Remote Shooting Solution req'd

Hello All,

Id like to place my K10d approx 20m from my house to capture birds in the garden but the usb cable limitations restrict me to 5m , ive seen a usb 2.0 over cat5 booster and was wondering if anyone had used one of these and how good are they? or is there an alternative ?

Do you actually need the camera to be tethered to the PC?

I also leave the camera out in the garden to shoot birds on the feeder sometimes and I just trail my wired remote (10m) through the window. I set the camera up manually first (exposure and focus) and if anything interesting happens while I'm doing the washing up I just press the button - simple and effective! You can quite easily modify the wired remotes to be any length you like by adding extra cable, so 20m shouldn't present any problem.

Hi Hefty,

Yes id like to connect to the pc as well , as i will be doing some studio work soon and again that will be over 5m away from the subject, i like ur use of the remote extension!

In which case I'm afraid I can't help - I've never tried anything on USB that's longer than 5m. I'm sure someone will be along soon who has though...

I shoot images with my robot. (even without the mechanized body the camera could be set up in studio this way).
the camera connects to my laptop with usb.
the laptop is connected to my desktop through wi-fi.
I control the laptop and camera with a vnc over the network.

also my elinchrom radio slave will fire the camera ( not teathered to computer) from that distace.

I wonder if a router that supports networked drives with usb port could work...but I don't know....

Is there a 5m limit on USB cables? Didn't know that. Could you try a pikey solution, and go for a series of cheap hubs and connecting cables (each 5m)? Wouldn't be pretty but might work!

The wifi laptop is a good one though

wi--fi laptop...there is still a delay....not a problem, unless your subject is hummingbirds or such...

Yes, there is a limitation for USB cables at 5 metres. However, you can buy extension cables with built-in boosters, although not cheap.

I just use one of these wireless remotes

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=350073711980&Catego...

Ok it's from China and you have to wait about 10 days or so, but it works great, has half press for focusing and 'B' setting. No delay and it's cheap.

Chris

I regularly shoot thethered in the studio using 10m of USB cable, 2x 5m active repeater's like these....
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-5M-USB-2-0-Active-Repeater-Extension-Cable-Lead-UK_W0QQitemZ270248709391QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item270248709391&_trkparms=72%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C65%3A12&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14 plus the 1m cable that comes with the K10D.

I have not tried stringing 3 or more though.

What sort of range do you get with that?

It's about 100 Meters as they say Stevo. I just tested it from the top of my garden to the road with the house in between about 70 - 80 Mts and it still works. Batteries aren't new either had it about 6 months and use it all the time.

Even cheaper remote...

http://www.vurt.co.uk/2006/11/09/pentaxdslrremote/

Took about 30 mins fiddling around with but worked for me. They still had the exact same remotes a few months back. And £2 - can't go wrong!

Chris,

did you buy yours from the same place as that listing? Having waited 10 days I now have one from them, but it doesn't work When I plug it in the camera just keeps shooting continuously...

you may need to buy/make an adaptor for that.
your camera has a STEREO plug and your remote probably has a MONO plug.

what you need is a stereo plug (into the camera), a mono jack(to plug the remote into).
several ways to set that up using off the shelf plugs (1 stereo to 2 mono jack).....and adaptors.