[stoppingdown]

For the time being it's a little bit immature but without doubt it is coming

 

Coming, it's coming. I doubt it's useful for me. For instance: one of the first application of advanced techniques (not really AI, but on that road) has been in the light meter: they used a self-learning software taught with a high number of test case photos, provided with the correct exposure. This kind of system is capable, with a very good ratio, to apply the correct exposure even to scenarios not previously seen. It's fundamental for people shooting in JPG. For me, in RAW, is totally useless. I'm 99% exposing to the right, and then I decide the "correct" exposure in post-processing. In this scenario the only usefulness of a sophisticated light meter is to reduce the amount of over-exposure I have to dial to align the histogram to the right. Well, completely negligible. If they provided my cameras with a "brute force" light-meter that exposes to the right by "trial and error", I mean with a coarse guess at the beginning, then it measures the brightest spot and applies a fix (which I think it's completely doable with the CPU power on modern camera bodies), I'd be completely happy.

[davidmanze]

    Well presented video in fact....it may well be a product that would suit an ardent beginner with a thirst to lean quickly...

 

    ....however the app. obviously has no  "danger warning"  against setting up a camera on a tripod in the middle of the road not far from a blind bend...........perhaps a FW update?  

 

  It will take an independant utube review video to get an unbiased view of this product, being the type of where formal reviewers tend to give everything the benefit of the doubt........à là ephotozine for example.                                      

 

Maybe the time lapse feature and stacking will prove it's worth?............Oh and I haven't yet seen the price but they are already asking for a $250 pledge so how much is it?

[JJ_SO]

In the beginning, CamRanger was 400$, buggy app, firmware updates a mess and often lost connection.

 

250$ are reasonable, but there was still an offer to invest 300$ and get two devices without further costs. or 150 and save 40% (I'm terribly bad in maths...)

 

It could not (and still cannot) do half of the stuff this Arsenal guy claims to be doing, except controlling a motor head in the most brute and "free-of-any-precision" way imaginable. Anyone needing a motorizes head to fool around with? Alright, Gitzo's Athena was a 10.000$ flop, so let's not be too harsh on CamRanger.

 

I think, the most tricky point is how to make people learn to use this tool. I'm still not sure if it is self learning, if it is depending on the CPU power of the smartphone connected with the tiny device or what it is doing. I mean, all my cameras are really dumb tools, not correcting my mistakes or suggesting me better(?) settings.

 

If I compare the average age in a Nikon rumors forum with the age of this nerdy photographer, then it's clear who will bring death and worse things to knowledge of generations of civilized and "learnt the hard way" photogs... So, question will be, if he finds enough young spirits to make his business?

[JJ_SO]

Those guys must have hit a nerve: 50 k$ was the target on Kickstarter. Now the campaign has 17 days left and collected already over 850 k$. Very impressive, I'm looking forward to get the final product next year. This focus stacking on RAW basis is really showing camera manufacturers what clever people can do with their products.  ^_^

[obican]

You bought one? Wasn't expecting that to be honest. 

[JJ_SO]

Yes, and I will sell CamRanger including the motor-head, as that one is after years of development nowhere close to this.

 

I'm curious about that AI stuff, but the main reason is really remote controlled focus-stacks, as neither my D810 nor X-T2 nor X-E2 are capable of that. And Arsenal supports all three. I think I will have also to invest in a new iPad to make the app work, but it's plenty of time until January 2018.

 

Mind you, Nikon has one WiFi device for about 900$...

[JJ_SO]

7 days left, nearly 1.4 million $ collected. I bet they go above 1.5. So, Ryan was very convincing to be able to make it happen 

[borisbg]

JoJu, I want this device work as they show on the video, so hopefully the big guys realize what $150 can buy now days. When we discuss prices here at PZ we give a lot of weight on R&D, but we can see now that developing such accessory is not as expensive. The only downside I can think of is the release of the new model cameras, which may have it as standard feature.

[JJ_SO]

They just announced another stretch goal. One was for 300.000 $, the other for 1.000.000 $ and the last one is 2m $.

 

If the campaign makes the last 500.000 $, the will add geo-tagging into metadata.

 

Three dedicated guys, one of them working for two years and some time of that exclusively on the device. They are more flexible than any big companies and if something turns out not to work, they don't need to "make it happen" at any costs. They don't need to pay attention to old models. Enough supporters for your idea (whatever that is) and you also could try to make it real. To me the best is: it will also work with my old iOS devices and by old I mean 4 years or so. A couple of other apps already don't support them.

 

This is kind of the highest risk I take - one day support will end, but the device would still work. But also for them. Developing hardware for Android or iOS has a real short lifecycle. My drawer is full of adapters for iPad or iPod which are no longer supported because Apple develops a new interface connector which of course is not working with the former ones. The comes the moment for the adapters of the adapters but just to find out, they only charge the battery and are not supporting any data exchange. And so on.