Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Medium Format / Film / Digital Backs – and Large Sensor Photography => Topic started by: uptownguydenver on March 08, 2017, 07:12:11 pm
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I have been having fun testing external controllers from Dynamic Perception and Pluto Triggers.
I have no connection with Dynamic Perception or Pluto. I purchased these in hopes I could get them to work with the XF. They work fine with my Nikon cameras.
The XF camera has a built-in Time-lapse mode, however, if you want motion or make use of other triggers you will need a camera trigger
cable that will allow the XF to be triggered.
I have been testing the XF camera with a couple of motion and full featured camera triggers.
The main issue is how to attach the XF to a controller or trigger. I found the Hahnel cable release works fine. The release button
disconnects from the cable and this gives you a 2.5mm 4 conductor cable that attaches to the XF.
Dynamic Perception NMX Controller
For motion time-lapse photography I use the Dynamic Perception NMX controller.
With the NMX controller you can program a slider and/or 2 or 3 Axis head. The controller is programmed with the DP NMX Motion app. The app
connects to the NMX controller via Bluetooth. In this setup you can set the physical boundaries for the slider etc. You also programm the number of frames to capture and interval between the frames and final FPS and it will set the controller and give you the Shot Duration, Video Length
etc. The NMX Motion app will then make sure the Slide, Pan, and Tilt motors travel the distance you set within the number of frames + interval. Usually you have the option of Timelapse, Video Continuous, and shoot-move-shoot option (SMS). Once the NMX is programed and you start the Time-Lapse you can shutdown the app if you don't want to follow the progress.
Dynamic Perception also has a computer based app that will give you a much broader range of control.
The Hahnel 2.5mm cable connects directly into the camera port of the NMX without any conversion cables.
I have only tested the NMX but I bet the Kessler and others will work fine. http://www.dynamicperception.com
Pluto Trigger
The second trigger that I have been testing is the Pluto trigger. It has 20 different trigger modes. Including shutter, HDR, Time-lapse, Startrail, Video, Timer. Pluto sensors also include Laser (included), Sound, Light, Lightning, Infraed, Droplet (add on sensor purchase required), Fusion (where you can combine sensors), Aux for DIY triggers that you might build. The Pluto controller and laser unit have re-chargeable batteries. That are charged via USB cable.
I found for the Pluto to work you will need an 3 connector (TRS) extension cable. It will not work with the Hahnel 4 connector cable directly.
The XF camera will need to be set to External = Shutter for these controllers to work. UI Setup -> Control Setup -> External Shutter
http://plutotrigger.com
The next dimension would be exposure ramping. The rampers I have tried use Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) which the XF does not support.
This text and photos are at http://uptownguydenver.com/experiments