Pete Askew
Admin
I have just purchased a CamRanger from Bob Rigby Photographic (http://www.bobrigby.com - thanks Andy) to allow me to control either our D3s or D800 using LiveView on either our Tessovar or our other microscopes. I had originally planned to do this using a tethered connection to CaptureOne and the Capture App but the CamRanger potentially simplifies this as you can see from the thread created by Andy (http://www.realphotographersforum.com/trade-advertisements/10316-camranger-wifi-kit.html).
Setup was very quick and simple and the connection between the App and the wireless 'router' that attaches to the camera is established automatically. Pressing the LiveView icon results in the image from the sensor being transmitted to the iPad. If the camera was fitted to an AF lens you would then have control of AF and aperture but as my camera was attached to a microscope all I had was shutter speed and ISO: quite enough. Focusing the microscope / Tessovar while viewing the iPad is not as effective as when tethered to a laptop as there is enough lag in the image display to mean you often focus past where you need to be. On the Tessovar it is better to use the eyepiece on the lens. This is not an issue with a laptop and also the larger screen of the laptop makes it easier to get critical focus. However, with some practice and a reasonably high-contrast subject (ie, not a banana!), this should be less of an issue. I need to also try it with our large fluorescence microscope to see how easy that is to control - better I would expect as the focus is much finer and the focal plane much more 'distinct'.
Here is the setup showing the Tessovar fitted with a D3s and displaying LiveView through an iPad.
This shows the CamRanger 'router' attached via the USB cable supplied with the camera to the D3s.
Here you can see the display on the iPad (note that some controls are 'greyed-out' as there is no AF lens attached.
And finally an image capture using the setup (stack of 4 raw files processed in Helicon Focus Pro - Helicon Focus - extended depth of field, focus stacking, 3D visualization). Not one of my better images but it illustrates the point - and reminds me that I'm hungry and need to go home and find some dinner!
Nikon D3s + Zeiss Tessovar. Image stacked (4 raw files) in Helicon Focus Pro and PP in LR.
Setup was very quick and simple and the connection between the App and the wireless 'router' that attaches to the camera is established automatically. Pressing the LiveView icon results in the image from the sensor being transmitted to the iPad. If the camera was fitted to an AF lens you would then have control of AF and aperture but as my camera was attached to a microscope all I had was shutter speed and ISO: quite enough. Focusing the microscope / Tessovar while viewing the iPad is not as effective as when tethered to a laptop as there is enough lag in the image display to mean you often focus past where you need to be. On the Tessovar it is better to use the eyepiece on the lens. This is not an issue with a laptop and also the larger screen of the laptop makes it easier to get critical focus. However, with some practice and a reasonably high-contrast subject (ie, not a banana!), this should be less of an issue. I need to also try it with our large fluorescence microscope to see how easy that is to control - better I would expect as the focus is much finer and the focal plane much more 'distinct'.
Here is the setup showing the Tessovar fitted with a D3s and displaying LiveView through an iPad.
This shows the CamRanger 'router' attached via the USB cable supplied with the camera to the D3s.
Here you can see the display on the iPad (note that some controls are 'greyed-out' as there is no AF lens attached.
And finally an image capture using the setup (stack of 4 raw files processed in Helicon Focus Pro - Helicon Focus - extended depth of field, focus stacking, 3D visualization). Not one of my better images but it illustrates the point - and reminds me that I'm hungry and need to go home and find some dinner!
Nikon D3s + Zeiss Tessovar. Image stacked (4 raw files) in Helicon Focus Pro and PP in LR.
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Would be interesting to see stamp and money details.
