And For My Next Trick....... (aka Why I was hacking the GX80 in the first place)

[BTM_Pix]

So as I've hinted more than a few times in the other thread, the discovery of the Cinelike D and other bits and pieces for the GX80 etc was actually a bit of a happy accident while I was trying to do understand the Panasonic wifi stuff for something else.

And here is that something else.

Well at least a prototype of it but it is fully functioning and will just be finessed a bit more.

Basically, its a wireless hardware remote for the G series cameras that operates over wifi and can currently control record start/stop, shutter speed as well as aperture and focus if you're using a native lens, including a single shot AF switch.

For the non-Cinelike D cameras that can now be hacked to have Cinelike D there is also a dedicated button to toggle it on and off so you don't need to mess about with browsers and computers or smartphones anymore.

Focus and aperture control are done on a joystick and everything else is switches.

I'll be putting a layer switch on so that it can be toggled back and forth to a different control mode for ISO, WB and other stuff.

As this is the prototype it is nowhere near the finished piece and it will be reduced in form factor to just be about the size of the control board. Power is by any USB source so there are billions of options.

There is a lot more finessing and feature enhancement to go on with regard to the focus control (and yes, I know exactly what you'll all want it to do !) but the hard part is done now.

It does support the display of the values on a screen and I'll be sorting some options out for that.

The purpose of this gadget is primarily for use with a gimbal but it can also be really useful on a tripod bar for anyone shooting live event stuff. For cameras with inbuilt lenses I'm going to add a zoom mode on the joystick.

A very quick very rough demo so you can see it in action.

Any lag you might see between me operating the controller and the camera video is just a sync issue between me throwing the two recordings on very quickly  

 

 

[Grimor]

COOOOOOLLLLLLL!!!

Whats the main board? Raspberri? Arduino?

Congrats, your gadget  is super!

[BTM_Pix]

Just now, Grimor said:

COOOOOOLLLLLLL!!!

Whats the main board? Raspberri? Arduino?

Congrats, your gadget  is super!

That version is running on a Pi to prototype it.

The final version will either be on a PiZero to get the form factor down or an Arduino based small one like the Feather HUZZAH.

 

[Grimor]

I started learning arduino 2 weeks ago.

Now i´ve done a sound sensor based flash trigger  for high speed photography. I´m planning to take a cool photo in few days.

[BTM_Pix]

20 minutes ago, Grimor said:

I started learning arduino 2 weeks ago.

Now i´ve done a sound sensor based flash trigger  for high speed photography. I´m planning to take a cool photo in few days.

Cool.

I've got an arduino development board called an Esplora thats got lots of interesting sensors built in to it. If I did this remote on it I was going to incorporate the temperature sensor on it to give the Panasonics a Sony emulation mode where it stops the recording when there's a whiff of warm weather  

[robbino]

That's a great looking development,well done

[Andrew Reid]

Great stuff!! Well done!

[IronFilm]

Interesting!! You could make a control grip like say the FS7 for using while the Panasonic camera is mounted on your shoulder

[jonpais]

a warning sign when the body's getting too hot would be great! ?

[BTM_Pix]

33 minutes ago, IronFilm said:

Interesting!! You could make a control grip like say the FS7 for using while the Panasonic camera is mounted on your shoulder

Yes, it does all of the same functions (and a few more actually) and you could fit in pretty much whatever worked ergonomically.

Once its in its finished much more compact form (just the size of the blue-ish control panel in the video) its pretty small.

You could probably gut something like this PC Joystick (which is about £15) to use the handle part which has a similar ergonomic approach to the Sony grip and mount it in there.

For me, its better as a pocketable thing but thats the beauty of it being a bit of a DIY hack, it can be a lot more custom than an off the shelf product.

[kaylee]

Quote

for my next trick...

@BTM_Pix dude, youre amazing~!

youre super cool to share all of this stuff, thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!

[BTM_Pix]

So......

A bit of an update

I've spent the past few days redoing this from the ground up and there's been what you might call 'a bit' of progress.

The camera functions are now controlled by a gamepad, which gives a bit more scope in terms of buttons etc.

By separating out the part that does the actual talking to the camera, this means that that can be smaller for mounting and the choice of the input device is now far more flexible as it can support pretty much any USB device that can be attached to it.

In this version, the gamepad itself is wireless too so not only is it a lot neater but it can also be used to extend the overall distance of wireless control (its range to the control box is added to the range from the control box to the camera).

I can also make it support multiple devices so you could have something smaller just to do basic control (or a USB numeric keypad would be quite good for that actually) and then use a more elaborate one when needed. Or do both simultaneously if you want control of exposure and someone else to do focus etc.

Speaking of focus, this is now controlled by an analog stick so has a bit more feel to it (ignore the transitions in the video, the debug mode makes the control much coarser) with a press in the centre of the stick activating a one shot AF.  

If your camera has a powered zoom lens (hello LX100 etc) then this is controlled from the same stick by pushing forward and back. 

I believe that this will also work with those MFT lenses that support power zoom but I don't have one so I can't confirm that.

I've made a drivable AF joystick point mode which you activate by pressing in on the right hand analog stick and then using the D Pad to drive the focus point around the screen and then pressing in the stick again to action it.

There will be more focus enhancements coming.........

The shutter speed and aperture are now controlled by the shoulder buttons on the gamepad and the ISO is now also directly switchable on two buttons.

I've got a few more enhancements coming over the next few days as well so I'll keep you informed.

In the meantime, here is a video of it controlling a GX80

 

[buggz]

Wow, super cool.

When are you selling kits?  *8^)

[BTM_Pix]

As soon as I've got everything on it that I want and settled on what I'm running it on I'll sort out a guide to how people can make one.

It should be a matter of just buying a board and putting the software image on it then sorting yourself out for how to power it and getting a gamepad.

Total cost for the bits you need to buy should be no more than about £45 even if you got for a wireless gamepad.

There'll be a bit of a challenge sorting out an easily deployable software image that people can flash themselves but I'll sort that out over the next few weeks.

Presuming anyone wants one that is of course.

[ntblowz]

Definitely interested on getting one

[Trek of Joy]

This is a cool hack, kudos to BTM for the work. 

[BTM_Pix]

Another little update video that might be of interest to LX100 owners (and those with cameras like FZ1000/2000 etc) which shows the wifi controller operating the zoom and focus.

The zoom controls on all the Lumix cameras are quite clunky in transition so its limited by their inherent performance so better suited to re-framing than any ambitious slow creeps.

 

[BTM_Pix]

And in today's episode of "Fun With Lumix And Gaffer Tape" we have the new LCD display module which gives you a pro SLR style top panel info for your little GX80/G7 et al.

Well, pro style if Nikon and Canon used more gaffer tape in their production process that is.

 

[jagnje]

will this work for gh5 as well?

with something like this it woud be a cool little setup I think

[BTM_Pix]

23 minutes ago, jagnje said:

will this work for gh5 as well?

with something like this it woud be a cool little setup I think

Yes and yes.