Digital camera with pure software interface?

January 13, 2007 4:30 PM

I need recommendations on a decent camera with a good software interface for a custom rig I may be building.

My father's business involves doing custom and repair work, and he's complained that he'd like to have a desktop rig made that will allow him to take pictures directly to his PC. He will likely be using this to take pictures of his custom work for his portfolio, but will also be using it to take pictures of the condition of customers' pieces when they bring them in for repair.

Here are the specs: The thing needs to have a pure PC software interface for taking pics (click a mouse, not the shutter button), should store the photo directly on the PC, and of course should have an on-screen preview of the shot. If it has an out-of-the-box program for doing this, great, but I also want an API that will allow me to use this camera with any software I may want to write. I've not done this kind of coding before, so this is all new to me.

It would also be nice if I can mount it in a lighted cabinet that I'd build for it as elegantly as possible (i.e., no velcroing a Sony CyberShot to the cabinet's ceiling). I'd like only the lens to show if possible. In fact, if they make a digital camera that is basically just an (I would assume) SLR-style lens body (no screen or shutter button or flash card) that can only be run off of a PC, that might be the perfect solution.

posted by middleclasstool to education (5 comments total)

It might be huge overkill for what you are looking for but the software that came with my Canon 30d gives me complete PC control over the camera when it's plugged in using USB. I can set exposure times, trip the shutter, whatever.

Which is nice as it give me a cheap way of doing long exposure (30+seconds) without having to buy the remote shutter cable.

I don't know what price range you are looking for, and the 30d is not really what I'd call cheap. But it's possible that other Canon cameras use this same software.
posted by quin at 5:08 PM on January 13, 2007

Also, it can pull the images directly to the PC when it takes the shot.

I should comment that it doesn't actually give me complete control. Things that are manual switches on the camera, like the auto/manual focus can't be done remotely.
posted by quin at 5:10 PM on January 13, 2007

My old Nikon Coolpix 900 & Canon S400 both came with software that would let you slave the camera to the computer. I think it's probably a pretty common feature.
posted by Good Brain at 5:25 PM on January 13, 2007

Canon also has an SDK. I've played with the one for their EOS cameras, but they also have another for the non-slr cams. I'm guessing that most major makers also have APIs.

The EOS SDK allows you to do everything you need except preview the shot. But you might be able to with their point and shoots.

Also their are a lot of third party programs that do a good job of what you're asking. This is nice, as their API is involved.
posted by nazca at 5:35 PM on January 13, 2007

How about a document camera? I'm not sure about the options of the one to which I linked, but I'm sure you could find one that would work. Even if you just had to do a screen capture.
posted by philomathoholic at 1:34 AM on January 14, 2007