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any photography buffs here ? — Parallax Forums

any photography buffs here ?

whiteoxewhiteoxe Posts: 794
edited 2014-06-01 08:11 in General Discussion
Im doing some animation using figures of clay and plasticine and craft wire for moving the arms, legs ,head etc. Ive leant out my 2 year old Sony SLR , when i get it back can that be used as a web cam ?

at the moment my web cam can be programed to take a shot every 3 seconds. I sort of need that ability .

Comments

  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2014-05-31 07:08
    Marginally related, but check out this photobuff's pics of wildlife from his PIR-triggered camera. Beautiful shots from Seattle area.

    https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/j-armstrong/sets/72157638747863393/
  • Peter KG6LSEPeter KG6LSE Posts: 1,383
    edited 2014-05-31 18:01
    I have bad news .... as far I as I am aware No DSLR can be easily used as a webcam . the USB is often just mass storage .
    ((( via HDMI Out and a HDMI PCIe capture card you * might * beable to have windows see it as a video capture device ))

    There might be a exception some where but I have Yet to have seen it .

    If you need a timer .. use a prop or any MCU OR just pony up the 25 bucks and get a trigger release for it .

    More reliable and often better to go COTS for this kinda stuff .

    if you Do make a trigger . use a opto isolator ! Please ! I have seen a 3 grand cam loose its Trigger in from a careless mistake .

    PS what sony do you have ....... have a A3000 as a backup to my twin canons and Its only got a micro USB port . so somehow there is a way to bang the pins to have the cam treat a switch closure as a trigger on some of the USB pins .....
  • W9GFOW9GFO Posts: 4,010
    edited 2014-05-31 22:18
    While my Nikon DSLRs cannot be used as webcams, they work very well at remote capture. I can make all the settings on the computer, trigger the shutter, then see the image that was taken. Should work very well for stop motion. Setting it for interval shooting is possible too.
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2014-05-31 22:31
    My Canon Powershot SX150 IS can see through the lens via a VGA, but the newer ones have shifted over th HDMI video interface.

    Hacking for animation is quite feasible via CHDK firmware downloads. Lots of useful and sophisticated features. Shooting on a 3 second cycle and viewing setups on a VGA would be easy.

    http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK
  • whiteoxewhiteoxe Posts: 794
    edited 2014-05-31 22:33
    Thanks both for your ideas. Its a Sony A380 . Saying web cam was a bit misleading. Stop motion is all i want to use it for. I briefly took it up (photography)as a hobby but i wasn't much good. One of my best friends can make a photo of a vacuum cleaner look priceless :) , He uses light-wave and Photoshop and who knows what else but his shots are all national geographic quality !!!

    If your interes6ted go to flickr and lookup William Bullimore. you wont be disappointed .
  • whiteoxewhiteoxe Posts: 794
    edited 2014-05-31 22:43
    https://www.flickr.com/search/?q=William+Bullimore
  • TubularTubular Posts: 4,703
    edited 2014-05-31 23:10
    Looks like they dropped the remote shutter connector on the A380, compared with the A350, which will make it a whole lot harder.

    I have an earlier alpha that I was able to trigger using an optocoupler across its 3 pins. I was able to use a 3 position, 2mm female header to connect successfully
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2014-06-01 06:06
    Pushing the shutter button with a servo is your fallback position! Just don't use superglue if it's a nice camera. :)

    While adding servos, don't copy this guy's first pan & tilt rig (see photo): http://www.picaxeforum.co.uk/showthread.php?25306-Better-holding-servo-than-Hitec-322&p=256232&viewfull=1#post256232
  • MicksterMickster Posts: 2,694
    edited 2014-06-01 06:28
    Loopy Byteloose wrote: »
    My Canon Powershot SX150 IS can see through the lens via a VGA, but the newer ones have shifted over th HDMI video interface.

    Hacking for animation is quite feasible via CHDK firmware downloads. Lots of useful and sophisticated features. Shooting on a 3 second cycle and viewing setups on a VGA would be easy.

    http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK


    +1 for CHDK. Been using it for years. I have some high-end Canon DSLRs and "L series" lenses but they hardly come out anymore. Canon G9 with CHDK is a great combo. I would grab a used CHDK compatible Canon camera and use an existing script or write my own to achieve this.
  • twm47099twm47099 Posts: 867
    edited 2014-06-01 08:11
    Does the A380 have capability for using the Sony IR remote? I use the one I got with my A700 with that camera and my Sony NEX7. It works as a SIRC transmitter using the Parallax IR receiver and Simple IDE C programs in the C Learning tutorials. I've used it to control my ActivityBot.

    I've wanted to mount my NEX7 on the ActivityBot, have it roam around exploring and use a program that would send the SIRC codes, using an IR LED, to remotely trigger the camera when it bumps into something and changes direction. But I don't understand PASM (the reading programs have some PASM in them, enough to write one yet. It's on my growing 'things I want to do in the future' list.

    Tom
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