It would be handy to stick one of my Nikon cameras on a tripod and use it to capture snapshots on the PC of things on the bench - but Nikon charge rather a lot of money for their Capture software suite.
Is there a generic type capture util that will work with the Nikon?
The cheap & nasty Vivicam had this included with the drivers already in XP, but its not so good with no optical zoom.
Any help appreciated - thanks.
Linux seems to let you download pictures from nearly all cameras without installing any software. You plug in the camera, and a box pops up notifying you a camera has been detected, and asks if you want to download images.
Jon
This is odd, because my Olympus and Canon DSLRs came with free software that lets you download from the camera.
When you say "capture", do you mean something other than a simple download? Are you looking for software that lets you control the camera from the computer?
The screenshot that comes with XP (ctrl + Prnt Scrn) makes an uncompressed bit map which you can open and Zoom directly in MS Paint, or do as I do and tweak it in GIMP.
This works on XP as well. I just get a folder called DCIM, which contains contents of Camera.
This feature has been available in just about every version of Windows.
To clarify, are you looking for a workflow about like this:
--- You plug your camera into your PC, probably via USB.
A window pops up on your PC that lists the pictures already on the camera, if any.
You point the camera at something interesting.
On the PC, you click a "take a picture" button.
The camera takes a picture.
The window updates itself to list the newly taken picture on the camera.
You can then download the newly taken picture from the camera to the PC for further use.
---
A little Googling suggests that Breeze Systems' "NKRemote" might do what you want on Windows, if you have a Nikon DSLR, but it costs $175, not too different than the $180 Nikon wants for Capture NX 2. Breeze offers a trial version of their software. I have never used Breeze's software (or Nikon's, for that matter.)
I don't *think* the "camera and scanner wizard" that comes with Windows can do this. At least I don't think the XP version could - maybe more recent versions can. I have used this to download photos from a digital camera but not to do live captures.
On Linux, gtkam (the UI for the gphoto library) can do this. You connect your camera to the PC, usually via USB, and it can tell the camera to take a picture. It works with the Nikon Coolpix L19 I have, but most cameras capable of PTP should work, and there are drivers for other cameras as well.
Note that you usually have to set up the zoom, flash, etc on the camera itself, not on the PC. For a few cameras, you can set up the camera parameters from the PC; the gphoto docs call this "remote controlling cameras". You also don't usually get a live preview on the PC of what the camera is seeing.
Unfortunately, gtkam/libgphoto is not available for Windows. If you don't have a Linux box, and depending on budget, time, and your Linux experience, you might consider running Linux in a virtual machine on Windows; I usually use Sun/Oracle VirtualBox for this. VirtualBox can "pass through" the USB connection from the Windows host to the Linux guest, so Linux will see the camera over USB like normal.
You might also ask over in news:rec.photo.digital .
Standard disclaimers apply: I don't get money or other consideration from any companies mentioned.
Matt Roberds
On one of the cameras I have, it can be plugged in and used exactly like a webcam - alternatively, the shutter can be controlled by clicking the mouse for single shot capture. It has some very basic controls like brightness & contrast etc - something that basic would be good enough, even better if it works with any camera that I've installed the basic drivers for.
One of the Vivitar cameras does that without even running the driver install disk - when you plug the USB cable in, it displays a USB symbol and a webcam symbol, the default is USB and it just turns up as a removable drive in explorer.
What I'm after allows shutter control with a mouse click - any other controls would be a bonus.
I checked, and the EOS Utility that came with my Canon DSLR, for free, lets you shoot photos from your computer.
I can't believe Nikon doesn't have a comparable free application.
That Intel camera I pulled out of the garbage was mostly a webcam, with the ability to be used off batteries as a standalone digital camera.
The problem with webcams is of course lower pixel count compared to the average current digital camera. I'm not sure how that works out in this sort of application.
I just saw something suggesting taking a webcam and reversing the lens, so it works better for close up work. That might be something worth trying, webcams are something easy to find in the garbage.
Michael
How do you intend to reverse a lens that presumably cannot be removed from the camera?
The camera is already designed for "close ups", so I don't see how that would help.
Apparently its on special offer - £119.
How do you intend to reverse a lens that presumably cannot be removed from the camera?
The camera is already designed for "close ups", so I don't see how that would help.
William, you have a habit of spouting off ignorant garbage at anything you are not familiar with.
Please stop that, and do a little research first before posting, eh.
Gareth.
How do you intend to reverse a lens that presumably cannot be removed from the camera?
The camera is already designed for "close ups", so I don't see how that would help.
By the way, if you have an old 35mm camera to hand, try taking a 50mm lens and reversing it.
You can get the same effect by simply holding the lens reversed in front of any digital camera lens.
Gareth.
Gareth.
Ignorant garbage, eh? You have really stepped into it.
More than 40 years ago, I owned a 52mm reversing ring for my Nikon. It was a handy way to take a quick close-up.
It was generally felt that reversing the lens produced better image quality than using plus lenses. The tradeoff was that the reversing ring wasn't usable over as wide a range.
I would like to know how one would remove the lens from a Webcam and reverse, without tsuris.
Well... no. That's not at all the same thing.
What you're doing is using the camera lens (reversed or not) as a plus lens to allow the Webcam to focus closer.
Ignorant garbage, eh? You have really stepped into it.
More than 40 years ago, I owned a 52mm reversing ring for my Nikon. It was a handy way to take a quick close-up.
It was generally felt that reversing the lens produced better image quality than using plus lenses. The tradeoff was that the reversing ring wasn't usable over as wide a range.
I would like to know how one would remove the lens from a Webcam and reverse, without tsuris.
William, you really haven't researched this at all.
Why not Google for a few minutes. You might actually find out things that you never knew was possible, rather than just relying on the "truth" that resides soley in your own rather outdated head.
Gareth.
Oh, but I did. I asked the direct question as to how one was supposed to reverse a presumably non-removable lens. All you need have said was that some cameras have the lenses mounted with screws that can be removed. The discussion would have ended amicably at that point.
I assume this is what you are talking about.
I do not see what connection this has with the subject of the original post.
Oh, but I did. I asked the direct question as to how one was supposed to reverse a presumably non-removable lens. All you need have said was that some cameras have the lenses mounted with screws that can be removed. The discussion would have ended amicably at that point.
I assume this is what you are talking about.
I do not see what connection this has with the subject of the original post.
No William, you researched that link after I had made my post, and now you are trying to suggest that that was part of your pre-posting research.
William, I believe you are a liar and a fraud.
Gareth.
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