Wireless remote control and panorama setup for Sony NEX-7

Markus already wrote two articles about controlling the NEX-5 with a wireless remote control. The first article presented the code and the schematics. In the second article he wrote about the final ‘product’, a boxed version of his Arduino.

Inspired by his design I tried to reduce the size. Therefore I didn’t implement the infrared receiver part and I also used a Arduino Nano instead of a regular Arduino. And I also used a smaller radio receiver. I finally had these components.

Radio transmitter, opened controller-box, trigger
Radio transmitter, opened controller-box, trigger
Radio transmitter, opened controller-box, trigger
Radio transmitter, opened controller-box, trigger

The next image shows a detailed view of the guts inside the box. With all the connecting cables and the two circuit boards there is not much space left.

Arduino Nano, radio receiver, cables
Arduino Nano, radio receiver, cables

The next images are showing the final setup. The trigger is attached to the camera. The controler box is connected to the trigger. The radio transmitter is ready to fire.

Sony NEX-7 with attached trigger, controller box, radio transmitter
Sony NEX-7 with attached trigger, controller box, radio transmitter
Sony NEX-7 with attached trigger, controller box, radio transmitter
Sony NEX-7 with attached trigger, controller box, radio transmitter

The following image shows a detail of the mounted trigger on the Sony NEX-7. I used some florist wire to attach the circuit board to the connector of the hand strap. On the other side the circuit board is glued to an hotshoe adapter which connects to the hotshoe of the camera.

Sony NEX-7 with attached trigger (detail)
Sony NEX-7 with attached trigger (detail)

And finally some images of the complete panorama setup, including a custom made lens bracket (in fact it’s a simple pipe clamp from the hardware store), a Novoflex Alpha- to E-Mount adapter and a Sigma 8mm/4.0 fisheye. For panoramic photography this setup is used on top of a double-monopod construction.

The weigtht of the shown setup is 1145 g (2 lb 8 oz). My old setup (Sony Alpha 900 with shaved Sigma 10mm/2.8) has 1710 g (3 lb 12 oz). In both cases this includes camera, lens, adapter, bracket, trigger, controller box, batteries and memory card.

Both setups delivers equirectangulars with the same size (10.000 x 5.000) and with both setups I shoot 4 around and mostly no up and no down shot.

Complete setup (back view)
Complete setup (back view)
Complete setup (right view)
Complete setup (right view)
Complete setup (front view)
Complete setup (front view)
Complete setup (left view, wake up)
Complete setup (left view, wake up)
Complete setup (left view, trigger)
Complete setup (left view, trigger)

And here is the new setup in action.

Shooting a horizontal pole panorama
Shooting a horizontal pole panorama

Click here to view some panoramic images which were taken with this setup.

Unpacking a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100

The PanoTwins camera family got a new offspring: The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100. I did not expect the camera to be available before August. However several posts on different blogs talked about the availability of the camera. So I visited the home page of my local camera dealer – not expecting the sign: In stock. I headed for the store immediately, because I wanted to see it for real. I bought the camera 5 Minutes after talking it the first time into my hand. And now I can show you some unpacking images:

On the side of the box you can read about the sensor size: 1.0 type (13.2mmx8,8mm) CMOS Sensor 20.2 Mega pixels. I did not find the sensor informaion on the box of the Sony Alpha 77 😉

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 Box
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 Box

After opening the box you find a second box containig a multilingual (15 languages: GB, FR, IT, ES, PT, DE, NL, PL, CZ, HU, SK, SE, FI, NO and DK) “Digital Still Camera / Instruction Manual”. Each language has roughly about 33 pages in the manual. No CD is included, but a leaflet stating: “PC software is in the camera. See instruction Manual or User Guide for details.”

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 Box Open
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 Box Open

After removing the second box the camera is revealed.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 Box Open Camera
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 Box Open Camera

The camera has several protecting covers and a small identification plate attached to it. This is the view from the front with the lens still closed.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100

Top view of the camera.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 Top
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 Top

First time with extended lens, that spans a 35mm equivalent range of 28-100mm with F1.8-4.9.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 Lens Extended
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 Lens Extended

After removing the camera tray you find the accessories on the bottom of the box.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 Box Accessories
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 Box Accessories

The accessories include a rechargeable battery, that has to be loaded inside the camera by connecting a supplied USB cable. The included transformer has an USB connector that fits this cable. Furthermore you find three straps, that can be attached to the camera. However the shoulder strap is an optional accessory and is not included! You’ll only find a wrist strap and two short straps for attaching a shoulder strap.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 Accessories
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 Accessories

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