Remote Camera Control

I have finally quoted a job that would benefit from the use of computer control of my camera. The concept is pretty simple. Connect the camera to the computer, click on a few adjustments and voilà, the images appear on the computer screen. It turns out that it was not so simple for me.

Saturday, I dug through my drawer of CDs and DVDs that contain current and not so current software. My Canon 5D came with software needed to do this computer, remote control. Finding the disc, I promptly loaded it. Following the directions, I restarted the computer and connected the camera. The program did not recognize the camera. "Okay", I thought, " uninstall and reinstall the software." After 3 reinstalls and more digging in my software drawer, I found another EOS Utility disc. The one, that I installed first, was for my Canon G9 camera; who uses a G9 with computer control? Someone must. I uninstalled the EOS Utility for the G9 from the computer.

I installed the EOS Utility that I believed belonged to the Canon 5D. I believed it because I found an accompanying Quick Start instruction sheet with it. Neither disc indicated a camera type, but the Quick Start instruction sheet referenced the 5D. I installed the software; I connected the camera (Canon 5D). The software recognised the camera. "Eureka!", I shouted in an exuberant tone. I was premature in my celebration. The software would activate the camera shutter once, then it would freeze. No image file could be found on the computer. I called it quits on Saturday without any visible reward for the many hours invested.

Last night in a dream like state, a thought occurred to me. My software was at least 2 years old; I have a new laptop running Windows Vista (Mac fanatics, please stop reading go back to your knitting or whatever you were doing). Maybe there is an update for the software on the Conon USA site. Seek and you shall find. There was a free download for those in possession of the older software. This is when I would have been justified in shouting, "Eureka!", but I didn't. The new version of the software works great. Now, I've set up a Watched Folder in Adobe Lightroom to automatically import the images captured with the EOS Utility. It is so much better to see a larger image on the computer screen accompanied by a more accurate histogram (only in the Develop module, of course).

What did I learn from this experience? 1) Label the software disc before tossing it into the software drawer. 2) Check for software updates on the manufacturer's website. 3)Look for other related software updates. I found a firmware update for the Canon 5D while I was solving my problem. 4) Don't wait so long before trying out all the functionality of the camera and its software.

The image above shows my final triumph in getting images onto the computer from the camera. The desk is a mess, as usual. The second computer is tuned into Facebook to pass the time while I installed and uninstalled software.