IXUX 175 / ELPH 180 LED sync with shutter

Mr Vee

IXUX 175 / ELPH 180 LED sync with shutter

« on: 19 / September / 2019, 09:39:12 »

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Hi all

I have two IXUS 175s using the 100c firmware running the KAP UAV 4.0 script and they both do the same thing.
They sync the LED nicely for the first 8 shots and after the 8th shot the LED doesn't flash any more. It wont flash again untill the camera is rebooted. I'm triggering the camera remotely using the USB cable.

I have two IXUS 220s that I use with the same script and they work pretty well. I would like to change over to the 175s tho because they are a 20MP camera instead of a 12MP camera like the 220s.

I'm using a photo transistor mounted against the LED to sence the flash and feed back to the auto pilot to record the gps location at the precise time the shutter was opened. This seems to work ok with the 220s tho the LED does seem to get slightly weaker after about 50 photos are taken. I have it set to be on for 100 ms.

Does anyone else use the red eye LED an a similar way? perhaps there is a better way to feed back a signal from the camera precisely when the shutter is actuated? Any thoughts ideas or help are much appreciated.

« Last Edit: 19 / September / 2019, 09:48:58 by Mr Vee »

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waterwingz

12086

Re: IXUX 175 / ELPH 180 LED sync with shutter

« Reply #1 on: 19 / September / 2019, 14:57:06 »

I'd like to see the log file (kap.log) com your cameras when they do this please.

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Ported : A1200 SD940 G10 Powershot N G16

Mr Vee

Re: IXUX 175 / ELPH 180 LED sync with shutter

« Reply #2 on: 19 / September / 2019, 19:56:16 »

Hi waterwingz,
Thanks for your reply. I've attached the logs from both Cameras the n054 and n880 are the last 3 numbers of the serial number for each camera.
I'm pretty sure that a sequence of more than 8 shots starts at image 107 in the log from camera n054. There will be several other sets where this happens in the logs from both cameras. the photos are close together only a couple of seconds apart.

Hope this helps

KAPn054.log (48.52 kB - downloaded 19 times.)

KAPn880.log (5.6 kB - downloaded 22 times.)

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Mr Vee

Re: IXUX 175 / ELPH 180 LED sync with shutter

« Reply #3 on: 29 / September / 2019, 07:13:10 »

As you can see from the log it thinks it's putting the led on all the time but it only does it for 8 shots then no more LED.
I'm wondering if it's something to do with the hardware in this camera? perhaps it only has enough charge to flash the LED for 8 times. Interesting that it oes the same thing with both cameras tho'

I'm wondering what other way I can get a signal from the camera that lets me know the instant that the shutter has been actuated?

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waterwingz

12086

Re: IXUX 175 / ELPH 180 LED sync with shutter

« Reply #4 on: 29 / September / 2019, 12:53:58 »

Quote from: Mr Vee on 29 / September / 2019, 07:13:10

As you can see from the log it thinks it's putting the led on all the time but it only does it for 8 shots then no more LED.
I'm wondering if it's something to do with the hardware in this camera? perhaps it only has enough charge to flash the LED for 8 times. Interesting that it oes the same thing with both cameras tho'

Sorry - I'm on the road right now and have only had time for a quick look. I should be able to test on some of my different cameras later this week.

I'm wondering if lengthing the LED's time on might help. I'd also like to test using one of the little LED's (like power) that draw much less power than the focus assist LED to see if it will also show the same problem.

Quote

I'm wondering what other way I can get a signal from the camera that lets me know the instant that the shutter has been actuated?

It would be a bit complicated on the PC side but it might be possible to hack a USB message response sync'd somewhat with the shutter release. Kind of depends on the precision you need.

« Last Edit: 29 / September / 2019, 12:59:09 by waterwingz »

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Ported : A1200 SD940 G10 Powershot N G16