Nikon Control Beta 2

Nikon Control Beta 2 is available for download. The new version still needs Mac OS X 10.5.0 or later and works with Nikon D3, D700, D300 and D90. I actually wanted to make this version available for Mac OS X 10.4 as well but the new features required more API from 10.5 so I was not able to support 10.4. Sorry if you still use Tiger.

You should definitely read the release notes since it covers all new features and improvements. Here is a quick overview of what’s new:

Interval Shooting You can define an interval and Nikon Control will capture an image every X hours, Y minutes and Z seconds.

Image Histogram You can choose between six histogram modes. (The drawing of the histogram may differ from Photoshop etc. but the calculation is correct. I’m working on that.)

Fullscreen Mode This is currently experimental. Please let me know what you think about this feature. In case you want to use this often I will redesign the application to a “major fullscreen app”.

Automatic Updates You will be notified automatically when a new version is available.

Custom Save Folder You can select the folder you would like to save all captured images. If you are using Adobe Lightroom you can setup a watchfolder to import all images automatically. If you are using Apple Aperture you can use Aperture Hot Folder in the same way.

Configurable Filename You can define a custom filename and choose an index format.

The bottom bar now includes the exposure status which makes it easier to select a shutter speed and aperture.

You can select a bracketing step if you want to skip every second or third shutter speed for example. If you are using a flash for bracketing you can also set a delay to let the flash recharge itself during two shots.

Thera are now menu items and menu shortcuts for all commands.

The camera driver now will be installed automatically on application launch. So you don’t have to copy it yourself.

The next version will contain the rest of the most requested features and will be available in a few weeks. It will contain Live View and let’s you set all major camera settings. After that I will focus on adding the remaining camera models.

I’ve also found a nice new name for the application so you can stop sending suggestions. (More on this later.)

Please keep posting feedback and feature requests. If you would like to get a personal reply please don’t post a comment but send me an email.

Nikon Control is now called Sofortbild. Please visit the new website http://www.sofortbildapp.com/ to download the app.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 at 01:09 AM and is filed under Cocoa, Coding, Mac Stuff, Nikon SDK, Programming, Sofortbild. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

35 Responses to “Nikon Control Beta 2”

  1. Nikon Control Beta 2 | Nikon Rumors, March 11th, 2009 at 03:28 AM

    [...] 2 of the Control Beta software for Nikon was just released by Stefan Hafeneger. The new version includes (click here for the old [...]

  2. Trevor, March 11th, 2009 at 03:41 AM

    No chance of making this work with a D70s? I guess it’s not fair to expect support for out of production cameras … but it sure would be nice.

  3. Crabby, March 11th, 2009 at 03:46 AM

    A port to Windows is an obvious request.

  4. Scott Woodward, March 11th, 2009 at 04:43 AM

    Fantastic. Any idea when you’ll add D3x compatability?

  5. Sebas, March 11th, 2009 at 08:41 AM

    Great stuff man, hope on seining support for the Nikon D200

  6. Martin, March 11th, 2009 at 10:19 AM

    I just tested it with my D700. So far so very good. Works great! The application looks very good too.
    Thanks a lot for making this!

    LiveView would be great.

  7. Martin, March 11th, 2009 at 10:51 AM

    I have a feature request:

    Please include a timed release of the shutter button (Self Timer).
    I. e. a new Button with Camera+Watch symbol between the left most button and the BKT Button in the application. The Time should be setable freely in the preferences.

    Or even better a SelfTimer preference setting (default=0s) that works in all shooting modes (Wait time before a Single shot, very first BKT shot or very first Interval shot) So one has time to get into a HDR picture or a Interval shooting.

  8. Nikon Control beta 2 (mac) - Belgiumdigital forum - Digitale fotografie, March 11th, 2009 at 11:48 AM

    [...] Filename Meer informatie __________________ Nikon D700 met PDK1, Nikon D70s, objectieven van 24 tot 200 mm, SB600, [...]

  9. Nikon Control Beta 2, free download for Mac OS X | Nikon HQ, March 11th, 2009 at 11:49 AM

    [...] Nikon Control Beta 2 ]  [ Direct Download Link ] via Nikon Rumors Related Products: Nikon Camera Control Pro 2 [...]

  10. jeroenw, March 11th, 2009 at 01:56 PM

    Nice work. How about a windows version? Or some source so that someone can try to port it?

  11. dacian, March 11th, 2009 at 02:49 PM

    Great app, good initiative! So far I could only look at it and not test it, because it doesn’t work with my Nikon D50. It would be good if you could have it support all Nikon models. Maybe some people would think it’s no use, but imagine this situation: Shooting a time-lapse of a construction site for a few months. It’s more likely an older model would be used and installed in that dirty environment, not a brand new expensive one (I did this once with an old dslr)

  12. Iliah Borg, March 11th, 2009 at 03:55 PM

    How do I control shutter speed, aperture, ISO, white balance, mirror? How can I get EV markings on on the histograms? How do I switch off white balance for the histogram? How do I see EV compensation needed for each individual channel?

  13. Daniel, March 11th, 2009 at 09:22 PM

    I have to concure.
    Can someone port it to Windows if Stefan don’t want to?

  14. Q Master, March 11th, 2009 at 11:00 PM

    No Windows version ?

  15. Marten, March 11th, 2009 at 11:03 PM

    Looks great. But would it be possible to make it work with D80? Or is it depending on a feature that is not present in the earlier models?

  16. iJoost, March 11th, 2009 at 11:20 PM

    Another vote for D200 support… Please!?

  17. En waar bent u mee bezig? — Thomas Bouve fotografie, March 12th, 2009 at 01:47 AM

    [...] dat Nikon een SDK vrijgegeven heeft zijn er gelukkig een aantal alternatieven. Enerzijds is er Nikon Control Beta 2 en anderzijds Studio- en LightroomTether. Die laatste heb ik al wat mee zitten spelen en het werkt [...]

  18. Тамроноблог, Припять, лучший фотоблог, самолет, вспышки | Простые фокуÑ, March 12th, 2009 at 09:04 AM

    [...] для этих фотоаппаратов на его основе программу для удаленного управления фотоаппаратами. Программа пока в статусе beta, зато бесплатная, по [...]

  19. Paolo Beccaria, March 12th, 2009 at 10:11 AM

    Very good. I have already testet the first versione, and it is very nice.
    But, when will it possible to connect the D3x?

  20. steve murray, March 12th, 2009 at 01:16 PM

    Downloaded it, installed and works fine. Only thing that threw me was that the images are saved to PC only, which I didn’t immediately realise. Thanks for your effort in making this, looking forward to further updates. Steve

  21. Dave, March 12th, 2009 at 05:41 PM

    Very nice app. However, are you planning on making it work with the lower end of the Nikon range, the Nikon D40 for example?

  22. Pascal, March 12th, 2009 at 08:41 PM

    Thanks for your work. It works very well with my D90 / Leopard
    I have a feature request. Could you do focus Bracketing ?
    This would be great for composite high depth of field Macro photos.

  23. Steffen Boelaars, March 13th, 2009 at 10:02 PM

    Hi Stefan. Great work!
    I think I found a bug, though. On my system (MacBook Air with OSX 10.5.6) it doesn’t save using the filename format I specified in the preferences panel. It still uses the default DSC_XXXX.ext

    It seems like it’s currently not possible to control exposure, program, ISO, aperture, etc… from the program? That would be a definitive feature request then!

  24. Reiner, March 14th, 2009 at 08:43 AM

    Hallo Stefan,

    Prima Tool! Weiter so :)

    Gruß
    Reiner

  25. Nikon Control Beta 2 - kontrolu swoją lustrzankę z poziomu komputera - Fotografia Cyfrowa - nowości sprzętowe, zapowiedzi, recenzje, March 14th, 2009 at 06:48 PM

    [...] Kit (SDK). Nikon Control Beta 2 został stworzony i jest cały czas rozwijany przez Niemca, Stefana Hafenegera, zatem jest to aplikacja niezależena od Nikona. Zobaczmy jakie nowe funkcje [...]

  26. davide, March 16th, 2009 at 09:32 AM

    ALMOST PERFECT! I own a D700 and used the software last Saturday for 10 hours flawlessly. I only miss the possibility to make the window smaller. I don’t need a big preview of the taken shot. I would prefer a separate window for controlling the camera and another window for the image preview. Thanks! :)

  27. massmix, March 16th, 2009 at 08:05 PM

    Nice work! Please add support for Nikon D200.

  28. Boris, March 18th, 2009 at 10:30 AM

    Works perfectly with my D700 – Thank you so much! It’s a great app. Only thing i’m missing is browsing the shots. And yes, i would use fullscreen mode a lot if it would allow me to browse trough the shots.

  29. Tan, March 25th, 2009 at 07:18 PM

    great software, used it with D300 and its what I have been looking for. Tried it on D3x it does not work. Any chance to get it to work with D3x?
    thanks

  30. Noel Eiffe, April 1st, 2009 at 04:07 AM

    Great idea, Stefan…but alas, no love for the D2x here…doesn’t seem able to complete the capture, and crashes quite a bit. Keep at it though!

  31. renee teunissen, April 18th, 2009 at 10:39 AM

    Hi Stefan,

    Sound great, a pitty I dont have a mac at home :)

    Therefore a windows of Linux version would be nice, espacially if I could run it on my acer netbook, running linux.

    And for a linux version, if you need any help, please let me know. I develop linux (kernel) software for a living.

    Greetings from Zevenaar, NL (near Emmerich/Kleve), quite neer to you :)

    Kind regards,
    Renee.

  32. thoersi, April 28th, 2009 at 02:28 PM

    hi stefan,

    this is very nice program indeed..

    keep it up!

    thanks,
    thoersi

  33. flyndive, April 29th, 2009 at 02:02 AM

    Another vote for D80 support!!!

    thanks,
    Noah

  34. Control your Nikon via PC « Pixelfarmize, May 18th, 2009 at 01:15 PM

    [...] Download More Info  & Instructions [...]

  35. Kees, March 28th, 2010 at 01:26 PM

    Great Tool. The alternative for amateurs who cannot spend the big money for Nikon Camera Control Pro.

    Would be highly appreciated by D80 and . . users indeed.

    Any news on Focus bracketing ?

    Thanks for the good work Stefan!

    Kees

Leave a Reply

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>