SkyWatcher AllView Issues

[WB9OMC]

Looking for AllView owners out there...........any of you have a problem where the AllView tells your camera to autofocus, then the mount moves to the *next shot* and shoots? Yeah, if you're shooting a panorama at a distance you can just put the camera to infinity focus and probably get away with it, but I'm working with some close-in, short-range panorama stuff where I do need an accurate focus. IFFFFF there is some hidden menu in the hand controller or similar, I'd sure like to know about it ASAP .......... project due soon in a Photography class.

BTW, if anybody is looking to use a Pentax (mine is a K5) on the AllView, it should be noted that even though the supplied Canon cable has the right 2.5mm connector and the correct number of wires (3), the connection order between Canon and Pentax for shutter trip and autofocus is reversed.  Or so all the references I have found on the web say, anyhow.  I put a bare plug into my K5 and jumpered the connections according to those references and the K5 did what it was told. Since the supplied cable with the AllView is allegedly wired for Canon, using that I would think make the Pentax K5 operate backwards, that is, autofocusing on a shoot command and vice-versa. Hard for me to tell, because the cable I got has an open wire in it. (Sky Watcher notified, waiting for reply on replacement)

So I made a cable with the two connections reversed, which as I said should be *correct* for the Pentax connection and I get this autofocus, move, shoot thing which is clearly wrong.  Seems to me it should be autofocus, shoot, move............repeat.  I'd think a backwards wired cable (if it were *wrong*) would simply flip-flop the autofocus and shoot order.

Shoot, move, autofocus - repeat.  And that would be correct.  Confusion reigns.   :-(

Anybody have a clue what the AllView is actually sending out to the camera in terms of command order ????

Duane

[WB9OMC]

OK, here's what it looks like happened.

Information obtained from the 'net was largely WRONG, and the pinout for Canon and Pentax are the same thing.  Tweaked the cable, and got some better results - also discovered that the timing for autofocus and shutter are apparently the same thing, time wise.  Other things ya gotta twiddle with the camera.  For example, on my Pentax K5 there is a setting that you can change that determines if you can actually get a shutter activation without FIRST having autofocused.  I had it set to ON.........which of course allows for some out of focus pix.  :-)   Turning that OFF forces an autofocus first, and if the camera can't do it then it won't release the shutter.  I put the AF and the metering out of SPOT mode and into multi-point mode, which seems to help marginally.  

Anybody with any good ideas, feel free to pop in here..........

Duane

[RyanParle]

I shoot a lot of timelapse and always set my focus to manual. Using AF during timelapse will almost always end up with some out of focus shots (a few if the camera is static, and a lot if the camera is on any kind of moco rig). If i need focus pulls during the timelapse i use a DIY Focus pull rig using a stepper motor & a nanomoco controller.

[Dark Matter]

I have it on good authority, that Synta will be releasing a new firmware later this year, for the Allview mount which I  also use. This new release will allow the mount to do TL imaging similar to the Dynamic Perception rigs.

In other words, the new firmware will allow the Allvierw mount to move as though walking a slope, across the plateau and down again, to ground level.

I use mine with a Nikon D3s and Canon 7D and while it contrils the time lapse, it does not change the focus, as that should be set to manual.