Nikon D5100 and shutter release cable

viksmi

Hi
I am trying to use my Nikon D5100 with Asiair Plus but running into some issues with exposure. I understand that Nikon does need two connections - 1. USB connection for data transfer, 2. Shutter release cable ( connected to "DSLR" port on Asiair) for exposure over 30secs ( also known as support for bulb mode).

My problem is when the shutter release cable is enabled, I cannot trigger the image, it comes back with " exposure failed, check shutter release cable" and if I remove the cable, I can trigger the image capture but limited to 30sec exposure only. Wondering if this is a problem with my Shutter release cable?

Any pointers is appreciated.

Thanks
Vikram

Kevin_A

Make sure the camera is in Manual mode and time is set to Bulb.

viksmi

Kevin_A I have the settings confirmed - both manual mode and Blub. I can only suspect the shutter release cable as I cannot get to capture images when I enable shutter release cable. Capture works only when I disable that feature on camera settings in ASIAIR but limiting my exposure to 30s.

This is a brand new shutter release cable that I bought, I just wanted to make sure to rule out other aspects that might create this problem before ordering another.

Thanks
Vikram

Kevin_A

viksmi Do you turn on the camera before starting asiair? If not do so. Also there is a setting in asiair to enable exposures longer than 30s that must be enabled. Can’t think of anything else that it could be, other than a cable that is not correct inside. My cable was for a star adventurer mount.
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00OHDARXG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

viksmi

Kevin_A power feed is coming from ASIAIR PLUS so technically the camera will be off until the ASIAIR boots up. Would that matter? Just to test I connected an external power source for the camera and turned it on first before the ASIAIR and the result is same, I cannot get it to capture if the "EXP with shutter release cable" feature is on.

Kevin_A

viksmi that is strange.
Only other things…. In addition turn off any any power saving mode or long exposure noise reduction. If using a DSLR camera with mirror lock functions you should also turn these functions off. Make sure you are in raw mode only too.

viksmi

Yes, I have verified long exposure noise reduction is off and it's in raw mode. I am not using any function. Guess I will have to suspect the cable as every time I try to capture image with "EXP shutter release cable" mode on, it get stuck "loading" and eventually errors with "exposure failed: check shutter release cable"

Kevin_A

viksmi one thing I did notice in preview mode is… if you interrupt a preview image midway the camera with no longer respond and it then needs to be manually turned off and on and also the same in the app. I set a 180s preview then stoped it at 60s and then my camera was unresponsive.

Tech@ZWO

viksmi Could you try a rechargeable battery to power Nikon D5100?
According to my experience, some DC coupler kit which can not provide enough power may cause a problem like this.

viksmi

Tech@ZWO Interesting, I haven't thought about that. Let me give it a try with a rechargeable battery and see how it goes. thanks to you both!

viksmi

Tried with a rechargeable battery and it did not work - rather encountering same issue,. I can only assume that the shutter release cable is bad at this point.

viksmi

I replaced with a new shutter release cable and still having the same problem. At this point, I have run out of all ideas. If someone who also has D5100 can send me all the settings on the camera, would really help. I double checked all the settings on the D5100 and can't figure out what the problem could be?

viksmi

Finally I got this issue resolved !! I don't have a rational explanation for this, all I did was to insert a SD card in the SD card slot of the camera and it just started working. I was able to take exposure greater than 30s. If anyone has some explanation for this I would like to hear it - for some unknown reason, the shutter trigger for longer exposure is tied to SD card being present in SD card slot????

Thanks all for pitching in, really appreciate it!

Tech@ZWO

viksmi it is because D5100 without a sd card can not exp via shutter release cable when controlling by PC. it recognizes ASIAIR as a PC when work with it.

Kevin_A

viksmi glad you got it sorted out! But dang man…. That is kind of a user error as I would never ever think about hooking up any camera to anything without a memory card in it even if it was not being saved to it! Haha But it is strange how it reacted differently to no card!

viksmi

Tech@ZWO yeah I realize that now !