Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Medium Format / Film / Digital Backs – and Large Sensor Photography => Topic started by: Fotophil on June 15, 2018, 10:48:25 pm
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I am looking for field experience using the Hasselblad software for establishing a remote shutter release on the X1D Camera. A recent X1D firmware upgrade brought auto bracketing capability but unfortunately removed the ability to use the self timer function in conjunction with auto bracketing. Since the X1D has no support for a wired remote release it seems that a WiFi based cell phone release system might solve the problem. Do any X1D users have any experience with remote shutter release?
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I am looking for field experience using the Hasselblad software for establishing a remote shutter release on the X1D Camera. A recent X1D firmware upgrade brought auto bracketing capability but unfortunately removed the ability to use the self timer function in conjunction with auto bracketing. Since the X1D has no support for a wired remote release it seems that a WiFi based cell phone release system might solve the problem. Do any X1D users have any experience with remote shutter release?
Hi,
If you want a plethora of experiences (in mine it does work) I will suggest you go to: https://www.getdpi.com/forum/medium-format-systems-and-digital-backs/
This Forum is very good for Phase One users. Leica, Fuji, and Pentax are also at home here. But Hasselblad will talk and express their opinions in the neutral lands of getdpi.
Phocus should do the trick:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/phocus-mobile/id411637574?mt=8
Best regards,
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Thanks for the info on Hasselblad Phocus Mobiland it is good to hear that it looks O:K for you. Are youi using it with an iPhone and if so what model and OS? Which Hssselblad are you using?
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I am able to connect my X1D and iPhone using Phocus Mobil. Te remote shutter release function works but unfortunately it does not seem to support the auto bracketing function. When I set the auto bracket to a 3 shot series of -2, 0,+2, pressing the iPhone release button takes one shot at -2 and stops. Pushing the iPhone button a second time results in another exposure at -2 and pushing a third time results in another -2 exposure. If I use the shutter release button, one push results in a sequence to the three exposures -2, 0, +2. Can someone else please verify this behavior?
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Phocus Mobil ... unfortunately it does not seem to support the auto bracketing function. Can someone else please verify this behavior?
User Guide Page 111
"Bracketing is not supported in Phocus Mobile or when tethered to Phocus. For tethered operation, use the Capture Sequencer function in Phocus."
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Thanks Bob - now I know that Phocos Mobile is not the solution to my desire for a remote shutter function supported by auto bracket. Next up must be the wired remote. Hasselblad indicated a potential solution to the missing "X1D cable release " would be a third party wired release using the USB connection. E-bay has such items for Nikon, Canon, Sony, etc. but none specifically for the X1D. Any ideas?
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I have only ever used Phocus Mobile to allow the customer to view and rate the images as I shot them. It is fairly basic. This morning I thought I would try using Phocus on a MBP using wifi, but that is not supported. You have to use USB. So you could use the sequencer in Phocus and then activate the shutter by Phocus Mobile if that is essential.
Frankly however I have never used auto bracketing. I used to bracket when I had the Fuji G617 with 120 film but there was no auto anything there and it didn't even have a light meter. I found it better to take a few shots with a digital camera and get the correct exposure and then set the G617 and take a maximum of two. You only got 4 shots to a roll so multiple shots for one image was a waste. I think the same is true but more so now. The film had a dynamic range of about 4 stops. The Hassy has a DR of 14 so as long as you check the highlights on spot and put them far right on the dial then all should be good.
I just sent a message to Customer Support requesting an option to reverse the front and rear control wheel functions so that the front is shutter speed and rear aperture in manual mode. That was available in the H series and allows the Canon style of control. The front being aperture is the Nikon style. They replied that they will look at it for a future release. If auto bracketing is important to you then try sending them a request. You never know. Cheers.
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I contacted the New Jersey Hasselblad Office regarding upgrading of Phocus Mobile Software to include support for auto bracketing. They sent me a favorable response as follows: "Yes, I contacted the factory and they confirmed that it is flagged as a request, but there is no eta. The public will be informed if we release a firmware that has this feature."
I suggest that all X1D Users that desire to use Phocus contact Hasselblad ASAP.
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Just in case the Phocus Mobile update gets lost in the Hasselblad bureaucracy, I am developing Plan B which involves modifying a U Clamp Bracket originally manufactured for a Nikon Coolpix 995 Camera (yes even Nikon once screwed-up up and built a camera without a cable release) which was made without a cable release socket. The bottom leg of the U attaches to the camera tripod mount and the top leg of the bracket accepts a standard threaded cable release fitting. The bracket was sized so that the cable release pin pushes down on the camera shutter release button.
In addition to resizing the U bracket, the part of of my modification is to incorporate an air release mechanism that uses a rubber squeeze bulb connected with a length of soft rubber hose - similar to what to be used on the old Packard view camera shutters. I am afraid the set-up may be a bit bulky but I won't really know until I am finished but it sure won't be as nice as an electronic wire release.
I will post my finding when complete.
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I found a commercial universal cable release attachment bracket on E-bay for $25. It bulky but might be an alternative for those not wanting to build their own. E-bay item number is 191551889481
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I can't remember the last time I used a cable release. I have a Canon 5Ds that has a socket and I have the required cable but seldom it is that I have the cable with me when I want to use it. Same with the Hasselblad H4D. I have never used the cable release. So the 10s delay coupled with mirror up is usually the solution. In the studio I just fire tethered.
Personally any solution that requires you to press the button is worse than no solution at all as pushing the button itself causes vibration. In my case I don't think the X1D having no cable release is an issue. It has no mirror or clunky shutter in the camera so vibration should be less than most cameras with a cable release. Either the app or a delay shutter should do the trick.
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I think an air release will minimize shutter button movement vibrations. The primary reason for my interest in a shutter button activation is that the self timer delay does not work with automated bracketing that I use for HDR Exposures. The other problem with self timers in the field is the delay. There are instances when I want the shutter immediately and not after a delay. I found a cable release mounting bracket on E-bay and I understand that Amazon also has something. One the guys on the Hasselblad Forum fabricated his own bracket - so perhaps there is an answer!
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As someone who does timelapses & uses an automatic head for panorama work, the lack of a cable shutter release makes the X1D non-functional for me. I gave my Hasselblad rep a really bad time back in 2016 about it - as in stating I can't buy one without it. It wasn't the first time he had heard it, and my use cases made complete sense. Talk of something via the flash socket was there, but as we have seen it's almost 2 years and nothing. To lack an intervalometer as well at this point is really sad.
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As someone who does timelapses & uses an automatic head for panorama work, the lack of a cable shutter release makes the X1D non-functional for me. I gave my Hasselblad rep a really bad time back in 2016 about it - as in stating I can't buy one without it. It wasn't the first time he had heard it, and my use cases made complete sense. Talk of something via the flash socket was there, but as we have seen it's almost 2 years and nothing. To lack an intervalometer as well at this point is really sad.
I just bought an X1D for less money than a Canon 1Dx Mk2. You are probably never going to buy one, which is a shame because they are a fabulous camera. I doubt that they would do anything via the flash socket as that is where the GPS plugs in. To me geo tagging is a great benefit as the catalogue just shows the photos on a map. That is great for travel.
I just can not see where your use case prevents using the mobile phone app. It is so easy that I doubt an X2D if that is what it is called will have a cable release either. You should be able to get a software system where each shot on the app moves the auto head if that is the requirement. Hardware solutions in cameras are a dying thing.
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I just bought an X1D for less money than a Canon 1Dx Mk2. You are probably never going to buy one, which is a shame because they are a fabulous camera. I doubt that they would do anything via the flash socket as that is where the GPS plugs in. To me geo tagging is a great benefit as the catalogue just shows the photos on a map. That is great for travel.
I just can not see where your use case prevents using the mobile phone app. It is so easy that I doubt an X2D if that is what it is called will have a cable release either. You should be able to get a software system where each shot on the app moves the auto head if that is the requirement. Hardware solutions in cameras are a dying thing.
Hey Bob, it's great that you got one at a great value for you. But I need to stress that my use case doesn't match yours. I use the heck out of that 2.5mm port on my H4D and 645z, as for my Gigapan, or Syrp gear or any other robotic/motion head, that's the only way to interface the units. Works great with the H6D-100c - the only platform that takes a standard sync cable. It's the one thing that pisses me off about the XF platform - the non-standard cable release.
Here, I'll share what I pitched to Hasselblad for an advertising campaign: Hasselblad returns to Space. Do a helium balloon launch of a pair of X1D's doing cross shots, with a few GoPros to catch video. To do this requires an intervalometer for each camera, and that sync port is more likely to work all the way up and back, unlike any type of wireless remote.
Fancy software is nice when you can touch/kick/reboot it when things don't quite work. But a cable release more or less is going to keep working long after your phone has decided it doesn't want to connect anymore.
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Although there is debate among the users of Phocus Mobile with respect to reliability with respect to remote shutter release, there is no debate that the software will not support the automatic bracketing function on the X1D. Hasselblad made some poor decisions such as the absence of a cable release socket during the development of the X1D and have resisted changes despite overwhelming requests from the public either due to hardware limitations or continued stupidity. It will very interesting to see if any of the requests will be incorporated into the X2D
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Fancy software is nice when you can touch/kick/reboot it when things don't quite work. But a cable release more or less is going to keep working long after your phone has decided it doesn't want to connect anymore.
Nearly everything you use these days runs on software. Your phone, your car, sewing machine, petrol pumps and your camera.
I was going to suggest that you could rig something using the headphone socket on your iPhone, but iPhones don't have headphone sockets anymore! Like it or not new products will have less and less physical connectivity. They take up space which is the main problem.
It is likely that someone in China will produce an intervalometer function shortly. Your next problem is that probably you won't be allowed to import it. Good luck.
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I just can not see where your use case prevents using the mobile phone app. It is so easy that I doubt an X2D if that is what it is called will have a cable release either. You should be able to get a software system where each shot on the app moves the auto head if that is the requirement. Hardware solutions in cameras are a dying thing.
I have the X1D, I like it - a lot! but please give me a cable release, I have never missed an image, due to a dropped connection from my cable releases on other cameras, but I have missed quit a few due to a dropped wifi connection, when using apps - you simply don't have time and opportunity for this, when you make a living with you cameras.
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Nothing is happening in the development of a third party wired cable release for the X1D and perhaps because the electronic circuit information has not been made public. After all of the discussion of the cable release problems, I believe the current X1D Design is simply not compatible with a wired release. Perhaps the new X2D Design will address the problem but only if the Hasselblad Desigers decide if it is necessary.
Several X1D Users including myself have fabricated mechanical brackets for positioning a cable release tip directly above the X1D Shutter Button. My designs work but they are so crude and ugly that I am embarrassed to use them. It sure turns a beautiful camera into a "Rube Goldberg" toy!
THANKS HASSELBLAD
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Nothing is happening in the development of a third party wired cable release for the X1D ...
THANKS HASSELBLAD
Every review I have ever seen of this camera even before it was released said that it did not have a cable release. If that is a critical factor to you then why did you buy it?
I have only just bought the X1D but the decision process was about two years. It is serious money even at the current discounts.
I spend a lot of time buying Subway though.
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I was able to rebuild the Generic shutter Release Bracket by lengthening the rod, adding a steel right angle bracket over the slotted aluminum plate and clamping the vertical rod to the right angle bracket to prevent flexing. It was time consuming to figure out the bits and pieces but it really works well. I am using an air release which is easier of the shutter button. Anyway after a week in the field it has not failed so I will use it until I find something better. I have some photos but I am having trouble posting them. The bracket isn't pretty so maybe it best that I don't show photos.
(http://)
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The Nikon Coolpix 900 was the first camera without a cable release socket that I encountered 20 years ago. The situation was similar to the X1D in that Nikon, like Hasselbald, had no way to incorporate a cable release into the basic camera design. In the late 1990's the 900 Series Cameras were very popular and thus there were several very nice (expensive) third party cable release brackets available at the time.
I salvaged one from my junk drawer and modified it to fit the X1D. The device was a fabricated aluminum "C" clamp that attached to the camera tripod and arched around the camera ending right above the shutter button. It was very rigid which prevented all cable release flexing. The X1D is somewhat larger than the Coolpix 900 so it was necessary to increase both the bracket height and width by about 1/2 inch.
My first X1D cable release bracket project that used the Generic Shutter Bracket from E-bay was functional but very crude and ugly. The increased stiffness of Coolpix Bracket offered a big improvement in functionality while being much less ugly and so it has become my X1D Cable release Bracket of choice. I have no idea if there are any Coolpix 900 Brackets available on the used market but the modification is pretty straightforward.
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Doesn't the baby Hassy take a mic remote trigger like the large geriatric ones?
Edmund
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Doesn't the baby Hassy take a mic remote trigger like the large geriatric ones?
Edmund
Not officially.
The setup on the H bodies is great. You can use a generic $3 trigger that plugs into a portion on the handgrip, so if it's mounted on a tripod with an L-bracket you don't have to mess with the bracket to get to any of the side ports.
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I sent the following to Hasselblad Support in Europe.
"I have bought the X1D and am loving it.
Would you please consider opening up the Phocus Mobile app to third parties for customisation and for external triggers?
Possibly you could do these yourself.
Typical applications would be intervalometer to capture at fixed intervals, a bracketing option, a sound operated trigger, contact operated trigger, light operated trigger etc."
I got this response
"Thank you for contacting Hasselblad Customer Support.
I will forward your request to our product manager.
I think it's good ideas that you have! (I also hope this will be considered and implemented)
We hope this is of help for you. Let us know if you would have any further questions."
Hopefully they will do something and I guess the more people ask then the more likely it is.
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Good move Bob!
Let’s hope other X1D Users will contact their local Hasselblad Office.
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I sent the following to Hasselblad Support in Europe.
"I have bought the X1D and am loving it.
Would you please consider opening up the Phocus Mobile app to third parties for customisation and for external triggers?
Possibly you could do these yourself.
Typical applications would be intervalometer to capture at fixed intervals, a bracketing option, a sound operated trigger, contact operated trigger, light operated trigger etc."
I got this response
"Thank you for contacting Hasselblad Customer Support.
I will forward your request to our product manager.
I think it's good ideas that you have! (I also hope this will be considered and implemented)
We hope this is of help for you. Let us know if you would have any further questions."
Hopefully they will do something and I guess the more people ask then the more likely it is.
FWIW, the early adopters have been requesting a hard wired cable release since BEFORE the X1D even started shipping in January, 2017. Hasselblad is well aware of this request and hasn't delivered it. I am sure that if they could, they would have delivered it by now. I have reluctantly reached the conclusion that we will not see it before the X2D. It would be nice if Hasselblad would acknowledge it.
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FWIW, the early adopters have been requesting a hard wired cable release since BEFORE the X1D even started shipping in January, 2017. Hasselblad is well aware of this request and hasn't delivered it. I am sure that if they could, they would have delivered it by now. I have reluctantly reached the conclusion that we will not see it before the X2D. It would be nice if Hasselblad would acknowledge it.
Designs are set in stone a long time before they ship. It was designed not to have a cable release. I would be surprised (and I often am) if the X2D or whatever had a cable release. You may as well ask why iPhones don't have a headphone socket, why computers don't have CD drives and why poker machines don't have handles. They are obsolete. Does it need an external shutter release? Yes, but it is and will remain done by software the same as everything else will be done in the future. There is more chance of having your phone with you than having your cable release with you anyway.
I regard myself as a laggard in technology. It usually works well. I read about new things but unless I really need it I don't invest until others have fixed all of the problems and the price has dropped 30%.
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Err, yes all true, but one might also argue that this camera is a product for an older crowd who hate cellphones partly because they cannot even see them without their glasses, that this is a camera which will often be used on a support, and that using the mic jack to detect a focus lock and shutter press would have allowed Hassy to tick a box cheaply.
I own a very nice pair of $300 Bose bluetooth headphones, but the sound of films is always out of sync on my computer- where wired earphones just work. I find that I can tolerate a wire better than sound that comes half a second after the picture.
Newer is not always better if the guy writing the spec foobars the spec. Lack of a cable release is a mistake, not a sign of the times.
Edmund
Designs are set in stone a long time before they ship. It was designed not to have a cable release. I would be surprised (and I often am) if the X2D or whatever had a cable release. You may as well ask why iPhones don't have a headphone socket, why computers don't have CD drives and why poker machines don't have handles. They are obsolete. Does it need an external shutter release? Yes, but it is and will remain done by software the same as everything else will be done in the future. There is more chance of having your phone with you than having your cable release with you anyway.
I regard myself as a laggard in technology. It usually works well. I read about new things but unless I really need it I don't invest until others have fixed all of the problems and the price has dropped 30%.
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I sent the following to Hasselblad Support in Europe.
"I have bought the X1D and am loving it.
Would you please consider opening up the Phocus Mobile app to third parties for customisation and for external triggers?
Possibly you could do these yourself.
Typical applications would be intervalometer to capture at fixed intervals, a bracketing option, a sound operated trigger, contact operated trigger, light operated trigger etc."
I got this response
"Thank you for contacting Hasselblad Customer Support.
I will forward your request to our product manager.
I think it's good ideas that you have! (I also hope this will be considered and implemented)
We hope this is of help for you. Let us know if you would have any further questions."
Hopefully they will do something and I guess the more people ask then the more likely it is.
Actually, this is the wrong ask. What I think you want is for Hasselblad to open the APIs so that someone could talk to the camera, ala what Pentax just did via a SDK: https://www.pentaxforums.com/articles/pentax-news/ricoh-releases-sdk-for-pentax-cameras.html
You do not want to interface with Phocus Mobile, aka the iOS app on a phone. You'll find that Apple severely limits inter-app communication in their designs by default. 'Custom App' <-> Phocus Mobile <-> Hass X1D is the translation of your ask, which doesn't add anything. You'd be limited to features implemented in Phocus Mobile.
What you want is 'Custom App' <-> Hass X1D - where the app sends standard commands and gets standard responses. In the guts of it all, these are all serial commands over a IP link, with RTSP style video stream for live view.
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... You do not want to interface with Phocus Mobil ...
Well actually I do. If you want something else then ask them yourself.