Remote for digital camera

[marcin 0]

I remember reading an article in either Parachutist or Skydiving regarding bypassing the lack of plug for remote shutter release in digital cameras- there was reference to some small device, plugged into the USB port.

Also there was a good review of Nikon digital cameras, including Coolpix 5000 in the same article, I think.

I cant find this issue of the magazine. Does somebody remember which issue was it, or/and what is the website/name of the company producing this small device for remote shutter release?

Thanks

Marcin

[Cajones 0]

http://www.harbortronics.com/ is probably who you're looking for.

The article in Parachutist has a photo of my CoolPix 5000/Harbortronics setup.

The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

[marcin 0]

This is it, thanks.

I also bought the Coolpix 5000 recently and are experimenting with it. What size and quality do you set it to for skydiving photography? I find the camera very slow with higher resolution.

Do you have wide angle adapter, or use the original lense?

Marcin

[Cajones 0]

The native lens is actually wide enough to match up with my Sony .6. The camera is definitely slower at high resolution. You can bump the size down to 1600x1200 and still get very good 8x10s to get a tad more speed. I tend to use the full resolution, as you never know when you'll get that super-sweet shot that deserves to be wall-size. Settings are typically ISO200, with shutter manually set to 1/125,matrix focus, flash disabled, and light set on sunlight. Everything else is left on auto. You can setup your DigiSwitch to use all of these settings, as well as single frame, and all kinds of things in the menus.

The setting you will have to experiment with, most, is focus. You can set it to infinity, but I use few steps back to fly really tight. It helps just a little when you're in your slot, but hurts more than a little, when you're not.

I have found the manual settings to be very similar to what you'd expect from a 35mm SLR with the same settings. The greatest exceptions are the ISO settings and higher shutter speeds. I recently shot about 750 frames of Volleyball Tournaments in two different locations. Both were relatively well lit (much better than a typical indoor sporting event). Using ISO800 produced 8x10's that're far less grainy than I'd expect. Shutter speeds of 1/125 and higher produced nearly identical amounts of motion blur. Both of these are likely products of the CCD. The plus side of good shots with ISO800, and the minus side of not-so-true exposure timings.

The 5000 has some very limiting factors (compared to something like a 10D) for things other than skydiving, but you'll find it more than acceptable in the conditions we usually jump in. It's much cheaper (although the 10D is worth the extra $$$, to me), and much lighter than any other comparable setup.

The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

[clusterit 0]

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2001_reviews/digisnap2000.html

Scroll to the bottom of page.

Blue ones.
crazy German

[marcin 0]

Thanks!

So you actually have to wait for a few seconds before taking consecutive shots?

For skydiving, do you recommend buying the cheaper Digisnap5000, or the 2000 model, which is bigger, but has some other functions (timelaps etc.) that are probably not useful for skydiving photography.

marcin

[Cajones 0]

The 2000 does more than just shutter release. It can be used to set any/all functions of the camera when you turn it on. It can also turn the LCD off (to save batteries), do automatic shutter release (not just the conventional time lapse, but say - 1 frame ever 1/2 second for 80 seconds), and provide release feedback (show you when it's taken a picture, and ready to take another), with an LCD.

The laws of physics are strictly enforced.