Camera Triggering

[tarakan114]

How do I make a script into a program for my camera with CHDK?

[tarakan114]

I cannot find "miscellaneous stuff" on my SX230 that I just bought for $300. What to do? How do I find CHDK menu? And I did see the CHDK logo appear so I did all the steps right.

[dtic]

Hi, I use a mechanical trigger and have no experience with SX230's so can't be of much help. Hopefully someone else can. CHDK also has a forum: http://chdk.setepontos.com

[tresho]

I designed & created a mechanical shutter trigger for an Olympus SP-350 digital camera using epoxy putty, velcro fasteners & a standard camera mechanical shutter release. I posted it on instructables herehttp://www.instructables.com/id/Cable-release-mount-for-Olympus-SP-350-digital-cam/. You should be able to adapt this method to any camera with a press to fire shutter release. No electronics or CHDK involved.

[aeturneus]

I want to order a Vandenkamp switch for my new scanner build. Has anyone used these on the new CNC scanner?

I'm estimating that 6 foot cables will be plenty long but maybe not?

[aeturneus]

Nevermind, Frans charges extra for cables longer than 1 meter, so I'm just ordering that length.

I would have gone with the brake cable but I am worried about hand strain after a few hours of continuous scanning. I plan to integrate a foot pedal into my build later on for totally hands-free triggering, and Frans' triggers allow for that.

[tresho]

Good thing you were concerned about hand strain using the brake cable 600 times in 2 hours or so. That looks like a perfect setup for carpal tunnel syndrome.

[dtic]

I get that some will prefer a mechanical camera trigger. But since carpal tunnel worries was brought up it can be useful to mention one alternative: use two cameras that work with CHDK, connect them to a computer and then let a script on the computer automatically trigger the cameras to take a photo every three seconds - or quicker if you and the cameras can keep up with a faster pace. That way you'd only need to turn the pages and raise/lower the platen.

[tresho]

I once owned a Kodak microfilm camera / viewer, probably 1940's vintage. It had a microfilm camera on top, along with a light source and microfilm feeding mechanism for projecting roll microfilm onto a white screen at the bottom. Basically a box about 3 feet high , 2 feet wide & deep, open on one vertical side. Papers could be placed at the bottom for copying with the built in camera, or roll microfilm viewed on a white screen in place of copy materials.
Although it only copied one frame at a time, there were 2 buttons to trigger the camera. The buttons were large, almost the size of the palm of your hand. Both buttons had to be depressed simultaneously to trigger the camera. This seemed to be a strategy to guarantee the cameraman's hands would be out of the field of view when the copy was made. The buttons were large enough and easy enough to press for a person not to experience hand strain even after hundreds of pages, The fingers & hands still might develop repetitive strain, just from placing and aligning the source material on the base of the device. There was no automatic sheet feeder. I forget how the roll of developed microfilm was advanced during the viewing process.

[TomHorsley]

Here is a very nifty camera trigger I found described over in the arduino forums which I figured should be linked in here:

http://arduino.cc/forum/index.php/topic,54122.0.html