The script first sets up zoom and lock focus and then trigger shots on both cameras with this
chdkptp -c "-p=[cameraid]" -e"luar shoot()"
then wait 3000 miliseconds, redo the shoot command, wait, and so on. If I decrease the wait time then one commands often fails and only one camera is triggered. I don't download the photos during the shoot cycles.
You can get an idea of the time required for each step using the
set cli_time=true
On my D10
___> c
time 0.0130
connected: Canon PowerShot D10, max packet size 512
con> rec
time 0.2720
con 1> shoot
time 4.0832
This shot was ISO 800, flash fired, scene was bad for AF
con 2> shoot
time 1.6731
con 3> =shoot()
time 1.8661
Above changed to ISO 80, disabled flash, better scene. =shoot() might wait a little more compared to cli shoot, but could just be normal variation.
con 1> shoot
time 2.6462
con 2> shoot
time 2.6111
con 3> shoot
time 1.8601
Some more shots, same settings as above, variation due to scene.
con 4> dis
time 0.2040
Note there is some overhead for connecting/disconnecting.
You 10 cycle DNG speed is similar to what I currently get for capturing JPG with two cameras simultaneously.
Try the time commands and see how long each shot takes.
Can you tell me more about the new remote shoot features? Can you shoot a number of cycles at around 2 seconds using that?
See the discussion in the PTP thread. This is still under development, allows you to save jpeg and / or DNG directly over USB without going to the SD card. The code is in
http://trac.assembla.com/chdk/browser/branches/ptp-remote-capture-test2To use it, you also need to build chdkptp yourself with the ptp headers from that branch.
Both my cameras have DIGIC III. Do you know if DIGIC IV compact canon cameras in general would cycle faster? Or does that depend more on the individual camera?
A540 is Digic II, but only 6MP, D10 is Digic 4, 12 MP.
Speed should depend on
* camera hardware (processor, RAM speed etc)
* image size
* SD card
* shooting settings
* scene.
I don't know how your cameras will compare, but canon published specs should give you a relative measure. E.g. if official specs for a Digic 4 camera are 2x faster than your camera, it would probably be faster, even if you don't get the shot rate given in the specs.