intervalometer problem / smart shooter 4

[RustyShackleford]

Hi,

Apparently my camera (nikon d3400) doesn't take an intervalometer as it doesn't have a connection

I'm looking at which software I can use through laptop (mac book) as an alternative. The only software Ive found that supports my camera is smart shooter 4. Ive downloaded a demo and it seems to do what I need. It will take multiple timed exposures with whatever settings I program - aperture, iso, exposure etc.

I was wondering if anybody has used this software or if there are any you can recommend and also apart from aperture, iso, exposure and multiple pictures are there any other things to consider for this software for astrophotography?

Not sure it makes a difference to my question but just incase, I'm using a sky watcher start adventurer pro for tracking.

Thanks.

[daemon]

I use DigiCamControl for my Nikon D5300 and it is pretty good and free. However I think it is only for Windows. With it you can control pretty much everything. I also use that cam on a Star Adventurer and I guide (in RA only) and have achieved some pretty good results with a decent Polar Alignment. Backyard Nikon may be an option but not sure if that runs on Mac.

Clear skies!

Daemon

[RustyShackleford]

Thanks Daemon. Yeah, looking at it DigiCamControl is windows only and I looked at Backyard Nikon but unfortunately it doesn't support my camera. There seems to be a lot of options for windows but not many for mac. I might look at getting a cheap windows laptop just for this.

[daemon]

Maybe it is worth trying something like the WINE software that allows you to run Windows programs on a Mac. I have no experience of it (never owned a Mac) but I have heard others speak well of it, and it may save you some money. 🙂

[RustyShackleford]

ah, thanks. i'll have a look at that.

[rickwayne]

As far as I can tell the D3400 is supported by the INDI library, which means you could run it with KStars and Ekos. That's a full-featured astronomy suite, runs on Macs and Linux too. 

[RustyShackleford]

great, thanks. I'll have a look at those.