How to control a Nikon DSLR remotely/wireless

rob-nikon

rob-nikon

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I've been trying to research ways to control a D7100 or a D7000 remotely via an iPad. So far I've heard of the Nikon WU-1a Wireless Mobile Adapter that lets you view the camera via live view on and iPad and fire the shutter remotely. I gather you can't change the settings so it really wouldn't do what I want it to do.

What I want to do is:

* change aperture, shutter, ISO values remotely as the light changes
* use auto focus (setting up manual focus would be ok if auto focus was not possible)
* view what the camera is seeing remotely on an iPad
* activate the shutter via an iPad
* wireless connection so no leads connecting the camera to the iPad.

What I'm hoping to achieve is being able to set up a remote camera that wildlife will approach closer than me. Photos of birds near the feeders I've set up in the garden whilst I'm in the house or setting up a camera slightly closer than I am to them for wildlife like rabbits or grouse.

I plan to be set up near by and be photographing them with my other camera, but try to use another camera remotely to get closer shots of the wildlife that I can't normally get. Of course I won't think of using a camera remotely where the wildlife could be hurt by it and it will be fully covered too at all times too.

One question would like to ask is what effect would have having a camera in live view for hours on end?

Any help would be appreciated.
 
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Live view EATS battery power. So does wi fi.

Thought about setting it up and then firing by radio trigger?
 
your problem is "ipad":lol:, I use the free digicamcontrol on a windows laptop, connected by a 5m active usb cable, the "live view" in on the laptop not the camera, and it can be set up to trigger on movement detection in the picture.
 
Camranger?

CamRanger Wireless Camera Control for iPad, iPhone, iPod-Touch

CamRanger provides wireless live-view, image capture (still or video), camera control, touch focussing, interval control and image transfer, all via your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch. With an operating range of 50metres (150feet), CamRanger allows you to see the live-view image when your camera is placed in remote locations such as bird hides, surveillance or pole-aerial photography applications, and is ideally suited to the world of Macro Photography with its touch focussing feature and fine focus control. Once captured, you can view, download and delete images from your camera’s memory card – all remotely and wirelessly. You can also zoom into the full resolution of the JPEG file and Canon RAW format images to fully check exposure and composition. This can be especially useful where you want to shoot images in a studio or location environment where the artistic director can see images on their iPad as they are being shot.

- Wireless capture & download of stills and video images on iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch
- Stream live view from camera to your iOS device
- View full screen and full resolution images
- Complete remote focusing control with touch focusing and focus stacking.
- Remotely view & adjust camera settings
- Intervalometer (Time-Lapse), HDR (High Dynamic Range) feature, Macro & Focus Stacking
- Includes pouch case and USB-rechargeable Li-Polymer battery
Click to expand...
 
rob-nikon said:
I've been trying to research ways to control a D7100 or a D7000 remotely via an iPad. So far I've heard of the Nikon WU-1a Wireless Mobile Adapter that lets you view the camera via live view on and iPad and fire the shutter remotely. I gather you can't change the settings so it really wouldn't do what I want it to do.

What I want to do is:

* change aperture, shutter, ISO values remotely as the light changes
* use auto focus (setting up manual focus would be ok if auto focus was not possible)
* view what the camera is seeing remotely on an iPad
* activate the shutter via an iPad
* wireless connection so no leads connecting the camera to the iPad.

What I'm hoping to achieve is being able to set up a remote camera that wildlife will approach closer than me. Photos of birds near the feeders I've set up in the garden whilst I'm in the house or setting up a camera slightly closer than I am to them for wildlife like rabbits or grouse.

I plan to be set up near by and be photographing them with my other camera, but try to use another camera remotely to get closer shots of the wildlife that I can't normally get. Of course I won't think of using a camera remotely where the wildlife could be hurt by it and it will be fully covered too at all times too.

One question would like to ask is what effect would have having a camera in live view for hours on end?

Any help would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

Hi Rob,the WU1a will do all you want except change aperture / shutter / iso.It ill give a live view, focus where you want, trigger the shutter and download the picture.But the android sw is a buggy pile of c**p! Despite that i have decided to keep mine. Its handy to get a live view when the camera is very low / high on a tripod. The larger screen aslo helps composition a little.
 
Looking to do something similar but for canon, looked at camranger, but mr rouse gave it a proper slating, so I think I'll give that a miss.....
 
vizzair said:
your problem is "ipad":lol:, I use the free digicamcontrol on a windows laptop, connected by a 5m active usb cable, the "live view" in on the laptop not the camera, and it can be set up to trigger on movement detection in the picture.
Click to expand...

This sounds interested. I would like to keep it wireless if possible as I'm going to use it around wildlife but it maybe worth a try.
 
rob-nikon said:
This sounds interested. I would like to keep it wireless if possible as I'm going to use it around wildlife but it maybe worth a try.
Click to expand...

Good luck with that:'(, I have researched for "wire free" usb connector , ie a USB cable without the cable, but no one thinks it a good idea, so I might just have to hack a wireless mouse to see if I can fool it into being a wireless connector !
:lol:Look up wireless usb on google and see what come up :lol:
 
Another vote for Camranger here. I use it with my elevated photography set up, withe the camera on top if a 26m mast.

I'm not aware of the review you mentioned, but most I've read are prettly good.
 
ive done this. But you need a windows laptop. I had the laptop wired to the camera and using the nikon softward to control the camera. Then remotly accessed my laptop from ipad.
 
nus123 said:
ive done this. But you need a windows laptop. I had the laptop wired to the camera and using the nikon softward to control the camera. Then remotly accessed my laptop from ipad.
Click to expand...

Was this using triggertrap? I already have a small laptop and ipad I could you to try this out, just need to buy the cable. How did you find it work? Did it do what you wanted it to?
 
It certainly did. so i had 3 different setup areas.

1) my nikon was rigged up to a flying beam above a very large theatre stage in london pointing downwards (top down view). Connect to this was DC power and i had a small USB to Cat5 convertor i bought from maplin for roughly £30.

Then i ran 500m of Cat5 cable to a laptop on the other side of the theatre.

2) Laptop positioned with other end of cat5 to usb convertor. This connected by laptop to the camera. I was able to use Nikon software to control all aspects of the camera and take timelapse photos. The laptop was also wired to my wifi network. i then used remote access software (realvnc)

3) ipad using the realvnc viewer was connected to the wifi (same as laptop) and i could see the images being taken and adjust the settings from anywhere in the theatre.
 
p.s you could easily miss out the usb to cat5 conversion and connect the camera to a laptop directly.

It worked really well and i took a timelapse for over 12 hours without a glitch.
 
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