Haukinger
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A new screenshot…
Now I have controls for shutter-speed, aperture, white-balance and autofocus-mode. And a button to start the auto-focussing-process, not to mention a zoom-slider  It’s not continuos but has 7 zoom-settings. Another limitation of the SDK, I think.
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Mirko
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According to the reverse engineered commands here, the zoom is set by a command that can only take parameters from 0-10 (0-6 being optical zoom settings). This seems to be not just a limitation of the SDK, but either of the camera hardware (can you choose more than six settings with the lever on the camera? I’ll have to check this tonight) or at least the command set of the remote interface.
Mirko
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RevMen
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I just happen to have my camera here at work with me. Yes, zoom goes all the way in to all the way out in 6 increments.
I don’t think using zoom yields very good results for macro-style shooting, though. In order to get proper focus, it’s better to use macro mode or install macro lenses. Or both, which is what I did for some shots in System Reboot.
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Haukinger
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Ok then it’s the the camera, not the sdk. I wonder what about the S2 for example. It has 12x zoom… in 7 steps ?!
The QC4000 has no zoom at all, so 7 steps are a big improvement.
Autofocus is poor in tele-macro, you can’t get closer then about 30cm… but distortion is much higher in wide-macro.
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Mirko
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“Haukinger” wrote: The QC4000 has no zoom at all, so 7 steps are a big improvement.
I guess there is nothing wrong with 7 steps. I didn’t even notice the zoom is not continuous until I read your post, but what RevMen says is true: I cannot zoom from wide to tele in more than 6 increments on the A70 either. Zooms in film are probably better done in post production anyway.
Autofocus is poor in tele-macro, you can’t get closer then about 30cm… but distortion is much higher in wide-macro.
The most important thing for me is to have wide-angle in macro mode (not possible with the C-5050, e.g.). I believe it is more natural to get closer to the object and use wide-angle, as a tele lens from farther away tends to look like you’re observing the minifigs through binoculars.
Mirko
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An Old Ore
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I’m interested in this type of software. I might borrow the camera from work and make a short film with it. It’s a canon (not sure of the model number) but it’s a DSLR and I wasn’t sure if it could be used for brickfilming…
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Haukinger
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DSLRs are great for brickfilming, because you can attach a manual lens. You need a webcam or dv for live-preview, though, because a DSLR can’t do this (Olympus E330 being the notable exception).
Shutter lifetime is another aspect… I don’t hesitate ‘murdering’ a cheap 150euro A520 for brickfilming, but a $1000 E330 ?
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Mirko
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I’ve been looking for a suitable lens for my Pentax istD for some time now, to no avail. I want a small minimal distance (like 3-5cm) but even macro lenses don’t seem to be able to do this, the distance between lens and object usually has to be more like 20cm. I’ve also experimented with macro rings (too narrow depth of field) but I don’t quite like what I get there: In my opinion, the camera has to be really near to the objects or otherwise it’ll look like the film consists of one boring tele shot after the other. I think I will stick with my A70 now, the image quality is certainly good enough and the camera itself is quite handy (small and with flexible options like zoom in macro mode). If anyone has success with a DSLR, I’m certainly interested to see the results and reconsider, but for now I have given up the search for a lens that suits my needs.
Mirko
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High Tower
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After my Sony digital still camera broke, I’m thinking about getting a new Cannon camera. I’m thinking about this one. If I got it, would I be able to animate with it, or what? Would I be able to get live feed through my camera with this one? Thanks,
-htf
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Mirko
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The A610 looks good because it has all manual control. Whether it is remote controllable via the SDK and Haukinger’s software, he should be able to tell you. The Stop Motion Pro website doesn’t list any specific models, maybe that means all Canons work, but I don’t know.
Mirko
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RevMen
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Not all Powershots have the full manual mode, which is absolutely essential for animation. I think that one does, though.
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Haukinger
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The A610 is not listed on the Canon developer-site, and dpreview.com says it has no remote-control
You should look for one of those:
Digital IXUS, Digital IXUS 30, 300, 330, 40, 400, 430, 50, 500, 700, i, i5, II, IIs, v, v2, v3
PowerShot A10, A100, A20, A200, A30, A300, A310, A40, A400, A510, A520, A60, A620, A70, A75, A80, A85, A95, G1, G2, G3, G5, G6, Pro 1, Pro 90 IS, S1 IS, S10, S2 IS, S20, S30, S40, S45, S50, S60, S70, S80.
For these, there’s an SDK available, either the one I use or a special one for A620 and S80. Be aware that not all cameras support all of the SDK’s functions…
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brickbrock
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High Tower,
stay away from the A610 for brickfilming. As Haukinger said this one is (for some stoopid reason) not remotely operatable. Its a very fine cam though… I’ve got mine about a month ago. Its just not fit for brickfilming. 
I might buy a used A70 or A90 just for filming, if I will find time and space for brickfilming again.
brickbrock
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An Old Ore
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Previously, I have worked with a security camera with interchangeable lenses.
http://www.nextworldstudios.com/tlc/ind … age004.jpg
It’s a 4.0 to 16mm zoom lens, and I was able to get it really close to the minifigs, about half an inch. But the quality was down on what it should be.
I’ve seen films in the directory that were made with the QCP4000 that looked better. I think it may have been the codecs I was using to encode it.
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High Tower
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Thanks guys for helping me out.
I’m thinking about the A520 does your software support this camera? Thanks,
-htf
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