Easy way it so connect A-to-B cable to the camera and measure the voltage on the broad (A) end. No need for needles...:-)
I'll see how things go. External power source definitely looks simple, I just hate to have extra stuff I need to worry about while I have perfectly legitimate source of eletricity right there...
This 60 yo mind didn't think of that — duh! Oh, I have not attempted to use the dongle without the base. That small circuit board you see in the photo is doing something since it has some ICs on it ... and the dongle receives power from a gold pin that pressure-fits against a mating surface next to and outside of the dongle's usb connector. I would think all you need to do is connect to that ... but ... I'll let someone else do that experimentation. It's working just fine for me at this time using the 6 volts of aaa cells and the 7805 regulator.
This 60 yo mind didn't think of that — duh! Oh, I have not attempted to use the dongle without the base. That small circuit board you see in the photo is doing something since it has some ICs on it ... and the dongle receives power from a gold pin that pressure-fits against a mating surface next to and outside of the dongle's usb connector. I would think all you need to do is connect to that ... but ... I'll let someone else do that experimentation. It's working just fine for me at this time using the 6 volts of aaa cells and the 7805 regulator.
If both dongles are identical (i.e. doesn't matter which one goes where) there is no need for external circuitry. The beauty of USB standard should take care of everything for us. Camera should provide the data on pins 2,3 we just need to provide the ground-power on pins 1,4. And if this 7805 is as good as they say it is - we should be there in no time:-)
If both dongles are identical (i.e. doesn't matter which one goes where) there is no need for external circuitry. The beauty of USB standard should take care of everything for us. Camera should provide the data on pins 2,3 we just need to provide the ground-power on pins 1,4. And if this 7805 is as good as they say it is - we should be there in no time:-)
Agreed. However, both are NOT identical. The "PC Adapter" unit gets all its power from the USB ... but the "Device Adapter" remote unit gets its power through the external gold pin connector. I do not know if it is even wired to accept power through its outer usb pins 1 and 4. And I have not experimented with it to find out. I would think it would be, but ... The photo shows the gold pin contict spot pointed out with the blue arrow.
Agreed. However, both are NOT identical. The "PC Adapter" unit gets all its power from the USB ... but the "Device Adapter" remote unit gets its power through the external gold pin connector. I do not know if it is even wired to accept power through its outer usb pins 1 and 4. And I have not experimented with it to find out. I would think it would be, but ... The photo shows the gold pin contict spot pointed out with the blue arrow.
Sooo.. the one with the gold pin is the one that goes to the camera? That makes it even easier to hack:-)
Otherwise I think a solution could be to get two kits and use the gold-pin-less ones... maybe..
BTW, I wonder if they are paired uniquely... Like, what if there are two or more dongle couplings in a room... How would they identify their rightful mate?
Sooo.. the one with the gold pin is the one that goes to the camera? That makes it even easier to hack:-)
Otherwise I think a solution could be to get two kits and use the gold-pin-less ones... maybe..
BTW, I wonder if they are paired uniquely... Like, what if there are two or more dongle couplings in a room... How would they identify their rightful mate?
That happens during setup. Install the mini-CD drivers, then plug in the PC dongle and once recognized plug in the Device dongle into a USB slot on the SAME computer. After a few seconds, they pair uniquely.
What's really nifty is the Device dongle can be plugged into a remote hub elsewhere, and several devices can then be plugged into that hub with no real reduction in speed. I've tried it with two printers and the only connection between the computer and printers (actually a 4-port hub the printers were plugged into) was the wireless USB link provided by the dongles.
Really, once paired they are naught but an invisible USB cable running between the devices.
Henry, THANKS!
That 7805 gizmo looks like a total winner! I would need a B-male to A-female USB cable to connect the dongle in any case, hooking a couple of wires and that device into it should be no problem.
Man, if it works.... What a moneysaver...
Ask for a heatsink too. Linear regulators are easy components to use but here's the catch: heat. Any voltage difference they cut off multiplied by the current going through comes out as heat, in your case: (7.5-5 V)*0.5 A = 1,25 W (this is a maximum number, usb devices shouldn't draw more than 0.5 A).
A solution would be a switch-mode regulator - you might be able to find one that's pin-compatible with the good old 7805.
Ask for a heatsink too. Linear regulators are easy components to use but here's the catch: heat. Any voltage difference they cut off multiplied by the current going through comes out as heat, in your case: (7.5-5 V)*0.5 A = 1,25 W (this is a maximum number, usb devices shouldn't draw more than 0.5 A).
A solution would be a switch-mode regulator - you might be able to find one that's pin-compatible with the good old 7805.
This is a bit technical here, I know...
Can you please shed some light about these switch-mode regulators?
That happens during setup. Install the mini-CD drivers, then plug in the PC dongle and once recognized plug in the Device dongle into a USB slot on the SAME computer. After a few seconds, they pair uniquely.
What's really nifty is the Device dongle can be plugged into a remote hub elsewhere, and several devices can then be plugged into that hub with no real reduction in speed. I've tried it with two printers and the only connection between the computer and printers (actually a 4-port hub the printers were plugged into) was the wireless USB link provided by the dongles.
Really, once paired they are naught but an invisible USB cable running between the devices.
This has got the ol' gears in the squash going again on seeing how compact this could get. Do you think it would be possible to use two 3V lithium button batteries with a silicon rectifier cobbled together in a CF card case and then velcro it to the dongle itself?
Or do you think that type of set-up would be to cumbersome for the CF card case?
This has got the ol' gears in the squash going again on seeing how compact this could get. Do you think it would be possible to use two 3V lithium button batteries with a silicon rectifier cobbled together in a CF card case and then velcro it to the dongle itself?
Or do you think that type of set-up would be to cumbersome for the CF card case?
To get enough shots and/or time for setups, etc. I doubt that button cells would provide enough power for any length of time. That tiny DigiPower I mentioned previously uses a similar setup, only its lithiums are rechargable. But its circuitry just could not provide the current. And both dongles get quite warm when operating, so they are not too frugal with the current they require. In fact, the Device dongle pulls 1 watt at 5vdc.
There are several possible circuits that could be used, including the switching regulator pryr mentioned ..., but all require additional components such as capicators and resistors. Generally, keeping it simple works best ... and the 7805 won't waste a whole lot of energy through heat at 6v or even at 7.5v. For now I'll just velcro on the 6v aaa pack and hope someone comes up with a good idea I can borrow!
To get enough shots and/or time for setups, etc. I doubt that button cells would provide enough power for any length of time. That tiny DigiPower I mentioned previously uses a similar setup, only its lithiums are rechargable. But its circuitry just could not provide the current. And both dongles get quite warm when operating, so they are not too frugal with the current they require. In fact, the Device dongle pulls 1 watt at 5vdc.
There are several possible circuits that could be used, including the switching regulator pryr mentioned ..., but all require additional components such as capicators and resistors. Generally, keeping it simple works best ... and the 7805 won't waste a whole lot of energy through heat at 6v or even at 7.5v. For now I'll just velcro on the 6v aaa pack and hope someone comes up with a good idea I can borrow!
My understanding is that 7805 simply dissipates the exessive voltage?
While the switch regulator actually is a bit more smart and actually converts higher voltage into a lower one?
The more I am thinking of it, the more a simple transistor (or better yet, an operational amplifier) looks like a more efficient idea....
OK, I need to actually get my hands on the dongles first and only then starting to run wild with ideas...
My current issues with the Eye-Fi ideas (I don't have it so it's my speculations based on what I read on the internets):
requires WAP
no support for raw files
dead slow (despite no support for raw files - would probably be a total slug with them)
I could probably go around 1 and 2, but 3 seems like a total mood killer...
Allow me to preface this by saying I'm not trying to sell you on Eye-Fi. Just sharing my experience. Not sure what qualifies as dead slow for you - I shoot in JPEG-Fine mostly with a 10MP camera so... ~4MB per. Transfers take on the order of 5 seconds each, up to ten or fifteen seconds if network traffic is high. Of course it's heavily dependent on signal strength.
For a professional the biggest problem I'd guess would be that the card waits until card I/O operations are done to transfer. So if you're constantly shooting, transfers will either wait until you're done or stutter along in the pauses.
As far as needing an AP and no RAW - yeah, those are the two biggest gripes on the Eye-Fi forums, too. They seem to be working hard on expanding the product's capabilities, so you never know.
Allow me to preface this by saying I'm not trying to sell you on Eye-Fi. Just sharing my experience. Not sure what qualifies as dead slow for you - I shoot in JPEG-Fine mostly with a 10MP camera so... ~4MB per. Transfers take on the order of 5 seconds each, up to ten or fifteen seconds if network traffic is high. Of course it's heavily dependent on signal strength.
For a professional the biggest problem I'd guess would be that the card waits until card I/O operations are done to transfer. So if you're constantly shooting, transfers will either wait until you're done or stutter along in the pauses.
As far as needing an AP and no RAW - yeah, those are the two biggest gripes on the Eye-Fi forums, too. They seem to be working hard on expanding the product's capabilities, so you never know.
Thank you for the insight. My bodies are 15mp and 21mp, so I guess that would make situation a bit worse. During the shows I can often shoot in a short series at 1fps, totalling to 10-15 images in a series. while 1-2 min lag is not THAT crucial, I'd prefer to have something faster.
Unfortunately, the other two, especially a need for WAP, are a show stopper...
Hi guys,
I'd recommend against using a 7805 for this off the cameras battery. It will draw a lot of heat, and also you do run the risk of having strange issues occur with the camera. The engineers at canon/nikon/etc don't know that you're pulling power from the source they're using. It might work fine, or you might get a camera acting wonky in live-view when the camera itself is pulling power for the LCD back, LCD top, CCD, and its own CPU, and possibly the flash if its up and being charged. The manufacturer knows their power requirements and block things that could potentially draw too much current. I'd be especially leery of doing this with a Canon camera as they're already touchy about cheap RF flash triggers, can you image if you happen to generate any noise into the bodies power supply?
Just my 2 cents, amazing how many people are interested in doing this, I had no idea it would explode with popularity like this....
Pete Tsai
ps - if you are dead set on using an eye-fi it can be done without an AP, at least on the pc side. My first blog post gives the high level details of how it can be done. Its a lot of hoops to jump through though, and while my laptop is set up to do both methods, the wireless usb tether is so much more powerful for me. Over the weekend I did some test shots with my camera 15 feet above me on a tripod with extension boom. Live view rocked and I was able to use my 51 point AF to pick where I wanted to focus, have the camera focus, then shoot and see it. This opens up things for some creative shots that would be hit or miss any other way.
Hi guys,
I'd recommend against using a 7805 for this off the cameras battery. It will draw a lot of heat, and also you do run the risk of having strange issues occur with the camera. The engineers at canon/nikon/etc don't know that you're pulling power from the source they're using. It might work fine, or you might get a camera acting wonky in live-view when the camera itself is pulling power for the LCD back, LCD top, CCD, and its own CPU, and possibly the flash if its up and being charged. The manufacturer knows their power requirements and block things that could potentially draw too much current. I'd be especially leery of doing this with a Canon camera as they're already touchy about cheap RF flash triggers, can you image if you happen to generate any noise into the bodies power supply?
Just my 2 cents, amazing how many people are interested in doing this, I had no idea it would explode with popularity like this....
Pete Tsai
ps - if you are dead set on using an eye-fi it can be done without an AP, at least on the pc side. My first blog post gives the high level details of how it can be done. Its a lot of hoops to jump through though, and while my laptop is set up to do both methods, the wireless usb tether is so much more powerful for me. Over the weekend I did some test shots with my camera 15 feet above me on a tripod with extension boom. Live view rocked and I was able to use my 51 point AF to pick where I wanted to focus, have the camera focus, then shoot and see it. This opens up things for some creative shots that would be hit or miss any other way.
Interesting! Thank you for sharing!
Rest assured, I'll check how much amperage is used by the dongle, so I hope it'll give me an idea if it's safe to use the camera batteries. The primary reason I hope to do it is that the camera apparently is capable of using either one or two, so if I put both batteries in the grip, half of them should be pretty much idle and thus available for dongles... Also, in the studio I use AC adapter, which should provide enough juice for everybody.
Anyway, we'll see....
Hi guys,
I'd recommend against using a 7805 for this off the cameras battery. It will draw a lot of heat, and also you do run the risk of having strange issues occur with the camera. The engineers at canon/nikon/etc don't know that you're pulling power from the source they're using. It might work fine, or you might get a camera acting wonky in live-view when the camera itself is pulling power for the LCD back, LCD top, CCD, and its own CPU, and possibly the flash if its up and being charged. The manufacturer knows their power requirements and block things that could potentially draw too much current. I'd be especially leery of doing this with a Canon camera as they're already touchy about cheap RF flash triggers, can you image if you happen to generate any noise into the bodies power supply?
Just my 2 cents, amazing how many people are interested in doing this, I had no idea it would explode with popularity like this....
Pete Tsai
ps - if you are dead set on using an eye-fi it can be done without an AP, at least on the pc side. My first blog post gives the high level details of how it can be done. Its a lot of hoops to jump through though, and while my laptop is set up to do both methods, the wireless usb tether is so much more powerful for me. Over the weekend I did some test shots with my camera 15 feet above me on a tripod with extension boom. Live view rocked and I was able to use my 51 point AF to pick where I wanted to focus, have the camera focus, then shoot and see it. This opens up things for some creative shots that would be hit or miss any other way.
Pete,
Referring to the Canon consumer and even prosumer models you would be right. They are already at or close to the limit of drain on the battery when all potential sources of drain are active. (Also, you forgot to mention lenses with IS.)
In the Canon 1D/1Ds series the batteries are much more robust and I doubt that there would be a problem. I would like to keep the power sources discrete for other reasons but current draw would not be a concern.
In a 1 watt dissipation device I suggest that AA NiMH cells might be a good overall solution for relatively short run times and I would probably use lead-acid gel cells and a power regulation unit for longer run times.
Ziggy,
The power draw is nowhere near what the supplied adapter is providing. Usually they do engineer the right adapter, but in this case they're way off. I have gotten in the range of 3-4 hours use on 4 AAAs. No way I could do that with a 5v 1 amp draw. Another reader has said he's gotten over 700 shots off using the energi-2-go pack that uses 2 AAs with an upvoltage converter. Its strange in that does create alot of heat from both transceivers, but it just doesn't seem to be drawing high current loads, otherwise 3-4 hrs of use would not be possible from a 6v ~1000mah power source.
Now that being said I really do recommend against interfacing directly with the power onboard any camera. DSLRs cost in the range of $1000+ for the better ones, so why risk damaging it to save a small amount of space. From an electrical engineering point doing so is a really bad idea. I have 2 D300s, one of which I only paid only $150 for, and I won't even do it to that body, its simply not worth the risk....
I will possibly convert a AA holder from an MB-D10 grip to house the petetether and 4 AAs, but I will also be disabling it from powering the camera. The camera will get its power from the battery in the body. No risk to the camera, and plenty of power for the WUSB.
I had no problems running it on my laptop Vista 64 after I downloaded the drivers, so hopefully it will work well for you also. Sorry about the frustration ... I've been there many times before and know how it feels.:cry
I had no problems running it on my laptop Vista 64 after I downloaded the drivers, so hopefully it will work well for you also. Sorry about the frustration ... I've been there many times before and know how it feels.:cry
Hopefully this day will make up for yesterday... I also found out my absolute favorite productivity tool, Dave's Quick Search Taskbar can be installed on W7/64 - which makes me totally happy camper
Glad you got that all together. Fun to get something like that to work!
I do this kind of shooting fairly often, first with Canon and now with Nikon.
With both I have just used their wireless transmitters (Nikon is the WT-4a, I forget the Canon model but it was the one that went with the 1dsmk3)
With the Mac I just create an ad hoc network (right click on the network button, Create network). Then tell the camera the name of the network and I'm good to go. No routers or other stuff so it works wherever I go (usually outside).
By setting one cf card to raw and the other to small jpeg and just sending the jpeg to the computer it is quite fast. Without significant obstructions I get 100 ft no problem. 150' is a little slow.
I don't have a need to send the raw file - the purpose of the computer image is to be able to see it quickly, check comp and focus - all fine with the jpeg. I can do the processing on the raw file later.
Anyway, not nearly as creative as your solution, but just so folks know that Canon and Nikon do make a markedly overpriced gadget that does the same thing.
One thing I noticed during my 5 min test: the dongle that connects to the laptop was rather warm...
They do get quite warm IMHO ... the Cables Unlimited website say they draw 1 watt of power each. I'm not pleased with that warmth, but it is not overly hot ... they were trying to keep things small, I suspect, and designed it to close tolerances heat-wise is my call.
Nonetheless, have fun with it! I have a 2-fer-$9 of Energi2Go chargers coming (old stock? price is good though and cells are easily replacable) I found on Amazon. I suspect that is what I will use, although I may still try repackaging ... I do not anticipate needing hours of on-time.
They do get quite warm IMHO ... the Cables Unlimited website say they draw 1 watt of power each. I'm not pleased with that warmth, but it is not overly hot ... they were trying to keep things small, I suspect, and designed it to close tolerances heat-wise is my call.
Nonetheless, have fun with it! I have a 2-fer-$9 of Energi2Go chargers coming (old stock? price is good though and cells are easily replacable) I found on Amazon. I suspect that is what I will use, although I may still try repackaging ... I do not anticipate needing hours of on-time.
1Wt? Yeah, I can see they can get warm...
And this is defintely not something I'd like to draw from the camera...
Energi2Go is nowhere to be found, so I opted for a slightly more expensive but apaprently rather convenient device:
Operating on 4xAA rechargeables, it works as
1) mobile power
2) USB pass-through
3) charger
Can be charged off both AC and USB and comes with tons of output connectors.
At this point all is needed is a 3ft USB A/male-to-B/male cable, so I can stick B end into the camera and keep the base+dongle and the battery pack in the jacket...
All in all, prolly not as convenient as a grip, but beats the hell out of it speed, simplicity and price wise...
Comments
This 60 yo mind didn't think of that — duh! Oh, I have not attempted to use the dongle without the base. That small circuit board you see in the photo is doing something since it has some ICs on it ... and the dongle receives power from a gold pin that pressure-fits against a mating surface next to and outside of the dongle's usb connector. I would think all you need to do is connect to that ... but ... I'll let someone else do that experimentation. It's working just fine for me at this time using the 6 volts of aaa cells and the 7805 regulator.
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est.
Agreed. However, both are NOT identical. The "PC Adapter" unit gets all its power from the USB ... but the "Device Adapter" remote unit gets its power through the external gold pin connector. I do not know if it is even wired to accept power through its outer usb pins 1 and 4. And I have not experimented with it to find out. I would think it would be, but ... The photo shows the gold pin contict spot pointed out with the blue arrow.
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est.
Otherwise I think a solution could be to get two kits and use the gold-pin-less ones... maybe..
BTW, I wonder if they are paired uniquely... Like, what if there are two or more dongle couplings in a room... How would they identify their rightful mate?
That happens during setup. Install the mini-CD drivers, then plug in the PC dongle and once recognized plug in the Device dongle into a USB slot on the SAME computer. After a few seconds, they pair uniquely.
What's really nifty is the Device dongle can be plugged into a remote hub elsewhere, and several devices can then be plugged into that hub with no real reduction in speed. I've tried it with two printers and the only connection between the computer and printers (actually a 4-port hub the printers were plugged into) was the wireless USB link provided by the dongles.
Really, once paired they are naught but an invisible USB cable running between the devices.
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est.
Ask for a heatsink too. Linear regulators are easy components to use but here's the catch: heat. Any voltage difference they cut off multiplied by the current going through comes out as heat, in your case: (7.5-5 V)*0.5 A = 1,25 W (this is a maximum number, usb devices shouldn't draw more than 0.5 A).
A solution would be a switch-mode regulator - you might be able to find one that's pin-compatible with the good old 7805.
This is a bit technical here, I know...
http://pyryekholm.kuvat.fi/
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
This has got the ol' gears in the squash going again on seeing how compact this could get. Do you think it would be possible to use two 3V lithium button batteries with a silicon rectifier cobbled together in a CF card case and then velcro it to the dongle itself?
Or do you think that type of set-up would be to cumbersome for the CF card case?
5D2/1D MkII N/40D and a couple bits of glass.
To get enough shots and/or time for setups, etc. I doubt that button cells would provide enough power for any length of time. That tiny DigiPower I mentioned previously uses a similar setup, only its lithiums are rechargable. But its circuitry just could not provide the current. And both dongles get quite warm when operating, so they are not too frugal with the current they require. In fact, the Device dongle pulls 1 watt at 5vdc.
There are several possible circuits that could be used, including the switching regulator pryr mentioned ..., but all require additional components such as capicators and resistors. Generally, keeping it simple works best ... and the 7805 won't waste a whole lot of energy through heat at 6v or even at 7.5v. For now I'll just velcro on the 6v aaa pack and hope someone comes up with a good idea I can borrow!
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est.
My understanding is that 7805 simply dissipates the exessive voltage?
While the switch regulator actually is a bit more smart and actually converts higher voltage into a lower one?
The more I am thinking of it, the more a simple transistor (or better yet, an operational amplifier) looks like a more efficient idea....
OK, I need to actually get my hands on the dongles first and only then starting to run wild with ideas...
Sample circuitry:
http://stuff.nekhbet.ro/2006/06/18/how-to-build-a-5v-regulator-using-78l05-7805.html
Not a biggie, just wanted to share...
And speaking of op-amps: ISL28133: http://www.intersil.com/cda/deviceinfo/0,0,ISL28133,0.html
Here's an example: MAX730
Wikipedia has more on the subject.
http://pyryekholm.kuvat.fi/
Thanks!
Allow me to preface this by saying I'm not trying to sell you on Eye-Fi. Just sharing my experience. Not sure what qualifies as dead slow for you - I shoot in JPEG-Fine mostly with a 10MP camera so... ~4MB per. Transfers take on the order of 5 seconds each, up to ten or fifteen seconds if network traffic is high. Of course it's heavily dependent on signal strength.
For a professional the biggest problem I'd guess would be that the card waits until card I/O operations are done to transfer. So if you're constantly shooting, transfers will either wait until you're done or stutter along in the pauses.
As far as needing an AP and no RAW - yeah, those are the two biggest gripes on the Eye-Fi forums, too. They seem to be working hard on expanding the product's capabilities, so you never know.
Thank you for the insight. My bodies are 15mp and 21mp, so I guess that would make situation a bit worse. During the shows I can often shoot in a short series at 1fps, totalling to 10-15 images in a series. while 1-2 min lag is not THAT crucial, I'd prefer to have something faster.
Unfortunately, the other two, especially a need for WAP, are a show stopper...
I'd recommend against using a 7805 for this off the cameras battery. It will draw a lot of heat, and also you do run the risk of having strange issues occur with the camera. The engineers at canon/nikon/etc don't know that you're pulling power from the source they're using. It might work fine, or you might get a camera acting wonky in live-view when the camera itself is pulling power for the LCD back, LCD top, CCD, and its own CPU, and possibly the flash if its up and being charged. The manufacturer knows their power requirements and block things that could potentially draw too much current. I'd be especially leery of doing this with a Canon camera as they're already touchy about cheap RF flash triggers, can you image if you happen to generate any noise into the bodies power supply?
Just my 2 cents, amazing how many people are interested in doing this, I had no idea it would explode with popularity like this....
Pete Tsai
ps - if you are dead set on using an eye-fi it can be done without an AP, at least on the pc side. My first blog post gives the high level details of how it can be done. Its a lot of hoops to jump through though, and while my laptop is set up to do both methods, the wireless usb tether is so much more powerful for me. Over the weekend I did some test shots with my camera 15 feet above me on a tripod with extension boom. Live view rocked and I was able to use my 51 point AF to pick where I wanted to focus, have the camera focus, then shoot and see it. This opens up things for some creative shots that would be hit or miss any other way.
Interesting! Thank you for sharing!
Rest assured, I'll check how much amperage is used by the dongle, so I hope it'll give me an idea if it's safe to use the camera batteries. The primary reason I hope to do it is that the camera apparently is capable of using either one or two, so if I put both batteries in the grip, half of them should be pretty much idle and thus available for dongles... Also, in the studio I use AC adapter, which should provide enough juice for everybody.
Anyway, we'll see....
Pete,
Referring to the Canon consumer and even prosumer models you would be right. They are already at or close to the limit of drain on the battery when all potential sources of drain are active. (Also, you forgot to mention lenses with IS.)
In the Canon 1D/1Ds series the batteries are much more robust and I doubt that there would be a problem. I would like to keep the power sources discrete for other reasons but current draw would not be a concern.
In a 1 watt dissipation device I suggest that AA NiMH cells might be a good overall solution for relatively short run times and I would probably use lead-acid gel cells and a power regulation unit for longer run times.
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
The power draw is nowhere near what the supplied adapter is providing. Usually they do engineer the right adapter, but in this case they're way off. I have gotten in the range of 3-4 hours use on 4 AAAs. No way I could do that with a 5v 1 amp draw. Another reader has said he's gotten over 700 shots off using the energi-2-go pack that uses 2 AAs with an upvoltage converter. Its strange in that does create alot of heat from both transceivers, but it just doesn't seem to be drawing high current loads, otherwise 3-4 hrs of use would not be possible from a 6v ~1000mah power source.
Now that being said I really do recommend against interfacing directly with the power onboard any camera. DSLRs cost in the range of $1000+ for the better ones, so why risk damaging it to save a small amount of space. From an electrical engineering point doing so is a really bad idea. I have 2 D300s, one of which I only paid only $150 for, and I won't even do it to that body, its simply not worth the risk....
I will possibly convert a AA holder from an MB-D10 grip to house the petetether and 4 AAs, but I will also be disabling it from powering the camera. The camera will get its power from the battery in the body. No risk to the camera, and plenty of power for the WUSB.
I'm in Chicago BTW if you ever want to test one.
Yes they do ... download it from the Cables Unlimited website here:
http://www.cablesunlimited.com/AboutUs/drivers.aspx
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est.
I was so frustrated last night (and it was late) that I didn't look anywhere, decided to do it later...
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est.
it WORKS!
Windows 7 Build 7100 64-bit + Canon EOS 5D MarkII - wires = connect!
Now - back to power supply gizmos.
One thing I noticed during my 5 min test: the dongle that connects to the laptop was rather warm...
I do this kind of shooting fairly often, first with Canon and now with Nikon.
With both I have just used their wireless transmitters (Nikon is the WT-4a, I forget the Canon model but it was the one that went with the 1dsmk3)
With the Mac I just create an ad hoc network (right click on the network button, Create network). Then tell the camera the name of the network and I'm good to go. No routers or other stuff so it works wherever I go (usually outside).
By setting one cf card to raw and the other to small jpeg and just sending the jpeg to the computer it is quite fast. Without significant obstructions I get 100 ft no problem. 150' is a little slow.
I don't have a need to send the raw file - the purpose of the computer image is to be able to see it quickly, check comp and focus - all fine with the jpeg. I can do the processing on the raw file later.
Anyway, not nearly as creative as your solution, but just so folks know that Canon and Nikon do make a markedly overpriced gadget that does the same thing.
www.finesart.com
They do get quite warm IMHO ... the Cables Unlimited website say they draw 1 watt of power each. I'm not pleased with that warmth, but it is not overly hot ... they were trying to keep things small, I suspect, and designed it to close tolerances heat-wise is my call.
Nonetheless, have fun with it! I have a 2-fer-$9 of Energi2Go chargers coming (old stock? price is good though and cells are easily replacable) I found on Amazon. I suspect that is what I will use, although I may still try repackaging ... I do not anticipate needing hours of on-time.
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est.
1Wt?
And this is defintely not something I'd like to draw from the camera...
Energi2Go is nowhere to be found, so I opted for a slightly more expensive but apaprently rather convenient device:
http://www.amazon.com/Tekkeon-TekCharge-Mobile-Battery-Charger/dp/B0014KLX9C/ref=pd_bxgy_e_text_b
Operating on 4xAA rechargeables, it works as
1) mobile power
2) USB pass-through
3) charger
Can be charged off both AC and USB and comes with tons of output connectors.
At this point all is needed is a 3ft USB A/male-to-B/male cable, so I can stick B end into the camera and keep the base+dongle and the battery pack in the jacket...
All in all, prolly not as convenient as a grip, but beats the hell out of it speed, simplicity and price wise...