Pentax Remote Assistant...

Argh, I saw you beat me by a few seconds Matt.
Tried to delete my message... but too late again.

I have used a 1 meter extension on the cable that came with the K10D. That is all I have, but at least it makes moving around the laptop a little easier.

Thanks guys for the info on the length of USB cables. Are long cables readily available 'of the shelf' as it were or would one have to knock one up for oneself ?

Easy enough to find witha bit of "google magic" http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?CAB-USB5MT

Is that an extension cable, or a type A to type B cable?

7dayshop do these:

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=777_5&products_id=925...

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=100700

which I think should work. You'd plug the lead from the camera into the adaptor, then the 5m lead from the adaptor to the computer. Should come to £8 including postage.

Dan

Various USB extension cables available from Amazon:
HERE
Matt

Yes, alright, clever-clogs.

Dan

Although note that only some of those say USB2. I might be wary of the ones that don't. Still some bargains on there though.

Dan

Hi,

if you need a USB lead longer than 5m, then you'll need to use one labelled up "active repeater", due to signal degredation over the length.

Cheers

Liam

Got this from eBay, wasn't much of a loss if it didn't work........

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290113783511

Works a treat, even with a thin 1m extension plus the Pentax 1m cable connected for a total of 7m.

Must say that I was impressed with the seller, had within 2 days and that included a Monday Bank Holiday.

does remote assistnat work with the ist DS?

Unfortunately not, as far as I know. Just the D and K10D.

Dan

actually i just downloaded the ist D version and tried it and it seems to work.

not quite sure what use it is though. the screen image is very small, and its not like you can have shutter open continuous viewfinder or anything...

Well, no, I did think that when it was mentioned by Don on the other thread. I'm sure it's useful for studio shooting, but it's not something I'd use, at the moment at least.

Dan

Good that it works with the DS though.

as far as I can tell it more or less works provided you don't upgrade to the latest firmware. Also probably wise to leave such things as the remote control of custom functions well alone, since the D has different functions.

That is as it appears when used with my DL2 anyway, your millage may vary.

If you set the Remote Assitant software to Auto Save mode (you don't need a card in the camera with Auto Save mode) and have your editing program open (I use C1 for this) pointing to the path you have set in the Remote Assistant "save to" option you get the picture big and live. Does not seem to take any longer to write to the HD than it does to the memory card (you still get 3+ frames/sec). Couple this with 7m of USB, brilliant for studio work and remote critter shots.