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I want to trigger my digital camera with the BS-2. Can anyone help? :) — Parallax Forums

I want to trigger my digital camera with the BS-2. Can anyone help? :)

ChrisOChrisO Posts: 10
edited 2005-07-07 05:32 in BASIC Stamp
I would like to use my digital camera (Canon A60) to take an outdoor time-lapse sequence. (ie one exposure each 2 mins, etc.)

I've used PC-based shareware that was able to trigger the camera via the USB cable, but for this application I don't want to leave my laptop on location, and have only a small weatherproof enclosure.

Does anyone know how to program the BS-2 to trigger the shutter via USB, and the wiring order for attaching the USB mini cable to the I/O pins? Thanks!

Comments

  • BeanBean Posts: 8,129
    edited 2005-07-05 13:25
    I think it would be MUCH easier to control a servo that presses the shutter button.
    Bean.

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  • allanlane5allanlane5 Posts: 3,815
    edited 2005-07-05 17:50
    Yes, a BS2 cannot act as a 'master' USB device. The protocol is MUCH more complicated than a simple RS-232 connection. Your camera is a 'slave' USB device, which requires a 'master' USB device to control it. The BS2 cannot be a USB 'master'.

    P.S. -- Using a Servo would work, hard as that is to believe.

    Post Edited (allanlane5) : 7/5/2005 7:09:42 PM GMT
  • OakGraphicsOakGraphics Posts: 202
    edited 2005-07-05 18:07
    Instead of a USB route - how about checking to see what options are available supplied by the company that made it?

    Certain digital cameras (i.e. the expensive ones) do have a remote shutter in the form of either IR or by a hard-wired cable. My canon Digital Rebel offers both. The cable for the rebel apparently works with 3 wires. One sense wire and to wires to short to sense. (one for focus, the other for taking the picture and 'bulb') There is even a cheapo trick for the camera of plugging in your cell phone headset into the trigger jack, and when you press the 'mute' button on your headset - it triggers the camera to take a picture by the short.

    For those types of cameras it would be a simple matter of using a relay or 2 (if you wanted 'focus' delays before taking the picture). The IR route could be done by attempting to decode the fire trigger from the transmitter I supose. Something the ocilliscope module from here I have been eyeing would probably help with. smile.gif I think there is even an app note about how to do this in the tutorials available for the ocilliscope.

    Hope this helps
  • steve_bsteve_b Posts: 1,563
    edited 2005-07-05 18:12
    I would think you'd need to "wake up" your camera before taking pictures....batteries would die otherwise!

    There's been a few links on this board so far as connecting certain types of cameras to serial cables (standards RS232 not USB). They were older cameras...but worked well.
    Depending on what kind of resolution you are after, there's been a few posts about hacking one of those "keychain digital cameras" and basically using them for some remote cameras. They were crude but for $20 a camera (in Canada) it's a cheap and easy way to do it (where a workable camera might cost a couple hundred bucks--that's a new pair of mukluks up here!).
    Do a search on the board to see if you can dig up the posts....I'll scan through my 'favorites' to see if I saved the sites.
    I think the guy that posted it, had used it for rocketry!

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    Steve
    http://ca.geocities.com/steve.brady@rogers.com/index.html
    "Inside each and every one of us is our one, true authentic swing. Something we was born with. Something that's ours and ours alone. Something that can't be learned... something that's got to be remembered."
  • ChrisOChrisO Posts: 10
    edited 2005-07-06 02:19
    THANKS everyone.....especially Bean [noparse]:)[/noparse]

    A few hour's work with some metal scraps, and I had a servo-operated third-class lever pressing the shutter on my camera.
    A bit more fiddling, and I will install and start shooting. Hopefully it works for a few hundred cycles!

    Interesting information in the other posts....I suspected USB control might be beyond a stamp. [noparse]:)[/noparse]
    Sadly, my camera is not fancy enough to have a remote shutter, and I still need this to be as high quality as possible, as it will be edited into a video, so a cheapie web cam picture won't do.

    Thanks again--as always, this board's a real help! And, if anyone does have any other ideas, I will continue watching and would love to hear them!
  • steve_bsteve_b Posts: 1,563
    edited 2005-07-06 16:56
    I dont' know what you're using for a power source....but if you were comfortable using a servo to 'click' the photo...then maybe using another servo to turn the camera on and off might help wave camera battery life!

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    Steve
    http://ca.geocities.com/steve.brady@rogers.com/index.html
    "Inside each and every one of us is our one, true authentic swing. Something we was born with. Something that's ours and ours alone. Something that can't be learned... something that's got to be remembered."
  • OakGraphicsOakGraphics Posts: 202
    edited 2005-07-06 17:58
    Since you are doing time lapse photography, I should point out 2 tips. Consider them each a penny of my thoughts. smile.gif

    If using a macro (to watch a flower bloom or the like) remember the servo can generate camera shake - so don't just jam the servo on the button, but ease it to take the picture.

    Another note is - if doing a landscape time lapse (i.e. wide scene of city - or the like) , make sure to turn the camera off 'auto' and set a manual setting for exposure. Otherwise - as clouds move overhead - you will get a dramatic difference in the frames, and cause the resulting 'footage' to flash and dim. Manual settings also helps for sunsets and color intensity. THis will save you a lot of time in the editing phase since you wont have to color or contrast correct bad slides.

    Hope this helps
  • kelvin jameskelvin james Posts: 531
    edited 2005-07-07 05:32
    Hi Though this is not stamp specific, it does provide some good info on electronic remote control for digital shutters. This is a link to a project site where the camera is electronically hacked by using a pic micro for outputs from a pwm signal. Obviously, unless you have an electronic layout schematic for the camera, it would be difficult to accomplish, and also chances of screwing up the camera would be pretty high. It is worth a look, i would imagine the operation could be controlled by a timer circuit for time lapse recording. Possibly a sx28 would work for this instead of the pic.

    kelvin

    www.rc-cam.com/camman.htm
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