The GetDPI Photography Forum

Great to see you here. Join our insightful photographic forum today and start tapping into a huge wealth of photographic knowledge. Completing our simple registration process will allow you to gain access to exclusive content, add your own topics and posts, share your work and connect with other members through your own private inbox! And don’t forget to say hi!

Lumix G1 tethered and/or remote shooting

R

Ranger 9

Guest
Has anyone found software that allows tethered and/or remote shooting with the Pana G1?

What I mean:

Tethered: You use the camera normally, via the controls on the camera body -- but as you shoot, files are transferred via a cable to a computer.​

Remote: You connect the camera to a computer and use the computer to control shutter release (and possibly other settings); the files transfer to the computer as you shoot.​

I use a Mac, so it would be nice if there were a Mac version of whatever software does this (although I'm sure Windows users would be interested in hearing about Windows-only software as well.)

It also would be helpful if the software didn't cost a kajillion squillion dollars, but at this stage I mostly want to know what (if anything) is available.

I was mildly surprised to find that Apple Image Capture, which comes with Macs and has the ability to remotely control many digital cameras, does NOT seem to work with the G1 (unless I had something set incorrectly.)

Any insights appreciated!


(Why I want to do this: As I write this, I've got the G1 on a camera stand in a somewhat inconvenient position, looking straight down on a set on which a stylist is about to start putting plates of food. I'm using the G1 because it's the only camera I've got that has an articulated LCD; otherwise there'd be no way to line up the shot! It would be great if I didn't have to run memory cards in and out of the camera, risking jostling it every time.)
 
C

CharlieH

Guest
You can try an eye-fi card. I don't know if it automatically erases photos once it has sent them to the network. So it may fill up even though the photos have been copied.

http://www.eye.fi/

ch
 
R

Ranger 9

Guest
Thanks, I guess that's one option. I'm hoping for something that will allow me to shoot in raw format, though; Eye-Fi seems to be limited to JPEG only.
 

m3photo

New member
Another Option

Thanks, I guess that's one option. I'm hoping for something that will allow me to shoot in raw format, though ...QUOTE]

Looks like this is more of a professional cry for help. Now, I'm not trying to undermine the G1 - especially on this forum but you're probably wanting to be able to use other cameras for this type of work.
I recommend you take a look at this:
http://www.zigview.co.uk/prd7331ziglive.htm
or if your other gear doesn't have live view:
http://www.zigview.co.uk/S2.htm

All the best,
m
 

HansenTsang

New member
Ranger 9, what you described is very easily achievable with a Nikon or Canon camera including their high end point and shoot. I use a software from Breeze Systems to trigger my Nikons.

When I was browsing the instructions for the G1 I remember reading some place that Panasonic was tooting their horn about how compatible the G1 is with the Panasonic Viera HD TV. I suspect what they were saying is that you can view the images from the camera on the TV as a high quality output device. I also suspect that you can shoot with the live view visible on the TV if you have a HDMI cable. I could be wrong on this but I plan to test it out.

There are other work arounds but they are fairly involved and the method may not justify the costs. I have done both wired and wireless remote control of camera without actually going into the camera electronically.

I don't know if there is actually a non mechanical method to trigger the G1. If the shutter can be triggered via infra red then it will be a little less complicated.
 
R

Ranger 9

Guest
Re: Another Option

Looks like this is more of a professional cry for help. Now, I'm not trying to undermine the G1 - especially on this forum but you're probably wanting to be able to use other cameras for this type of work.
Thanks, but I don't need help figuring out which camera to use :)
What I was hoping for was a quick solution to a one-time problem.

Sometimes small size and light weight are very important equipment-choice factors even in "professional" work, which is why the G1 was the best answer here. As it turned out, I was able to manage by swapping out memory cards, although tethered shooting would have been more convenient.

Still, even though the job is done, I'd like to hear about it if anybody does know of software that permits remote or tethered shooting with the G1.
 
Last edited:

Godfrey

Well-known member
Re: Another Option

... Still, even though the job is done, I'd like to hear about it if anybody does know of software that permits remote or tethered shooting with the G1.
There's none available at this time.

I try to keep abreast of what Panasonic is doing. This kind of control almost always requires manufacturer involvement to implement, and Panasonic has not yet incorporated this capability into any of their still camera offerings.

The best you can do at present for remote, wireless shooting is one of the wireless releases available from Gizmodo or others. Tethered operation isn't available, other than for image playback with Panasonic Viera devices.
 

Steen

Senior Subscriber Member
Phase One released Capture One 4.7 yesterday and I had so much hoped that it would support Panasonic G1, but apparently Panasonic hasn't done anything to achieve that.
Rather disappointing :(
 
Things have moved along a lot since April 2009.

Eye-Fi can handle RAW and it can talk direct to a nearby computer with WiFi. The original versions only dealt with JPG and it needed a hot-spot into some form of internet server.

The version is called Pro-X2 and comes on an 8 GB card. In the UK it costs a bit over £100.

I have to admit that it took far more to configure it than the suggested "10 minutes" in the smallest manual I have ever seen. But it does work.

The card relies on the PC offering a WiFi ad-hoc network. I am told that XP can provide one. The Eye-Fi help desk are adamant - but then admit that newer versions of Windows handle ad-hoc better.

I was trying to get my link on an old Asus S5n laptop running XP. In the end I bit the bullet and bought an £80 upgrade to Win 7. Microsoft have a hardware checker to stop people buying Win 7 and finding their machine too small to run it. I have only 512 mb of RAM but Google assured me that masses of people are running Win 7 totally well on such a machine. It does, but now I know I have a working system I am buying a bit of extra memory.

Setting up an ad-hoc network on Win 7 is easy. All then one needs to do is to plug the Eye-Fi card into the same PC and get it to accept the same ad-hoc network.

This stage is best done with the PC hard wired (not Wifi) into the internet as the card also seems to need to link back to Eye-Fi for authentication. I wasted quite a bit of time trying to support both my internet link and my ad-hoc on my Wifi software and I am not even sure it is intended to do both things at the same time. So, don't mess about, make sure you have a wired link into internet!

Whilst the card is still in the PC and you have an internet connection you need to set up things like the destination on your PC of your files. This I also wasted time on. The Eye-Fi software suggested, as a default, a folder like user/tony/pictures. In fact in my user/tony I have a folder called My Pictures. It took me ages to spot the difference and it seems that Eye-Fi cannot create new folders. So, yes it copied the images across to the PC from the camera - but then the PC did not know where to put them.

Once I sorted that out the operation was a doddle. You take your card out of the PC and put it into, in my case, the G1. You take your pix and as long as the ad-hoc network is available on the PC they get downloaded to the folder of your choice.

It will download both JPGs and RAWs. Or you can opt to shoot only in RAW, which inevitably saves a bit of download time.

One clever extra is the ability to tell it to delete the RAW's from the card when it gets to a certain level of fullness and when it is sure they are safely copied to the PC.

Speed? There is a bit of a lag, say 10 to 15 seconds, establishing the link. Once running it seems to take about 10 seconds to download a file. This may deteriorate with a PC further away from the camera and I have yet to test the limits.

I tried a full burst, 5 shots on my G1, and all five images were on the laptop in around 50 seconds.

Just as with wired USB tethering you need to minimise the number of times you turn off the camera as each re-power necessitates re-establishing the link.

Reliability? I cannot comment. I only got the system running yesterday.

Can you do much with the images downloaded to the PC? With Eye-fi the answer is nothing. You need an image browser. I use BreezeBrowser. I have never used Irfanview but I guess it probably works. As for editing the images you again need something else. I'd never start tinkering with an image on my laptop anyway. All I want is a way of seeing the pictures on a bigger screen so that either I, or my client, can decide what to do next (more pix or go to the pub!).

Never let it be said that I am an expert with Eye-Fi, but I'm happy to chuck in what little I have learnt (the hard way) and the support desk so seem to react quite quickly.

And for the benefit of the suspicious - no, I have nothing to do with the company.

Tony
 
My reference to needing to be on the internet to get an ad-hoc registered to the Eye-Fi card is wrong.

There is a tick box when using 'Other Networks' to use when not on the internet. It is pretty well hidden but it makes adding new ad-hoc networks to the card quick and easy.

To speed things up I have now set up a fixed IP and also removed my WEP protection.

I heartily recommend the system.

Tony
 
Z

Ziggie

Guest
Tony, thanks for the info. I have been keeping an eye on the Eye-Fi card for a while now. Prior to their Pro-X2 version release I remember reading a review that indicated that while jpeg transfer speed was relatively zippy the raw transfer speed was painfully slow. Do you feel this has changed in this new version card to the point of being usable for raw files?
The 5 files in 50 seconds you mention. Were those Raw or Jpeg? Thanks.
 
Top