[Radiance-general] USB?linux remote shutter control of Nikons ?

[Axel Jacobs]

Hi Peter,

> out of curisosity: has someone got a Nikon (model 8400/880/4500)
> remotely controlled (shutter speed etc. for HDR) under Linux  ?

E995:
- USB interface shows up as hard drive, so is no good for remote control
- RS232 cable (available for E990) allows for remote control, BUT not
setting of shutter/aperture, so you are limited to the +/- 2 EV AEB which
can be combined with +/- 2 EV MEC to give in theory +/- 4EV.

E990:
- Starting with this model, Nikon have systematically removed remote
control funtionality (hence 995 problems)
- Both, USB and serial may be used to change settings (USB will not show
up as HD)
- my particular model hangs when remotely pushing the trigger via USB, but
serial works. This seems to be a general problem with 990s.
- AEB only +/- 0.7 EV
- no built-in noise reduction!
- full remote control over aperture and shutter speed

E4500:
> Reading images on a 4500 with PTP mode works, remote trigger works, but
> mostly likely the firmware doesn't support setting of the shutter speed:
Same problem as 995 -- Nikon deliberately crippled this functionality,
probably to force people to go D-range ($$$!)

> Someone I talked to mentioned  some undocumented pins on the 4500 USB
> connector, which  are supposed to be RS232 with remote control
> features.  Apparently he'd be testing this soon.

What appears to be a USB connector is on fact a combination of USB and
RS232. There are enough pins to break out both. I'd be terribly surprised
if the MC-EU1 serial remote control would not work with the E4500.
However, unless you get one given to you, I wouldn't recommend buying one
(at least not for the full RRP). It only gives you zoom, trigger and a
sorta time lapse that can't go below 2 mins, and doesn't even display the
time remaining until the next shot.

> Anyone aware of 3rd party companies selling something like an HDR
> firmware for NIkons (or other cameras) ?

TechnoTeam in Ilmenau, DE have teamed up with Rollei to produce a camera
that has a special firmware for HDR (-9T, -3T, T, +3T, +9T). This gizmo
also comes with a complete set of calibration files and some Windoze
software. Don't know about the pricing, though.

I've recently got myself a 5 Pound (price, not weight!) Palm pilot on
e-bay.  They have a serial interface and can control CoolPixes. There is
sone stuff on the web:
a) http://vyskocil.free.fr/cool (closed source)
b) http://timeguy.com/cradek/palmshotcom/ (GPL)

Based on b), I intend to hack together 'PalmHDR', once I've got some time.
I'll keep you updated.

Cheers

Axel