More questions of remote control of *istDS

[john_hill4]

I have my *istDS and am very pleased with it. I have also found the

Pentax 'Remote Assistant' software.

 

Remote Assistant will do a lot of what I want but I may want to do

more.

 

There is a cable remote available, called a 'switch' in the catelogue

but I see it has a three contact plug. Does anyone have the details

of this contact or any suggestions on where I may obtain

such 'technical' information? Does Pentax readily release such

details?

 

Thanks

[glenn_holden]

John:

 

I inquired about the software as well. As I understand it, the Remote Assistant software only works with the Pentax *ist D, not the DS you have. I contacted Pentax and they do not yet have any plans to release a version that will work with the DS (as of a month ago).

 

As far as the remote switch is concerned, it is a minature stero plug type, I did see somewhere in one of the forums on the net what the contact arrangement is. If I remember correctly it is shell and tip focus/exposure set and shell to tip shutter release, but please check to be sure. You can buy one quite cheaply on the *bay, which is what I did.

 

Hope this helps.

 

LGH

[mdickerson]

Same here, got a cheap knockoff cable release from ebay, it works fine. I don't see any reason to spend the extra $30 for the official version in this case; it's just a button on a cord, if it trips the shutter there's nothing more you could hope for it to do.

 

On the other hand if I read between the lines, it sounds like you are thinking about constructing your own device for tripping the shutter remotely. I would guess that you probably wouldn't hurt anything just experimenting with the three wires to see which ones need to be shorted to each other to turn on the meter and trip the shutter. It's not like you're applying high voltages or anything. If you need the connector, you could cut it off one of the aforementioned cheap cable releases. Let us know what you find out..

[john_hill4]

Glen, I have the Remote Assistant software and it does appear to do some basic functions with my *istDS but I have not really played with the software to learn its full potential and limitations. I did note that nothing appears in the 'viewfinder' window but then I dont see how it could with the mirror down. I sort of imagined that the purpose of this screen was to review shots after they were taken.

 

The shutter release seems to work and the various other control screens that change the mode and various camera parameters at least appeare to be working.

 

The software can do interval and delayed shutter release as well as automatically uploading image to PC disk rather than camera memory. I did not try the interval or delayed but the upload works.

 

Again, this was just a few minutes playing with Remote Assistant and my *istDS.

 

Even with limitations I will be keeping the Remote Assistant and am confident it will getting used at times.

 

 

I was hoping for a system where the shutter could be triggered by an external event, model train entering the station, bird landing on the feeder [EVIL ON] or car passing a red light [/EVIL OFF] :-)

 

Thanks for information on the switch cable, I was unsure if the cable control was simple contacts or if the controller did something clever like switch in different resistances or a diode matrix for different functions.

 

The ideal for me would have been the technical information regarding both the remote socket and the protocol between the camera and the PC so that I could have played around with my own software.

[glenn_holden]

John:

 

Very interesting, you got the RA to work with the DS? I wonder why Pentax says it won't work with the DS? Must admit, never thought to try it anyway. Ok, I'll downloaded the program and I'll try it out later tonight. Let you know if it works. By the way, Pentax also has the RA manual on their web site, you are correct about the screen not showing anything until you take a picture.

 

Thanks for the information. By the way, the switch is just a contact, I took an ohm meter across it last night. I have an IR beam tripper circuit I used with the SF-1, (for nature photography) so it looks like a simple contact closure should work ok with the DS as well. Haven't tried it yet, too much to do and not enough time.

 

Glenn

[glenn_holden]

John:

 

Sorry, should have included in the above:

 

Contact arrangement of the stereo plug is

 

- contact between the barrel and ring: focus

- contact between the barrel and tip: shutter

 

It is a simple switch arrangement.

 

Glenn

[glenn_holden]

John:

 

I also downloaded the Remote Assistance and tried it with the DS. Yes, it does partially work, but I could not get it to show me the picture I had just taken in the viewfinder window. But it does save direct to the PC, etc, so I agree that it certainly is worth keeping.

 

I would suspect that the changes to make it fully compatible with the DS would be rather minor, as it appears only necessary to re-program it to display the picture taken. I guess we will have to wait and see what Pentax comes up with in the future.

 

LGH

[pixelsaurus]

Circuit diagram for cable remote can be found at http://www.digicaminfo.btinternet.co.uk/hmcablerelease.htm