Canon DSLR
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woldsweather
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Canon DSLR
I have my Canon 6D M k2 connected to my laptop and Sharpcap open. I have selected EOS Utility. I have the image from the DSLR showing in Sharpcap. The camera is set on B. However in camera controls I dont see anywhere to set exposure etc. Is there something else I need to do?
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admin
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Re: Canon DSLR
Hi,
I don't think the EOS Webcam utility gives you any control over the camera from the PC side. I just tested with my 700D and it seems to just put the DLSR into video mode and auto everything and that's it. I couldn't even seem to adjust anything on the camera side either, although maybe things that you set up before opening the camera take effect.
I don't think you can do a great deal with it beyond use it as a webcam - you might just be able to do a bit of lunar imaging.
The ASCOM.DSLR driver is a slightly better approach for using a DSLR for long exposure imaging in SharpCap. I say slightly better because it can be pretty unreliable and seems to be no longer supported or updated, so that is very much an option for those who are either brave or enjoy getting things to work by trial-and-error!
cheers,
Robin
I don't think the EOS Webcam utility gives you any control over the camera from the PC side. I just tested with my 700D and it seems to just put the DLSR into video mode and auto everything and that's it. I couldn't even seem to adjust anything on the camera side either, although maybe things that you set up before opening the camera take effect.
I don't think you can do a great deal with it beyond use it as a webcam - you might just be able to do a bit of lunar imaging.
The ASCOM.DSLR driver is a slightly better approach for using a DSLR for long exposure imaging in SharpCap. I say slightly better because it can be pretty unreliable and seems to be no longer supported or updated, so that is very much an option for those who are either brave or enjoy getting things to work by trial-and-error!
cheers,
Robin
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woldsweather
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Re: Canon DSLR
...and no other way of connecting a DSLR to Sharpcap?
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Re: Canon DSLR
Hi,
Aside from the two we have just discussed, the only other approach is to let another application (say APT) control the camera and save images to file, then use the SharpCap folder monitor camera to read them as they are captured. However, that has its own pitfalls, since I think APT will save in CR2 or CR3 format, which SharpCap cannot read. Some people have put together custom scripts to read CR2/CR3 files from one folder and convert them to FITS in another for SharpCap to read, but this is not a simple approach.
cheers,
Robin
Aside from the two we have just discussed, the only other approach is to let another application (say APT) control the camera and save images to file, then use the SharpCap folder monitor camera to read them as they are captured. However, that has its own pitfalls, since I think APT will save in CR2 or CR3 format, which SharpCap cannot read. Some people have put together custom scripts to read CR2/CR3 files from one folder and convert them to FITS in another for SharpCap to read, but this is not a simple approach.
cheers,
Robin
Re: Canon DSLR
This is not a reply as such, This is the first time I have posted here so not sure if it is the right place for my inquiry. I have the latest version of SharpCap installed on my computer, with windows 10, I have a Canon 1300d that I am trying to get running in SharpCap. I have installed the Ascom drivers for DSLR to SharpCap. I have been over cloudy nights to check for my problem but I have not had much success. My issue is that I can open SharpCap and it will recognize my camera after a couple of on screen pop ups the settings list shows up for a very short time and then the program will just shut down. Is there something I have not done or is this an on going issue with Ascom because I have seen that the DSLR Ascom drivers are only test downloads. Is there anything that I can do to get this running properly? Cheers Robert Aust'
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Re: Canon DSLR
Hi,
from the description of SharpCap just closing with no error report, it is likely that code inside the ASCOM driver has caused the application to crash.
Seeing the ASCOM.DSLR appear in the cameras list in SharpCap doesn't indicate that the camera is detected - once an ASCOM driver is installed, it always shows up in SharpCap regardless of whether the camera is actually plugged into the PC or not - in fact ASCOM doesn't provide a way to tell if the camera is plugged in or not short of actually trying to connect to it.
The fact that you are seeing the ASCOM.DSLR setup briefly probably indicates that SharpCap tried and failed to connect to the camera - the fallback when that happens is to try to show the ASCOM Camera setup window in case the user can fix things by adjusting the setup.
For anyone other than the developers of the ASCOM.DSLR driver, this is a tricky situation to try to work out - the rest of us don't know what is going on inside the ASCOM.DSLR driver, or what it is trying to do at this point.
I guess the place to start is the basics - for instance when you plug your camera into the PC, does it show up correctly in Windows Device manager (right name, no exclaimation mark) - if it is not showing up correctly you may need to install Windows system drivers for it.
You can obviously try different versions of the ASCOM.DSLR install - I gather there are several different versions, but I don't keep track of them. You could also try using the 32 bit version of SharpCap in case that works better than the 64 (or the other way round if already on the 32 bit).
sorry to only be able to offer limited help,
Robin
from the description of SharpCap just closing with no error report, it is likely that code inside the ASCOM driver has caused the application to crash.
Seeing the ASCOM.DSLR appear in the cameras list in SharpCap doesn't indicate that the camera is detected - once an ASCOM driver is installed, it always shows up in SharpCap regardless of whether the camera is actually plugged into the PC or not - in fact ASCOM doesn't provide a way to tell if the camera is plugged in or not short of actually trying to connect to it.
The fact that you are seeing the ASCOM.DSLR setup briefly probably indicates that SharpCap tried and failed to connect to the camera - the fallback when that happens is to try to show the ASCOM Camera setup window in case the user can fix things by adjusting the setup.
For anyone other than the developers of the ASCOM.DSLR driver, this is a tricky situation to try to work out - the rest of us don't know what is going on inside the ASCOM.DSLR driver, or what it is trying to do at this point.
I guess the place to start is the basics - for instance when you plug your camera into the PC, does it show up correctly in Windows Device manager (right name, no exclaimation mark) - if it is not showing up correctly you may need to install Windows system drivers for it.
You can obviously try different versions of the ASCOM.DSLR install - I gather there are several different versions, but I don't keep track of them. You could also try using the 32 bit version of SharpCap in case that works better than the 64 (or the other way round if already on the 32 bit).
sorry to only be able to offer limited help,
Robin
Re: Canon DSLR
Thanks for the reply, I will keep watching the forums incase someone comes up with a work around. Is there any way as a developer of SharpCap that you can include the DSLR's into the program? but then again how long is a piece of string, hahaha. I like SharpCap because I find it easy to use and it has a lot of camera control. Looks like this is going to be a work in progress till someone comes up with a program and or drivers the will connect DSLR's to SharpCap. Cheers Robert
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Re: Canon DSLR
Hi Robert,
I'm afraid that I've taken a policy decision not to try to include DSLR support direct into SharpCap.
I think you can understand why... The ASCOM.DSLR project has been around for a number of years now, with several people contributing and it still isn't robust with people regularly encountering the sort of problems that you have faced. I don't think this is down to any lack of skill on the part of the people writing ASCOM.DSLR - I think that this is because supporting DSLR cameras is *hard* - in particular, there are lots of different models, and what works nicely for one model might not work properly for a slightly different model from the same manufacturer.
To do DLSR camera support properly, I think that you have to really invest a lot of time and effort into it (and have a lot of different DSLR makes and models to test with). APT have done this (https://astrophotography.app/) and there was also a 'BackyardEOS' and 'BackyardNikon' set of software - not sure if that is still around or not.
cheers,
Robin
I'm afraid that I've taken a policy decision not to try to include DSLR support direct into SharpCap.
I think you can understand why... The ASCOM.DSLR project has been around for a number of years now, with several people contributing and it still isn't robust with people regularly encountering the sort of problems that you have faced. I don't think this is down to any lack of skill on the part of the people writing ASCOM.DSLR - I think that this is because supporting DSLR cameras is *hard* - in particular, there are lots of different models, and what works nicely for one model might not work properly for a slightly different model from the same manufacturer.
To do DLSR camera support properly, I think that you have to really invest a lot of time and effort into it (and have a lot of different DSLR makes and models to test with). APT have done this (https://astrophotography.app/) and there was also a 'BackyardEOS' and 'BackyardNikon' set of software - not sure if that is still around or not.
cheers,
Robin
Re: Canon DSLR
Robin
I fully support your views on DSLR support in SharpCap. Here are some links and my thoughts.
ASCOM DSLR support seems to start with (2018):
https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/3175 ... non-nikon/
This was then forked to (2020):
https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/7076 ... ntax-sony/
This Cloudy Nights thread spans 35 pages and 860 posts.
I have not found any other useful links relating to ASCOM DSLR drivers (but that doesn't mean there aren't any).
Generally mainstream camera manufacturers will provide an ASCOM driver for their cameras (think ZWO, QHY, Atik etc). It is in their commercial interests to do this as many observatory type installations from 'bottom of the garden observatories' up to commercial observatories renting out imaging time will have their equipment controlled/managed under the ASCOM framework.
I have always thought that grouping all DSLR cameras together was introducing complexity - think of manufacturers Canon, Nikon, Sony, Pentax ....
If the manufacturers are expecting a single entity to do their development for them (and with no financial reward) then so be it. Perhaps the financial returns are not there? On Astrobin, a search for Canon 7D (I have a Canon 7D MK2) returns 37 pages of images for that camera.
Canon have a range of DSLR cameras, suffix 'a', which are modified to enhance their capabilities in relation to capturing astronomical images but have an eye watering purchase price.
On balance, a modern entry level CMOS cooled camera can be purchased for ~£1,000.
The above are my own personal observations/opinions.
Dave
I fully support your views on DSLR support in SharpCap. Here are some links and my thoughts.
ASCOM DSLR support seems to start with (2018):
https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/3175 ... non-nikon/
This was then forked to (2020):
https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/7076 ... ntax-sony/
This Cloudy Nights thread spans 35 pages and 860 posts.
I have not found any other useful links relating to ASCOM DSLR drivers (but that doesn't mean there aren't any).
Generally mainstream camera manufacturers will provide an ASCOM driver for their cameras (think ZWO, QHY, Atik etc). It is in their commercial interests to do this as many observatory type installations from 'bottom of the garden observatories' up to commercial observatories renting out imaging time will have their equipment controlled/managed under the ASCOM framework.
I have always thought that grouping all DSLR cameras together was introducing complexity - think of manufacturers Canon, Nikon, Sony, Pentax ....
If the manufacturers are expecting a single entity to do their development for them (and with no financial reward) then so be it. Perhaps the financial returns are not there? On Astrobin, a search for Canon 7D (I have a Canon 7D MK2) returns 37 pages of images for that camera.
Canon have a range of DSLR cameras, suffix 'a', which are modified to enhance their capabilities in relation to capturing astronomical images but have an eye watering purchase price.
On balance, a modern entry level CMOS cooled camera can be purchased for ~£1,000.
The above are my own personal observations/opinions.
Dave