One of the problems with Canon 300D is, you can not control this camera from Windows 7 64 bit computer. The problem is, there is no driver available for 64 bit operating system, so you can’t use APT or BackyardEOS. You can download the images from this camera if you set the communication mode to PTP, but downloading raw image of 6-10MB takes around 25 seconds.
Here what I did to control this camera from windows 7 64 bit computer.
Before starting, you need to have the following hardware/software,
• Shutter Release Remote or cable.
• Serial cable for long exposure.
• USB-Serial adapter.
• USB cable to connect camera to computer.
• DSLR Shutter ( free download from
http://www.stark-labs.com/DSLR_Shutter.html)
Focusing target:
Focusing target image is bit difficult with 1.8” small screen on canon 300D. You have to maximize the image on small screen to see if the star properly focused or not. I found the accessing image from computer on large screen makes easy to focus. Canon 300D is USB 1.0 and it takes long time to access or download raw image of 6 to 10 MB from camera to computer, so I set the image quality to Small which makes the image size very small (only 300-400KB). To access Canon 300D from widows 7 64 bit, set the communication to PTP. This option can be set from Menu button.
Click on the attached images to see the screenshot of settings.
Now connect the camera to the computer and switch on. You will see the new windows to open or import photos from camera. Select Open option and I will open windows explorer. Find the folder where camera saves latest photos. Now start taking images using shutter release remote or cable and check the latest image in the folder in windows explorer.
Once you finish the focusing, switch off the camera and disconnect it from the computer.
Image Sequence:
• Switch on the camera and set the communication settings to Normal.
• Connect serial shutter cable to the computer (You do not need to connect camera with USB cable.) and other end to the camera.
• Set the image quality to RAW.
• Start the DSLR Shutter software and select the COMM port of your computer.
Click on the attached images to see the screenshot of settings.
• After selecting correct serial port, you will see the following screen of DSLR Shutter. You can see serial port connected at the bottom of the screen.
Click on the attached images to see the screenshot of settings.
• Set required settings and start the sequence.
Note: I took four images with 2 second delay during my testing and camera records all four images after finishing sequence. I don’t how many images you can take in one sequence.
