The CameraController software was developed to operate Canon cameras for long-term observations in underwater scenarios. The user of the software is able to set every available camera setting (e.g. aperture value, exposure time value, Iso, etc.) of the connected camera and shoot images remotely. It is also possible to put the camera in live-view mode to observe the current scene in front of the lens. Image shots can be saved on the camera, on the host PC or on both memories. By downloading images to the host PC it is possible to handle large amounts of data when a high resolution and a large number of images are required. The interval setting options offer the possibility to shoot images at defined time intervals (e.g. every second). All settings can be saved and loaded in XML format.
The CameraController software was designed to run autonomously on a small host PC which is located next to the camera in an underwater housing or vessel. Hence the user only needs to prepare the camera settings once and set the date and time when a photo series is supposed to start. To produce images with a decent illumination, an algorithm analyzes luminance conditions of previous images and selects the appropriate ISO setting for the following image.
The software is currently in beta and it is tested in conjunction with GEOMAR’s new camera system of the <link en centre central-facilities tlz auv-abyss overview _blank einen externen link in einem neuen>AUV.
The software was developed using Canons EOS SDK (Software Development Kit) and the .NET Framework.
If you are interested and would like to know more about the CameraController, feel free to contact us (tweiss(at)geomar.de).
