I'm thinking Nikon but assume the technology is
similar.


Did your time lapse experience start with the use of this system or
have you had experience before. I guess what I'm really asking is do
you think this is a very long learning experience for someone just
starting time lapse?

There's nothing particularly special about time lapse photography per se.
Program the camera or the timer remote, click the shutter and wait until
it's finished. Since the intervalometer in most cameras is quite limited
you'd want a timer remote cable like the previously mentioned Canon RS-80N3
or the Micnova MQ-TC1 (MQ-TC2 for Nikon).

Timer remotes are basically just primitive electronic counters and have been
around for many years. Say you set your camera and tripod up at the beach,
you can set the timer to trigger once every 10 minutes for the next 12 hours
and (in principle) go away until it's done. At the end of the day you'd
have 72 images of the beach. Or point it at a flower in the morning, take
one picture a minute for an hour while the sun comes up and it opens, and
you have 60 pictures of the flower. That sort of thing. Pictures taken
this way will be on the memory card in the camera, although these days
that's less of an issue (I currently use a 4GB CF card, good for roughly 180
large RAW shots or 740 large JPEGs at 15MP, but you can get 8GB or even 16GB
memory cards at the moment).

Remote live view shooting is a more recent development. I haven't had much
reason to use it, mainly because of what I like to shoot. I'm not really
interested in taking all my gear plus the laptop to some location so I can
have the camera take 60 shots of a flower or whatever while I read a book.

I do this with the built in intervalometer on my D200 & D700. The
problem is a limitation of 999 frames max, about 15 minutes for clouds
at 1 frame every 3 seconds. I just work with that limitation. I used to
use a laptop and remote control when I didn't have that option on my
camera but that is a lot more hassle. I made some simple brackets to
hold the laptop on the tripod legs, just two metal 'wings' attached with
a u-bolt. The other problem there is obviously battery limits. For
storage space, you'll want to set the camera at the smallest size above
1920 wide, medium jpeg quality and with today's huge cards, this
shouldn't be a problem unless you are doing really long sequences. For
artistic purposes, nobody is going to sit & watch more than 30 seconds
or so of any particular time lapse scene in most cases, I get by with
usually no more than a few seconds before changing scenes. Get into
panning heads and you can exceed that time but that usually takes $1000
or so of gear. You might want to capture full res and pan/scan/zoom
inside that. Full 1920x1080 HD video is killer big & hard on a computer
so most likely you'll be doing a smaller size: the zoom ability at
youtube size presentation is considerable.


Obviously it offers you more flexibility and direct control than traditional
intervalometer shooting but at the cost of extra complexity. From the very
brief discussion here it seems Canon might have an edge on Nikon but you
very much need to find a local photography club and check them out for
yourself (you would be unlikely to find a camera shop setup to demonstrate
remote shooting).

...

You will need a *good* tripod.

Wind can make a mess of things in some cases. You don't want to set up
on a wood deck & walk around on the deck during a shoot.


I use Manfrotto but there are other brands
professionals will use. Buying a cheap and nasty that flexes in the merest
hint of a breeze will only disappoint and frustrate you. My Manfrotto is
heavy (when I'm not using it as a tripod I can use it to beat back the
invading barbarian hordes) but it's heavy and strong for a reason.

AC adapters have been mentioned. They have the AC/DC converter at one end
and a dummy battery at the other. Alternatively you can look at a battery
grip like the Canon BG-E2N. It will let you use two Canon proprietary
batteries or 6 AA batteries. For myself I insist on AA batteries, partly
because I can use low-discharge rechargeables (I use Imedion) and partly
because if my batteries ever run flat in the middle of the Gobi desert and I
don't have a backup set I can always pop over to the nearest tourist kiosk
and get some alkalines to keep me going.

With the intervalometer, camera batteries go real fast doing long
30-second night/star exposures. At that spacing it's possible to swap
out the battery when it's looking low but moving the tripod can make a
mess. And it takes me longer to charge the batteries than the camera
takes to wear them down so pretty frustrating.

--
Paul Furman
www.edgehill.net
www.baynatives.com

all google groups messages filtered due to spam

"Paul Furman" wrote in message

DRS wrote:

[...]

The EOS utility controls a whole bunch of things (each apparently
done by a different programmer), such as Remote Live View, Original
Decision Data, Wireless File Transmitter if you have the optional
WFT-E3A, and many camera settings. If you're serious enough about
investing in time lapse gear you should consider the WFT as your
camera then becomes part of your home wireless network and you don't
have to worry about USB cables.

What about a laptop? I'm thinking Nikon but assume the technology is
similar.

I'm not sure what your point is since I've never seen a current laptop
without wireless, Ethernet and USB. The supplied Canon USB cable is 2m and
has 2 balens (the supplied cable with my partner's G10 is 1.26m and has 1
balen, so Canon obviously has a thing for balens). Assuming the balens are
necessary and Canon aren't just playing silly buggers that length may be
limiting. Of course, it may be just fine for the OP, but I mentioned the
wireless option as something to consider for the flexibility it offers.
It's not inexpensive but the OP should be made aware it exists.

[...]

Remote live view shooting is a more recent development. I haven't
had much reason to use it, mainly because of what I like to shoot. I'm
not really interested in taking all my gear plus the laptop to
some location so I can have the camera take 60 shots of a flower or
whatever while I read a book.

I do this with the built in intervalometer on my D200 & D700. The
problem is a limitation of 999 frames max, about 15 minutes for clouds
at 1 frame every 3 seconds. I just work with that limitation. I used

The Micnova has an unlimited frames option. At roughly half the cost of the
Canon/Nikon equivalents it's not particularly expensive so you may want to
investigate one for yourself. The MQ-TC2 has the Nikon plug.

[...]

AC adapters have been mentioned. They have the AC/DC converter at
one end and a dummy battery at the other. Alternatively you can
look at a battery grip like the Canon BG-E2N. It will let you use
two Canon proprietary batteries or 6 AA batteries. For myself I
insist on AA batteries, partly because I can use low-discharge
rechargeables (I use Imedion) and partly because if my batteries
ever run flat in the middle of the Gobi desert and I don't have a
backup set I can always pop over to the nearest tourist kiosk and
get some alkalines to keep me going.

With the intervalometer, camera batteries go real fast doing long
30-second night/star exposures. At that spacing it's possible to swap
out the battery when it's looking low but moving the tripod can make a
mess. And it takes me longer to charge the batteries than the camera
takes to wear them down so pretty frustrating.

With the AA batteries already in a battery magazine I can swap them in and
out of the battery grip in a matter of seconds, but the point that for
extended use an AC adapter is preferrable is valid.

DRS wrote:
Paul Furman wrote
DRS wrote:

[...]

The EOS utility controls a whole bunch of things (each apparently
done by a different programmer), such as Remote Live View, Original
Decision Data, Wireless File Transmitter if you have the optional
WFT-E3A, and many camera settings. If you're serious enough about
investing in time lapse gear you should consider the WFT as your
camera then becomes part of your home wireless network and you don't
have to worry about USB cables.

What about a laptop? I'm thinking Nikon but assume the technology is
similar.

I'm not sure what your point is since I've never seen a current laptop
without wireless, Ethernet and USB.

Ah, somehow I had the idea that it was some non-standard connection and
a plug-in receiver was needed. Thanks for the clarification.

--
Paul Furman
www.edgehill.net
www.baynatives.com

all google groups messages filtered due to spam

DRS wrote:
"Paul Furman" wrote in message

DRS wrote:

[...]

The EOS utility controls a whole bunch of things (each apparently
done by a different programmer), such as Remote Live View,
Original
Decision Data, Wireless File Transmitter if you have the optional
WFT-E3A, and many camera settings. If you're serious enough about
investing in time lapse gear you should consider the WFT as your
camera then becomes part of your home wireless network and you
don't
have to worry about USB cables.

What about a laptop? I'm thinking Nikon but assume the technology
is
similar.

I'm not sure what your point is since I've never seen a current
laptop
without wireless, Ethernet and USB. The supplied Canon USB cable is
2m and has 2 balens (the supplied cable with my partner's G10 is
1.26m and has 1 balen, so Canon obviously has a thing for balens).
Assuming the balens are necessary and Canon aren't just playing
silly
buggers that length may be limiting. Of course, it may be just fine
for the OP, but I mentioned the wireless option as something to
consider for the flexibility it offers. It's not inexpensive but the
OP should be made aware it exists.

The word is "balun", not "balen", and the devices on the Canon USB
cables are not baluns, they are ferrite RF chokes intended to block
spurious signal emissions and thus help pass various RFI regulations.
They are not needed for functioning.

The USB standard is exactly that, a standard, and one of the things it
specifies is the cable span, which is 3 meters for low speed and 5 for
full speed, with repeaters allowed for up to 27 meters with low speed
or 30 with full.

[...]

Remote live view shooting is a more recent development. I haven't
had much reason to use it, mainly because of what I like to shoot.
I'm not really interested in taking all my gear plus the laptop to
some location so I can have the camera take 60 shots of a flower
or
whatever while I read a book.

I do this with the built in intervalometer on my D200 & D700. The
problem is a limitation of 999 frames max, about 15 minutes for
clouds at 1 frame every 3 seconds. I just work with that
limitation.
I used

The Micnova has an unlimited frames option. At roughly half the
cost
of the Canon/Nikon equivalents it's not particularly expensive so
you
may want to investigate one for yourself. The MQ-TC2 has the Nikon
plug.

[...]

AC adapters have been mentioned. They have the AC/DC converter at
one end and a dummy battery at the other. Alternatively you can
look at a battery grip like the Canon BG-E2N. It will let you use
two Canon proprietary batteries or 6 AA batteries. For myself I
insist on AA batteries, partly because I can use low-discharge
rechargeables (I use Imedion) and partly because if my batteries
ever run flat in the middle of the Gobi desert and I don't have a
backup set I can always pop over to the nearest tourist kiosk and
get some alkalines to keep me going.

With the intervalometer, camera batteries go real fast doing long
30-second night/star exposures. At that spacing it's possible to
swap
out the battery when it's looking low but moving the tripod can
make
a mess. And it takes me longer to charge the batteries than the
camera takes to wear them down so pretty frustrating.

With the AA batteries already in a battery magazine I can swap them
in and out of the battery grip in a matter of seconds, but the point
that for extended use an AC adapter is preferrable is valid.

--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

"Paul Furman" wrote in message

DRS wrote:

[...]

I'm not sure what your point is since I've never seen a current
laptop without wireless, Ethernet and USB.

Ah, somehow I had the idea that it was some non-standard connection
and a plug-in receiver was needed. Thanks for the clarification.

The WFT-E3 Wireless File Transmitter itself is mounted to the underside of
the camera body in the same way as a battery grip (which it closely
resembles) and has wireless, Ethernet and USB connectors. It's a very
flexible accessory.

http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Canon_WFT_E3A/

"." wrote in message


[...]

Thanks to you and Paul for all your information. I'm reading and
saving this and need to digest it all over a little time. I'm no where
near as experienced as you both.

So glad this peaked some interest for you guys cause it is great for
my edification.

It beats the hell out of silly arguments about how many angels fit on a
sensor element.

"." wrote in message


[...]

I'm getting close to pulling the trigger on a Canon EOS camera and
usually avoid buying the kit lens. I'm thinking seriously about the
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens. Do you have any experience with
it?

No. It gets good reviews though. Try
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/R...ns-Review.aspx
and http://photo.net/equipment/canon/100-macro-usm for starters.

Which body are you considering? Remember that APS-C sensor cameras (EOS
1000D to 50D) have a crop factor of 1.6 compared to full frame sensors, so
the EF 100mm becomes effectively a 160mm (although note the comments about
depth of field in the second review). You may want to consider the Canon
EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens as it is effectively a 96mm lens when on an
APS-C body. See
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/R...ns-Review.aspx.