When I was researching what project to do with my Raspberry Pi, I chose the project that will allow me to control my DSLR camera using the Pi computer. By using the Raspberry Pi, I am able to remotely access my camera and take pictures without having to be at the camera. This can be useful for research projects where the camera is set up in the field and you would like to take pictures from your office or another location. Once the picture is taken by the camera, it will automatically store it in a file on the computer and clear the memory card of the camera. This controller will also allow you to set up a time lapse setting for certain camera models.
In order to set up the Raspberry Pi to act as a DSLR camera controller, I needed a few items. The following is the list of items that I used and a couple of links of webpages that I used for guidance to set up the system.
- Raspberry Pi computer
- Micro SD card
- HDMI Cable
- Power Adapter for the Raspberry Pi
- TV Monitor
- Wireless keyboard
- DSLR Camera (Nikon D5600)
- SD Card for Camera
- Battery for Camera
- Python
- gPhoto2
- https://pimylifeup.com/raspberry-pi-dslr-camera-control/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eAYxnSU2aw
The above pictures show you what this set up does with the DSLR camera. In the first picture you see the codes that I entered into Python to write a script for taking pictures remotely. The second picture shows the camera hooked up to the TV monitor using the HDMI cable and typing in the command to capture the image. Finally, the third picture shows all the files that were automatically downloaded from my camera’s SD card to the image file on the Raspberry Pi computer. The third picture also shows a picture of a Pepsi can that was taken using the Raspberry Pi as a DSLR camera controller.
I can see the many uses for this system, whether it was used for research, security, or general photography, it would benefit each greatly. I loved that I can sit at home in one room and capture images using my camera in a different room. This comes in handy when trying to capture images of birds at my wife’s bird feeders, since birds are easily spooked by people. My recommendations to others that want to do this project it to really pay attention when you are writing the script for this program in python, if there is a typo it will not work correctly.
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