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for /f “tokens=*” %x in (‘dir /b *.nef’) do dcraw -e %x

Sorry, being a total geek here.

If you are also a command line geek you will look at the above and go Ahhhh…

Otherwise, it means nothing and you can skip over this post.  🙂

For the rest of you — the above “converts” NEF files into JPG faster than anything you have ever seen before.

And is great for converting 250 NEF files you snapped of something totally unimportant that should have been shot in jpg and not raw.

For example: we visited a couple of flats/apartments this weekend (thinking about moving) and I put a Sigma 10-20mm Best of the Best 4: Without Warning hd on my D300 and walked around shooting absolutely everything.  The idea was that once we got home if we thought “hey, was there an xyz in the whatever room of that second one” or something like that we could jsut refer to the images rather than go back or phone and ask.  So to cover everything, even at super wide, I was shooting like crazy.  Barely aiming, not bothering to focus (and that lens managed fine actually, very well for this purpose).

But I got home and found I had 250+ raw files — or almost 4G of data!  Drat, should have switched to jpg for these snapshots, but now what do I do?  Sure I can batch them through ACR or photoshop, but it’ll take forever.

So luckily I had just been looking at dcraw, the command line raw processor recently, I had the Windows build, and tada.

for /f "tokens=*" %x in ('dir /b *.nef') do dcraw -e %x

An command line that takes all the raw files in the directory and spits out jpg files instead.  After that I just del *.nef and I’m done.

Up side:

  • Fast
  • No settings to worry about
  • Fast
  • Did I mention fast?  We are talking less than a second an image.

Downside:

  • It isn’t really converting the raw fileof course, it is merely extracting the basic Jpeg that is embedded in the raw file.  But that’s “good enough” for what I wanted.

Still a good trick and to save me having to think about the syntax next time I have to do this I’m blogging about it so I can go back and refer to my own blog.  I knew there was a reason I was blogging!

And of course now that I know dcraw can do this I’ll be looking to integrate raw preview into Camera Control using this.  In my copious free time!  Huh!

PS.  There should have been a video today about how to do the paper grid spot, but I totally messed up the recordings and all the files are a disaster so this too will have to wait for another time.

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Any ideas on how to DIY an equivalent to an SB-800?

No?   Me neither.

I wish I did though as this past weekend I lost my SB-800!  I’ve been going around since then cursing my carelessness!  Arggg!!!

Lets just say that when leaping hurriedly into and out of a taxi in the dark while holding a toddler in one hand and a camera bag in the other hand it is wise to make sure that the bag is fully

 and securely

 closed!

The little carrying case I had the flash in was also stuffed with little DIY items which I’ll have to remake such as the folding grid spot and the sticky IR filter as well as all the gels I’ll have to re-cut.

I’ve got some other lights but I was quite attached to the SB-800 which is a great light despite the expense.  I guess I’ll have to start saving pennies again if I want to replace it, let alone consider the SB-900!

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Bracketmeister: Hardware exposure bracketing from Joergen Geerds

Here is a great invention by Joergen Geerds, a hardware based platform for doing exposure bracketing.  Just when I released a software approach targetted at Nikon cameras Joergen releases a hardware approach targetting Canon! 

Actually I suspect that both ways will work with both Canon and Nikon, but that is untested.  Where as I’m using USB and WIA and PTP to control the camera from Windows Joergen is using a microcontroller and a cable release to the camera which is in Bulb mode to do variable length exposures.

I wish I could make Bulb mode work, but the way WIA just sends “commands” like “take picture” I don’t see how I can get an open shutter command and a separate close shutter command at a later time.

[via gorillasites] well just about everybody; www.dsgnwok.com,  www.hackszine.com,  digital-camera-online.co.za,  www.electronicsinfoline.com

,  www.hdrlabs.com,  www.usd6.com,  dailydiy.com,  and blog.makezine.com

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How low can you go?

What is the lowest spec PC/Laptop that Camera Control will work on? I don’t know — I have a Thinkpad X31 running XP SP2 and it is ok though you can see a little sloweness at times.

Would it work on lower end, either old machine or one of the new light netbooks? Let me know!

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DIYPhotobits.Com Camera Control 4.0 – Basic Bracketing

It is here, it is basic, but it works (somewhat) — Bracketing.  Once again I find myself either spending an hour I have available to work on the code, or publishing what I already have working, limited though it may be.

So here we have 4.0 – the Basic Bracketing version.

DOWNLOAD

Expect bugs — that’s why the version is a .0 one!  However it should do you for some basic HDR or timelapse uses.

Update:

  • Only works in P, A or S modes as the bracketing is controlled by adjusting the exposure compensation. I’ll do M mode support later.
  • The package has the wrong version number (3.1) on the Start menu icon,but once you open the script itis the correct 4.0
  • Tested on D300 and D40 ok

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How long does battery last while doing tethered time lapse?

I thought that this was going to be a major limitation — the battery life of the camera — as while connected via USB the camera is constantly “on” and never goes into a sleep mode.

However while I was doing recent testing with the Nikon D40 time lapse I started with a full battery and took schedule shots every 5 seconds for about an hour, and at the end the battery still said 100% full.  Both via the camera icon, and via the battery meter in my script.

So obviously some power has been used, but very little apparently.  While this is good news it is also a bit puzzling so I’d love to hear your experience with it.

My batteries are not brand new or anything, I’ve taken many thousands of frames with the D40 and swap between two original Nikon EN-EL9 Rechargeable Li-ion Batteries.  So far they have given me great service, and they last longer than the D300 batteries even though those are physically larger.

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