D7100 & D5100 Further Testing

[menardre]

I have both the Nikon D7100 and D5100. When I connect the D7100 I only use the USB cable. When I use the D5100 I use both the USB and the Shoestring DSUSB. I have tried this setup on both my laptop (which I use in my observatory) and my desktop.

D5100.................. the only problem that I have is that it sometimes takes several attempts to connect. I can see the green light on the D5100 go active- meaning that my computer is attempting to communicate. Once the connection is made, and I select the DSUSB, BYN seems to work well.

D7100.................. sometimes connects on first attempt, sometimes takes two attempts. Otherwise works great.

 

Is there some kind of timing issue with connecting the D5100 (or D7100)?. My process is to connect the cables to the camera and the computer. Turn on the camera and insure that the computer recognizes the camera. Then I try to connect to BYN.

 

Roger

[admin]

All connections are governed by the SDK, which is a black box.  The only absolute thing I do know is that the SDK will build an index of all images in the card before connecting to the camera and if you have a lot of images this may that several seconds and even minutes.

 

Remove all images on the card, or better yet remove the card, and try again.  Do you get the same behavior?

 

Happy New Year.

[menardre]

Guylain

That worked great. I took the SD cards out of both D5100 and D7100... I tried to connect/disconnect several times with both cameras, and they both connected very quickly. I will have to remember to remove the SD cards when I am using my Nikons (or at least use empty cards).

Thanks for your quick response. I really like BYN and plan on integrating it into my normal observatory workflow. My next test will be connecting using my laptop and the powered USB hub... since this is how I always connect to my devices.

Roger

[rewagner1]

I'm having trouble connecting my D5100 using the DSUSB. 
 
I can control the camera using DSLR Shutter (Stark-labs), but I cannot connect o Backyard Nikon. It tries to connect for about 5 seconds before giving me the error message.
 
I have my camera set to:
 
Bulb
Quick Shutter Release
No SD card inserted when connecting to Backyard Nikon. 
 
 
Thanks!

[astroman133]

The DSUSB cable is only for long duration BULB exposures.  It only controls the shutter.  You still need to connect the camera to the PC with a regular USB cable for all the rest of the functions.

 

So you need to have 2 cables connecting the camera to the PC!

 

FYI, not having a DSUSB cable or having a faulty DSUSB cable will not prevent BYN from connecting to the camera.  That is accomplished via the regular USB cable. A DSUSB cable is required only for BULB exposures.

[rewagner1]

The DSUSB cable is only for long duration BULB exposures.  It only controls the shutter.  You still need to connect the camera to the PC with a regular USB cable for all the rest of the functions.

 

So you need to have 2 cables connecting the camera to the PC!

 

FYI, not having a DSUSB cable or having a faulty DSUSB cable will not prevent BYN from connecting to the camera.  That is accomplished via the regular USB cable. A DSUSB cable is required only for BULB exposures.

That you for the clarification! 

 

Luckly my wife's' Nike D750 is going to be delivered any moment now. I'm 98% sure it comes with the correct USB cable, otherwise I'm outta luck!

 

Thanks again! 

[s3igell]

A good quality USB Cable with the proper connectors on each end is such an Essential for AP Imaging that most of us are well advised to add a Spare to our Imaging Gear.

Same with your DSUSB USB Cable.  And Spares are so Cheap and Easy to acquire in advance...

 

One never wants to lose an entire Imaging Session simply because a USB Cable has "Gone Bad"...

[willcarney]

I NEVER use the memory card in my Nikon D5100 while it's connected to the DSUSB and computer.  When I want the camera to auto take a flat using a Nikon lens I disconnect then unplug the camera and put the memory card back in.  Sometimes I will take darks, flats, or flat-darks using the memory card while I pack up everything else especially if I'm shooting 30 seconds or less.