Tag: Canon

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Want Voice Activated Shutter Release for a Nikon?

The software you need is:

  1. Microsoft Speech SDK 5.1
  2. DIYPhotobits.com Camera Control 2.1

Then to get voice activated shutter release:

  1. Install both.
  2. Turn on the Language Bar (in control panel, regional and language, languages, details, language bar)
  3. (Optional) Train Microsoft Voice recognition (in control panel, speech)
  4. Turn on the microphone (click the mic icon in the language bar)
  5. Run DIYPhotobits.com Camera Control 2.1
  6. Say “Voice command”
  7. (optional) Say “What can I say” then scroll down to the bottom of the list where it says “Menus and Buttons” and expand that list, ensure that “Shutter release” is one of the listed commands
  8. Say “Shutter Release”

And yes, of course this thought is inspired by ShutterVoice,  the Canon EOS front end that provides much better control via voice — with voice feedback even!

I wondered if I could do something like that myself — but when I checked I realized that basically everything I wanted was already either built in or a free microsoft download.  I’ll have a think about if I can adjust the UI of my script so more features can be voice controlled, but for now shutter release is fun.

All together now, say “Shutter release”.

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Does the tethered Shooting script work for Canon, Olympus, Pentax, Sony, Panasonic etc etc

A lot of people ask and I don’t know — it probably does work as it is using a standard Windows way of talking to the camera — WIA — but I don’t have the hardware to test it.

If a camera supports a “PTP” or “MTP” mode — and if when plugged into a PC it is visible in My Computer under the section for Scanners and Cameras

 (not as a removable disk drive) then it is liable to work.  The only big gotcha I can see is that some cameras — all the P&S I’ve tried — will not let me press the shutter button while they are plugged into the PC.  It seems that ability is a DSLR thing.

So, if you happen to have a non-Nikon DSLR handy and don’t mind spending a few minutes testing I’d be delighted to hear whether this script works for you.  Obviously for Canon users it’s beside the point as proper remote control software is included with the camera — but it is still technically interesting.

If you get any results please leave me a comment, many thanks!

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