Ever since the Ricoh SDK came out I've been wanting to experiment with it and build an app. I was particularly interested in creating a tool to automate shooting test photos, because varying the shutter speed and aperture manually over the course of dozens of tests is both tedious and error-prone. Unfortunately I didn't have time to dabble with this until now...
There are some
fine Wi-Fi apps for Pentax out there- Ricoh's own Image Sync for iOS and Android, as well as community-developed software for Windows (which reverse-engineers the Wi-Fi protocol). However, non-Windows have fewer options, and as far as I'm aware, there's nothing out there for desktop platforms that uses the official SDK.
Today I'd like to introduce the first beta version of what I've tentatively named
Pentax Wi-Fi & USB Tether by PentaxForums.com, which, as the name implies, is a Wi-Fi/USB tethering program for Pentax cameras with official Wi-Fi or USB tethering support. It will run on any desktop operating system. It's not meant to be a replica of Image Sync, but rather a tool to help facilitate batch interval shooting and stream files over Wi-Fi and USB.
Download here: Releases · PentaxForums/PentaxWifi · GitHub Supported cameras: - USB
- K-1 / K-1 II
- KP
- K-70 (not documented by Ricoh, but it works!)
- 645Z
- Wi-fi
- K-1 / K-1 II
- KP
- K-70
- K-S2
- WG-M2
Features: - Cross-platform: Windows, Mac, and Linux (written in Java)
- *New* - USB support - experimental, on 64/32-bit Windows, and 64-bit Mac and Ubuntu
- Capture photos
- Self-timer and interval shooting
- Execute, save, and load lists of image settings to shoot as a batch (can be used for testing, bracketing, interval shooting, etc.)
- Transfer captured photos to a folder of your choosing
- Live view
Future features: - Command line interface for executing batch tasks
- Transfer arbitrary files on the camera
- (USB) changing of camera settings
Limitations: - The Ricoh SDK bugs out if there are too many files on the card. Ricoh has documented this issue, so hopefully it will be fixed in the future.
- Wi-fi transfers are slow
- Stability is poor in RAW+ mode (improved in Beta 9)
My goal is to have the program be as stable as possible, but unfortunately the SDK itself isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. It's both limited in functionality and unnecessarily "chatty" with the camera, which makes it sluggish. However, we can expect future camera models and SDK versions to improve in these areas. Luckily the Wi-Fi connection itself appears way more stable on desktop than it is on a mobile device, and if the camera locks up or disconnects, it is very easy to reconnect.
I'm pretty happy with the program at the moment, but haven't tested it too much (and only with the K-1), so I'd love to hear your feedback. I've posted the source code and would be happy to see others contribute (user documentation and a test suite would be welcome):
GitHub - PentaxForums/PentaxWifi: A cross-platform desktop wi-fi app for Pentax cameras. Automates batch / interval shooting and transfers files. Running the program: - Make sure Java 8 is installed on your system
- Run the .bat file (Windows) or .sh file (Mac/Linux) in the zip, or execute in Command Prompt / Terminal:
The above may vary if you have multiple versions of Java installed.
Tips:
Right-click on "Add to Queue" to automatically step the aperture/ISO by 1 stop. Select rows in the table and right-click to delete.
Right-click on the table to delete / duplicate rows
Right-click on the capture button to focus
Adam
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