DSLR SCanner: Cameras and Camera Control Software.

[Peter J. De Smidt]

DIYS (Do It Yourself Scanner—pronounced like ‘dice’)--Cameras and Camera Control Software Thread

Frank Pertronio started this project by suggesting that someone come up with an affordable and contemporary drum scanner, as there is currently huge gap in price and quality between consumer and professional scanners. Domaz suggested using APS-C sensors and using them to take samples of the film, similar to what Gigapan does with large stitched mosaic images. This lead to talk about making a copy stand scanning system using a dslr, a light source and a movable negative stage. Both horizontal and vertical prototypes have been made, or are in the process of being made.

The original thread has become very long and unwieldy. As a result, I’m creating some new specialized threads for future project development.

The new build threads are:
Camera Supports and Positioning,
Lenses,
Negative Stages,
Light Sources,
Stitching and Blending of Images,
Cameras and Camera Control Software.
Workflow.

These threads are only for positive contributions to the development in the area in question. The project may not succeed, but we’re going to find that out by trying it. But we are not unkind. As the original thread showed, some people have an overpowering urge to say negative things about the project. I’ve created a thread just for this purpose. Please post your negative comments about the project here.

I would like to thank everyone who makes, or has made, a positive contribution to this project!

I'll be summarizing the posts from the original thread about stitching and blending of images here soon.

[Peter J. De Smidt]

If you have a Nikon, check out http://www.controlmynikon.com/download.html . It's very inexpensive. I've played around with it a bit with my d200, and it looks very good, although it'd be even better with a live view enabled camera.

[jb7]

Or you could try this free one, for mac-

http://www.sofortbildapp.com/

[Peter J. De Smidt]

But then you'd have to have a Mac

[Peter J. De Smidt]

"ControlMyNikon is used for similar applications where an app controls stepper motors to control a table (usually for macro shots) and also sends a shoot command to ControlMyNikon. This allows you to have maximum flexibility in controlling the camera and stepper motors.

You will need to create a program to control the stepper motors, then have it also send shoot commands to ControlMyNikon. A video describing how to send those commands to ControlMyNikon is here.