OT Digital camera mod

On Dec 31, 7:22=A0am, nick hull wrote: =2E..

Black and white film can be developed in a few minutes without a darkroom. You move it from the camera into the light-tight developing tank inside a black changing bag, then you can pour the developer, stop and fixer in and out under normal indoor lighting. 35mm film is fairly easy to wind onto the reel by feel but I needed some practice with 16mm.

Maybe you could use an old computer for video capture. My Canon doesn't power down when connected to USB.

Jim Wilkins

Only the cheap ones. The Nikon DSLR types have an on-off switch that is mechanical. They also sell an application which allows you to control the camera remote from a Windoz PC. My D40 has an intervalometer mode allowing the camera to take pictures at preset intervals.

On Mon, 31 Dec 2007 06:10:14 -0800 (PST), with neither quill nor qualm, snipped-for-privacy@sbcglobal.net quickly quoth:

How do you like the D40? I'm considering upgrading to that from an old Coolpix 995 which is still serving me well. I want an instant-click digital. My 995 takes several seconds to boot and focus before I can snap a shot, and lots of times that's too long to wait.

Maybe I am confused about what you want, but aside from the night/infrared issues, what you need is called a webcam. You can make it take snapshots as often as you want and keep a nice rolling archive of them, etc.

One of the neighbors has a complete security system with at least 10 cameras, all of them get channeled to a computer with a couple of large hard drives. It grabs a picture from each camera every 3 seconds. If he needs a set of images he just pulls them from the file. If he doesn't the system just overwrites the data on a 24 hour clock. Camera wise he has used a few different ones. His current batch are all USB cameras with night vision. He tried wireless units but didn't like the problem of interference from other signals.

Cheap is good, it will be out in the weather and is subject to vandalism and theft.

The Nikon DSLR types have an on-off switch that

I suspect it wouldn't work so well with a 1000' remote; besides I use a Mac.

Free men own guns - www(dot)geocities(dot)com/CapitolHill/5357/

I've loaded and developed a lot of B&W film, and I prefer digital ;)

The site is too far from any possible computer site, at least 1000'. That's why I don't use a video camera, too far for co-ax.

Free men own guns - www(dot)geocities(dot)com/CapitolHill/5357/

Digital cameras, at least some of them, only turn themselves off after a period of no activity. Many or most digital cameras have a "focus" or "lock exposure" function when you half-press the shutter button. Just do that periodically, and the camera will stay on, while taking photos only when the button is fully depressed.

Many also have some means of remote actuation. The Olympus I rigged up for a guy to take wildlife photos remotely (by radio control) had a connector on it. The remote had two resistors and a two-position button. The camera would focus and read exposure with one resistance, operate the shutter with a lower resistance. I just replicated the remote with a radio. He never mentioned having problems with the camera shutting off, so it may be that it would stay on when the remote was connected.

My old Oly C2500 has infrared remote control, which would be even easier -- no connector.

Ever thought about using a video camera with one of the old Rabbit wireless systems? They operate in the 900 Mhz area, if I recall correctly, and with a pair of small beam antenae might cover the distance. If you were a ham radio operator you could use an amateur radio TV setup. That would surely cover the distance. I've gotten several miles out of the one I had with no trouble at all.

Jim Chandler

The only caveat is that it is much safer to have to the developer in the tank and then dunk the reels into it; the risk being air bubbles forming in contact with the film, leaving undeveloped spots. Good agitation usually works, but I cannot recall having trouble after somebody taught me that trick. For the OP's purpose, a single reel tank would do, and it is probably not a big deal - at one time, I found a 8-reel tank to be a little wimpy.

If you go the film route, I recommend good plastic reels over stainless steel. The metal ones can be very tricky to load, and can sometimes allow the emulsion side of the film to contact its neighbor, again leaving spots that are not properly developed. I never had a plastic reel do that to me.

As far as a camera, I would consider a web cam built for the purpose. Of course, the idea is probably to use an existing camera vs. spending money on a new camera??

Good luck!

Bill

The standard solution is optical fiber. Works well, but is expensive.

Joe Gwinn

My Kodak 7590 (I think that's the model #) will not turn off if the USB cable is hooked up. I haven't tried it, but I'll bet there is a command available from the camera menu to take a picture. If you hook up a wall-wart power supply, it should run forever.

How about a web cam?

Jon

Huh? You can send video over miles of coax, if you terminate it properly. Hmmm, let's see, 1000' at $0.13/ft = $130, you might be able to do better on eBay. You can probably send the camera power on the same cable with a little ingenuity, too.

Jon

Cheap existing is nice but I'll buy something else if required. Doesn't a web cam need a web? No internet connection nearby and my only internet connection is slow dialup - pictures take a lot of time. Or were you thinking of an on-site 'internet'? How does that work?

Free men own guns - www(dot)geocities(dot)com/CapitolHill/5357/

An idea worth trying ;) Would prefer to do it electrically instead of mechanically to avoid camera shake.

I'm trying to do it with a Olympus 300 which has an IR remote if I can keep the camera on. If it goes off I have to manually push buttons to get it back to remote operation. Would love to attach wires to do it as long as I can keep the camera on.

Free men own guns - www(dot)geocities(dot)com/CapitolHill/5357/

I'll have to look into that, but I do NOT have a clear line of sight.

Free men own guns - www(dot)geocities(dot)com/CapitolHill/5357/

Use a web cam on a cheap computer. Use motion sensing software (if more than so many pixels per second change, it says something moved and captures either still or motion.

Check into X10.

Use wireless tcp/ip cammera talking to your wireless router connected to your PC. With directional antenna you can reach close to a mile.. No need to connect to the world wide web. Just your local network or "intranet"

All the Canon DSLRs wake up from sleep and shoot from the shutter remote, which is nothing but simple switch contacts. Standard 2.5mm 3-conductor plug on the 300D/350D/400D, or the proprietary N3 connector used on the more expensive models can be cannibalized from a $10 import remote.