Remotely Operating your DSLR

[Rhodes Family]

Hi guys,

Just wondering if anyone can help me out on this thread. I’ve recently learned about remotely operating your DSLR with packages you can buy of the internet. I’ve had a lot of fun in the lounge using the free trial of one package from “Breeze Systems” (I’ve got the Nikon version, but they do the same for Canon, Sony etc.)
As your probably thinking, my cat sleeping on the sofa isn’t quite the same as a wild creature out in the field, so I’m looking to take this a step further – a few questions though:

• Anyone with experience suggest the “best” package (or one they use)

• As the camera is operated by a USB cable, can you by special long cables (up to 30m long perhaps) or is it best to make your own?


Cheers, Alex

[pressld2]

Hi Alex,

The maximum length for a USB 2 cable is 5 metres (about 16 feet). You can now buy "active" cables that buffer the data and have a built in repeater. These are still limited to 5 metres each cable but because they have the repeater they can be daisy-chained together for longer runs.

They are more expensive than standard USB cables though so you might want to consider a wireless solution, although I'm not sure that wireless USB will work at 30 metres and it does require line of sight.

EDIT: Just done a bit more reading up about this and you can now get devices that will extend USB up to 100m by running it over CAT5/6 network cables, or even up to several kilometres using fibre-optic cables. These solutions to the 5m limit are not cheap though, and neither are the wireless options.

Dave P.

[colincurry]

I use a hahn.l wireless remote control on my Canon camera. It was not that expensive; certainly cheaper that the proprietary version.

You plug a small dongle into the camera and operate a wireless remote. I imagine they also do one for Nikon.

I have not tested it at long range, but it might be worth googling.

Colin

[nightshade]

Originally Posted by Rhodes Family

Hi guys,

Just wondering if anyone can help me out on this thread. I’ve recently learned about remotely operating your DSLR with packages you can buy of the internet. I’ve had a lot of fun in the lounge using the free trial of one package from “Breeze Systems” (I’ve got the Nikon version, but they do the same for Canon, Sony etc.)
As your probably thinking, my cat sleeping on the sofa isn’t quite the same as a wild creature out in the field, so I’m looking to take this a step further – a few questions though:

• Anyone with experience suggest the “best” package (or one they use)

• As the camera is operated by a USB cable, can you by special long cables (up to 30m long perhaps) or is it best to make your own?


Cheers, Alex

I have not actually used it myself but am told this is pretty good
Hama NI-2 Wireless Remote Control Release for Nikon DSLR Cameras £18.78 - Free Delivery

[Rhodes Family]

Hey again, just a quick update:

Looks as if I haven't worded my post correctly (my fault entirely!)

What I meant was remotely controlling your DSLR from a laptop, not just a cable release. I was at the 2010 WildPhotos conference in London last weekend and two speakers, Tim Laman and Charlie Hamilton-James used this technique—running a USB data cable from the camera, to the laptop. From there you can control everything from F-stop to focusing using some software and at the same time, watch it all in Live View!!

I guess it is the 21st centaury technique of remote controlled photography, as it takes away the "hit and miss" factor of just holding down the motor drive on the remote when your subject passes by - instead, now you can watch it all live on your screen!

The talk was really inspiring an was a pity I wasn't able to have a quick chat with either of them.

Alex

[nightshade]

I seem to remember something on you-tube YouTube - Canon DSLR Video Monitor for FREE Using your Laptop

[Geoff F]

I have a friend who specialises in extra large panoramas and he has made an extra long 'tripod' from aluminum tubing with the camera mounted on one end and a laptop attached to the bottom.

It is around 15 ft high and he uses it to see over hedges.

All from basic equipment and the camera is directly controlled from the laptop.

[Durrell]

I've got a Canon DSLR and it came with software called EOS Utility which lets me take remote control of the camera. So far I've only set the camera up to shoot birds in the garden having pre-focussed on a specific point, I've then used the software to change shutter speed, aperture and ISO.
By switching the camera to Live View I can see the image on the PC screen and then control focus but I'm yet to properly try this.

As for the connection like Dave said above there's a 5m limit to normal USB cables. I've used 2 x 5m active extension USB cables attached together and it works just fine. Each cable was about £7 and the seller claims you can put 5 of them together to get 25m total cable length.

A wireless file transmitter would be a great solution but also rather expensive! A quick search found this for Canon and I presume Nikon will do something similar:
Canon introduces 3 new Wireless File Transmitter units

If you wanted to use this away from home you'd need to set up your own portable wireless network though!

[Rhodes Family]

Cheers for that Durrell, i will take a look...and thank you everyone who has contributed to this post!

Alex

[hoppit2008]

Hi,

Not sure if I have got the question right - have we tried connecting a DSLR to a laptop and using a remote desktop connection to the laptop from another pc using a wireless router? I have tried it a few times and it works quite well. The limiting thing is that the camera may not be pointing exactly where it needs to.

Hope this helps

Bry