[abcdefg123]

Hi,

I need to capture a series of images at certain times, triggered by a computer or, if not, an electronic circuit. The settings, focus, etc would all be constant - the only thing that needs triggering is the shutter. Is there a native way to do this, or drivers that would let me? I think I could hack together an IR remote, but if there's a more direct method like USB or similar, that would be much more helpful.

[Adam]

Either of these should do the trick:

Introducing Pentax Wi-Fi & USB Tether by PentaxForums.com - PentaxForums.com
https://pktriggercord.melda.info/

[mlag]

Other hacking options besides infrared that might work

The cable release via the micro jack
Pentax CS-310 reviews - Pentax Camera Accessory Review Database is the variant for the k 70.
K-70 might be the odd one (there are 2 types of wired trigger
Pentax CS-205 Wired Remote reviews - Pentax Camera Accessory Review Database )
but this seems easy Motion trigger? - PentaxForums.com

Image sync software ...


There is some commercial sw like pk trigger cord with cmd line...

[kypfer]

If WiFi or USB tethering are impractical, then triggering via the cable-release jack socket would seem to be the obvious choice … it's the nature of the time interval that might cause problems.
If it's a fixed interval, one of the plug-in aftermarket timers would be adequate, even possibly the Interval Timer within the camera itself … see p72 in the manual.
If the time interval is more random, then some sort of trigger device would be needed to activate a relay or similar to close the shutter circuit.
Without knowing more detail of exactly what the job entails, it's difficult to be more specific.
The other points of consideration might be the overall extent of time to complete the job and the total number of exposures … ie. would one battery be enough or would a mains adaptor be required?

[abcdefg123]

Thanks all;

If WiFi or USB tethering are impractical, then triggering via the cable-release jack socket would seem to be the obvious choice … it's the nature of the time interval that might cause problems.
If it's a fixed interval, one of the plug-in aftermarket timers would be adequate, even possibly the Interval Timer within the camera itself … see p72 in the manual.
If the time interval is more random, then some sort of trigger device would be needed to activate a relay or similar to close the shutter circuit.
Without knowing more detail of exactly what the job entails, it's difficult to be more specific.
The other points of consideration might be the overall extent of time to complete the job and the total number of exposures … ie. would one battery be enough or would a mains adaptor be required?

Good timing - I've just been trying the cable release out and came back to update. Using the pinout mentioned here, a pair of spare relays to act as electronic switches between the poles, and an arduino, I built a rudimentary serial controlled cable release - no drivers etc necessary and able to talk to basically any programming language I need through the PC's serial ports (inc. USB). Works great, and it's a nice and simple setup with no complicated software or anything needed. I need take a photo every time the program moves a stepper motor one step; it ought to be at regular intervals, but you can see how it could easily get out of sync if the motor or camera lags. This way I can send a command to move the motor, and then a command to fire the shutter, in the same cycle of a single loop without having to perfectly align both time intervals (between motor movements and shutter firings) on separate intervalometers.

[leekil]

There's a program called gphoto2 which also controls cameras through a USB cable.

[kypfer]

Thanks all;
Good timing - I've just been trying the cable release out and came back to update. Using the pinout mentioned here, a pair of spare relays to act as electronic switches between the poles, and an arduino, I built a rudimentary serial controlled cable release - no drivers etc necessary and able to talk to basically any programming language I need through the PC's serial ports (inc. USB). Works great, and it's a nice and simple setup with no complicated software or anything needed. I need take a photo every time the program moves a stepper motor one step; it ought to be at regular intervals, but you can see how it could easily get out of sync if the motor or camera lags. This way I can send a command to move the motor, and then a command to fire the shutter, in the same cycle of a single loop without having to perfectly align both time intervals (between motor movements and shutter firings) on separate intervalometers.

Sounds like a lot of fun … I remember building stuff from finite components and controlling it through the parallel port on a PC using PRINT commands from BASIC (Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code … the built-in (or supplied) programming language on all the early PCs).
The Arduino seems to take a lot of the hard work out of it