Can we expect support of more recent DSLR and mirrorless cameras soon? The latest models listed as being supported are a couple of years old. I'd like to control a Canon EOS Ra.
Barring full control via USB, is it not possible to implement a shutter release via the DSLR port that would work on all cameras regardless of whether they are connected and recognized vis USB. For the most part, I do not need to control the ISO speed with the AIR, just the shutter -- to open it on Bulb for a duration programmed by the AIR and then synchronized to the Dithering/Guiding commands. Your control of ISO is limited anyway — it is not possible to program in a sequence of images with different ISOs. And you don't control lens aperture or focus, so what's the value of controlling a camera via USB? Doing so restricts what cameras the AIR will control. You'll never succeed in controlling a Sony!
At the moment, I cannot use the AIR to guide and dither with the EOS Ra, despite the AIR having a port labeled DSLR which I thought would work on any DSLR/Mirrorless shutter release. It does not, so the promise is misleading.
Controlling a DSLR via the USB port is fraught with problems and incompatibilities. All we really need is a shutter switch. Give us the option under Cameras of selecting a generic DSLR shutter release and have the AIR send a switch closure to the AIR's DSLR port. It's there; use it!
That way it will work with any camera. No need to wait to get the SDK from Canon, Nikon, etc, and for your programmers to get around to incorporating the protocols and issuing firmware upgrades, and users installing them, and then you debugging them because they will never work first time! ...etc.
All the time-lapse controllers I use that try to control a camera over USB have had major compatibility issues and bugs in doing so. Just send a closure signal to the switch port for the shutter. That might preclude remote operation but so be it. Those who want a fully robotic installation can buy a ZWO CMOS camera.
Thanks !
