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Sharpcap wuth DSLR?

Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2022 8:01 am
by woldsweather
Does Sharpcap work with a DSLR?

Re: Sharpcap wuth DSLR?

Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2022 12:50 pm
by admin
Hi,

maybe...

perhaps not a perfect answer, but an accurate one :)

SharpCap does not have code to talk directly to any DSLR cameras, so on its own, it will not work with any. However there are ASCOM drivers that have been written by others that can control DSLR cameras and SharpCap will work with those. The only problem is that the reliability of those ASCOM drivers is not always perfect, and not something I can guarantee. Some people find it works fairly well, others struggle to get it to work reliably or at all.

The best resource if you want to try it is to read through this thread on Cloudy Nights : https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/7076 ... ntax-sony/

cheers,

Robin

Re: Sharpcap wuth DSLR?

Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2022 1:25 pm
by woldsweather
OK thanks Robin

Re: Sharpcap wuth DSLR?

Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2022 8:32 pm
by turfpit
worldsweather

By following the article & download in the CN link above, I managed to get a Canon 7D Mk2 running with the ASCOM DSLR driver under SharpCap 4.

Canon7D-Mk2-SharpCap.JPG
Canon7D-Mk2-SharpCap.JPG (95.33 KiB) Viewed 13343 times


This was captured over a year ago (needs a re-process I think).

M42_30x60s_4x30s_4x10s_8x4s_8x2s_ISO1600-reduced.jpg
M42_30x60s_4x30s_4x10s_8x4s_8x2s_ISO1600-reduced.jpg (814.79 KiB) Viewed 13343 times


For daylight testing (very short exposures) I use the Mode Dial set to 'M' (=manual), for astro work (longer exposures) I set the Mode Dial to 'B' (=bulb).

Dave

Re: Sharpcap wuth DSLR?

Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2022 9:02 pm
by woldsweather
Great thanks. I'll give that a go over the next 2 weeks when I'm inside cowering from the heat.

Re: Sharpcap wuth DSLR?

Posted: Fri Mar 22, 2024 1:22 am
by caenis
Hi,
I'm trying to use Sharpcap to polar align using my Sony a7iii mirrorless camera. This is my main imaging camera, I don't have a guidescope or guide camera. I've loaded the correct ASCOM drivers which are compatible with Sharpcap but all get is the message attached. I can refine my polar alignment using the Skywatcher handset with my Skwatcher AZEQ6 pro, but was hoping that Sharpcap would be an easier tool.

Any ideas on why I'm getting this problem guys?

Re: Sharpcap wuth DSLR?

Posted: Fri Mar 22, 2024 10:49 am
by admin
Hi,

the error is coming from the ASCOM driver, which is complaining that SharpCap is asking about the size of the image apparently before connecting the the camera. The thing is that SharpCap does connect to the camera before asking those details, so I suspect that the ASCOM driver is dropping the connection to the camera soon after making it (or is not making the connection properly in the first place).

Feel free to post your SharpCap log captured after seeing the issue here so that I can check for any other clues and confirm if the above is correct, but I suspect that you will be best seeing if the authors/creators of the ASCOM driver have any advice/hints.

cheers,

Robin

Re: Sharpcap with DSLR?

Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2024 5:01 am
by caenis
thanks Robin