Free 14-Day Trial

Is the free trial fully functional?

Yes.  All functions are enabled and you can try everything.  The trial will function for 14 days after it first ran.

I have the trial and now I have purchased a product key.  What do I do now?

Run the trial software again and you will be prompted the enter the product key.  Enter it, and presto!  Your trial version is now fully registered.

Installing

How do I install it?

Just double-click on the installer .exe that you downloaded from this website and follow the on-screen instructions.

Where can I download the installation file?

You can get the official 14-day trial installer from this website.  Don’t get it from anywhere else as it will not be the official, unaltered release.

Is the file safe?

Yes.  It has been scanned by VirusTotal, which uses 60 different virus scanners.  You can confirm this by uploading the file to www.virustotal.com and they will scan it for free.   Some antivirus apps may give warnings because this is a new installation file, and it has not been downloaded by many people yet. These are typically ‘reputation’ warnings.  The installation file has been digitally signed by the developer of this software, Tetherscript Technology Corporation.

How much hard drive space do I need?

Approximately 120 MB for the installed files.  Additional space will be required for your captured images.

Where does it install?

It will install files into the path that you specify. It does not install any drivers or put files anywhere else.

Do I need to install it as Admin?

Yes. We install the VC++2008 SP, VC++2010 SP1, VC++2012 SP4 and VC++2013UPD1 redistributables which are necessary for the camera SDK dll’s to work. This requires admin permission. Once installed, you can run the application as admin or a regular user. To install as admin, just right-click on the installation .exe that you downloaded and select ‘Run as Admin’.

Do I need to install it for each user?

Yes. Each user will have unique app settings, profiles, shortcuts and scripts. The installation must be done under the user account, and installed as admin.

Which user, file and folder permissions are required?

User Permissions
Installation requires admin privileges because of the VC redistributable installations. Once installed, the app can can be run as a normal user or admin.

File Permissions
Data such as profiles, shortcuts, thumbnails and translations are stored in Firebird database files in the /data subfolder. These files have .fdb file extensions, and require read/write permissions. The installer gives R/W permissions to Everyone. This is required since data is read from and written to these database files. Typically, installations will be in the program files (x86) folder, and these data files are there as well although data files should technically never be put in the program files folder. However, Firebird 2.5 technical limitations require the firebird.log to be in the same folder as the fbclient.dll, and this log requires read/write permissions as well which is set by the installer. So since we have no choice but to put the writeable log there, we may as well put the data files there as well. Makes for a nice, clean install.

The data files can be moved to a different folder or drive specified in the Preferences screen. This is usefuy if you are expecting a lot of thumbnails, as this will make a large ttcrepository.fdb data file.

Folder Permissions
Firebird 2.5 needs to write temporary files to the ProgramData\Firebird folder, which is normally hidden. The user rquires read/write/modify permission on this folder.

Do I need to uninstall version 3.x/4.x/5.x first?

No. Version 5 can co-exist on the same computer as other versions of the software, but they cannot be run at the same time.

How can I migrate my settings from my older version to the new version?

You can migrate your profiles by copying the old ttcSettings.fdb file into the new version.  However, many non-workflow-specific settings are contained in the registry and cannot be migrated.

I can’t find the application shortcut after installation. Where is it?

It is on the desktop or in the start menu.  If you have install a lot of programs on your PC, the shortcut may not have been added to the desktop or start menu.  In this case, you will need to create your own shortcut from the .exe in the main folder where you started the program.

Can I run it in a virtual machine?

Some users have had success with this, but we do not support this due the variations of different virtual environments (VMWare, VirtualBox, etc) in handing USB communications.  The only way to know it will work is to give it a try in your own environment.

How do I uninstall?

An ‘Uninstall’ shortcut is located in the start menu. You can also uninstall it from the Windows Control Panel ‘Programs and Features’ (Win Vista/7/8/10) or ‘Add or Remove Programs’ (Win XP).  If you are unable to find it, you can also double-click the ‘unins000.exe’ file which is in the same folder that the application .exe is located.

Supported Cameras

Which DSLR’s are supported?

The supported devices are listed on the download page.

Why isn’t my camera supported?

The SDK only allows tethering to certain camera bodies. Almost all newer bodies are supported, except point and shoots.

Why doesn’t the program do X?

Some bodies support more tethered functionality than others. This is determined by the features of the camera and it’s firmware.

What is a SDK?

The Canon SDK is a Software Development Kit offered by Canon to allow developers to write software to control Canon DSLR’s.

Hardware Requirements

Which hardware do I need?

• Keyboard
• Mouse
• USB port for connecting to your camera.
• Monitor with minimum 1024 x768 resolution.
• 4 GB ram minimum
• 120 MB hard drive space.
• Any modern Intel or AMD 32 or 64 bit CPU.
• Optionally,  a microphone, Powerpoint remote, StackShot, DSUSB.

Generally speaking, if your PC can run a photo editing program, it is adequate.

Operating System Requirements

Which operating systems are compatible?

• Windows 11 64 bit
• Windows 10 32/64 bit
• Windows 8.1 32/64 bit
• Windows 8.0 32/64 bit
• Windows 7 32/64 bit
• Windows Vista 32/64 bit

Any issues with Windows 10/11?

We find that a Win10/11 installation is as reliable as Win7/Win8/Win8.1, but upgrading Windows from a previous Windows version can cause some issues.

Upgrading an older version of Windows to Win10/11 can have some issues with detecting the camera. If this happens, be sure to ‘show the hidden devices’ in the Windows Device Manager the camera sometimes seems to be stuck there. If you find your camera as hidden, delete it and then allow the computer to re-detect it and install the drivers properly for it.

As usual, Windows is a bit of a mystery. But we are glad to see that it works.

Are there versions available for iOS or Android devices?

No. Unfortunately, There isn’t an official SDK and drivers for these devices, so we cannot communicate with a DSLR’s from iPhones, iPads and Android devices. We hope that this is supported in the future.

Does it run under Windows RT?

Windows 8 RT is not supported. Note: An x86 (non-ARM) cpu will be required as that is what the device drivers require. Some Windows RT tablets are ARM-based, and will not work now or likely in the future.

Will it run on a Mac?

No.  Although some users will try to run it Windows in a virtualized environment on a Mac, we don’t support it.

Is there Mac version?

Not yet, but may be plans for this in the future.

Release Notes

5.6.98.99 February 16, 2023 (Current Release)

• Added support for R10, R7, R6 Mark II and R3 bodies.
• Fixed some UI bugs.

5.6.87.90 August 8, 2021

• Fixed bug where selecting and activating a profile causes screen to maximize.
• Fixed bug where a crash ‘List index out of bounds (0)’ could occur when disconnecting while live view is active.

5.6.55.20 August 3, 2021 (Current Release)

• Reset the trial period so that if the trial period of a previous version had expired, you can start a new trial for 5.6.
• Added Canon bodies: EOS M50 Mark II, EOS R6, EOS R5, EOS Rebel T8i, EOS Ra, EOS-1D X Mark III.
• NEW FEATURE – Added @ASK1-@ASK9 tokens which allow you to enter data into the new ASK tab. This data is inserted into whereever you put the tokens (folder, filename, metadata). The configuration is stored in the profile. The @ASK data is written to each image as it is captured. You can use this to enter image data, then capture some images of a subject and have the folder/filename/metadata of those images reflect the data. Then when you are read to shoot a new subject, you enter new data and start shooting. This is different from the batch workflow in that you don’t need a pre-defined database. You can make the ASK tab visible by toggling it in the View menu. You can also set a shortcut to toggle betwen the ASK tab and the previous tab.
• You can now inject tokens into the folder, filename and metadata boxes by using the small @ button above those boxes.
• Added a file path preview just below the filename box. This will show you what the path will be with the tokens you have configured.
• Fixed bug where live view may try to turn on when shutting down app, causing a crash.
• Fixed bug where then Preferences setting Live View auto-show Layers tab didn’t work.
• Fixed bug where sometimes if you clicked on a tab (like a workflow or trigger tab), the tabs would start flickering.
• Changed the title bar and main menu. The program name no longer appears here, and the maximize, restore and minimize buttons are now easier to read.
• Removed the bottom battery indicator and moved it to a small battery icon on the top of screen beside the minimize button. This free’s up some vertical space.
• Removed the file transfer progress bar and moved it to just under the menu’s at the top of the screen. It is only visible when transferring images.
• Moved the current profile name to the Profile group header (just above the profile list).
• Moved the browser image number and name to be overlaid on the lower left part of the main image to free up vertical space. This can be toggled in the right-click image popup menu in the image browser.
• Moved the browser metadata, directory tree and histogram into collapsable panels so all can be seen at the same time without needing to flip tabs.

5.5.78.90 January 26, 2020

• Reset the trial period so that if the trial period of a previous version had expired, you can start a new trial for 5.5.
• Added Canon bodies ‘6D Mark II’, ‘200D/Rebel SL2/Kiss X9’, ‘M50/Kiss M’, ‘M100’, ‘1500D/2000D/Rebel T7/Kiss X90’, ‘3000D/4000D/Rebel T100’, ‘R’, ‘RP’, ‘250D/Rebel SL3/Kiss X10/200D MkII’, ‘M6 Mark II’, ’90D’, ‘M200’
• Added an option in the Preferences/live view tab that allows the live view layers tab to be automatically displayed when you start live view.
• Added separate command lines for sending an image to an external editor for jpg and cr2 or just use the default associated program for the file extension in the Preferences/Image Browser tab.
• You can now rotate an image in the image browser (right click on image for menu)
• You can now display a command toolbar in the image browser (right click on image for menu).
• Now if you are trying to enable a speech trigger and the program doesn’t have permissions (Windows10 microphone permissions), a speech trigger log entry is displayed instead of a crash.
• Bugfix – In GL live view mode, the image positive and grayscale settings were not applied to the live view image when starting live view.
• Bugfix – In GL live view mode, the image positive and grayscale settings were not applied to the live view image when starting live view.
• Bugfix – The GPU live view message font size was not saved.

5.4.98.99 February 23, 2018

• INSTALLER – Fixed bug where it wouldn’t allow installation on 32-bit Windows.
• UI – Fixed bug where it wasn’t always possible to resize the main screen.
• UI – Added menu option to change the main screen size or shrink it.
• UI – Fixed bug where the background of the batch activate and some motion detection controls were white instead of the correct color.
• STOP MOTION – Fixed bug that would display a ‘Texture Error’ texture in the GPU live view mode when the first image for the stop motion sequence had not been captured yet and live view scrubbing was enabled.
• LIVE VIEW – In GPU mode, fixed bug when zoomed in level 2 or higher that the focus box would appear in the lower-left hand corner of the screen. It should not appear at all when zoomed since the focus point is always in the center of the image while zoomed.
• IMAGE BROWSER – Fixed bug where you would get an ‘unable do allocate DIB’ error message.
• HELP – Updated links to point to the correct articles in the online knowledge base.
• DEBUG – Fixed bug where bug reporting tool does not work.
• INSTALLER – Fixed bug where it wouldn’t allow installation on 32-bit Windows.
• UI – Fixed bug where it wasn’t always possible to resize the main screen.
• UI – Added menu option to change the main screen size or shrink it.
• UI – Fixed bug where the background of the batch activate and some motion detection controls were white instead of the correct color.
• STOP MOTION – Fixed bug that would display a ‘Texture Error’ texture in the GPU live view mode when the first image for the stop motion sequence had not been captured yet and live view scrubbing was enabled.
• LIVE VIEW – In GPU mode, fixed bug when zoomed in level 2 or higher that the focus box would appear in the lower-left hand corner of the screen. It should not appear at all when zoomed since the focus point is always in the center of the image while zoomed.
• IMAGE BROWSER – Fixed bug where you would get an ‘unable do allocate DIB’ error message.
• HELP – Updated links to point to the correct articles in the online knowledge base.
• DEBUG – Fixed bug where bug reporting tool does not work.

5.4.98.80 February 18, 2018

We are really happy to announce ControlMyCanon version 5.4.  It is a massive upgrade from version 4.3 and contains all sorts of new features.  Many thanks to all our beta testers who put it through it’s paces!

So, what is new in 5.4?  A lot.  Tons.  The best way to understand what is changed is to download the free 14-day trial, and then open up the tutorial video that we made from ControlMyNikon 5 when it was upgraded from 4.3.

ControlMyCanon and ControlMyNikon are almost identical and are based on the same code, so the ControlMyNikon help and tutorials will help you get to know the new ControlMyCanon. 

Please note that your version 4.3 ControlMyCanon product key will not work in version 5.x, as it requires a new key.  For our customers who purchased version 4.3 in the last several months, we will provide a free Standard product key for 5.4.  Just email us your current 4.3 key and the email address you used to purchase 4.3 and we will send you the 5.4 key.

About Canon

Are you affiliated with Canon?

No. We have no relationship with Canon whatsoever other than using their excellent SDK.

Licensing

How does the licensing work?

Your product key grants the purchaser of the key a perpetual license for version 5.x. This product key can be used on subsequent upgrades to version 5 (ex. 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5,4, 5,5, 5.6, 5.7, 5.8 etc).

Is it a subscription?

No.  The product key does not expire and you do not need to pay additional fees to continue using the software.

How many computers can I use my product key on?

You product key can be used on multiple computers that are owned by the purchaser of the key, depending on which edition you purchased.

• Standard Edition – You can use the same product key on up to three computers owned by the purchaser.
• Pro Edition – You can use the same product key on up to ten computers owned by the purchaser.

Can I transfer, give or sell the product key to someone other than the purchaser?

No.

Product Keys

What is a product key?

You need to purchase a product key to unlock the 14-day trial version.  When it is unlocked, it no longer has the 14-day limit and all functions are fully enabled.  You can use the same product key on multiple computers that you own, depending on which edition you are using. 

How do I purchase a Product Key?

You can easily order through our secure online store, which is hosted by FastSpring, our reliable and secure eCommerce provider located in California, USA.  

What do I receive?

When you purchase, you will receive a Product Key via email within minutes of your order.

What payment methods do you accept?

This available methods vary on in which country you are located.  Some of the payment methods are listed below:

• PayPal
• Visa, Mastercard, Discover, Amex and JCB credit cards
• Bank Transfers
• Amazon Payments
• Purchase Orders

I ordered but I did not receive a product key.  Where is it?

Check your spam and junk folders.  Allow up to 15 minutes for key delivery by email.  If you did not receive it, it could be that you used an incorrect email address while ordering.  Contact our support and we will send you the key.

Is there a Money-Back Guarantee?

Yes.  If, within 60 days of your purchase you are not satisfied, we will refund your purchase.  We only ask that you give us a chance to resolve any issues you have with the software first.

Requesting Support

Requesting Support

I have a question.  Who do I ask?

We are happy to answer any questions, bug reports or observations you may have.  Just fill in the form on the Support page and we will receive your question via email with a cc to you.  You don’t need to create an account or have purchased the software to ask a question.  We will respond to your ticket via email.

You can also ask your question in the forum, and browse existing questions there as well. You may get your answer faster this way.

What do I need to include?

Be sure to be specific as possible, and if you are experiencing problems with the software, include your operating system (ex. Win10 64 bit), hardware info (ex. laptop).  Tell us your program version (it is displayed on the title bar at the top of the your program screen), and whatever details you can.  The more info you provide, the better we can assist you.

Connection Issues

Drivers

The software doesn’t require any custom drivers supplied by the camera manufacturer.  Just plug in your camera via USB to your Windows PC and it works.  It has been this way since Windows XP.   Some other camera control apps require third-party USB drivers like WinUSB via the Zadig utility.  These drivers can cause connection attempts to fail.

I cannot connect to the camera. What’s wrong?

Check out the tutorial video for troubleshooting connections.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhblB9Zpki0

I still can’t connect. Any other ideas?

Not mentioned on the video is that you can try to uninstall the body drivers in the Windows Control Panel, then turn on the body and wait for it to be auto-detected. Don’t scan for new hardware as this will install the wrong driver. Windows comes with the drivers necessary for connection to all bodies, so you don’t need to download special drivers. See the in-app help on troubleshooting connection issues for more info.

USB 3.0 doesn’t work. Why?

For those bodies that support USB 3.0, turn off your camera and plug it into the USB 3.0 port on your pc. Then go to the Windows Device Manager (in the control panel) and uninstall the body (it’s under Portable Devices’). Wait 10 seconds, then turn on your camera and it should detect the camera and install the drivers that come with Windows (no driver download needed). Then try connecting to it and it should connect just fine.

Note: DO NOT press the ‘Scan for hardware changes’ button as this will often fail to install the driver correctly. It seems that Windows loads a separate driver for each USB version. If you go back to using USB 2.0 on that body, you will need to do this again.

It was working before. Now it won’t connect. Why?

It could be that you installed another program that affected the camera connectivity, but it is more likely that the Microsoft software update has messed up the camera detection in device manager. Check out this helpful tip from from one of our users:

“I thought I would pass on a troubleshooting fix I discovered. Using CMN from one of my laptops (Win7), I suddenly found that CMN would not connect to my D810. There was no reason/explanation on the software end, but doing some digging I found this message in the devices panel: “Windows cannot initialize the device driver for this hardware. (Code 37)” The problem is…there is no driver specific to the D810, and it appeared a fix would require more computer expertise than I possess. However, I found that Microsoft has a “FixIt” tool that solved the problem quickly. All you do is download, run while the camera is tethered, and the software does the rest. Maybe it will help a few of your customers.”

Here is the link: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/mats/program_install_and_uninstall

Normally I wouldn’t recommend running a ‘fixit’ or ‘cleaner’ app on your computer, but since this one is from Microsoft, it should be ok.

Focus Stacking: Focus Never Changes

Question: ‘I tried focus stacking, but the focus does not change.  It’s all the same focus.  How do I fix this?’.

Answer: This is due to an incorrect focus mode on the body.Set it to the mode where focus is not attempted or required to capture an image in live view.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it?  First, let’s review some stacking basics:

The focus stacking feature commands the focus motor in the body or lens to change for every Slice(image) that is captured for the stack.  The amount the focus changes per slice is controlled by the Step value.  The amount of the focus change is the Step. 

The total amount of focus change is Slice x Step.

You can simulate stacking by clicking on the ‘<<‘ and ‘>>’ buttons in the Stacking tab.  Clicking those buttons should move the focus.

When focus stacking, the program clicks that ‘>>’ button, then clicks on the ‘Shoot’ button (the one with the icon of the human body at the top of the screen) for you.  It does this once per slice.

When the eprogram commands the body to Shoot, it requires that the body will not try to focus before the capture, since we are move the focus ourselves for each slice.  Camera bodies have all sorts of focus modes: focus modes for live view, and other focus modes for while it is not in live view.  Focus modes that focus on a single area of the image, focus modes for the nearest human face or moving object. Lot’s of modes.

For focus stacking, we need to set the body so that the body does not attempt to focus, or require focus while capturing an image in live view. 
This is usually called ‘Release Priority’ on most bodies, but it varies.  The actual focus mode (af-s, af-c, af-a, af-?) is also different, depending on the body, so you will need to get your body manual out and prepare to dig throught the body LCD menu.  We gave up documenting the settings required to do this a long time ago, since it varies per body and can even vary per firmware version.

The Test

How will you know that you have the correct mode?  It’s simple.

1. Disconnect the USB cable from your camera.
2. Power-on your camera, and go into live view.
3. Put the lens cover on the lens.
4. Listen closely to the lens/body.  Put your ear right up next to it.
5. Press the shutter release on the body.  You should hear an immediate click without hearing the focus motor activate first.
6. If it doesn’t click (release the shutter), then it is requiring focus before release, and that is not what we want.  It can’t focus because the lens cap is on and it is completely dark.  We need to tell the body to forget about needing focus.  We need it to just shoot anything, focus not required.

So if your body can’t do this, you need to open the manual and find the mode required to do this.  If googling for an answer, usually ‘D800 release priority’ or similar query will find others with similar questions and maybe some answers.

Some tips for trying to find the correct setting:

Do this while untethered.

1. Most bodies have separate focus mode settings for live view, and a different set of settings for non-live view.  You need the live view focus mode settings.
2. For most bodies, you need to be in live view before changing the setting.
3. Some lens motors are very quiet and you need to listen very closely to hear if it is trying to change focus.  If you still can’t hear it, take the lens cap off and focus on something across the room.  Then put the lens cap back on and try again to hear it.  Since we changed the focus position, you should be able to hear it moving to another position.
4. The body usually has a focus lever switch or mode that is AF or M.  Make sure you set it to AF.  Even though we aren’t auto-focusing while stacking, the AF mode allows us to still control the focus motor.  M (manual focus) mode won’t work at all.
5. On the lens, set the switch it to M/A or equivalent.  Even though we aren’t auto-focusing while stacking, this mode allows us to still control the focus motor.  M (manual focus) mode won’t work at all.

That’s it.  Easy!

Focusing Issues

When I press the ‘Shoot’ button while not in live view, it tries to autofocus first even though I don’t want that. How do I prevent it from focusing first?

This is caused by the body being set to require focus before shooting and is due to an incorrect autofocus mode. See the ‘Focusing’ article for information on how to configure your body for correct focusing.

When I do a focus stack preview, the focus moves as planned. But when I try to capture the stack, the images all have the same focus. Why?

This is caused by the body being set to an incorrect autofocus mode. See the ‘Focus Stacking: Focus Never Changes’ article for information on how to configure your body for correct focusing.

The setting you require is normally called something like ‘Release Priority’, which means that the shutter will release when you command it to, regardless of whether it is in focus or not.  To ensure you have it set properly:

1. Disconnect the USB cable from the the camera.
2. Turn on the camera and go into live view.
3. Put the lens cap on the lens.  You want it to be perfectly dark.
4. Press the shutter release button on the camera.  It should immediately take the picture and you should hear the click.  Listen closely to the focus motor on the lens or body. It should remain quiet while you shoot since we don’t want it trying to autofocus.  If it is trying to focus, find the setting in your camera manual that allows it to capture an image without requiring focus, while in live view.  There is often a setting for this in live view, and another setting for when live view is not active.

USB Issues

Drivers

The program doesn’t require any custom drivers supplied by the body manufacturer.  Just plug in your camera via USB to your Windows PC and it works.  It has been this way since Windows XP.   Some other camera control apps require third-party USB drivers like WinUSB via the Zadig utility.  These drivers can cause connection attempts to fail.

Will this non-official USB cable work?

We only support the use of the official USB 2.0/3.0 cable that comes with the camera. Since the manufacturer supports this cable, we are pretty sure that it will work. We do not support and cannot guarantee that non-officla third-party USB cables will work properly. If you are having problems while using a third-party cable, try switching back to the official cable and try again to see if that helps.

I hate wires. Can we use the software with a wireless connection to the camera?

There are two types of wireless connection.

1. The first uses the built-in wireless features of newer bodies or accessories that enable wi-fi for the body.  We do not support this method of wireless communication because it is not included in the official SDK.
2. The other method is to use wireless USB transmitter/receivers.  These just replace the USB cable and are used in various industries for remote printers and other hardware where running a USB cable is not practical.  The program see the wireless USB as any other wired USB connection, however live view streaming, connectivity and image download performance may be less than a wired connection.  We do not officially support this method, although some users have reported success.

Can I run the cable through a USB hub?

No. Hubs can cause unpredictable problems. Connect directly from computer to camera.

What is the maximum length of a USB 2.0 cable?

A single cable run should be no more than 16 feet in length. You can go longer than that by using ‘Active’ USB 2.0 cables or repeaters.

A Quick Tour

Check out this video showing the basic features.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dCHabtYsmA

Adjusting the User Interface Colors

You can change the user interface colors with themes. Some themes are better than others in certain lighting conditions, so try some different themes and find one that is comfortable for you. The effect of themes are visual only.

Changing Themes

1. Go to the Tools menu and select ”Themes”.
2. Select a theme from the dropdown list. The default theme is ”Default”.

Navigating the User Interface

By default, ControlMyCanon starts up in a single window. You can tweak the appearance by moving the image browser and/or live view to other windows and monitors and adjusting panel widths and heights in each window.

A mouse and keyboard is required for navigation as ControlMyCanon has not been optimized for touch screens.

Multi-monitor Support

You can run on a single monitor, but you can increase your workflow efficiency with a second or third monitor.  To drag the image browser and/or live view window to a separate monitor, go to the View menu and use the detach function.  To combine it back into a single window, use the reattach function.

The Extra Live View Monitor Window

You can get a second live view window without any live view layers by going to the View menu and selecting Live View Monitor while live view is running.  You can drag this window to another monitor if needed.

The Extra Image Browser Viewer Window

You can get a second image browser window which shows only the large image by right-clicking on the main image in the image browser and selecting ‘Show in Viewer’.  You can then drag this window to another monitor.

Keyboard Shortcuts

You can save a lot of time by configuring shortcuts for commonly-used actions.  Some of these are set by default, such as using the Spacebar key to toggle between live view and the image browser.  To set a shortcut, check out the Keyboard Shortcuts article.

Check out this video which shows how it all works.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiZ00O1xc8E

Preparing your Camera

Here’s what you need to do to prepare for tethering with ControlMyCanon:

1. Install ControlMyCanon, but don’t start it up yet.
2. Turn off your camera, ensure the battery is well charged.  Set the camera to Manual Exposure mode, Single Shot.
3. Connect the USB cable from the camera directly to the PC.  Avoid cables longer than 12′ and USB hubs as they can provide connectivity problems.
4. Turn on your camera.  Windows should auto-detect it and list it in the Windows Device Manager.  If it does not, check the USB cable and camera battery.  If it still doesn’t work, check the Troubleshooting Guide.
5. Press the Connect button in ControlMyCanon. The button will become disabled when you are connected.-
6. Click on the ‘Shoot’ button at the top of the screen – it’s the icon in the shape of a person’s head.  You should hear the camera click as it captures the image.
7. The image will be automatically transferred to your computer and you should be able to see it in the ControlMyCanon image browser.

That’s it!

Essential Body Settings

You’ll need to tweak some settings on the body LCD/LED menu’s so that it works properly with the program. You will need to operate in either Manual, Aperture, Shutter or Program Mode. However, since you are tethering, Manual mode is suggested to get the most consistent results. Do you really want the body firmware to guess the exposure in the middle of a 1000 image timelapse? No. Use Manual mode instead.

All bodies (or if your body is not listed below)

• Set the focus mode so that focus is not required to trigger the shutter. To test, you should be able to trigger the shutter while the lens cap is on (and the body is unable to focus). Set this while not in live view, and also in live view as they are two separate settings.
• Set the live view timout/monitor off setting to the maximum value, or unlimited.
• Set the live view focus box size to the smallest size available.
• If the body supports it, set the live view exposure preview to enabled.
• If the lens has an AF/Manual switch, set it to AF.
• If the body has an AF/Manual switch, set it to AF. If you are operating without an attached lens, you may need to set this to MF.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dqkr8gwaEx8

Connecting to your Camera

ControlMyCanon connects to Canon DLSR”s via a USB cable.

Check out this tutorial about connecting.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhblB9Zpki0

Drivers

ControlMyCanon doesn’t require any custom drivers supplied by Canon or ControlMyCanon.  Just plug in your camera via USB to your Windows PC and it works.  It has been this way since Windows XP.   Some other camera control apps require third-party USB drivers like WinUSB via the Zadig utility.  These drivers can cause connection attempts with ControlMyCanon or any other app that uses the offical Canon SDK to fail.

Cables

• Canon cameras can be very picky about the cables used. Be sure to use the cable that came with the camera.
• You can try to use non-Canon cables, such as long active USB cables for remote tethered shooting, but this may not be recommended by Canon or may affect your Canon warranty. Consult your Canon documentation for more information. – Tetherscript cannot be held responsible for any connection issues or damage caused by incorrect cabling.
• Ensure that the camera-side connector is seated properly in the port. It is a small connector and can become loose.
• Try not to run cables through USB hubs as they may not provide enough power to the camera and cable.
• USB cables must not be longer than 14 feet or else signal degradation will occur. For cable runs longer than that, an ‘active’ USB cable is required.

Can Windows see your Camera?

• With the camera powered on and connected to the computer, find the camera in Windows Device Manager. If is not listed (usually under Portable Devices), then Windows can’t see the camera. Try a different USB port, and if that doesn’t work, try a different USB cable. Try rebooting the computer, and make sure that the WIA (Windows Imaging Acquisition) service is running on your computer.
• If it is listed in the Device Manager, right-click on the camera and uninstall it. Then try a different USB port, then power up the camera. It should be detected and installed so it is visible in the Device Manager.
• It can take up to five! minutes for Windows to install the drivers, so give it time.
• The camera usually has a green LED that should flicker a bit when you power it on while connected to the PC. The flickering is caused by Windows communicating with the camera.
• Once Windows can see the camera, you can try connecting to it in ControlMyCanon.

Connecting and Disconnecting

• Start ControlMyCanon, select the camera from the list, and click on the ‘Connect’ button.
• If it connects successfully, you will see the battery indicator in the lower-left corner of the screen.
• To disconnect, click on the ‘Disconnect’ button. The battery indicator will no longer be visible.
• In the Preference screen, Misc tab, you can set ControlMyCanon to automatically connect to your camera on startup, specify a connection attempt timeout, and set whether live view should be auto-launched after connecting.

Windows 10

If you have done the auto-upgrade to Windows 10, the camera may be listed in the device manager twice. Uninstall both in the device manager, then try to get Windows to detect the camera again. Trying a different USB port often helps.

Windows 10/8/8.1

Versions of Windows newer than version 7 can have problems with some older Canon bodies. Try setting ControlMyCanon to run in Windows 7 compatibility mode by right-clicking on the ControlMyCanon shortcut, selecting properties from the menu and then go to the compatibility tab.

Taking forever to connect?

For reasons unknown, having a large amount of images on the memory card can cause the connection to take up to several minutes, making it look like the program has locked up. Try removing the images from the card, and try again. It should be faster.

Try a Camera Factory Reset

As a last resort, you can try resetting the camera to it’s factory settings (the camera manual has instructions on how to do this). We have seen this fix some connection problems, but we don’t know exactly which setting on the camera being reset is fixing the problem. It could be a hidden setting. We’re not sure.

Other Ideas

• If you have installed the third-party USB driver WinUSB (via Zadig utility), this causes a problem with Canon SDK camera communication as this is a bit of a USB driver hack.  You will need to unistall this third-party USB driver before you can use ControlMyCanon.
• Try a different USB port on your PC.  Some ports have less power(current) available than others.
• Make sure you have selected the correct camera model from the drop down list.
• Ensure that the cable is firmly connected to the camera and computer. If you see the green LED on the camera flicker during the connection attempt, then you have a good connection. If it flickers for a long time (more than 5 seconds), you may have too many images on the memory card. Remove these images for a faster connection.
• Make sure the camera battery is sufficiently charged or connected to AC power. If the battery level indicator is low and flashing on the camera lcd display it does not have enough power to connect.
• ControlMyCanon requires that cameras be in the PTP USB mode. Newer cameras are always in this mode and do not need to be set and the setting is not visible in the LCD menu, however older cameras have two modes: PTP and Mass Storage. You need to set it to PTP.
• If you are using a D40, D40X, D80 or D200 on Windows 7, set the program compatibility mode to Vista SP2.
• Try powering off the camera, then powering it on. A windows application should detect the camera and launch a camera viewer applet. If this does not appear, then the ‘Digital Still Camera’ drivers have not been installed on your computer. Normally these install automatically when you plug in your camera to your PC, however the installation of drivers may have failed. Try installing these drivers again. These drivers are provided by Microsoft.
• Your computer’s ‘Windows Image Aquisition’ service may not be running or has crashed. Canon drivers require this to be running. You can restart the service by clicking on the ‘Restart WIA’ menu item in the File menu. A reboot of the computer does the same thing, but just restarting the service is enough.
• If all else fails, power off your camera and reboot your computer and try again. Sometimes many rapid or failed connection attempts can confuse the USB driver for the camera and a reboot is necessary.
• Go to the Windows Device Manager (in the control panel) and uninstall the body (it’s under Portable Devices’). Wait 10 seconds, then turn on your camera and it should detect the camera and install the drivers that come with Windows (no Canon driver download needed). Then try connecting to it in ControlMyCanon and it should connect just fine. Note: DO NOT press the ‘Scan for hardware changes’ button as this will often fail to install the driver correctly.
• And if rebooting fails, try reinstalling ControlMyCanon, this time as administrator. The installer includes Microsoft Visual Studio libraries which may not be installed if your user account has been locked down tightly by your administrator.
• If you are unable to connect to your body with USB 3.0 (on USB 3.0 supported bodies, such as he D800), do #10 above, and be sure to plug it in on the USB 3.0 port. If you go back to using USB 2.0, you may need to do this again.
• Some laptops provide insufficient power on their USB ports when not on AC power. This can cause connection problems. Try plugging in the laptop and see if it helps.
• Sometimes, Windows power saving settings can try to power down a USB port that it deems to be inactive. Turn this feature off in Windows control panel, power saving settings.
• With the camera powered on and connected to the computer, find the camera in Windows Device Manager. Right-click and open up the Properties/Power Management screen. Make sure to disable the ‘Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power’ option.

Setting the Language

You can modify the user interface text for the current language. To bring up the Lanuage window, go to the File menu and click on Language.

Note: The translation is machine-translated (by Google) into 64 languages. Often, these translations are not very good, but we are working to improve them. If you want, you can edit the translation for your language to fix the more annoying and obvious translation errors and share this translation data with other users with the export function.

Note: In the language screen, you can change the language by selecting a different language from the drop down list, then restarting ControlMyCanon for the changes to take effect.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMlzmM5Ut78

Translatable Items

• User interface text and labels.
• Dialogs
• Some data located in picklists.

Untranslatable Items

• Some data located in picklists.

Editing a Language

1. Go to the ‘File’ menu and select ‘Language’.
2. Select your language from the picklist.
3. Find the text that you would like to translate and click on it. Enter the translation at the bottom of the window and click the checkmark button or select a different line to translate to save it.

Exporting a Language

1. Go to the ‘File’ menu and select ‘Language’.
2. Click on the Export button, and enter a filename such as ‘FrenchTest1’. It will export the currently selected language to the ‘FrenchTest.cmt’ file.

Inporting a Language

1. Go to the ‘File’ menu and select ‘Language’.
2. Click on the Import button, and select a language export file that was created by the Export function. This will overwrite all language translations for whatever language was exported in the file. It doesn’t matter what language you have currently selected.

Using Magnifiers

The UI Magnifier

This is a loupe that magnifies the screen, making it easier to read. This is useful on small screens running at high resolution. It magnifies what is already on the screen. If you hold it over an image, it magnifies only what is on the screen and does not really look at the underlying pixels from the larger image, so it is inaccurate. There is a dedicated image magnifier available that can be accessed from the image popup menu.

To start the magnifier, go to the Tools menu and select the ‘UI Magnifier’ item.  You can left-click and drag the magnifier around the screen.To hide it, do it again or press the escape key on the keyboard. There is only one level of magnification.

Image Browser Magnifier

Double-click on the main image in the image browser, or right-click on the image to access the magnifier in the popup menu.  This brings up a magnifier that you can zoom in and out of the real large image data.  You can left-click and drag the magnifier around the screen.  To hide the magnifier, double-click on it again.  You can zoom in and out with the mouse-wheel too.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr5iQr__hbM

Calibrating the White Balance

If you shoot jpg’s, or view your nefs’s in the image browser, calibrating your white balance is essential. Jpg’s ‘burn-in’ the colors and throw away other valuable color information during the creation of the jpg in the body, making any post-processing color corrections difficult.

If shooting only raw, the white balance only makes a difference in the preview jpg embedded in the .nef file and you can still adjust the balance in post processing without loss of image color quality. You can calibrate your white balance to handle any lighting conditions. An accurate white balance can save you a lot of time in post-processing doing color corrections.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6Y-ZBN_qHA

How to Calibrate

1. Start ControlMyCanon and connect to your camera.
2. Go to the Tools menu and select ‘Calibrate WB’.
3. Light your scene exactly how you intend to shoot it. This can be any combination of ambient, continuous or strobe lighting.
4. Place a white or 18% grey reference card in the scene and ensure it is illuminated by the light described in step 3.
5. In the Calibrate window, select the Preset that will hold the calibrated white balance.
6. Position the card so only the card is visible in the viewfinder or live view.
7. Press the Start button.
8. If successful, it will show “Success” and the calibrated white balance is stored on the preset selected in step 4. The body will now be using the calibrated preset. If you were in live view, the difference is visible immediately.

No Reference Card Available?

If you do not have a real reference card, you can use a white sheet of paper. However, these are rarely a true white so the calibration will not be accurate. Grey paper is rarely true grey and often has alot of blues so this will also cause an inaccurate calibration.

Failed Calibrations

If the calibration has failed, it is because the camera could not get a good reading from the card. Sometimes, perfect white cards will cause the body to reject it. Try moving the card to a different position and try again. Some bodies will reject it if is in or out of focus, so try some variations.

Live View

You can calibrate the white balance while the live view is running so that you can see the color distribution before and after the calibration. A successful calibration gives identical histograms for the Luminance, Red, Green and Blue channels when viewing the card. To see how accurate your body auto-iso setting is, try setting the white balance to Auto and see if it gives identical histograms. (Note: this is only available in the non-gpu live view mode).

Capturing Images

You to adjust certain camera settings and initiate image capture by the following methods.

• Press the shutter release button on the camera body.
• Click the Capture, Shoot or AF and Shoot button.
• Keyboard shortcuts
• Web Trigger
• Sound Trigger
• Speech Trigger
• TCP/IP Trigger
• Live View Motion Trigger
• DSUSB
• HDR Workflow
• Pulse Workflow
• Burst Workflow
• Batch Workflow
• Time-lapse Workflow
• Stop-Motion Workflow
• Long Exposure Workflow
• Focus Stacking Workflow

Settings

The camera settings that you can adjust in ControlMyCanon are stored in a profile. This profile can be reloaded at a later time to save you making all those adjustments again.

Storing Images

Certain cameras can save images to the memory card as well as computer. If you camera can do this, the ‘Save to’ settings box will be enabled below the Filename field in the Body tab.

File and Folder Names

You can set the image file and folder names in File and Folder fields in the Settings tab.

Metadata

You can save additional information into the image metadata fields by entering it into the Metadata tab.

Reviewing Captured Images

You can view your images in an internal or external image browser.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJrLGPp2MNM

Configuring Metadata

When you capture an image, EXIF metadata is automatically populated by the body. You can add custom IPTC metadata in the Metadata tab. To open the Metadata tab, go to the View menu and select Metadata.

You can leave the IPTC field empty, or you can fill in one or more fields with your custom data. If you are Batch shooting, putting a token such as @BID or @JOB will embed that batch data into the IPTC field. This data stored in the EXIF and IPTC fields are searchable from within the image browser.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUjrRwFJ6PY

Defaults

You can specify default Copyright and Credit values in the Preferences screen, Metadata tab. You will have the option of automatically inserting these defaults when you click on the ‘Clear’ button.

File Types

• JPG – IPTC data is embedded into the file.
• NEF – IPTC data is added as a .xmp sidecar file of the same name.
• MOV – No IPTC data is added.

IPTC Data

When you shoot raw (.nef), an .xmp sidecar file will be created if you have specified any IPTC metadata. Here is where the IPTC data is stored in the raw xmp file:

• City: <photoshop:City>
• Copyright Notice: <photoshop:CopyrightNotice>
• Country: <photoshop:Country>
• Credit: <photoshop:Creator>
• Description: <photoshop:Description>
• Doc Title: <photoshop:Title>
• Headline: <photoshop:Headline>
• Source: <photoshop:Source>
• Province: <photoshop:Province-State>
• Trans Ref: <photoshop:JobID>
• Keywords: <dc:Keywords>

*Reference: http://www.iptc.org/std/photometadata/specification/IPTC-PhotoMetadata

Files and Folders

You can customize image filenames and folders saved to your computer by using the ‘Folder’ and ‘Filename’ fields in the Settings tab. These customizations are saved to a profile. Images saved to the body memory card only use the default filename settings as defined in the body LCD menu and cannot use the following customizations:

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMlO9RYjEv8

Duplicate Names

If a file already exists, it will not be overwritten. Instead, a new file will be written for the new image with the same name plus a counter added to the end.

Example: ‘MountBaker.jpg’ already exists. A new file called ‘MountBaker-(1).jpg’ will be created. There is no limit on the number of duplicates.
Note: The best way to avoid duplicates is to ensure that the that could be duplicated go into separate folders, or by using the @DT1, @MCT tokens for filenames. Using @DT1 will guarantee unique filenames.

Creating backups

You can create a copy of captured images to another folder, drive or network drive as a backup. Just set the ‘Enable file mirroring’ option in the preferences screen, Misc tab and enter the mirror path below it. Mirrored folders and images use the same naming methods as described above.

Tokens

A Token is a placeholder that you put in a file or folder name. Tokens start with a ”@” and are case sensitive. For example, @DT1 is a valid token, but @dt1 is not.

Folder Tokens

• @D1 – YYYYMMDD
• @EXT – creates subfolders for .nef , .jpg, and .mov
• @JOB – job as activated in the Batch Shooting window
• @BID – batchid as activated in the Batch Shooting window
• @BD1 – batch metadata 1, as entered in the Batch Metadata window
• @BD2 – batch metadata 2, as entered in the Batch Metadata window
• @BD3 – batch metadata 3, as entered in the Batch Metadata window
• @BD4 – batch metadata 4, as entered in the Batch Metadata window
• @BD5 – batch metadata 5, as entered in the Batch Metadata window
• @BD6 – batch metadata 6, as entered in the Batch Metadata window
• @BD7 – batch metadata 7, as entered in the Batch Metadata window
• @BD8 – batch metadata 8, as entered in the Batch Metadata window
• @BD9 – batch metadata 9, as entered in the Batch Metadata window

Filename Tokens

• @DT1 – YYMMDDHHNNSSZZZ
• @DT2 – YYMMDDHHNNSS
• @MCT – main counter – you can change the length of this number (leading zeroes) by going to the Preferences screen, Misc tab, and setting the Main Counter: minimum @MCT length.
• @BIDCTR – batchid as activated in the Batch Shooting window plus a unique counter for this batchid
• @JOB – job as activated in the Batch Shooting window
• @BID – batchid as activated in the Batch Shooting window
• @BD1 – batch metadata 1, as entered in the Batch Metadata window
• @BD2 – batch metadata 2, as entered in the Batch Metadata window
• @BD3 – batch metadata 3, as entered in the Batch Metadata window
• @BD4 – batch metadata 4, as entered in the Batch Metadata window
• @BD5 – batch metadata 5, as entered in the Batch Metadata window
• @BD6 – batch metadata 6, as entered in the Batch Metadata window
• @BD7 – batch metadata 7, as entered in the Batch Metadata window
• @BD8 – batch metadata 8, as entered in the Batch Metadata window
• @BD9 – batch metadata 9, as entered in the Batch Metadata window

Setting the Save Folder

Captured images can be saved to any folder on your computer or network. It is important that that you have adequate permissions in the operating system to allow folder creation and file read, write, delete and modify permissions for the user. The folders are created automatically, so you do not need to create them in advance.

Network Drives and UNC Paths
If you intend to use the Image Browser and you want to save your images to a network drive, you must map a drive letter to the network storage location. For example, referring to the network location as \\MYNETWORKCOMPUTER\Images will not save the image. Mapping \\MYNETWORKCOMPUTER\Images to a drive such as P:\Images will save the image and show it in the Image Browser.

Example 1: Save your captured images to ‘c:\images’
– Go to the Body tab. Enter @MCT as the filename (this will use the main counter to create the filename).
– In the Folder field, enter ‘c:\images’. Do not enter the parenthesis. You can also click the folder icon to browse for the intended folder.
– Test your changes by capturing an image, then confirming that it went to the intended folder.

Example 2: Save your captured images to a daily subfolder of ‘c:\images’
This requires the @D1 token. It will be a placeholder for the date that the image was captured in the format YYYYMMDD.
– In the Folder field, enter ‘c:\images\@D1’
– Test your changes by capturing an image, then confirming that it went to the intended folder. If the current day is July 30, 2014, the image will be saved to
c:\images\20140730

Example 3: Save raw and jpg’s to separate folders
This requires the @EXT token. It will be a placeholder for the file extension. This also works for .mov files.
– In the Folder field, enter ‘c:\images\@DT1\@EXT’
– Test your changes by setting your camera to save as Raw + JPG. Capture an image and confirm that it went to the intended folder. In this example let’s also create subfolders for each day. The images will be saved to
c:\images\20140730\jpg
c:\images\20140730\nef

Example 4: Bind the batchid when batch shooting to subfolders of ‘c:\images’
This requires the @BID token. This token is a placeholder for a batchid entered or scanned while batch shooting. This and other batch placeholders can also be used in foldernames, filenames and embedded into IPTC metadata.
– In the Folder field, enter ‘c:\images\@BID’
– Test your changes by opening the Batch tab. Enter ‘5000’ as the BatchID and click on the Activate button. The entered batchid will appear as the Active BatchID. This is what will replace the @BID token in the folder name. The images will be saved to c:\images\5000

Note: Most workflow tabs have a ‘Use Subfolders’ option. This will create subfolder such as /Bracket_20140608_173048 if you are using HDR. This subfolder is not configurable and is created automatically when this option is set. With the option not set, the images will save to a /Bracket subfolder.

Setting the File Name

IMPORTANT: Make sure the data used does not include any Windows file system reserved characters such as < > : ” / | ? * \ For example, if @JOB = ‘BIRDS\’ the file will not save and an error message will be displayed.

Captured images are assigned filenames based on entered text and tokens.
– Note: If you do not enter anything into the Filename field, @MCT will be used.
– Note: The file extensions of .jpg, .nef, tif and .move are added automatically.

Example 1: Capture an image of a flower and save it with a filename of ‘flower’
– Go to the Body tab.
– In the Filename field, enter ‘flower’. No not enter the parenthesis.
– Test your changes by capturing an image, then checking the resulting image filename. If you were capturing as a jpg, the filename would be flower.jpg
– Note: If you capture another image with the Example 1 setting, the filename may already exist in the folder. Check the Duplicate Names information at the end of this section for how duplicate files are handled.

Example 2: Capture multiple images of the same flower, but with a filename counter instead.
This requires the @MCT token, which stands for ‘Main Counter’. This counter can be set to any value by clicking on the ‘X’ button in the Filename field.
– In the Filename field, enter ‘flower-@MCT’.
– Test your changes by capturing an image, then checking the resulting image filename. If you were capturing as a jpg and the counter was reset to zero, the filename would be flower-000000.jpg and the next capture would be flower-000001.jpg

Note: If you are stacking and using subfolders, @MCT will be ignored and replaced with a separate focus stack counter which resets to zero at the start of each stack capture.

Example 3: Capture an image of the flower, but with a filename date placeholder instead.
This requires the @DT1 token which produces YYMMDD_HHNNSSZZZ. You can also use @DT2 which has less precision as YYMMDD_HHNNSS. Shooting in continuous mode will likely cause duplicate filenames, so use @DT1 or @MCT instead.
– In the Filename field, enter ‘flower-@DT1’.
– Test your changes by capturing an image, then checking the resulting image filename. If you were capturing as a jpg, the filename would be

flower-120730_0830225697.jpg

Example 4: Save your captured images of the same flower and include the batch shooting batchid in the filename.
This requires the @BID token. This token is a placeholder for a batchid entered or scanned while batch shooting. This and other batch placeholders can also be used in filenames and embedded into IPTC metadata.
– In the Filename field, enter ‘flower@BID’.
– Test your changes by opening the Batch Shooting window. Enter ‘5000’ as the BatchID and click on the Activate button. The entered batchid will appear as the Active BatchID. This is what will replace the @BID token in the filename. – The filename will be flower5000.jpg

Example 5: Save your captured images of the same flower and include the batch shooting batchid along with a counter that resets every time a new batchid is activated.  This requires the @BIDCTR token. When you activate a batchid, a dedicated counter for only that batchid is reset to zero, or the next value of the same batchid counter for images in the same folder. This does not affect the @MCT counter.

– In the Filename field, enter ‘flower@BIDCTR’. IMPORTANT! If you use a ‘-‘ anywhere in the filename when using the @BIDCTR token, it will be replaced with a ‘_’. You can also change the number of leading zeroes in the Preferences screen.
– Test your changes by opening the Batch tab. Enter ‘5000’ as the BatchID and click on the Activate button. The entered batchid will appear as the Active BatchID. This, plus the batch counter, is what will replace the @BIDCTR token in the filename. The subsequent filenames will be
flower5000-000.jpg
flower5000-001.jpg
flower5000-002.jpg

if you then activate batchid ‘5001’, the following filenames will be
flower5001-000.jpg
flower5000-001.jpg

then if you reactivate batchid ‘5000’, the counter will resume on the highest counter value for images in the folder for that batchid.
flower5000-003.jpg
flower5000-004.jpg

Example 6: Save your batch captured images of the same flower and include the batch metadata as part of the filename.  This uses any combination of the @JOB, @BID, @BD1, @BD2, @BD3, @BD4, @BD5, @BD6, @BD7, @BD8, @BD9 tokens.  In the Filename field, enter ‘@JOB-@BID-@BD1’. Activate a BatchID and it will fill in the tokens with data.

Focusing

There are many different focus setting variations, and certain combinations can cause the focus features in ControlMyCanon to give incorrect results.

Be sure to read the ‘Preparing your Camera’ article for information on how to set your camera for proper focusing while tethered.

Check out this tutorial video showing how to focus

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBSU-DE3t9I

Phase Autofocus

• Only accessible in the main window. Phase focus does not work in live view (it uses contrast focus instead).
• To start a phase autofocus, click on the ‘AF’ button.
• To phase autofocus and then capture an image, click on the ‘AF Shoot’ button.
• The phase autofocus attempt will use whatever focus box you have assigned in the viewfinder (this is different from the focus box in live view).
• There is no indication if phase focus failed.
• Generally speaking, you should use contrast focus instead of phase focus as you will have greater control over it.

Contrast Autofocus

• This is accessible only when live view is active.
• To autofocus in live view, press the ‘green box’ button in the live view screen.
• You can move the contrast autofocus target by single-clicking on the screen.
• Double-clicking on the screen also causes a contrast autofocus.
• If the focus is successful (as determined by the body), the focus box will turn green. It will turn red if it has not found focus.
• Contrast autofocus relies on sufficient light and contrast to find the edges which will define which area of the image is in focus. With low light or low contrast (like a sheet of white paper, close-up), the body cannot find contrast, and the – lens will ‘hunt’ for the focus.
• You can nudge the contrast focus by using the focus coarse and fine buttons on the live view toolbar. The amount of focus change is defined in the Layers tab.
• Remote focus is only available for ‘CPU Lenses’. Most modern Canon lenses are cpu lenses. Some third-party lenses try to clone the Canon cpu, but are not entirely compatible.

Using Live View - GPU Mode

GPU Mode has better live view features and analysis tools than non-GPU mode.  You can change the mode in the Preferences screen, Live View tab.  Here is a summary of the differences:

• Use the new GPU mode if you are using high resolution monitors like 3K, 4K to help keep up an acceptable live view frame rate. It offloads workload from the CPU and uses the GPU instead.
• If you don’t have a compatible OpenGL 3.1 video card and video card memory (at least 128MB), you will see a white screen in live view. In that case, upgrade your graphics card drivers, or graphics card and try again or go back to using the old non-GPU mode.
• ISO Pinning is now called Brightness and is located in the Image group in the Layers tab.
• Noise Reduction is no longer available in non-GPU mode. It is available in GPU mode and is called ‘Jitter Reduction’ in the Image group in the Layers tab.
• The layers tab for GPU mode is completely different than non-GPU mode. The toolbar at the top of the live view screen is the same though, and the method of using the toolbar buttons are the same.
• The motion detection trigger requires the non-GPU mode.

You can view your composition and exposure using live view. This is normally displayed on the LCD screen on the camera body, but ControlMyCanon allows you to view it in a window.

This video shows the non-GPU live view usage.  The Layers tab is different in GPU-mode, and we’ll have a video tutorial for that soon.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfQ9e4PSIKw

Restrictions

Some camera functionality is limited during live view. This is a Canon firmware limitation. For example, a D4 can change aperture during live view, but a D7000 cannot.

The exposure and histogram functionality of the live view window are only valid for tthose bodies that can display live view with the actual exposure levels. All other bodies automatically adjust live view brightness so it isn’t too bright or too dark, irregardless of your exposure settings. This auto-brightness causes the live view histogram and exposure data to be incorrect. This is a Canon firmware limitation.

You can enable/disable exposure preview by using the menu item under the tools menu. For D800/D800E/D810/D850 only.

Starting Live View

To start live view, click on the ‘Live View’ button.

Stopping Live View

To stop live view, click on the ‘Close’ button on the live view screen.

Embedding

Like the image browser window, the live view window is embedded in the main ControlMyCanon window. However, this can be changed. This allows you to detach the live view window and resize or put it on another monitor. To control this, go to the Tools menu and find the following items:

• Live View – Attached – This is the default. If the live view window is detached, click on this to reattach it.
• Live View – Detached – Click on this to detach the live view window. You can then resize and drag it.

Image Quality

Most Canon bodies send twenty four 640×420 JPEG Basic Quality images to the computer per second. The D5 and D500 uses JPEG Fine Quality and have an option for 1024×768. You’ll need a fast computer and USB3.0 to stream JPEG Fine at 1024×768 due to there being up to 40 times more data per image transferred compared to the lower resolution modes.

Some bodies allow you to set the live view resolution. If your body allows this, you will find a Live View Image Quality menu item in the View menu. You can only set this while live view is not active. The setting can be stored in a profile.

Each streamed live view image is a reduction of the full normal image size, so you may notice image artifacts on the live view image. You can also enable the ‘Jitter Reduction’ feature in the Layers tab, Image section to get a slightly better quality preview image. The final captured image will be of a much higher quality and larger than the live view image.

Focusing

Focusing in live view requires that the camera body and lens autofocus to be enabled. Be sure to read the Preparing Your Camera help for more information on how to set your camera.

ISO Pinning (now called Brightness in GPU-Mode live view)

Some bodies have a very dark live view when used in manual mode such as when using strobes. This makes composition and focus adjustments through live view very difficult because the live view image is too dark. ISO Pinning (the Brightness control in GPU live view) allows you to lighten the images shown in the live view stream, but use your set exposure when capturing images.

1. Set up your strobes, aperture/shutter speed/iso.
2. Set the camera to manual mode, then start live view.
3. The live view image will be very dark. Go to the Layers tab, Image section and increase the Brightness value.  The live view display is now brighter and if you went back to the Body tab, you would see that the ISO has increased.  Don’t touch the ISO settings.
4. Adjust focus and composition.
5. Capture the image by pressing the ‘Shoot’ button in ControlMyCanon. The capture will use the ISO that was set BEFORE you increased the Brightness slider.  So you view live view at one iso, and then shoot at a different ISO.  This all happens automatically.
6. When you are done with live view, click the Close button and you will notice that your body tab ISO has returned back to the original value.
7. Note: If you need to change the shooting ISO, return the Brightness to default and then change the ISO in the body tab. Then close live view and open it again.  Then adjust Brightness as needed and shoot.

Monitor

Go to the Viewmenu and select Live View Monitor. This launches a secondary live view window. This window does not have any layers or features. It can be used on a separate monitor to show a preview of the next shot to clients, models etc while you have overlays enabled on the main live view window.

Toolbar Buttons

From left to right

• Close – Ends the live view session.
• Time Remaining – Shows the time remaining before the body will close live view. This is to prevent heat (and noise) buildup on the sensor during prolonged live view sessions. Newer bodies don’t seem to have much of a problem with this. You can set live view to automatically restart after a set duration in the preferences screen.
• Autofocus – will try to autofocus on the current focus box location. The body will adjust the focus and look for as much high contrast as possible. Once it has found it, it considers it to be focused, whether it looks focused to the user or not. – Good lighting and contrast is essential to the autofocusing working well. Clicking on the screen will move the focus box. Double-clicking on the screen also causes an autofocus.
• Adjust Focus Near – Coarse – this moves the focus closer to you by an amount set as the coarse step in the Layers tab.
• Adjust Focus Near – Fine – this moves the focus closer to you by an amount set as the fine step in the Layers tab.
• Adjust Focus Far – Fine – this moves the focus away from you by an amount set as the fine step in the Layers tab.
• Adjust Focus Far – Coarse – this moves the focus away from you by an amount set as the coarse step in the Layers tab.
• Shoot – Captures an image. Same function as the capture button on the main window.
• Zoom Level 1 – Zooms all the way out.
• Zoom Level 2 – Zooms in one level.
• Zoom Level 3 – Zooms in two levels.
• Zoom Level 4 – Zooms in three levels.
• Hide Layers – Hides the grid, focus box etc. This is a good one to set a shortcut for so you can toggle it.
• Record Movie – Starts recording.

Layers Tab

You can adjust how the live view image is displayed as well as overlay guides and information on top of it. To access these settings, go to the View menu and select ‘Layers’.

• Many of the sliders in the layers tabs have small buttons on the right side.  Click these buttons to return the slider value to default.
• The settings in the layer tab are stored in the current profile.
• The final captured image is not affected in any way by the settings you make in the layers tab. These settings affect the live view stream only.
• The non-GPU Copystand mode is not supported in the GPU mode.  Use Rotation:Invert instead, which produces the same effect.

Background

Note: To be able to see the background solid color or checkerboard, you must reduce the opacity in the Image section.

• Color – sets the color behind the image when the checkerboard is not enabled.
• Show as Checkerboard – use this to display a checkerboard instead of a solid color behind the image.
• Checkerboard Color 1 – sets the checkerboard tile color.
• Checkerboard Color 2 – sets the checkerboard alternate tile color.
• Checkerboard Size – sets the size of the checkerboard tiles.

Image

• Reduce Jitter – this reduces noise and jpeg compression artifacts from the live view stream.  This is very useful in high-ISO configurations.  It causes a bit of a ghost effect for moving objects though.
• Show as Positive – this adjusts the color so that if you are going to capture an image of a photo of a photo negative, this simulates what it would look like once it has been converted to positive colors.  You can use this to better visualize the final, converted-to-positive in post-processing image.
• Show as Grayscale – use this to suppress image colors.  This is useful if you have a very colorful image and the overlay, focus box, and other layers are blending into the image colors, making them difficult to see.
• Save on Capture – use this to save a .lvbmp of the current live view image displayed when you capture the main image.  You can use this bitmap file later as an overlay.  This will be a much smaller image than the final captured image.
• Opacity – use this to make the image more or less transparent.  Setting it to a low opacity is useful when you have a lot of active layers, such as the focus box, focus peaking, exposure and overlays.
• Gamma – this changes the gamma of the live view image. You can use this to make the image brighter in low-light conditions, however this is not the same as increasing ISO.  Increasing a dark image’s gamma too high will result in blocky areas of darkness as areas that were underexposed just can’t be increased in gamma correctly.
• Brightness – this is the ISO Pinning function used in the non-GPU mode, but it has been simplified.  Use it to increase the brightness in live view if it is too dark, such as when you are using strobes and your modelling light is too weak.  Increasing the brightness actually increases the ISO in live view so you can see what you are doing, but when you capture an image, it reverts back to the ISO used before you entered live view.  This allows you to view live view at one ISO, and shoot at another.

Guides

• Thickness – controls the thickness of all grid and rebatment lines.
• Contrast – controls the contrast between the lines and the background image.
• Crop – adjusts the cropping factor.  You can use this to simulate a final cropped image in post-processing.
• Show Grid – turns the grid on or off.
• Grid Divisions – sets how many horizontal and vertical lines there are in the grid.
• Rebatment 1 – shows the rebatment line
• Rebatment 2 – shows the other rebatment line. Rebatments (compositional lines), are explained here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabatment_of_the_rectangle

Focus Box

Note: The focus box is not displayed in zoom levels 2 or higher as the center of focus is always at the exact center of the screen at those zooms.

• Show – controls whether the focus box is displayed or not.
• Opacity – controls the transparency of the lines of the focus box.
• Thickness – controls how thick the lines of the focus box are.

Focus Peaking

You can use focus peaking to highlight areas of the live view stream that are in focus.  This can be useful if the scene has an object with odd detail, patterns and color that make visually determining if it is focus difficult.

• Show – controls whether peaking is displayed.
• Sensitivity – higher values reject more areas that are not sharply in focus.
• Level – controls the opacity of the Sobel Transparent Method, and the simulated lighting direction of the Sobel Albedo Opaque method.
• Color – controls the outline color  of the Sobel Transparent Method, and the overall color of the Sobel Albedo Opaque method.
• Method – Sobel Transparent – draws and outline around areas of focus.
• Method – Sobel Albedo Opaque – displays the image in an emboss-like effect that shows peaks and shadows.

Focus Step

• Fine – controls the step used by the < and > focus buttons on the toolbar.
• Coarse – controls the step used by the << and >> focus buttons on the toolbar.

Exposure Markers

• The Inner and Outer Exposure layers show you which areas on the image fall within a certain range.  You can use this to see which areas may be too dark or too bright, and/or use it to show areas that are just right.
• The histogram is not available in GPU mode.  Use the inner and outer markers to get an accurate indicator of where over/under exposure is occurring as a histogram cannot tell you this.  If you really do need a histogram to be able to evaluate the tonal range, capture the image and check the histogram in the image browser.
• For the exposure markers to be accurate, live view must be displayed in ‘exposure simulation’ mode.  Most camera’s do this by default, but some cameras cannot do this at all.  You will know if it is this mode if you turn on live view and then see how bright it is, then turn off the lights.  If exposure simulation is not on, the body will boost the brightness of the live view image automatically (auto-gain).  This auto-gain will make the exposure layers inaccurate since we can’t see what the camera will use when capturing the final image.  Check your camera manual to find the setting needed to set it to exposure simulation mode. This mode can be useful, however, when using strobes and it is quite dark.

Exposure – Inner

• Show – controls whether the overlay is displayed.
• Cycle – controls whether the overlay blinks on and off.
• Between x% and y% sliders – set these so that the overlay is only displayed for those areas in which their histogram value is beween x and y (technically it is x>= value <= y).  This is often used in video capture when you want faces between in a certain exposure range.
• Opacity – controls how transparent the overlay is.
• Color – controls the color of the overlay.
• Channel – controls how the histogram value is calculated. This allows you to view the exposure by luminance or color channel.

Exposure – Outer

Same as Exposure Inner, except the overlay is displayed for areas that fall outside a range.  Use this to show areas that are under/over exposed.

Overlay

Use the overlay to display an image on top of the main live view image.  You can use this to make your own custom guides/crop marks or use an older image of a scene as an alignment too when shooting the scene now.  Think ‘this is what it looked like a year ago and we want to get the exact same composition’ kind of thing.
Note: Images that are too large can cause GPU out-of-memory errors.

• Show – controls whether the overlay is displayed or not.
• Show as Grayscale – this is useful if overlaying an image of the same scene.
• Click to use current LV image – use this to use the current live view image as the overlay.
• Opacity – controls the transparency of the overlay.
• Click to select file – use this to select a file for the overlay.  You can use jpg, bmp or png.  Do not use images that are larger that the current live view image.  To get an idea of how large the live view image is, check the Image/Save on Capture option and then capture an image.  Open the resulting .lvbmp (just rename it to .bmp) in an image editor to see what the dimensions are.  Make your overlay the same size.  You can even edit this .bmp a bit and use it as an overlay, as a test.

Message

This controls the appearance of the message overlay you see when capturing an image, focus stacking, stop motion scrubbing or capturing video.

• Font Size – controls the font size.
• Text Color – controls the color of the text.
• Background Color – controls the color of the text background.
• Opacity – controls the transparency of the text and background.

Using Live View - Non-GPU Mode

GPU Mode has better live view features and analysis tools than non-GPU mode.  You can change the mode in the Preferences screen, Live View tab.  Here is a summary of the differences:

• Use the new GPU mode if you are using high resolution monitors like 3K, 4K to help keep up an acceptable live view frame rate. It offloads workload from the CPU and uses the GPU instead.
• If you don’t have a compatible OpenGL 3.1 video card and video card memory (at least 128MB), you will see a white screen in live view. In that case, upgrade your graphics card drivers, or graphics card and try again or go back to using the old non-GPU mode.
• ISO Pinning is now called Brightness and is located in the Image group in the Layers tab.
• Noise Reduction is no longer available in non-GPU mode. It is available in GPU mode and is called ‘Jitter Reduction’ in the Image group in the Layers tab.
• The layers tab for GPU mode is completely different than non-GPU mode. The toolbar at the top of the live view screen is the same though, and the method of using the toolbar buttons are the same.
• The motion detection trigger requires the non-GPU mode.

The rest of this article discusses live view non-GPU mode.

You can view your composition and exposure using live view. This is normally displayed on the LCD screen on the camera body, but ControlMyCanon allows you to view it in a window.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfQ9e4PSIKw

Restrictions

Some camera functionality is limited during live view. This is a Canon firmware limitation. For example, a D4 can change aperture during live view, but a D7000 can not.

The exposure and histogram functionality of the live view window are only valid for those bodies that can display live view with the actual exposure levels. All other bodies automatically adjust live view brightness so it isn’t too bright or too dark, irregardless of your exposure settings. This auto-brightness causes the live view histogram and exposure data to be incorrect. This is a Canon firmware limitation.

You can enable/disable exposure preview by using the menu item under the tools menu. For D800/D800E/D810/D850 only.

Starting Live View

To start live view, click on the ‘Live View’ button.

Stopping Live View

To stop live view, click on the ‘Close’ button on the live view screen.

Embedding

Like the image browser window, the live view window is embedded in the main ControlMyCanon window. However, this can be changed. This allows you to detach the live view window and resize or put it on another monitor. To control this, go to the Tools menu and find the following items:

• Live View – Attached – This is the default. If the live view window is detached, click on this to reattach it.
• Live View – Detached – Click on this to detach the live view window. You can then resize and drag it.

Performance

Performance Slower computers will show a choppy/laggy live view display. This is because the computer needs to receive/decode and display 24 jpg’s per second. Slower computers may wind up only showing 10 frames per second. The CPU TYPE makes a difference! Intel cpu’s give better live view performance, so keep that in mind if you are shopping for a computer that will be displaying live view.

You can also live view GPU mode which utilizes the power of your graphics card.  See the Live View – GPU Mode article for more info.

Image Quality

Most Canon bodies send twenty four 640×420 JPEG Basic Quality images to the computer per second. The D5 and D500 uses JPEG Fine Quality and have an option for 1024×768. You’ll need a fast computer and USB3.0 to stream JPEG Fine at 1024×768 due to there being up to 40 times more data per image transferred compared to the lower resolution modes.

Some bodies allow you to set the live view resolution. If your body allows this, you will find a Live View Image Quality menu item in the View menu. You can only set this while live view is not active. The setting can be stored in a profile.

Each streamed live view image is a reduction of the full normal image size, so you may notice image artifacts on the live view image. You can also enable the ‘Live View Noise Reduction’ feature in the Layers tab, Image section to get a slightly better quality preview image. The final captured image will be of a much higher quality and larger than the live view image.

Focusing

Focusing in live view requires that the camera body and lens autofocus to be enabled. Be sure to read the Preparing Your Camera help for more information on how to set your camera.

ISO Pinning

Some bodies have a very dark live view when used in manual mode such as when using strobes. This makes composition and focus adjustments through live view very difficult because the live view image is too dark. ISO Pinning (the Brightness control in GPU live view) allows you to lighten the images shown in the live view stream, but use your set exposure when capturing images. 

1. Set up your strobes, aperture/shutter speed/iso.
2. Set the camera to manual mode, then start live view.
3. The live view image will be very dark. Put a checkmark in the ISO Pinning checkbox in the live view screen. The current ISO will be shown under the checkbox. This is your ‘Pinned ISO’.
4. Move the slider to the right to make the live view image brighter. This is actually adjusting the ISO so that the image is brighter, even though the settings tab still shows the pinned ISO. Now adjust focus and composition.
5. Capture the image by pressing the ‘Shoot’ button in ControlMyCanon. The capture will use the pinned ISO.

Monitor

Right-click on the live view image to get a popup menu with a single item in it called Open Monitor.  This  launches a secondary live view window. This window does not have any layers or features. It can be used on a separate monitor to show a preview of the next shot to clients, models etc while you have overlays enabled on the main live view window.

Toolbar Buttons

From left to right

• Close – Ends the live view session.
• Time Remaining – Shows the time remaining before the body will close live view. This is to prevent heat (and noise) buildup on the sensor during prolonged live view sessions. Newer bodies don’t seem to have much of a problem with this. You can set live view to automatically restart after a set duration in the preferences screen.
• Autofocus – will try to autofocus on the current focus box location. The body will adjust the focus and look for as much high contrast as possible. Once it has found it, it considers it to be focused, whether it looks focused to the user or not. – Good lighting and contrast is essential to the autofocusing working well. Clicking on the screen will move the focus box. Double-clicking on the screen also causes an autofocus.
• Adjust Focus Near – Coarse – this moves the focus closer to you by an amount set as the coarse step in the Layers tab.
• Adjust Focus Near – Fine – this moves the focus closer to you by an amount set as the fine step in the Layers tab.
• Adjust Focus Far – Fine – this moves the focus away from you by an amount set as the fine step in the Layers tab.
• Adjust Focus Far – Coarse – this moves the focus away from you by an amount set as the coarse step in the Layers tab.
• Shoot – Captures an image. Same function as the capture button on the main window.
• Zoom Level 1 – Zooms all the way out.
• Zoom Level 2 – Zooms in one level.
• Zoom Level 3 – Zooms in two levels.
• Zoom Level 4 – Zooms in three levels.
• Histogram – Shows the histogram based on the live view image data. Be sure to read the Limitations section above about this.
• Record Movie – Starts recording.

Layers Tab

You can adjust how the live view image is displayed as well as overlay guides and information on top of it. To access these settings, go to the View menu and select ‘Layers’.

Image

• Visible – Shows or hides the image. Great for seeing image data, such as exposure overlays.
• Grayscale – Turns the live view image to grayscale. This doesn’t affect the captured image. Great for seeing image data, such as exposure overlays.
• Save on capture – This saves a copy of the live view image (640×426) in your image folder with a .lvbmp extension when you capture an image.
• Copystand – rotates and mirrors the live view image so that composing is easier when the body is attached to a camera stand.
• Angle – Displays the degrees of the body pitch and roll. Only supported by some bodies, and you may need to enable this in the body lcd menu as well (usually referred as a virtual horizon).
• Negative – displays the current live view image as a photographic negative. Useful when scanning negatives.
• Noise Reduction – Uses a per-color-channel median to reduce noise in the live view image. This can reduce the ‘sparkles’ that you see in live view images. This noise reduction is not applied to the captured full-size image.
• Background – click on the button to toggle the background color and select the color in the color picker.
• Opacity – Makes the live view image more see-through-ish. Great for seeing image data, such as exposure overlays.  Affects the live view image only.
• Rotation – Use Auto to keep the orientation as detected by the body. Use the other settings to override it. Affects the live view image only.
• Crop – Crops the live view image only to simulate post-processing cropping and movie views. Affects the live view image only.

Focus – Box

• Visible – Shows or hides the focus box.
• Opacity – Make the focus box more opaque or transparent.
• Focus – Step
• Use this to adjust the number of focus steps that a focus adjustment (not autofocus) will cause. Smaller numbers mean smaller focus movements.

Focus – Peaking

Visible – Shows which areas of the image have the highest contrast, which are the most in focus.

Grid

• Visible – Shows or hides the grid.
• Opacity – Make the grid more opaque or transparent.
• Horiz – Adjusts the number of horizontal grid lines.
• Vert – Adjusts the number of horizontal grid lines.

Exposure – Inner

• Overlays markers on areas of the live view image that are within a histogram range.
• Visible – Shows or hides the markers.
• Color Bar – Click on it to set the color of the markers.
• Minimum – Histogram values greater than this will be displayed.
• Maximum – Histogram values less than this will be displayed.
• Opacity – Make the markers more opaque or transparent.
• Channel – Select which histogram data is used.

Exposure – Outer

Overlays markers on areas of the live view image that less than or greater than a histogram range.

• Visible – Shows or hides the markers.
• Color Bar – Click on it to set the color of the markers.
• Minimum – Histogram values less than this will be displayed.
• Maximum – Histogram values greater than this will be displayed.
• Opacity – Make the markers more opaque or transparent.
• Channel – Select which histogram data is used.

Labels

Sometimes text messages are overlayed on top of the live view image.

• Color Bar – Click on it to set the text color.
• Opacity – Make the text background more opaque or transparent.

ISO Pinning

• D800/D800E/D4/D4S only
• Enable – Turn pinning on or off.
• Live View Brightness – Increases or decreases the brightness of the live view image. Does not affect the captured image.

Overlay

• You can overlay a jpg or .nef image of any size on top of the live view image.
• Opacity – Make the overlaid image more opaque or transparent.
• Browser – selects the image from a folder.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Triggering the shutter and other commands can be achieved by mapping a keystroke to a command. You can even map Powerpoint remote button to actions, giving you an inexpensive remote that can be used during live view.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5zc-9ppQnA

Mapping a Keyboard Shortcut to a Command

• Go to the Tools menu and select ‘Shortcuts’.
• Double-click on any command and then press a key or key combination on the keyboard. You can save your new shortcut by either clicking on another line in the grid, or by clicking on the ‘Close’ button. If you have entered a key combination that is already in use, it will appear as a blank.
• Close the shortcut screen, and then try the mapped key and see if the command is executed.

Unmapping a Keyboard Shortcut

• Go to the Tools menu and select ‘Shortcuts’.
• Double-click on the command and then right-click. You can save your changes by either clicking on another line in the grid, or by clicking on the ‘Close’ button.

Using a Powerpoint remote

Powerpoint remotes act like a mini-keyboard and their buttons can be mapped to commands.

Tips

• You can use a wireless keyboard or Powerpoint remote to trigger the shutter. Unlike a Canon infrared remote, it will allow you to capture images while in live view.
• Some keys cannot be mapped.
• If a shortcut does not seem to be working, try moving the focus to another control. For example, if you have the space bar mapped to the autofocus command, it will not work if you are currently editing the filename or folder fields, since you could use a spacebar in those fields. Finish your editing, then click on something else, then try the shortcut again.

Recording Video

Note: If your body has the ability to record video, the video record button will be visible in live view.  If it is not visible, then your camera body is of an earlier design which does not support tethered movie recording.

The video dimensions and format must be set in the camera LCD menu.  This cannot be set in ControlMyCanon.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=No4_J4rhEWs

Start Recording

• Open Live View.
• Click on the ‘Record Video’ (red video camera icon) button on the toolbar. Some bodies like the D600/D610/D800/D800E have a body lever that you must set to Movie Mode before it will record.

Stop Recording

• Click on the ‘Record’ button on the toolbar. The video file will be saved to the computer. You can view the video in the image browser. You will need to install the free Apple QuickTime to view it in the image browser.
• No metadata will be embedded by ControlMyCanon into the .mov file.
• Note: You can also configure a shortcut to start and stop recording.

Using Profiles

Profiles store workflow-related settings.  You can create as many workflows as you like and then recall them later so you don’t have to apply a bunch of individual settings.  So think of a profile of a group of settings like shutter speed, aperture, folder, ISO, live view setting, focus stacking steps etc.

Users who are proficient will eventually have a bunch of profiles like shown below.  To select a profile, you just double-click on it in the list.  The active profile is shown on the status bar at the bottom of the screen.  For other profile options, right-click the list for a menu, or use the Profiles menu at the top of the screen.

You can store certain ControlMyCanon camera settings as a profile and reload this profile and it’s settings again at a later time. For example, if you often do macro, landscape and night shooting, you may set up a profile for each so that you do not need to set your file naming, iso, shutter speed etc each time you use it. That way you an easily switch between profiles and spend more time shooting and less time configuring. Using profiles can save you a lot of time!

What is stored in a profile?

• Camera settings from the Settings tab.
• Current script name.
• Batch Metadata file location and locking status.
• Live View focus stacking settings.
• Live View overlay settings.
• Intervalometer settings.
• Bracketing settings.
• And much more! If you are using the Pro version, an option to print the profile will appear in the menu.

The Active Profile

If a profile is currently active, the name of the profile appears in the lower-right hand corner of the main window. A profile always must be active. You can not turn profiles off.

Example 1: You are shooting products and would like to use the same settings next time you shoot the same product, in this case, silver jewelry.

Make all your settings and take some sample shots to confirm the settings are what you would like to use next time.
Go to the Body tab. Click ‘Copy’ and enter a name for the new profile. Let’s call it ‘Product – Silver Jewelry’. This profile will be added to the profile list.
The next time you need to use this profile, go to the Body tab and double-click on the profile in the list.

Example 2: You are still shooting silver jewellery but have modified your setup and would like to replace the old profile with the new settings.

Go to the Body tab. Click ‘Save’, or use the ‘CONTROL-S’ key shortcut.. This will overwrite the profile with the new settings.

Example 3: You would like to delete a profile.

Go to the Profiles tab, select the profile to delete and click on the ‘Delete’ button.

Example 4: You would like a profile to automatically load when you connect to your camera.

The most recently used profile will be loaded when you restart ControlMyCanon and also when you connect to your camera.

Example 5: You would like a profile to automatically save when you disconnect from your camera.

Profiles are automatically saved when you disconnect from your camera and when you exit the program.

Using the Image Browser

Use the image browser to explore the images that you have captured. Viewing metadata, zooming in on the image and histograms are available for you to review your images.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzO_M0bRt5Y

The Metadata Database

Every time an image is captured, information such as folder, filename, extension, dimensions, EXIF and IPTC data along with a small thumbnail and slightly larger preview is added to the database. If you delete or edit an image, the database will be updated automatically. The actual captured image is not stored in the database: it remains in the folder in which you saved it. he database is a single file which can be moved to a different location if needed. To move it, refer to the Preferences help.

This is a FireBird v2.5.1 database. The advantage of this database is easy searching, reporting and good performance. The database is only locked when ControlMyCanon is running, so to back it up you just need to shut down ControlMyCanon. You can connect to this database and access it’s data with external applications by using the FireBird ODBC driver, which you can download from the Firebird website.

To connect to the database, use the default Firebird username of ‘SYSDBA’ with password ‘masterkey’. The database is UTF-8 and not encrypted and runs in local client mode (no database server is installed). Note: If you change the username or password of the database, ControlMyCanon can no longer connect to it.

File Types Displayed

The browser will show jpg, nef, mov and cr2 files. If you capture a tif file, it will saved to the folder, but it will not be added to the database or displayed in the browser.

Embedding

Like the live view window, the image browser is embedded in the main ControlMyCanon window. However, this can be changed. This allows you to detach the image browser resize or put it on another monitor. To control this, go to the Tools menu and find at the top the following items:

• Browser – Attached – This is the default. If the browser is detached or hidden, click on this to reattach it.
• Browser – Detached – Click on this to detach the browser. You can then resize and drag it.
• Browser – Hidden – Click on this completely hide the browser. Metadata from subsequently captured images will be stored in the database.

Thumbnail Quality\

By default, a medium quality thumbnail, preview and histogram is generated every time an image is captured. You can force it to use high-quality instead by using the settings in the Preferences screen. High-quality thumbnails take 2-3 times longer to create, especially from huge images from bodies like a D800.

This will be noticeably slow on slower computers. Even on the fastest computers, it is recommended to keep it at the medium quality setting and if needed, you can upgrade the quality on a per-thumbnail basis (right-click on the thumbnail, select ‘Convert to High Quality’. You ‘ll notice the biggest difference in the histogram, while the thumbnail and preview often don’t look much changed at all.

High-Quality Image Loading Delay

When you select an image, the browser will first show the thumbnail, then after a couple of seconds, load the full image into the browser. You can change the delay by going to the preferences screen/browser tab, and then adjust the High-Quality Image Loading Display (ms). On fast computers you can go as low as 50ms. On slower computers, keep it around 2000-3000 ms.

Resizing Bars

You will see vertical and horizontal resizing bars (3 vertical, 2 horizontal). If you click and drag the center of a bar, which has a small block of dots on it, you will resize a panel. If you double-click on it, the panel will become hidden. If you double-click on it again, the panel will again be visible. This is very usefull when you don’t have a lot of screen real-estate, such as on a laptop at 1024×768 resolution.

Histogram

A Histogram is displayed in the upper-right hand corner of the browser window. By default, it shows a luminance histogram as white lines on a dark backgroun, but may also show as gray lines on a light background, depending on which theme you are using. To see the red-channel histogram, click on the histogram and the lines will turn red. Click again for the green-channel histogram. And click again for the blue-channel. Click one more time to return to the luminance histogram.

Histogram Tracking

When you move the mouse over the preview image, a vertical line will appear on the histogram, showing where on the histogram the pixel under the mouse cursor would appear. The Luminosity, Red, Green, and Blue components of this pixel are shown at the top of the histogram.

Metadata

On the right side of the window, you will see the EXIF and IPTC data blocks. These are read-only and any EXIF or ITPC editing must be done outside of ControlMyCanon. You can collapse the data blocks by clicking on the ‘EXIF’ or ‘IPTC’ headings.

Movies

You can view the movie by selecting it in the thumbstrip, then waiting several seconds for the playback controls to appear in the Preview Image area. Apple QuickTime (free) is required to play these movies, whch are in .MOV format.

Preview Image

When you select a thumbnail, a preview image of maximum size of 512 x 512 is displayed. After two seconds, the actual (large) captured image is displayed. So initially, the image will look pixelated as it shows the smaller preview image. Right-clicking on the image brings up a menu.

Main Image Menu Items

• Toggle Magnifier – Brings up a rectangularly-shaped loupe. Useful for checking focus and other small details. You can also show/hide the loupe by double-clicking on the image. This is only available once the main (huge) image has been loaded several seconds after you selected the thumbnail.
• Magnifier – Level 1 through 5 – Adjusts the loupe magnification. You can also zoom in and out with the mouse-wheel.
• Show in Viewer – Launches an viewer that only shows the image. You can click on the ‘Toggle’ button in the viewer to make it full screen. It also has a loupe, and is a great way to review your images fullscreen. You can even assign a keyboard shortcut for quick toggling of this window so you can brows your thumbnails, press a key for fullscreen, then press it again to hide the viewer and go back to your thumbnails.
• Edit in External Editor – This sends the current image to whatever application is associated with the image extension. So if you have .jpg images associated with PhotoShop, your jpg will be opened in Photoshop. You can set these associations in Windows Explorer. Your thumbnail info will be updated if you edit and save in another app.

Folders

On the left side of the browser window, you will see a list of folders. Only local drivers, folders and mapped drives are shown. By default, when you capture an image, the current folder will change to whatever folder your image was just saved in. This is called ‘Sync’ and can be turned on or off in the thumbnail menu. The folder list has a menu which is accessible through a right-click.

Folder Menu Items

• Refresh – Reloads the drive/folder list.
• Search – Shows/Hides a search panel located just below the folder list
• Explore – Opens the current folder in Windows Explorer.
• Add Folder – Adds a sub-folder to the current folder.
• Delete Folder – Deletes the current folder and it’s contents. All deleted items are sent to the Recycle Bin.

Search

You can show or hide the search box using the folder list popup menu. You can search for text in the current folder, or in sub folders for all date ranges or for a particular date range. The search is done in the database, so only those images that are have been added to the database will be searched. You can add additional folders to the database by simply selecting the folder in the folder list, and waiting until all the thumbnails for that folder have been created.

This is a case-insensitive partial-search. So if you search for ‘store’, you will receive result for images whose metadata includes terms such as ‘STORE’, ‘Store’, ‘Restore’, ‘Restored’.

Thumbnails

Near the bottom of the browser window, you will find the thumbstrip. This shows a max 100 x 100 representation of the image in date-captured order (Older images to the left, newer to the right). When you select a thumbnail, the high quality full-size image is shown after a delay that you can set in the Preferences screen, browser tab, High-Quality Image Loading Delay(ms). Small jpgs of less than 1000 x 1000 are shown in image browser immediately without first loading the low resolution version first.

Navigation

Click on a thumbnail, then

• Mouse-Wheel – scrolls through the thumbnails
• Right-arrow key – scrolls right by one
• Left-arrow key – scrolls left by one
• Page-Down key – scrolls right by one page
• Page-Up key – scrolls left by one page
• Home key – goes to first thumbnail
• End key – goes to last thumbnail.

Configuring the Thumbstrip

By default, it shows the thumbnail with the filename. You can change this to include any combination or ordering of thumbnail image, histogram and metadata. For example, you may prefer to have the filename on top, follwed by the histogram, image and ISO.

You can set this up in the thumbstrip popup menu, under Configure. You can also set which file types to show. For example, If you are capturing JPG+NEF on each capture, you can set it to show the JPG only.

Thumbstrip Menu Items

• Flag – Check it to displays a red bar above the thumbnail. Uncheck it to remove the flag.
• Print – Create a printout of the selected image or a contact sheet.
• List – Shows a list of thumbnails and filenames.
• Detail – Shows a single image and it’s metadata, per page.
• Convert to High Quality – Increases the quality of the thumbnail, preview and histogram.
• Delete Current Image – Promplts you to move the image to the recycle bin.
• Sync – When checked, newly captured images will be immediately displayed. When unchecked, the image will be saved but not shown.
• Browse – Brings up a window where you can change the current folder displayed.
• Refresh – Reloads the thumbnail list.
• Run Batch File – Starts a user-defined batch file (setup in the Preferences screen) with the image folder, filename and extension as parameters. Great for post-processing. See the help on Post-Capture Batch File for more information.
• Configure – Brings up a window where you can set which data to show in the thumbstrip.

Status

A status bar showing the current image/total images for the selected folder or search results are displayed, along with the full path of the image.

Batch

Use Batch Shooting if you need to capture images for many objects (or people), or need to capture a series of images for each object and attach unique object identifiers to the folder, filename or image metadata. This make it very easy to keep track of object images and know which image is of a particular object. Batch shooting is intended to be used for high-volume workflows such as:

• Product Photography
• Team or Class Photos
• Museum or Archive Imaging
• Laboratory Imaging
• Forensic Imaging

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvR0rIWNfc8

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESqZDM6DQRo

You can import data in a text file and it is stored in an internal Firebird database. Each imported dataset must have an associated JOB. Within the dataset, each row of data must have a unique BATCHID. Therefore, in the database, the JOB + BATCHID combination is always unique and cannot be duplicated.

You can also import data via ODBC from another database. And you can so skip the import process altogether and do the batch activation query directly against another database via ODBC, such as an Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server.

Note: If you don’t want to import data, and just want the entered BatchID or the value of the barcode to be set as part of the file or folder name, or set into an IPTC field, go to the preferences screen, batch tab, and put a checkmark beside ‘Disable database query’. The batchID will appear in the @BID token. All other batch tokens will be blank.

Note: Put a checkmark in “Move focus to activate button after BID entry or serial scan” in the Preferences screen, Batch tab, to force to cursor focus to move to the batch activate button after manually entering or scanning a BID. This allows you to use keyboard shorcuts (except the enter key) immediately after entering or scanning the BID. Ex. You may want to scan and press a key to shoot, then review fullscreen.

Batch Record Data

Each record has the following data fields. The data can be any characters (including non-english characters) as it is stored internally in UTF-8 format. This data can then be embedd in folder and filenames (make sure no forbidden characters are used there), and in the IPTC metadata of the captured image. If you are importing data via ODBC, all of the following fields must be populated. If importing from a text file, trailing empty fields do not need to be populated – see the text file import example below. Here are the data fields:

• JOB – Varchar(32)
• BID – Varchar(256)
• BD1 – Varchar(256)
• BD2 – Varchar(256)
• BD3 – Varchar(256)
• BD4 – Varchar(256)
• BD5 – Varchar(256)
• BD6 – Varchar(256)
• BD7 – Varchar(256)
• BD8 – Varchar(256)
• BD9 – Varchar(256)
• Only the JOB and BID fields require values. Any of the BD1-BD9 fields can be blank or null.

Embedding the Batch Data

In Folder name, use any of : @JOB, @BID, @BD1, @BD2, @BD3, @BD4, @BD5, @BD6, @BD7, @BD8, @BD9
Ex: Folder: c:\images\@JOB\@BID

In File Name, use any of: @JOB, @BID, @BD1, @BD2, @BD3, @BD4, @BD5, @BD6, @BD7, @BD8, @BD9, @BIDCTR
Ex: Filename: @JOB-@BID-@BIDCTR (the @BIDCTR provides a zero-based counter for that BatchID in that folder). Therefore, it is best to have separate folders for jobs as to avoid BID duplication. JOB’s shoudl be large, grouping terms like ‘CLASS2014’, or ‘PAINTINGS-EASTWING’

In the Metadata tab IPTC fields, use any of: @JOB, @BID, @BD1, @BD2, @BD3, @BD4, @BD5, @BD6, @BD7, @BD8, @BD9

Barcode Scanners

To speed up the entry of the BatchID into ControlMyCanon, you can use a barcode scanner. A serial barcode scanner is best as you do not need to click in the BatchID text entry field before scanning or click on the Activation button after the scan. A keyboard wedge scanner will require you to click in the BatchID text entry field first and then click on the Activate button, which can slow down your workflow.

You will also need to put an exclamation ‘!’ as a data prefix, and ‘@’ as a data suffix. This can be done using the configuration software that came with your scanner.

The Active BatchID

In the Batch Shooting window, you can enter or scan a BatchID (let’s say you entered ‘1234’), and then press the Activate button. By pressing this button, ControlMyNkon searches for the BatchID in the database. If it can’t find it, it will indicate ‘Not Found’ in the data log. If it found it, it will display all data fields in the data log. You should look at this datalog and confirm that it is what you want before you capture the image.

If it is a valid BatchID, it becomes active and it’s counter is reset to zero (this is used by @BIDCTR). The first image you capture while using this active BatchID will have a 1234-000.jpg (or .nef) file name, and the next image will have a 1234-001.jpg name. The counter will continue incrementing until you activate a different BatchID, at which time it will reset to zero. You can control the number of leading zero’s in the batch counter in the preference screen, Misc tab.

Note: You can put a checkmark beside ‘Auto’ and it will trigger the shutter immediately after a successful activation. This can help save time once you get used to the workflow.

Note: If using the Internal data mode, the internal data will be displayed in a grid on Batch Editor screen as well as the Batch tab. You can double-click, or press the enter key on a record in the grid to activate it. This grid will be blank when using the external data mode.

Printing Barcodes

To print simple barcodes, open the ‘Source’ screen and click on the ‘Print’ button and select a barcode report. This can also be saved to a PDF file. It will print a sheet of barcodes for your data with the BatchID as the actual barcode value. You can also print your own barcodes with a different application or use pre-existing barcodes such as the UPC code on a product.

Importing Data with ODBC

If you already have a database, such as an access, Oracle or any database with an ODBC driver, you can import data from it into ControlMyCanon’s batch database. Much simpler than exporting from it into CSV, then importing the CSV into ControlMyCanon. Here’s how to do it:

1. On the Batch tab, click on the Source button. This brings up the data import and querying module.
2. Click on the Internal tab and then click on the ‘Import from ODBC’ tab.
3. Select the DSN. This is the ODBC connection to the source database that you have set up in the Windows Control Panel ODBC or Data Sources applet.
4. Enter the Username and Password for the ODBC connection.
5. Write the SQL statement in the top memo field. It may be quite large, depending on your source database. For example, it may look like Ex: SELECT ‘DRINKS’ AS JOB, ID AS BID, UPC AS BD1, NAME AS BD2, MANUFACTURER AS BD3, RELEASED AS BD4 , ” AS BD5, ” AS BD6, ” AS BD7, ” AS BD8, ” AS BD9 FROM PRODUCT ORDER BY NAME

Note how the sql statement must force field aliases such as JOB, BID, etc. This is so ControlMyCanon can know where that data should go in the internal database.

1. Press the Execute button. This executes the SQL and you will see the results in the grid. If you have any data with non-English characters and they look odd, put a checkmark beside ‘UTF8’ decode and execute again.
2. Examine the results. You may get an error and need to tweak the query. You can click on the SQL Monitor button to see the actual query being sent and any error messages that may have resulted.
3. If the data looks ok, click on the ‘Post’ button. This will insert the data into the internal database.
4. Once the data has been posted, you will need to go back to the Setup tab and select the correct Internal Job.
5. The data associated with the Job is now ready to used in the Batch tab.

Note: ControlMyCanon is a 32-bit app, so the ODBC DSN you set up must be 32-bit as well.

Using an Activation Query with ODBC

You can forego data import if you have direct access to the source database: i.e: ControlMyCanon and the source database can see each other. To set it up, do the following:

1. On the Source screen, click on the External radio button and select the source database DSN. Enter the username and password.
2. Go to the External tab, and enter the activation query. It may look something like this: SELECT ‘Insects’ AS JOB, ID AS BID, COMMON_NAME AS BD1, SCIENTIFIC_NAME AS BD2, ORDEROF AS BD3, FAMILY AS BD4, GENUS AS BD5, SPECIES AS BD6, AUTHOR AS BD7, NULL AS BD8, NULL AS BD9 FROM INSECTS WHERE ID = :BATCHID
3. Here again we are using field aliases to map the data to fields that ControlMyCanon can understand. The :BatchID part on the end is the parameter, and will be used during the Activation and testing process.
4. Enter a valid BatchID into the box above and press Execute. In this case, the BatchID needs to be a value from the ID field in the Insects table.
5. Examine the results. You may get an error and need to tweak the query. You can click on the SQL Monitor button to see the actual query being sent and any error messages that may have resulted.
6. If the data in the grid looks ok, then can go back to the Batch tab and type in a batchid and activate it. The query you entered will be used to query the source database.
7. If you intend to print barcodes on this data, go to the Print Query tab and enter the printing query there. Once you have a good print query, try running a barcode report. Here is an basic query that is not search compatible: SELECT ‘Insects’ AS JOB, ID AS BID, COMMON_NAME AS BD1, SCIENTIFIC_NAME AS BD2, ORDEROF AS BD3, FAMILY AS BD4, GENUS AS BD5, SPECIES AS BD6, AUTHOR AS BD7, NULL AS BD8, NULL AS BD9 FROM INSECTS ORDER BY COMMON_NAME
8. You can search the dataset from the search box in the Batch tab in the main screen. You must modify your query so that ControlMyCanon is able to insert the correct WHERE clauses automatically. Here is the same query as above, but formatted in a way that is compatible with the search function: SELECT * FROM ( SELECT ‘Insects’ AS JOB, ID AS BID, COMMON_NAME AS BD1, SCIENTIFIC_NAME AS BD2, ORDEROF AS BD3, FAMILY AS BD4, GENUS AS BD5, SPECIES AS BD6, AUTHOR AS BD7, NULL AS BD8, NULL AS BD9 FROM INSECTS ) X ORDER BY BD1

Select the BID DataType in the Activation Query tab. Use ftMemo for Access databases. Use ftString for all others.

CSV Import Example 1 – Product Session – Soft Drinks
12345,Portrait,Coca Cola,Diet Coke,8372829383
12346,Landscape,Coca Cola,Cherry Coke,8372829383
12347,Portrait,Coca Cola,Coke Classic,8372829114

Note: The above data is contained in the file BatchDataExample_1.csv which is located in the same folder that ControlMyCanon is installed.

If you activate BatchID 12345, the tokens will be populated as follows:
@BID = 12345
@BD1 = Portrait
@BD2 = Coca Cola
@BD3 = Diet Coke
@BD4 = 8372829383

Note: You could use the soft drink UPC codes instead and scan the barcode on the product instead.
CSV Import Example 2 – School Session – Graduation
1|2014|Sandra|James|Oceanview High School|Grad 2014|8169|Package 1
2|2014|Russell|Jones|Oceanview High School|Grad 2014|8170|Package 1
3|2014|Tony|Lough|Oceanview High School|Grad 2014|8171|Package 2

Note: The above data is contained in the file BatchDataExample_2.txt which is located in the same folder that ControlMyCanon is installed.

If you activate BatchID 1, the tokens will be populated as follows:
@BID = 1
@BD1 = 2014
@BD2 = Sandra
@BD3 = James
@BD4 = Oceanview High School
@BD5 = Grad 2014
@BD6 = 8169
@BD7 = Package 1

Burst

The Burst workflow will capture images as fast as possible, without image transfer to the PC happening after each image, but rather at the end of the burst.

To Capture a Burst.

• Set the body in Continuous mode.
• Connect to the camera.
• Go to the Workflow menu and select ‘Burst’.
• Put a checkmark beside ‘Enabled’;
• Select the number of shots to capture during the burst. The number that you can capture depends on the card memory available, and the body model that you are using.
• Press the ‘Capture’ button to start capturing the bracket.
• If you have checked the ‘Subfolders’ checkbox, The captured images will be put in a subfolder of the current folder with a format of ‘Burst_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS’ and the filenames will have a counter starting at zero for each set captured. – If you unchecked the ‘Subfolders’ checkbox, the files will be places in a folder called ‘Burst’ and the image filenames will use the current filename setting.
• Note: The first captured image will not change the focus, but the subsequent captures in the burst will try to phase autofocus before each shot. Not sure why Canon does this. You can get around this by disabling Autofocus on the body, usually via the AF/MF switch..

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZKnf6ZgbS0

Pulse

You can capture images every x seconds continuously until you decide to stop. This is a very simple metho to capture images for a time-lapse.

Capturing Images by Pulse

Let’s capture some images every 5 seconds

1. Connect to the camera.
2. Go to the Workflow menu and select ‘Pulse’.
3. Set the Interval to 5.
4. Put a checkmark beside Subfolders if you want your captured images to go into a separate folder.
5. Click on the ‘Capture’ button.
6. Click on the ‘Cancel’ button when you want to stop capturing images.

HDR

You can capture a series of images of varying exposure so that you can combine them in third-party software to create HDR images.

Capturing Images for HDR

1. Connect to the camera.
2. Go to the Workflow menu and select ‘HDR’.
3. Put a checkmark beside ‘Enabled’;
4. Add one or more shutter speeds to the bracket list.
5. Press the ‘Capture’ button to start capturing the bracket.
6. If you have checked the ‘Subfolders’ checkbox, The captured images will be put in a subfolder of the current folder with a format of ‘bracket_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS’ and the filenames will have a counter starting at zero for each set captured. If you unchecked the ‘Subfolders’ checkbox, the files will be places in a folder called ‘bracket’ and the image filenames will use the current filename setting.
7. Note: Bulb accuracy is approx 300ms. HDR captures during live view will disable live view, capture the images, then re-enable live view.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pDaYbtT6z8

Focus Stacking

You can capture a series of images with varying focus that can be combined with third-party software to give you a greater depth of field. This is useful for macro where a typical f8 depth may be only 1 mm, but the subject has greater depth. ControlMyCanon can capture the images, but does not combine them. It can automatically export to Zerene Stacker, an excellent focus stacking application, or you can manually import your images to other processing applications.

Focus not moving while capturing a stack?  Check out our troubleshooting articlese for more info.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPjAHO0amR8

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ml4I218wyzY

Creating a Focus Stack using the Lens Focus Motor

1. Start ControlMyCanon and connect to your camera.
2. Open live view.
3. Go to the Workflow menu and select ‘Focus Stacking’.
4. Position the camera, lighting and subject as desired.
5. Set the focus on the nearest part of the subject by using the focus adjust buttons on the Stacking tab or contrast autofocus button on the live view screen toolbar.
6. Enter the number of slices. This is the number of images that will be captured.
7. Enter the step. This is how far the focus moves between image captures. The higher the number, the farther it moves. The lowest value of 10 barely moves the focus. This does not correspond to distance, but is an internal (unknown) firmware unit that varies per lens and body combination.
8. Press the Preview button to see if you have adequate steps and slices to ensure you have enough depth of field coverage. If not, adjust the slices and steps and try again.
9. When the preview looks ok, press the Capture button. If you have put a check-mark beside the ‘Subfolders’ box, a sub folder name ex. ‘Stack_20120808_132218’ will be created and the images inside it will have a counter that starts at zero. If the sub-folders box was unchecked, the images are placed in a ‘Stack’ folder and the filenames will use the normal file-naming settings from the body tab.

Using a StackShot to change the focus

Some Focus Stacking photographers prefer to physically move the camera during stacking, rather than have the focus motor adjust the focus. The leading hardware for this is the StackShot, available from CogniSys. It moves the camera on a rail in very precise increments.  You can use a Stackshot or StackShot 3X. If using the 3X, use Axis X on the Stackshot controller box.  If you have a StackShot, set it up with your camera and test object to shoot.

1. Plug the StackShot into a USB2.0/3.0 connection.
2. Position the camera with the Stackshot physcal console.
3. In the ControlMyCanon Preferences screen Stacking tab, put a checkmark beside ‘Use StackShot’.
4. Set the step to 1000. For StackShot use, the step represents x/1000 mm. So 1000 would be 1mm. The StackShot will move the camera 1mm per shot. Set this value as needed for your stack.
5. Use the focus adjust buttons on the Stacking tab to move the camera along the StackShot rail until you arrive at the nearest focus needed for your capture. Press the ‘Zero’ button to mark this as the start point. This will be also done automatically when you start a preview or capture.
6. Press the ‘Preview’ button. You will see the composition change in the live view screen after each increment. Make sure that you have enough slices of the correct step to get full depth of field coverage as needed.
7. Keep previewing until it looks good. Then press the ‘Capture’ button to start the capture.
8. Note: If you accidentally set too many steps resulting in too much rail travel, the StackShot will hit the endstop and make a growling noise. If you need to do an emergency stop, press the Cancel in the stacking tab.

Tips

• If you enable the ‘Capture Live View image during stacking preview’ option in the Preferences screen, stacking tab, the current live view image is saved for each step. You can then stack these streamed jpegs very quickly and get a reasonable idea of whether you have enough depth of field coverage. Then, when you have everything set just right, do the Capture and the full size images will be saved and you can then use these for stack processing.
• Put a checkmark beside ‘Auto-export to Zerene Stacker’ if you want the stack to be automatically loaded into Zerene Stacker upon capture completion. You’ll need to specify the path to Zerene Stacker in the Preferences window, Focus Stacking tab.
• If you want a folder name that does not change in subsequent stacks, put a checkmark in the ‘Subfolders’ checkbox. This is required for Zerene Stacker ‘Directory Watch’ functionality so that it can start processing as the images are captured, not when the captured set is complete.
• Only ‘CPU’ lenses can be controlled by ControlMyCanon. These allow for remote focus motor control Some non-Canon lenses are CPU controlled, but may not respond to the Canon body commands to change the focus during stacking.
• Be sure to read the ‘Preparing Your Camera’ help. This will show how to configure the body for focus stacking.
• This is only available for cameras that have live view.
• This is also known as ‘Depth of Field Stacking’ or ‘DOF Stacking’
• Be sure to calibrate your white balance before capturing. This will save you a lot of post processing.
• To get started with processing the stack, there is also the free CombineZP that is still around the internet. It is somewhat old and does not do as good as a job as Zerene Stacker, but is good to experiment with.
• Mirror-up: This doesn’t work while tethered and cause live view to hang. This is a firmware limitation.

Stop Motion

You can capture the images necessary to create a stop motion video. ControlMyCanon does not compile the captured images into a video.

Preparation

1. Set up the Folder and File-naming settings in the body tab.
2. If you plan on saving scenes to different folders, consider creating a profile per scene which contains the folder and filename settings.
3. Set up the composition and lighting.
4. Go to the Workflows menu and select ‘Stop Motion’.

Capturing Images

1. Turn on Live View.
2. Put a check mark beside the ‘Enabled’ checkbox in the Stop Motion tab.
3. Right-click on the thumbstrip above and set the desired frame rate for your finished stop motion video.
4. Press the Capture button in the Stop Motion tab to capture the first image.
5. Review the image on the thumbstrip. Delete it if necessary.
6. As you capture more images, use the thumbstrip slider to scrub through the images and evaluate the captures so far.
7. As an alternative to scrubbing with the slider, click the Play button, which will play at the set Frames per Second from the Beginning Mark to the End Mark. You can set the marks in the thumbstrip popup menu.
8. Pressing the replay button will play from the Beginning Mark to the end. You can set a shortcut key for this to quickly review your work so far.
9. If you have live view, enabling Live View scrubbing will allow you to see the larger images in the live view window.
10. Adjust the opacity and gray-scale so that when you scrub to the most recent capture, you can see the current live view composition overlaid on top of the last captured image. This is useful for lining up your next shot. You can also set up a shortcut key to toggle between the live view and onionskin mode.
11. Keep on capturing those images.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJG4tlOCGrE

Time-lapse

The time-lapse workflow allows you to trigger the shutter based on a defined interval. You can specify when to start, how many images or videos to capture, and when to end. You can even capture a HDR time-lapse.

Capturing Images for a Time-lapse

Let’s capture one image per ten seconds for a total of five images.

1. Connect to the camera.
2. Go to the Workflow menu and select ‘Time-lapse’.
3. Select ‘Start when the Capture button is Pressed’.
4. Set the Shot Interval to 10 seconds.
5. Set ‘Stop after (shots)’ to 5 captures.
6. Press the ‘Capture’ button.
7. If the SubFolders checkbox is checked, the images will be saved as a subfolder ‘\INT_YYYYMMDD_HHNNSS’ of your current image path with file filename an incrementing counter starting at zero. If the Subfolders checkbox is not checked, then the files will be stored in a /Timelapse folder with filenames as defined in the filename setup in the body tab.

Tips

• There will be no attempt to autofocus prior to each capture if you have set the body to not require focus before triggering the shutter. This is normally known as ‘Release Priority’.
• ControlMyCanon can capture the images but cannot create a time-lapse video.
• Keep the camera firmly mounted so that it cannot move.
• The interval should not be less than 5 seconds as it takes at least 2-3 seconds to transfer the image file. Even saving to the card has similar delays.
• Use high-quality JPEG or NEF. If you use NEF, you will need to convert these to JPEG before creating the movie.
• Try to capture a scene with very slow movement such as moving clouds or an opening flower.
• All Canon shutters have a lifetime rating. For example, the D7000 is rated at 150,000 shutter activations after which the shutter may degrade. Check your manual to see what the limit is for your body.
• You can capture a HDR time-lapse. Just set up the HDR settings in the HDR workflow tab. Then put a checkmark beside the ‘Chain HDR’ option in the Time-lapse workflow tab. The captured images will be saved to a ‘TimelapseHDR’ folder.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ki65XZmgkpA

Long Exposure

You can capture a long exposure using shutter speed settings up to 30 seconds or long in bulb mode if your body supports tethered bulb or using a DSUSB device.

Capturing a Long Exposure

Let’s capture a Light Frame, and a Dark Frame (used for noise reduction in third-party applications).

1. Connect to the camera.
2. Disable all noise reduction options in the body LCD menu.
3. Go to the Workflow menu and select ‘Long Exposure’.
4. Follow the instructions until step 12.
5. The Capture button will be disabled if the body is not in Bulb mode. Set it to bulb mode by selecting ‘bulb’ in the shutter speed list.
6. Click on the ‘Capture’ button.
7. When the capture is complete, you have captured the ‘Light Frame’. This is the image without noise reduction.
8. Optionally, do step 14 and 15 to capture a ‘Dark Frame’. This image is a picture of sensor noise only.
9. The Light and Dark Frame images are stored in the current folder with the current filename settings.

Tips

• There will be no attempt to autofocus prior to each capture if you have set the body to not require focus before triggering the shutter. This is normally known as ‘Release Priority’.
• ControlMyCanon can capture the Dark Frame but cannot use it to remove noise from the Light Frame. Use another application for that, such as the excellent Raw Therapee (free).
• Keep the camera firmly mounted so that it cannot move.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34yb1Ei-mGU

Motion Detection

You can trigger the shutter, start a script or record video by detecting motion in live view.

Note: The motion trigger works only when using the non-GPU live view mode.

Note: The following video tutorial shows the pre-5.4 method for setting up motion detection.  The controls in the Motion tab have changed in 5.4 a lot.  You can still use the old tutorial video below to get an idea how it works, then read further below to see how to set up the new motion detection controls.

The goal is still the same – get dots in a target to capture an image.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XK_YuAKvQA

And here’s the new Motion tab from 5.4.

Setting the Trigger

1. Turn on live view and open the Motion tab.
2. Reset the slider values back to defaults.  You can do this by clicking on the small button on the right side of the slider.
3. Set Dots/Enabled to checked.
4. Set Filter/Enabled to checked.  This will display a small image in the upper-left-hand corner of the live view display.  This small image is the image that will be used for detecting motion. It is basically the live view image with a grayscale, Gaussian blur and a Sobel contour detection filter applied.
5. Move the Filter/Brightness slider to the left to darken the small image.  You want a fairly dark image, but you need to be able to clearly see the edges.  If it is too bright you will get too much noise.  Moving it to a position of 60 usually works for most scenes, but lighting variations will require you to change this setting.
6. Move the Rejection slider to the smallest value where you do not get any dots appearing due to noise.
7. Now try moving something in the scene to see how it handles motion.  If you do not get enough motion dots due to real motion, reduce the Rejection slider value further.  If you get dots caused by noise, increase the dot size until the noise-caused dots go away.  Now try the motion again and it should be ok. The Dots Size cause noise to be averaged over a wider area so it helps for reducing noise.  Small dots (less than 20) tend to handle noise poorly.  Version 5.3 dots were only size 13.  Size 30 is a good place to start, though I usually wind up with size 40 or 50. The Buffer Age can be increased if noise is still a problem.  This helps to average the image stream over time, however the higher the value, the more motion ghosting you will get.  1000 seems to work good, though less than 500 causes problems on slower computers when flipping to different tabs or in and out of live view (it will detect it as movement due to a slight lag in live view image transmission).
8. Once it looks good, you can disable the filter if you want and you are good to go.
9. Draw a target around the intended area in which motion dots will appear. To draw the target, put a checkmark beside the ‘Draw Target’ checkbox and then then left-click on the image to draw corners of the target. At least three corners are needed to define a target. You can clear the target by right-clicking on the image, or by clicking on the ‘Clear’ button.
10. Reduce the ‘Trigger on X Dots in Target’ slider until the target starts to turn red. The target turns red when at least X – – Dots are visible in the target area. If the Action is enabled, triggering would be performed.
11. Set the Action reset to 10 seconds. Set it high enough so that the trigger does not continually fire, unless you want it to do so.  Leave enough time for the captured image or movie file to be transferred.
12. Enable the Action. The trigger is now live. If the number of dots meet or exceed the X Dots settings, the trigger will fire the action specified in the action list.

Tips

• The motion detection image analysis requires a fairly fast computer. Intel processors are able to process this faster than cheaper AMD processors (except Atom CPU’s, which are still fairly slow). Slower computers will display a choppy/laggy live view image stream, making image detection more difficult. Try using the turbo mode.
• There is a delay of several hundred milliseconds from when when the motion is detected to when the shutter is triggered. This means that fast moving objects may be difficult to capture. Water drops, for example can’t be captured with this method. However, you can experiment by moving the target area to an position in advance of the actual area where you want the subject to be when captured (lead it a bit).
• Accurate motion detection is dependent on good lighting and contrast between the subject and background.
• The motion detection also works while live view zoom is enabled.
• You can use burst captures, however you will need to disable the body autofocus as in a burst, the first shot is captured with the current focus, then the subsequent shots will automatically try to phase focus for each shot.  To get around this firmware limitation, disable the autofocus on your lens or body. Or, set the phase focus box in the view find to the position where the subject will be upon image capture.

Powerpoint Remote

Triggering the shutter and other commands can be achieved by mapping a Powerpoint remote button to a command, giving you an inexpensive remote that can be used during live view. Powerpoint remotes act like a mini-keyboard and their buttons can be mapped to commands.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEWRLzFLaMc

Mapping a Powerpoint Remote button as a Shortcut

• Plug your Powerpoint remote into your computer and ensure that it is working.
• Go to the Tools menu and select ‘Shortcuts’.
• Double-click on any command and then press a button on the remote. This button will now be mapped to the command.
• Try the mapped button and see if the command is executed

Unmapping a Powerpoint Remote Shortcut

• Start ControlMyCanon.
• Go to the Tools menu and select ‘Shortcuts’.
• Double-click on the command and right-click.

Tips

• There are many variations of these remotes. Some have two buttons and some have many more. Some are wired, most are wireless.
• Some wireless remotes are wifi or bluetooth so maximum distance from the computer will vary.

Sound

You can trigger the shutter with sound by using the Sound Trigger. It can use any microphone that is configured to work with Windows.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URY01FNFgTI

Initial one-time setup

1. Shut down ControlMyCanon.
2. Plug your microphone into your computer.
3. Configure the microphone in the Windows control panel Sound applet.
4. Once you have confirmed it is working, shut down the control panel applet.

Setting the Trigger

1. Connect to your camera.
2. Go to the Triggers menu and select ‘Sound’.
3. In the Sound tab, select the microphone from the list.
4. Adjust the Threshold slider to maximum (furthest to the right).
5. Check the ‘Enabled’ checkbox.
6. Adjust the threshold so it is just to the right of the sound level.
7. Make a sound that exceeds the threshold and monitor the log to see that the trigger occurred.
8. Select an action from the list.
9. Set the Reset interval to 10 seconds.
10. Put a checkmark beside the Action Enable checkbox.
11. Make a sound that exceeds the threshold and confirm that the action was performed.

Tips

• Some microphones are more sensitive than others.
• Make sure the reset is long enough to capture the image and transfer it to the computer.

TCP/IP

You can control many program features with actions sent by another program by using the TCP/IP network protocol.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WC8f1SGToH4

There is a free demo app that is used for testing the trigger.  It is a single .exe file.  Just run it and follow the instructions.  The instructions are also listed here below:

https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/tetherscript/TCPIPTriggerGenerator.zip

The TCP/IP Trigger receives commands and simulates the execution of shortcuts. These shortcuts are visible in
the Tools/Shortcuts screen.

To test the TCP/IP Trigger in ControlMyCanon:

IN ControlMyCanon

1. Go to the Triggers menu and select TCP/IP (this is only available in the PRO edition).
2. In the Server section, set the IPV4 address and port that the server will listen to. Make sure your firewall allows connections for TCP/IP protocol to this address and port.
3. Enable the server by checking the Enabled checkbox.

IN THE TCPIP TRIGGER GENERATOR APP

1. Enter the same IPV4 address and port and check the Enabled box. View the log files in both apps to confirm the connection is successful.
2. Select a command, such as ‘Connect’ and click Send, or double-click on a command in the list.

Notes

• The commands are case sensitive.
• All commands sent to the server are ansi text (one byte per character), and the command requires a carriage return and linefeed.
• All responses received from the server are ansi text and have a suffix of a carriage return and linefeed.
• Some commands won’t work, based on the current camera state. For example, you can’t shoot if it isn’t connected.
• In the command list, there some abbreviations. Here is what they mean:
  • SM- Stop Motion
  • FS – Focus Stacking
  • LE – Long Exposure
  • LV – Live View
  • IB – Image Browser
  • LIB – Image Browser Thumbnails
• Send the GETSTATE command to retrieve the state of ControlMyCanon. Here are the possible states. There can be one or more states simultaneously and the list of states is comma-delimited.
  • gsNone
  • gsNikon
  • gsCanon
  • gsStandard
  • gsPro
  • gsIsDebug
  • gsIsRelease
  • gsSaveToCardExclusive
  • gsSaveToCardExclusiveNot
  • gsStartingUp
  • gsShuttingDown
  • gsConnecting
  • gsConnected
  • gsDisconnecting
  • gsDisconnected
  • gsCamBusy
  • gsInLiveView
  • gsNotInLiveView
  • gsPhaseAutofocusing
  • gsInContinuousMode
  • gsInCalibratingWBMode
  • gsShootNoAF
  • gsShootAF
  • gsInLiveViewTransition
  • gsInLiveViewBrowser
  • gsExpManualMode
  • gsExpApertureMode
  • gsExpShutterMode
  • gsExpProgramMode
  • gsExpBadMode
  • gsHasLiveView
  • gsHasLiveViewNot
  • gsInProcessStackingPreview
  • gsInProcessStackingCapture
  • gsInProcessBracketingCapture
  • gsInProcessIntervalometer
  • gsInProcessTLCapture
  • gsWorkflowNone
  • gsWorkflowBatch
  • gsWorkflowTimelapse
  • gsWorkflowTimelapseActive
  • gsWorkflowTimelapseInActive
  • gsWorkflowStopMotion
  • gsWorkflowFocusStacking
  • gsWorkflowStopMotionInActive
  • gsWorkflowStopMotionActive
  • gsWorkflowStopMotionPlaying
  • gsWorkflowStopMotionNotPlaying
  • gsWorkflowBurst
  • gsWorkflowBurstActive
  • gsWorkflowBurstInActive
  • gsWorkflowHDR
  • gsWorkflowHDRActive
  • gsWorkflowHDRInActive
  • gsWorkflowPulse
  • gsWorkflowBulb
  • gsWorkflowPulseActive
  • gsWorkflowPulseInActive
  • gsWorkflowBulbActive
  • gsWorkflowBulbInActive
  • gsWorkflowLongExposure
  • gsWorkflowLongExposureCap
  • gsWorkflowLongExposureCapLight
  • gsWorkflowLongExposureCapDark
  • gsBatchInternal
  • gsBatchExternal
  • gsCacheValidating
  • gsTriggerNone
  • gsTriggerWeb
  • gsTriggerWebActive
  • gsTriggerWebInActive
  • gsTriggerPhidgets
  • gsTriggerPhidgetsActive
  • gsTriggerPhidgetsInActive
  • gsTriggerTCPIP
  • gsTriggerTCPIPActive
  • gsTriggerTCPIPInActive
  • gsTriggerSpeech
  • gsTriggerSpeechActive
  • gsTriggerSpeechInActive
  • gsTriggerMotion
  • gsTriggerMotionActive
  • gsTriggerMotionInActive
  • gsTriggerSound
  • gsTriggerSoundActive
  • gsTriggerSoundInActive
  • gsInBulbMode
  • gsInBulbModeNot
  • gsBulbModeActive
  • gsBulbModeInActive
  • gsBulbModeCapLightActive
  • gsBulbModeCapLightInActive
  • gsBulbModeCapDarkActive
  • gsBulbModeCapDarkInActive
  • gsWorkflowTLCaptureActive
  • gsWorkflowTLCaptureInActive
  • gsToolsFlashTabVisible
  • gsToolsFlashTabHidden
  • gsToolsMetaDataTabVisible
  • gsToolsMetaDataTabHidden
  • gsInternalFlashUp
  • gsInternalFlashDown
  • gsToolsLayersTabVisible
  • gsToolsLayersTabHidden
  • gsHasInternalFlash
  • gsHasInternalFlashNot
  • gsHasMovie
  • gsHasMovieNot
  • gsRecordingMovie
  • gsRecordingMovieNot
  • gsMovieTransferring
  • gsContrastFocusInTransit
  • gsContrastFocusIdle
  • gsContrastFocusResultBad
  • gsContrastFocusResultGood
  • gsLVModeGDI
  • gsLVModeGL

Here is a list of the case-sensitive commands that you can send to ControlMyCanon

• GETSTATE
• Connect
• Disconnect
• AF
• Shoot
• AF Shoot
• Calibrate WB
• Profile – Save
• HDR – Capture
• HDR – Cancel
• Burst – Capture
• Batch – Activate
• Batch – Clear
• Batch – Source
• Timelapse – Capture
• Timelapse – Cancel
• SM – Flip
• SM – Mark Begin
• SM – Mark End
• SM – Clear Marks
• SM – Replay
• SM – Opacity Toggle
• LE – Capture
• LE – Dark – Capture
• LE – Dark – Cancel
• LE – Light – Capture
• LE – Light – Cancel
• FS – Preview
• FS – Capture
• FS – Cancel
• FS – Focus – Far/10
• FS – Focus – Far
• FS – Focus – FarX10
• FS – Focus – Near/10
• FS – Focus – Near
• FS – Focus – NearX10
• FS – StackShot – Zero
• FS – StackShot – Return
• FS – StackShot – Stop
• LV – Enable
• LV – Disable
• LV – Toggle
• LV – Autofocus
• LV – Focus – Near Large
• LV – Focus – Near Small
• LV – Focus – Far Small
• LV – Focus – Far Large
• LV – Shoot
• LV – Zoom 1
• LV – Zoom 2
• LV – Zoom 3
• LV – Zoom 4
• LV – Pan Up
• LV – Pan Down
• LV – Pan Right
• LV – Pan Left
• LV – Toggle Histogram
• LV – Toggle Layers
• LV – DOF Preview
• LV – Monitor – Toggle
• LV – Start Recording
• LV – Action Record by Duration
• LV – Stop Recording
• LV – Toggle Recording
• LIB – First
• LIB – Next
• LIB – Prior
• LIB – Last
• Toggle IB/LV
• IB – Toggle Fullscreen
• IB – Toggle Mag
• IB – Mag 1
• IB – Mag 2
• IB – Mag 3
• IB – Mag 4
• IB – Mag 5
• IB Thumb – High Quality
• IB Thumb – Toggle Flag
• Toggle UI Magnifier
• Post-Capture – Execute

Voice Command

You can trigger the shutter with with a spoken word by using the Sound Trigger. It uses Windows Speech Recognition.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f8bTmnj_84

Initial one-time setup

1. Shut down ControlMyCanon.
2. Plug your microphone into your computer.
3. Configure the microphone in the Windows control panel Sound applet.
4. Configure and train the speech recognition using the control panel Speech Recognition applet.
5. Once you have confirmed it is working, shut down the control panel applet.

Setting the Trigger

1. Go to the Triggers menu and select ‘Speech’.
2. In the Speech tab, put a checkmark beside ‘Enabled’. It will use the default microphone (as defined in the Control Panel, Sound applet).
3. Select a microphone from the list.
4. Select a language from the list.
5. Set the detection threshold.  Higher values ensure higher accuracy.  Too high of value will cause detection to fail altogether.  92 is a good value for native English speakers.
6. Set a prefix to help reduce false positives.  You could set the prefix of ‘computer’ so that you need to say ‘computer’ before your chosen phrase.
7. Speak one of the words or phrases listed and confirm that the action was performed.

Tips

• Some microphones are more sensitive than others.
• Take the time to properly train the speech recognition to recognize your particular voice and speech patterns. This makes a huge difference in the recognition accuracy.
• Use word or phrases with a distinct sound to make the recognition as accurate as possible.
• You can create customize the word or phrase for each action. Just double-click the command and enter the word you would like to speak to activate the action.

Web Browser

You can control many program features with commands issued by a web page. It can use any device that has a browser.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JzXv2y4pZ0

Setting the Trigger

1. Go to the Triggers menu and select ‘Web’.
2. In the Web tab, set the IP Address and Port for the web server. ControlMyCanon has a built-in web server and this is the address and port it will listen to for commands.
3. Select from the list of available commands. Each command will have it’s own button on the web page.
4. Put a checkmark beside Enable.
5. Press the Test button. This will open a web browser on your computer.
6. Click a button on the web page and confirm that the desired command occurred.

Tips

• In the browser, use the URL ‘http://127.0.0.1’ to connect to the web server.
• 127.0.0.1 is always the address of the computer you are using. You can use this address if you are running the web browser on the same computer that ControlMyCanon is running on. If the web browser is not on the same computer as ControlMyCanon, such as when you load the web page from a smartphone, you will need to use the real IP address of the computer. Use the command prompt and IPCONFIG to find this address.

Focus Stacking with a Stackshot

You can use a StackShot 3 or 3X from CogniSys for Focus Stacking. A StackShot is a motorized rail that moves your camera forward and back. You can use this to capture slices for the stack instead of using the lens focus motor. Many photographers have very good older lenses without the CPU-controlled focus motor needed by ControlMyCanon. The StackShot is a great solution for this, and can still be used even if you have a CPU-controlled lens.

Configuring the StackShot for Stacking

See the Focus Stacking – StackShot help for more information on creating a focus stack with the StackShot.

Note: The Stackshot 3X requires you to connect the cable to the X Axis output.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLFTRc-V4zI

Focus Stacking with Zerene Stacker

You can use Zerene Stacker from Zerene Systems to create the final stacked composition image from your Focus Stacks. ControlMyCanon has an option to automatically export the captured stack to Zerene Stacker. This is really handy because capturing a large stack and processing it can take a good amount of time (up to an hour).

So with ControlMyCanon and Zerene Stacker, you can start the focus capture, wander off to do something else and come back to find the complete and processed stack on your computer monitor.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kw5ARe8F1rY

Post-processing with Batch Files

You can send a newly captured image or an existing image to be processed by a batch file. This allows the copying or launching of external applications with the file folder, name and extension as batch parameters.

Configuring the Batch File

1. Open Notepad
2. Enter the following

CLS
ECHO %1
ECHO %2
ECHO %3
COPY %1 c:\1\%2
PAUSE

1. Save the notepad file as ‘TESTBATCH.BAT’ in a folder of your choice.
2. In ControlMyCanon’s Preferences screen, go to the Misc tab and put a check-mark beside ‘Auto-launch batch file after image capture’.
3. Use the Browse button to find the batch file you just created.
4. Connect to your camera and capture an image. You will see the batch file run after the image has been saved.
5. In this batch file example, we are just showing the first, second and third parameters which are full path, filename and extension.
6. The batch file then attempts to copy the image file to c:\1\.
7. In a real batch file, you would remove the PAUSE so the dos window closes automatically.
8. You can also run this batch file on an existing image in the image browser by selecting ‘Run Batch File’ from the thumbstrip popup menu.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aDD83bH9-A

Using a DSUSB External Trigger

The DSUSB is a USB-based shutter controller. It connects the trigger or infrared port of the camera body to your PC via USB cable. In ControlMyCanon, you can enable the DSUSB so that commands to shoot or are sent via the DSUSB instead of through the usual tethered USB cable.

The advantage of this is that you can use the DSUSB to trigger the shutter in bulb mode. Most earlier Canon bodies do not support tethered bulb mode, so this is a good workaround. This is a popular device for astrophotography and timelapses where bulb mode is essential.

For more information, check out the DSUSB at Shoestring Astronomy

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSTDIls_8ps

LED Indicator

• Red – indicates that the DSUSB is connected to the USB port, but is not controlled by ControlMyCanon.
• Green – indicates that ControlMyCanon is controlling the DSUSB.
• Off – indicates that ControlMyCanon is controlling the DSUSB and that a capture is in progress, or that the DSUSB is not plugged in to the computer USB port.

To Enable

Click on the ‘DSUSB’ item in the ControlMyCanon Tools menu. A checkmark will appear beside the menu item and the LED will turn green. Shoot commands will be sent to the camera via the DSUSB only.

To Disable

Click on the ‘DSUSB’ item in the ControlMyCanon Tools menu. The checkbark beside the menu item will be removed and the LED will turn red. Shoot commands will be sent to the camera via the regular ControlMyCanon usb connection only.

Capturing an Image

Click on the ‘Shoot’ button. Even though the ‘AF and Shoot’ button is enabled, it will not attempt to autofocus while the DSUSB is active and should not be used. During a a bulb shot, the LED will remain off. During a non-bulb shot, the LED will flicker off and back to green before the shot is complete.

Notes

• Before using the DSUSB in ControlMyCanon, be sure that it works using the utility provided by the manufacturer of the DSUSB. This tests that the connection is working, and that the functionality of the DSUSB is working as well.
• ControlMyCanon supports the DSUSB 1, DSUSB 2, and the DSUSB IR1. You select which device you are using in the ControlMyCanon Preferences screen, Misc tab.
• You can enable/disable the DSUSB by toggling the DSUSB menu item in the ControlMyCanon Tools menu. You can only change this when you are connected to your camera with ControlMyCanon.
• You must remain connected with ControlMyCanon to be able to use the DSUSB.
• IMPORTANT: The IR1 version of DSUSB will not trigger the shutter during live view. This is a limitation of the firmware. The IR1 version also requires that you set the body to ‘Remote’ shooting mode.

Internal Flash

You can use the built-in flash, hot-shoe flash, external flash, or radio triggers. The internal flash controls remain disabled until you pop-up the internal flash on the camera. The internal flash controls can only control the internal built-in flash. Repeating flash is not supported. To show the internal flash controls, go to the View menu and select ‘Flash’.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBFEjwmRjwk

Restrictions

Many older bodies support TTL, Manual and Commander mode. However, newer bodies support only TTL mode, and some bodies won’t support any remote flash control at all (such as the D5200), even though it has a built-in flash. We’re not sure why Canon has restricted this in their SDK.

Preferences

You can set certain application settings in the Preferences screen. These settings rarely need to be changed and will be used regardless of which profile is active. These settings are not stored in profiles.  You can open the Preferences screen from the Tools menu.

Connection

• Auto-Connect on startup – Will try to connect to the camera when you start up ControlMyCanon.
• Enable live view after connect – tries to start live view after connection is completed.
• Connection attempt timeout (seconds) – this is how long it will wait for a connection to complete, however the connection attempt may end earlier.
• Wait this long before processing the next camera command (ms) – ControlMyCanon sends body commands to queue, then from the queue to the body. This setting controls how long before the next command is sent from the queue to the – body. If you are experiencing failed connections, or lockups while connected to the body, try increasing this value.
• Body event polling frequency (Hz) – ControlMyCanon queries the body for any new events (ex. a new image has been captured, or the shutter speed has changed). This setting controls how often the body is queried per second. Some bodies don’t like being queried too fast, so if you are experiencing failed connections, or lockups while connected to the body, try decreasing this value.

Browser

• Create high quality thumbnail on capture – enable this for better quality thumbnails, but it takes several seconds longer per thumbnail creation. Mainly noticeable on histograms.
• Create high quality thumbnails when scanning folders – used when you select a folder in the image browser.
• Thumbnail creation threads – Default 1. Set max one thread per CPU core for faster thumbnail creation.
• Thumbnail Cache – Validate – Removes any thumbnail data from the database for images that no longer are at their original folder location.
• Thumbnail Cache – Location – Sets the path to the database file ‘ttcRepository.fdb’.
• Thumbnail Cache – Reset – Replaces the thumbnail cache file with a fresh, empty file.  Use this if your cache has grown too large and is slowing down your system.  Resetting the cache only removes thumbnails and metadata from the cache.  It does not remove the orignal file or remove the metadata from the original files.
• High-Quality Image Loading Delay (ms) – When you select an image, it will first show the thumbnail, then wait this delay value, then load the high quality image. On fast computers, you can use as low as 50ms. On slow computers, set it to 2000 or 3000 ms.
• Moving the database files
• Copy the four .fdb files to the new location.
• Set the Location using the Location button. The program will automatically shut down.
• Start ControlMyCanon.
• Remove the four .fdb from the previous location.
• Auto Live View – Image Browser Toggle – Enable – Use this to show the captured image in the image browser.  It basically presses the live view/image browser toggle for you (space bar is the default shortcut for this).
• – Return to live view after – Use this to automatically return to live view after showing the image in the image browser.

Live View

• Base live view enable/disable delay(ms) – used to slow down the transition between live view on and live view off. This is needed on some older bodies that need more time to make the transition, and this is noticeable during focus stacking where the buttons may become disabled during a shot, and then do not re-enable. Increase the toggle delay to mitigate this problem. The default 2000ms should be enough for most body/lens combinations.
• Additional Live View toggle delay padding – This is an extra padding used when focus stacking.
• Restart live view after countdown timer shutdown – automatically restarts live view after a shutdown due to a thermal shutdown.
• Restart delay – the number of seconds to wait before restarting live view after a thermal countdown shutdown.
• Key Pan Rate – Controls the speed of live view panning with shortcut.
• Use GPU – Check this box to use the graphics processing unit (video card) in your computer for processing the live view image stream instead of using the CPU.  See the live view article for more information on using this.

Metadata

Enter the default Copyright and Credit IPTC fields here. They will be copied to the metadata tab when you click on the ‘Clear’ button.

Stacking

• Zerene Stacker Path – The path to the zerenstk.exe. This is required for automatically exporting a stack to Zerene Stacker.
• Focus Motor Hysteresis– Adjusts the amount of ‘play’ in the focus motor. Used when a stacking preview or capture resets the focus back to the beginning. Default is 10. Units are step.

Misc

• Enable file mirroring – places a copy of any captured images in the location specified.
• Batch File – This is the path of the batch file that can be autmatically launched after capturing a file.  Avalable in Pro editions only.
• Always reverse exposure meter – some camera bodies can do this via lcd menu setting, while other bodies can achieve this with this setting.
• DSUSB – A triggering hardware device from www.shoestringastronomy.com. Useful for older bodies that cannot do tethered bulb. Set it to the model of DSUSB in use. You still need to turn on the DSUB device in the Tools menu.
• Batch Counter: Minimum @BIDCTR length – The minimum counter length used in the @BIDCTR filename token. Padded with leading zeros if necessary. Select a value from one to five.
• Auto-launch batch file after image capture – This is the path to the batch file. See the help on Post-Capture Batch File for more information.
• Main Counter: minimum @MCT length by default, the @MCT token gives a 000001.jpg or .nef filename. Use this to – set the number of leading zero’s. For example, setting it to 3 gives a 001.jpg filename.

Scanner

Enables a serial barcode scanner. If everything is configured correctly, you should be able to scan any barcode and it will appear in the log to the right. If using a keyboard wedge scanner, test it by scanning into Notepad.

• Enable – Put a checkmark here to connect to the scanner.
• Com – use the setting indicated by the scanner configuration utility.
• Baud – use the setting indicated by the scanner configuration utility.
• Data bits – use the setting indicated by the scanner configuration utility.
• Parity – use the setting indicated by the scanner configuration utility.
• Stop bits – use the setting indicated by the scanner configuration utility.
• Flow – use the setting indicated by the scanner configuration utility.
• Clear – clears the scanner log.

Batch

• Batch Counter: minimum @BIDCTR length – use this to reduce the number of leading zero’s on the BIDCTR number.
• Move focus to activat button after BID entry or serial scan – This will automatically move the keyboard focus to the activate button so that you can scan, then press the enter key on the keyboard to activate the BID.  This only works on serial barcode scanners, and doesn’t work with keyboard wedge scanners.
• Disable database query – use this to be able to enter a BID and activate it without corresponding data being stored in the batch database or external database. You can use this to embed the BID into a foldername/filename/metadata location without have to enter the information in advance.

Setting the Clock

To synchronize the body clock with your computer clock, go to the Tools menu, and select ‘Set Clock’.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAIDWs0K0e0

Using Bulb Mode

Certain bodies allow the use of bulb mode while tethered. This allows for exposures greater than 30 seconds.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMaIwmRzLoE

Tethered-Bulb-Capable Bodies

Even though all Canon bodies show ‘Bulb’ in the shutter speed list, only the following bodies allow shooting in tethered bulb mode. This means that the commands to trigger the shutter travel down the USB connection just like the other ControlMyCanon commands.

• Df
• D4
• D4S
• D5
• D500
• D600
• D610
• D750
• D800
• D800E
• D810
• D850
• D5200
• D5300
• D5500
• D5600
• D7100
• D7200
• D7500

Non-Tethered-Bulb-Capable Bodies

For bodies not on the above list, you can still do bulb shots with ControlMyCanon. However you will need a separate piece of hardware called a DSUSB. It can trigger the shutter via a separate USB connection that controls a wired or infrared trigger. You must enable the DSUSB in the Tools menu first, then select bulb mode.

Bulb Duration

• Minimum: 1 second
• Maximum: Varies per body. Check your manual for more info.

Accuracy

Bulb shots are accurate to 200 milliseconds (1/5 second). For more accuracy on shots shorter than 31 seconds, use the actual shutter speed needed instead of using bulb. So if you want a highly accurate 20 second shot, select ’20’ from the shutter speed list instead of setting it to bulb and setting the duration to 20 seconds.

Two Methods for Bulb Capture

Use the Long Exposure workflow for assistance in calculating the bulb exposure time necessary for a good exposure. This workflow also provides a step-by-step description of the steps to take to capture the bulb shot and an extra shot that can be used for noise reduction in post-processing. Your captures are shown in the image browser.

Use the Bulb workflow for an easier capture workflow. It assumes that you already know the exposure time you need, so you just need to enter the exposure time in seconds, and the press the Capture button. Your captures are shown in a mini-browser on the same tab.

Tips

• The ‘AF and Shoot’ button will not trigger a bulb shot.
• Bulb mode while in live view is not available.
• Bulb mode is accessible in the HDR, Time-lapse and Long Exposure workflows.

Example 1: 90 second exposure on a Tethered-Bulb-Capable body

1. Connect to your camera.
2. Set the shutter speed to ‘Bulb’.
3. Go to the Workflows menu and select ‘Long Exposure’.
4. Set the Duration to 90 seconds.
5. Click the Capture’ button. You can click the ‘Cancel’ button to cancel the bulb shot at any time.
6. Wait until the 90 seconds has passed.

Example 2: 90 second exposure on a Non-Tethered-Bulb-Capable body and/or with DSUSB.

Same as above, but enable ‘DSUSB’ in the Tools menu first.