Promote Systems Blog » HDR

Shutter Cables for Canon Rebel

Arty — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:00:44 +0000

Promote Control can now do automated MLU and other nice tricks with compatible Canon Rebels! The Canon CN2 shutter cable compatible with 400D and up is now ready for your orders:

http://www.promotesystems.com/products/Promote-Control-Shutter-Cable-CN2.html

Come get one!

Promote Control Video Review

Arty — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 07:58:00 +0000

Courtesy of Michael James of http://hdriblog.com, we now have a stunning video review of the Promote Control:

There is also a Part 2. Thanks Michael!

400D..1000D Got Bulb in HDR!

Arty — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 11:51:17 +0000

Despite we do not yet carry shutter cables for Canon 400D..1000D, we tried an off-the-shelf 3.5mm to 2.5mm audio cable as a shutter cable for 450D today. And it worked! We will soon start carrying those cables as an official Promote Control accessory. Meanwhile, all of you Canon 400D/450D/500D/1000D folks – shutter cables are coming, right along with all associated goodies – faster HDR sequences, automatic Bulb for >30 second exposures in HDR, Manual Hold and so on. Stay tuned

HDRs from Las Vegas

Arty — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:02:20 +0000

I just got my hands on processing a series of bracketed exposures I took in Las Vegas this spring with the Promote Control and my Nikon D3. It was the first serious workout for a final production Promote Control unit, and it performed beautifully. Set the tripod, press one button, and have the full series shot. Pick your tripod and move on to the next location – press a button there and have another series. Sweet Here is one pic:

Click here or on the image to view a few more of these. I had a lot of fun walking around there that night!

Pano HDRs with Nodal Ninja

Arty — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 03:50:56 +0000

Sam Rohn created a fantastic setup for shooting panoramas with Nodal Ninja and the Promote Control:

http://www.hdrlabs.com/yabbfiles/Attachments/promote-remote-nodal-ninja-5.jpg

Here is a complete discussion:

http://www.hdrlabs.com/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1247806902/7

Well done, Sam!

HDR for Everybody: Promote Control

Arty — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 07:15:53 +0000

Three years of work. Three years of coding, engineering, sleepless nights with pizza and coffee… you know the drill. But it’s finally here, despite of all non-believers trying to steer us off course. We made it!

A bit of history first. The thought came to me when I was running around with a tripod and a D200 trying to grab some night HDRs, and kept on stumbling into 30 seconds barrier with in-camera bracketing. It got me thinking… and I had an idea

Everybody, please meet the Promote Control. To my knowledge, it’s the first commercially available remote control for digital cameras that can talk to a camera over USB while staying portable. This means we can do external bracketing just like you could do with a tethered camera (i.e. by connecting it to your computer) – but this time you won’t need your computer! The whole unit is less than 6 oz and easily fits into your pocket. A backlit LCD screen will help you work even in complete darkness, while big keys can be easily used in gloves for those cold outdoor sessions.

Now for the interesting stuff. Add an optional shutter cord (in addition to the USB), and you can do exposure bracketing… with Mirror Lock-Up before each shot! It needs to be supported by the camera of course. You can even setup the MLU delay – anywhere from 1 to 20 seconds. And if your bracketing ends up jumping beyond that 30 second barrier, Promote Control will put your camera into Bulb mode and use shutter cable to time the exposure. Is this cute or what?

It also got more common modes like Time-Lapse (also with MLU if desired) and a “One Shot” mode where you can optionally set camera exposure from the remote control (starting from 1/4000s – we got USB control, remember?). There is a user setup menu with a bunch of settings, including variable display backlight intensity (and even backlight color in RGB!), all sorts of timers etc. The whole unit is powered from 2 AA batteries (and it likes them all, from NiMH to alkalines) – and if you are into astrophotography with hours worth of exposure times, hook it up to an AC adapter and forget about batteries.

I hope it’s going to be as much of a joy to use as it was to design it. I want to thank all our team at Promote Systems that spent nights making sure this baby sees the light. I want to thank everybody who was with us through this project, including my family and friends. You all have been a great support guys… we couldn’t have done it without your help and support.

I have a favorite Sci-Fi TV series – somehow I preferred it to others. It’s called “Babylon 5″. It started as a foster project with unclear future, and ended up having a bunch of fans. In its final season they’ve said some words that burned right into my mind, and I will remember those words forever.

“We dedicate this to all those who didn’t believe in the success of this project.

Faith manages.”