D3400 for AP

[stuplu82]

Afternoon guys,

 

Does anyone on here use a D3400 for AP? I’m looking to invest in a HEQ5 mount with a 150PDS, with a guidescope setup, but I have recently bought a D3400 for everyday photography, so I’m not wanting to spend any more on an imaging camera.

 

Can the D3400 be controlled via a laptop. It looks like backyardEOS doesn’t support it and im struggling to find a software that does. Is it essential that a camera is controlled from a laptop ?

 

Any help here would be appreciated.

[PeterCPC]

I use Canon but, on a general point, you can use an Intervalometer to capture images rather than a laptop. Not so easy but it can be done.

Peter

[Cozzy]

Have you had a look at (Astro photography tool) it can control a number of Nikon cameras.

 

HTHs

 

Tim

 

[davew]

Unfortunately the 3000 series of Nikon cameras were aimed at the phone camera market and therefor don't have many of the features you'd expect. To further compound your misery the 3400 lost the remote cord connection too ! However, if you have a smart phone with an IR " Blast " then you can use this little app -  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dslr.camera.ir.remote.full&hl=en

It does have to sit slightly in front of the camera but that in itself isn't a great issue.

The smaller Nikon cameras that seem to tick all the boxes are the 5000 series from the D5300. All the more expensive ones, including the 7000 series, work very well too.

The D3400 is suitable for Starscapes and I could find a use for it but it wouldn't be my first choice for what you want.

Dave.

 

[Gasman]

Also try ControlmyNikon ! Should have a list of compatible dslr`s. and +1 for APT

https://www.tetherscript.com/controlmynikon-home/

Steve

[davew]

49 minutes ago, Gasman said:

Also try ControlmyNikon ! Should have a list of compatible dslr`s. and +1 for APT

https://www.tetherscript.com/controlmynikon-home/

Steve

How do you get either of those apps to control the D3400 ?

Dave.

[happy-kat]

I didn't think DSLR Controller is for Nikon cameras. It works for Canon EOS cameras.

Edit. Read post again and it was DSLR Camera ir remote mentioned. Sorry for any confusion.

[stuplu82]

Thanks guys. I guessed as much that you cant control it from a PC. I have an IR remote already, so I can at least use it for remote shooting. It has live view as well, so at least thats something. Typical the model I buy doesnt have this feature !

[davew]

7 minutes ago, stuplu82 said:

Thanks guys. I guessed as much that you cant control it from a PC. I have an IR remote already, so I can at least use it for remote shooting. It has live view as well, so at least thats something. Typical the model I buy doesnt have this feature !

Sorry to bring you bad news mate. The 3300 actually had the connection but it got removed in the 3400 ! I've used a 3300 and a 3400 for ordinary starscapes and it works well enough. Gives pretty good results to be honest and the kit lens can be made to work ok too.

Dave.

 

[Mognet]

The D3400 can be controlled from the PC. I tested mine out a while back with either qDSLRDashboard or DigiCamControl and had it working. You'll need a micro USB cable for it, which are pretty common and you might have one already as it's the same as type used for Android phone charge cables. I don't think there's any limit on the exposure times working this way, but I've not tried it for astrophotography yet.

There is also a handy option in the self timer modes to take up to 9 photos in succession. It's not the best solution for imaging as the maximum capture time from the standard camera options is 30 seconds. I've used it a couple of times for tripod based widefields

[davew]

1 hour ago, Mognet said:

The D3400 can be controlled from the PC. I tested mine out a while back with either qDSLRDashboard or DigiCamControl and had it working. You'll need a micro USB cable for it, which are pretty common and you might have one already as it's the same as type used for Android phone charge cables. I don't think there's any limit on the exposure times working this way, but I've not tried it for astrophotography yet.

There is also a handy option in the self timer modes to take up to 9 photos in succession. It's not the best solution for imaging as the maximum capture time from the standard camera options is 30 seconds. I've used it a couple of times for tripod based widefields

Well done, dashboard passed me by completely ! I read a post from last year that said it didn't work but the main dashboard app says it does in fact have limited functionality. Which bits did you get to work ?

I wonder why the big players can't get it to work ?

Dave.

Edit. I've been on the google apps review pages and there are people saying everything works ! I know someone who's going to be very pleased about this  

[Mognet]

5 hours ago, davew said:

Well done, dashboard passed me by completely ! I read a post from last year that said it didn't work but the main dashboard app says it does in fact have limited functionality. Which bits did you get to work ?

I wonder why the big players can't get it to work ?

Dave.

I'll try these again tonight and see what bits work

[knobby]

Used this on a few Nikon's successfully.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.dslrremote

Free to try on Android

[stuplu82]

20 hours ago, Mognet said:

The D3400 can be controlled from the PC. I tested mine out a while back with either qDSLRDashboard or DigiCamControl and had it working. You'll need a micro USB cable for it, which are pretty common and you might have one already as it's the same as type used for Android phone charge cables. I don't think there's any limit on the exposure times working this way, but I've not tried it for astrophotography yet.

There is also a handy option in the self timer modes to take up to 9 photos in succession. It's not the best solution for imaging as the maximum capture time from the standard camera options is 30 seconds. I've used it a couple of times for tripod based widefields

This is great news... i will give it a bash tonight and see what I can do. 

[stuplu82]

19 hours ago, davew said:

Well done, dashboard passed me by completely ! I read a post from last year that said it didn't work but the main dashboard app says it does in fact have limited functionality. Which bits did you get to work ?

I wonder why the big players can't get it to work ?

Dave.

Edit. I've been on the google apps review pages and there are people saying everything works ! I know someone who's going to be very pleased about this  

Downloaded the program and clicked on the astronomy button. Just tried a 300 second exposure and it worked perfectly. Very happy with this. 

[Mognet]

I'm just in the middle of setting it up to test. I'm going to test with the kit lens, and I have a list of things to be checked

• Live view
• Focus adjustment
• Zoom control
• Aperture adjustment
• White balance
• Capture time
• Interval time
• Capture to card or laptop

If I remember correctly it can do all of these and more. It's been a while since I tried it with this camera, and that was on the old and now very unhealthy laptop

[Mognet]

From my testing, DigiCamControl is the one to go for with the D3400. It does everything on my test list, except for zoom. And that's probably because the zoom cannot be controlled from the camera either. It can show the live view straight from the camera with very little lag, and allows fine control of focus. It can also zoom in on the live view, which will help with tighter focus on stars and planets. And it also has an astronomy mode for longer exposures, can capture to either card or PC, or both, and doesn't require installation of Nikon's own software and drivers.

qDSLRDashboard failed to see the camera, even with the proper Nikon software installed on the laptop.

 

I normally use the D3100 with an intervalometer for my astro photos, but here's one I did back in September with the D3400 on a tripod using the self timer trick I mentioned earlier. It's 66x10seconds, ISO1600, f2.5 with a Nikkor 35mm 1.8G prime lens. Processed in Sequator as it's the only way I've successfully removed lens distortion and finished off with GIMP.

[stuplu82]

Thanks for running that test. I did a similar test though only in the living room of my house. 

The astronomy mode of the DigiCamControl is exactly what im looking for. It looks as though you can control everything before you go into this mode and then just change the shutter speed at your will within the Astronomy tool. Managed a 300 second exposure no problem at all, in bulb mode. Happy days.