I have been distracted by other forms of AP lately, namely RC flight Aerial Photography, video, building and flying, so WWKW2014 is a great opportunity to rekindle my love of KAP.
Unfortunately Mother Nature had a different idea. WWKW 2014 for me has been 7 days of frustration waiting for the rain to stop, the clouds to disperse and the wind to show up at all.
I could only manage 2 sessions but I'm reasonably happy with the results.
First session was with the PFK Nighthawk in not much wind. I returned to a favourite site, Point Henry, hoping to capture some shots of approaching rain clouds. Lack of practice meant all I got was water and some beach. Still, that's why KAP is interesting, you never know what you've got.
The second session was again at Point Henry in a late afternoon dash when the clouds dispersed and wind came up.
But even with my largest kite, 2m Rokkaku, it was barely enough. The Rok would fly OK but struggle to lift my lightest manual rig for the Canon S100.
For this shot I tilted the camera up hoping to catch the kite in the frame with the setting sun. Altitude is only 10m or so but it is still a KAP shot.
Rapid Bay jetty on the Fleurieu Peninsula South Australia is the best dive spot to find Leafy Seadragons. These bizarre fish are related to seahorses and are only found in South Australia, nowhere else in the world.
We planned a 4 day trip to dive flat out and photograph seadragons but the weather had other ideas. The trip became a KAP trip due to strong winds ruining the diving.
A new jetty has been built to allow access to the crumbling old jetty where the seadragons live. Depth up to 10m but 6m mostly.
Second Valley jetty 10min up the road from Rapid Bay. We stayed in a holiday rental house here with a very short steep driveway. Had to be pulled out by 4WD after getting bogged in deep dust. Very embarrassing but the neighbour said it happens regularly.
Cape Jervis where the Kangaroo Island ferry docks.
Leafy Seadragon - we did get in for one dive and found 3 leafies making the trip worthwhile.
The biggest problem with Kite Aerial Photography is that the camera is moving all the time, sometimes to a scary degree. More than once I have seen the camera do the full 360 over the kite line.
So you must use a fast shutter speed. I use shutter priority and routinely set it on 1/2000th. That's Tv on Canon and S mode on Nikon. In light and steady winds you could use a slower shutter speed.
With the Canon S100 I also choose Auto ISO to prevent underexposure on dull days. With the Nikon I use ISO200 because Auto ISO is not available in S mode.
In shutter priority mode the camera chooses the aperture for correct exposure. With the shutter set at 1/2000th the aperture will most likely be wide open. This is OK because the subject is usually far away so depth of field is not an issue. Even with wide apertures, like f/2, everything will be in focus.
I'm undecided about Image stabilisation at this stage having tried with and without but not seen any difference.
I have the intervalometers set at one shot every 5 seconds on all three cameras.
Put simply these are the steps...
1. Determine which firmware version your camera is using.
2. Download the correct CHDK zip file from the CHDK website.
3. Unzip and copy the CHDK files onto a freshly formatted SD card.
4. Lock the card, put it into your camera and CHDK is ready to run.
ACID looks at a photo taken with your camera to determine the firmware version, then searches for any suitable CHDK builds.
CHDK builds come in different states of reliability. STABLE is tried and tested, TRUNK and the rest are like Beta versions (I think). Anyway choose the STABLE one if available, if not try one of the others. ACID can then download the CHDK file to your computer. It will be a zip file.
Unzip the downloaded file and move all the resulting files into a folder. You will need to select this folder when using the next app - SDMinst.
SDMinst formats your SD card and copies over the necessary CHDK files.
Some of the options in SDMinst can be confusing to the uninitiated.
If your camera can use cards larger than 4GB then you can untick "Create Partitions" and tick "Make FAT 32 bootable" That worked for my S100.
Older cameras use FAT16 formatted cards and may need partitions. Luckily I didn't have to deal with that.
UPDATE 8th Dec 2012: Dave has written 2 more apps to make the installation even simpler. What a guy! STICK for CHDK, and ASSIST for SDM.
There's a donation button on his webpages, I urge you to click it if you like his apps.
OK, take a deep breath and buckle in. It's time to delve into the shadowy world of CHDK or the Canon Hackers Development Kit.
I am a CHDK novice but I find it quite thrilling and subversive.
CHDK means different things for different users, but for me it means I can make my Canon S100 automatically shoot at set intervals by running an intervalometer script. I have mine set at one shot every 5 seconds. Perfect for KAP.
CHDK is a firmware hack that is loaded onto your SD card and over-rides the cameras firmware when it is turned on. It doesn't change the firmware permanently, just while that particular SD card is used and the camera is on.
The correct version or "Build" of CHDK must be downloaded from the CHDK website for your particular cameras firmware. Mine is S100-101b. They are not interchangeable.
Once CHDK is running on your camera you will see extra icons on the LCD. They can be quite ugly and obtrusive but the extra functions given to the camera make it worth while.
Initially it was conceived to give DSLR-like functions (RAW, live histogram, exposure bracketing) to compact cameras but it also allows scripts or mini programs to be run. The intervalometer script is the main reason I use CHDK.
The images below show how the camera screen changes when CHDK is loaded.
Here's my default Canon S100 screen and the normal Canon Menu
The SD card needs to be locked for CHDK to load up when the camera is turned on. This seems odd but that's how it works. With an unlocked card the camera just operates normally.
When CHDK is loaded correctly the splash screen appears first then the S100 screen appears with extra icons overlaid. It is possible move and hide the icons if you want but don't worry about that just yet.
To get to the CHDK menus you push the review button to change to <ALT> mode, then push the MENU button.
This is the Scripting Parameters screen where you choose a script. e.g. Intervalometer, and enter details like the interval e.g. 5 seconds
Now, as long as you are in <ALT> mode the Intervalometer will start when you push the shutter button and stop with another push.
Here's a video demo of CHDK.
That's it really. In the next post I'll cover how to find the correct build, download and copy to the SD card.
The Lumix LX3, a superior compact camera, was soon to be reclaimed by it's rightful owner (wife) so it was time to find a replacement.
Using the camera feature search on DPReview I looked for any compacts with 24mm wide zoom and intervalometer to replace the shutter servo. The only camera currently available fitting the search was the Lumix LX7 weighing 298g, a little too heavy for light weight KAP.
An alternative option was to add intervalometer function to a Canon compact using the CHDK firmware hack. The Canon S100 looked interesting, with GPS, only weighing 190g and A$100 less than the Lumix.
DWI had the S100 for A$280 which was fine by me. I tend to think of KAP cameras, like underwater cameras, as expensive disposables.
Canon Powershot S100 RC rig - 460g
I am finally happy with this setup.
- CHDK/SDM intervalometer (explanation coming soon)
- Proportional pan and tilt using Turnigy 380MG mini servos
- Brooxes compact picavet and tripod bolt from the KAP shop
- Fibreglass face plant protection bar
- Safety leashes on the camera and tripod bolt
First session was with the PFK Nighthawk in not much wind. I returned to a favourite site, Point Henry, hoping to capture some shots of approaching rain clouds. Lack of practice meant all I got was water and some beach. Still, that's why KAP is interesting, you never know what you've got.
