Hello again!  It's been a while!  I've been hard at work on new features and camera support -- mainly focusing on bulb-ramping and Nikon support.  Here's a summary of where things are at.

Camera Support

Nothing's as quick as I would like, but a lot of progress has been made.  The USB interface for the variety of cameras out there is very complex and inconsistant, but I've learned a lot.  I was able to borrow a USB protocol analyzer for a few weeks and that helped me reverse engineer a few more commands I was needing for both Nikon and Canon.

Canon is very well supported now with the latest firmware.  Nikon support is much improved and most work via USB, but there are still a few issues with bulb-ramping which I am working to resolve as quickly as possible.  Thanks for your patience on this one!

Once everything with Nikon is looking good, I'll turn my focus to USB support for additional brands that offer USB control (there's actually not that much else out there).  Let me know if you have a camera besides Nikon or Canon that you know has support for tethered shooting and I'll put it on the list.

Firmware Updates

Now that the firmware is reaching a more stable point, I'm going to try to start being more careful with releases.  While I always test them before release, there's always things I could miss, especially with so many camera types.  A good example of this were some issues that came up in the recent 20130515 release.  I'll now new issue new releases under "beta" status and after they been out in the field a few days, I'll either change the status or fix any bugs that came up.  That way, if you're depending on it for production use, you can wait and get the stable releases.

I'll also setup a twitter feed for new firmware notifications.  I don't have it set up yet, but I'll announce in an upcoming update.  Right now, you can always check for the latest firmware at http://firmware.timelapseplus.com.  Also, if you have the Timelapse+ Remote iOS app, you'll receive a notice if you're firmware is out of date when you connect.

Documentation

The current documentation can be found at http://docs.timelapseplus.com. Again as much of my efforts have been put in the the firmware development, I'm lagging a bit in documentation.  To help with this, here's a PDF guide for the Auto Bulb Ramp feature: https://www.timelapseplus.com/manual/TLP_Day2Night.pdf

Sample Videos

I'll be up north this weekend and assuming the weather is good, I'm hoping to come back with some nice sample bulb-ramps!  The views from my roof are getting a little old...  Speaking of time-lapse samples from my roof, check out the new page at https://www.timelapseplus.com/#videos

Roadmap

Going from here, besides keeping up with any issues and furthering camera compatibility (which at the moment is the main priority), here are some features on my list to add:

• ND Filter Support (Add/Remove)
• Manual ISO change for bulb-ramping with cameras not supporting USB
• Interval Ramping (with keyframes!)
• Focus stacking (like HDR, but with focus)
• Focus ramping via keyframes

So as you can see, there's lots of room to grow!  No promises as to when they will be implemented...

Thanks!

Thanks again for your support, patience and encouragement -- it's been an exciting project and there's still a lot to look forward to ahead!

Elijah

Hey everyone!  Still making steady progress here -- we have auto bulb ramping!  Thanks for your patience with the wait!  One of the slow parts was that I needed to learn about the I2C protocol for communicating with the light sensor chip.  Once I dove into it, it really wasn't as intimidating as it first seemed...

Bulb-ramping (or bramping) is the process of changing the shutter duration gradually over time, for example, in order to fade the exposure from a sunset into stars.  I have a new page on bulb-ramping here: http://docs.timelapseplus.com/Manual/BulbRamping

Here's my first full time-lapse using the new automatic bulb ramping on the Timelapse+:

I was hoping for a more impressive sample to show off the new feature, but the weather has not been very conducive lately and the forecast from here on out is not looking that great, either.  The video gets really noisy at the end because of high ISO -- I only had the Timelapse+ change the ISO and not the aperture, since the aperture has other undesirable effects. Not sure yet what would be best.  If you start later during sunset and can begin with the aperture wide-open, the results are much better.  The next goal is to build in ND filter support to overcome this.  Check out the description of the video for more about all that: https://vimeo.com/61461762

To get the full benefits of the auto bulb ramping, you'll want USB support.  I'm still trying to get it to fully work with Nikon and others, but I'm not quite there.  Canon EOS is supported, though.  And good news, the USB OTG cable from Sparkfun is back in stock! http://docs.timelapseplus.com/Introduction/AdaptorCables

You can get the latest firmware here: http://docs.timelapseplus.com/Manual/UpgradingFirmware

Let me know how the auto bulb ramping works for you!  I've done a bit of testing over the last week, but it's still a new beta feature, so let me know how it goes and what you think.  And be sure to check out the new status screen for the bulb ramping!

Thanks!

Elijah

USB Support!

I've been working on this update for the last month!  It's a big step toward my ultimate goal for the Timelapse+ with USB support for Canon EOS cameras!  If you have Nikon or another camera that supports the PTP protocol, don't worry -- Nikon and generic PTP support won't be far away now.

This is a big update: There are over 2000 new lines of code in the firmware since the last release! And we're still only using 57% of the program space, so there's still a lot we can do!

The interace has been majorly re-worked to be more intuitive, intelligent and seamlessly incorporate USB control.  Of course there's still a lot that can be done with USB -- this is just the start.  Try connect a camera to the Timelapse+ via USB you'll need a USB OTG adaptor (listed with the adaptor cables: http://docs.timelapseplus.com/Introduction/AdaptorCables).  Connect the OTG cable to the lower-left port of the Timelapse+, and then connected the camera's USB cable from the OTG cable to the camera.

The documentation has been updated for the new interface (http://docs.timelapseplus.com/Manual/IntervalometerModes), and when I can find the time I'll make some new videos demoing the new features.

To install this new update, just go to http://firmware.timelapseplus.com.  If you have trouble with this new update, I've kept the old links available, so you can always revert.  I've tested it as much as I can, but it's a really big update so I want to be safe here.  If you find problems, let me know at http://support.timelapseplus.com

Updated iOS app

There's an updated iOS app (version 1.1) from Max that includes the ability to Start and Stop the time-lapse, as well as monitor its status.  This is convenient for checking up on a long time-lapse without having to go outside in the cold (if you're in MN, this is a great feature right now!)  More features still to come in future updates!  If you don't have the app yet, you can get it by visiting http://www.timelapseplus.com in Safari from a compatible iOS device or going to https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/timelapse+-remote/id581760329?mt=8

Since it was just released, it may take up to 24 hours for the update to be available worldwide.

Note that only devices that have hardware support for Low-Energy Bluetooth (BT4.0) are compatible, which at present includes the following devices: iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch (5th generation), iPad (3rd generation), iPad Wi-Fi + 4G, iPad (4th generation), iPad Wi-Fi + Cellular (4th generation), iPad mini and iPad mini Wi-Fi + Cellular.

Version 20130124 Release Notes:

New:

* Time-lapse/HDR interface overhaul

• The "Shutter" setting has been replaced with "Tv", and offers a a list of values 1/3 stop apart that match and extend the familiar range of shutter speeds
• The range for HDR settings (Tv, Bracket, Exposures) is dynamically limited based on the possible shutter speeds (which are automatically extended when a compatible camera is connected via USB)
• Bulb-ramping keyframes are now defined by time since start and stops +/- relative to the starting exposure, and the range is dynamically calculated as with HDR

* USB control for Canon EOS cameras (Nikon and more to come next!)

• Bulb-ramping can automatically change ISO on Canon EOS cameras
• HDR can use high shutter speeds on Canon EOS cameras

* Auto-repeat for Up/Down buttons

* Default BT behavior now configurable in Settings

iOS app released!

While it has been some time since the last update, it doesn't mean nothing's been happening -- we've got a big announcement: thanks to Max Bäumle, we have an iOS app for the Timelapse+ (BT version)!

Here's the link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/timelapse+-remote/id581760329?mt=8 (You can also easily get it by visiting http://www.timelapseplus.com from a compatible iOS device).

It's just the first release, so there will be more features to come in futures upgrades, but here's what we've got already:

Features:

• Triggers the camera remotely using the Timelapse+ intervalometer via Bluetooth LE
• Reads battery level and other info from the Timelapse+
• Informs the user when a firmware update is available

Operation:

• On the Timelapse+ device, go to "Connect" from the main menu and then select "Bluetooth" (the Timelapse+ is now "Discoverable")
• On the iOS device, open the Timelapse+ Remote app
• Tap the screen to take a photo; Tap and hold for bulb exposure!

The low $0.99 price helps support Max, who's graciously put a lot of time into this. Additionally, he's also packaged up a nice open-source SDK for those interested in digging into it themselves: https://github.com/timelapseplus/TimelapsePlus-iOS-SDK

Please be sure to update to the latest firmware (20121212 at this time: http://firmware.timelapseplus.com) before trying out the app if you haven't already.

Other Notes

Speaking of firmware, we've got a really big update coming soon! I'm just doing testing to make sure it's stable as well as writing some documentation for it. One of the big changes will be a more intelligent interface for setting up time-lapses and HDRs.  For example, with HDR, it will now only let you choose as wide a bracket or as many exposures as will fit within the possible range of bulb times, eliminating the need to calculate if it would work first. More to come soon!

Documentation: I've had a few requests for a PDF manual, which I think will be a good idea, but I'm going to put it on hold as I work through the interface improvements (so I don't have to write it twice).  For now, I'll continue to add to the web-based manual at http://docs.timelapseplus.com

What a year it has been!  It's my first Christmas as a dad -- very fun!  I hope you've all had a wonderful time with family and loved ones and may you have a blessed new year!

I'm still hard at work trying to figure out USB control of the camera via the Timelapse+ -- hopefully I'll have an update soon!

Elijah