Post from: DiyPhotoBits.com

5.1 dev = 5.2

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Post from: DiyPhotoBits.com

Lightroom 3.0 beta 2 arrives

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

The script can be used like that, but is hardly ideal. However I can imagine making a “photobooth mode” specifically for this purpose which would take away some of the problems.

E.g. you could have a simplified control – basically only one button to press.

Let me know if that sounds interesting and if you have any ideas to add and see if I should spend some more thought on it.

Post from: DiyPhotoBits.com

Interest in Photobooth functions?

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

• Use a short cable
• Use the best quality cable you have
• Plug the cable directly into the PC, not via a hub

Strange as it may seem this has fixed some of my own problems. Apparently it is possible to have an unreliable USB connection which is good enough for some purposes (including downloading images in batches), but not good enough for tethering.

The details I don’t understand, but give it a try if all else fails.

Post from: DiyPhotoBits.com

Maybe it is all in the cable…

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Post from: DiyPhotoBits.com

DIYPhotobits.Com Camera Control 5.2 – The Hand Foot and Mouth Release

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Read this:

http://missanielablog.com/your-old-work

Makes me think because often recently I find that nothing I have been shooting has really come out very interesting, whereas I actually had more worthwhile pieces years ago.

Maybe part of that is just being busy this past year, with the new baby and work there isn’t much time for anything else.

Yet it is worrying when I think I should be “improving” to find that I go through the whole 2009 catalog and find maybe 4 shots I like. I am sure I did “better” in earlier years.

So why is that. It could be that my taste has changed and I’m getting more selective, which could be seen as a good thing. Or it could be that because I’m shooting less I’m really doing less good work. Or, and this is the worry, maybe I’m thinking about it too much – certainly I’m thinking (and reading) more than I’m shooting and that is cramping me somehow. Putting an (unnecessary) level of selectivity on top of my choices of what to shoot.

Now that connects to another thought:

http://www.scottkelby.com/blog/2009/archives/7577

Which basically boils down to “don’t put out pictures which are not your best”, and I would extend that to “which you are proud of”.

It connects for me because I rarely post or show to anybody my photographs because typically nobody likes them (I don’t have that problem of getting uncritical praise from friends and family, basically *nobody* likes my work), yet recently I saw some people around me on facebook post some snaps of a recent dramatic sunset.

Now I had noticed that sky also and taken a few snaps so I thought hey I’ll post one too, just as a community thing, not thinking about it as “a photograph”. Yet of course I take them into Bridge, select the best two, go into ACR and tweak them. A little shift of the WB brings out the dramatic colours nicely and so I go and post that.

“Wonderful picture” people say, you’re such a great photographer I hear. I should be pleased right? But I’m not, it’s a sunset pic of all things with some cheap trickery to make it look like a postcard. Not at all the sort of photography I want to develop, or be known for.

So I’ve shot myself in the foot a little, not bad but it’s annoying.

But but… two years ago I would have selected that image for my portfolio whereas today I wouldn’t touch it.

So my friends like my photographs that I don’t like. What do you do, change your photographs or change your friends?

Post from: DiyPhotoBits.com

My old work isn’t that bad, but what about my new work

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Well worth taking a look to see how your colour names match the rest of the world!

Post from: DiyPhotoBits.com

A rose by any other name is about d06880

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Because this messes up the whole script camera initialization other things stop working as well.  So try this beta version where I have turned off the error checking for that suspect line:

DIYPhotoBits.com Camera Control 5.1 beta

Please let me know in the comments if this helps, and if so I’ll release it in proper packaged format.

Post from: DiyPhotoBits.com

5.0 Tiger not working on Vista or Win7?

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Download 5.0 here

DIYPhotobits Camera Control 5.0 – The Tiger Release – gets a new major version number (from 4 to 5) to reflect several important new enhancements, plus a “.0″ to show that this is new stuff and not as well tested as I would have liked.

I’ve actually had this code on my disk for a while now but due to various interruptions I have not had time to complete testing or release it before now.  And to be honest, I’m actually releasing it here without additional testing because I’m seeing plenty of comments from people who have problems that the new version should fix.

Changelog 5.0:

• Fixed the bug where the preview size doesn’t change during a tethered download preview.  Thanks to Frank.
• Save the raw vs jpg setting between sessions
• Save preview size between sessions
• Save tethered status between sessions
• Image viewer to view previous shots (jpg only)
• Flagging/selection of files via file renaming so that sort-by-filename will show flagged files
• Display latest jpg when downloading jpg+raw
• Bracketing in manual mode via changing shutter speed
• Change exposure compensation code so that it should work for negative values in Vista
• Post processing command either automatically or via viewer
• Bug fixes to savings settings in registry
• Add more choices to preview size
• Added more help links

Well there you go, I’m sure there will be bugs but I hope the new features will be of use to someone.

When I get some more time (haa haa) I’ll try to put together a tutorial video that shows everything working together as I realize the lack of a manual or explanation makes it hard use.

Download 5.0 here

Post from: DiyPhotoBits.com

DIYPhotobits Camera Control 5.0 – Tiger

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Consider a 1 hour time lapse at one shot per 5 seconds, that’s 720 frames for the one hour.

Particularly I’m concerned about camera models which do not have time lapse built in, so the manufacturer had a different expectation of what the total number would be that you achieve.

The camera makers have their own estimates of the total shutter life of each camera, however a more interesting exercise is actually collecting data on this and that has been done here http://olegkikin.com/shutterlife/

For my two cameras that is:

• my D40 (currently 30,422) – Average number of actuations after which shutter died: 82,787
• my D300 (14,905) - Average number of actuations after which shutter died: 106,074

I encourage you to look up your own model, then see how many you are up to now, then do some simple calculations to know how much of your camera life you are using up by doing time lapse before getting started.

Although shutters can be replaced the general consensus is that it doesn’t make sense from a cost perspective.

You can use ExifTool by Phil Harvey to check your shutter count (instructions here), or upload an unedited jpg to flickr and look at the extended properties of the image.

If a one hour time lapse is 720 frames that is about 0.7% of the life of my D40 shutter.

Post from: DiyPhotoBits.com

How many shutter actuations can your dslr survive?

Bookmark It

Hide Sites