NEX-5n / HDMI / gentLED incompatibility

Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
Success!! I found some thinner wire in an A/V cable and was able to get it attached to the solder pads. The pads are so tiny though and the solder paste isn't as strong as regular high-temp solder so the wires popped off over and over until I was able to get them hot glued into place and the cover back on. The shutter button works though and the wires also trigger the shutter so now it just needs a JST plug and a couple of cable ties to anchor it. All in all it was a fairly stressful experience but now I can swap out my T2i with the NEX and use the same wire from the Pico switch to trigger the shutter.
I'm happy to share my experience if anyone else wants to give it a try. A couple of quick notes:
trim the black plastic just outboard of the switch so the wire from the backside of the switch has a spot to tuck into
pre-bend a u-turn in the wire that will solder to the back pad so you don't have to try to bend it after soldering (there's no strength to anything and they pop off!)
grind a small relief hole for the wires to exit the case before soldering the wires. straight ahead from the front corner pad is a good idea as the front corner solder joint is weaker than the back middle joint
Strip a quarter of an inch from each wire and tin the ends with regular solder then trim to have just enough to attach to the pad....turn the iron down (i used 450-500 degrees) before using the soldering paste to attach them
with the wires in place force a tiny amount of hot glue around the wires just where they exit the case to help keep them from breaking off at the joints....too much glue though and you'll get it on the pads making future repair and/or soldering difficult
use a tissue to really get the tip of the soldering iron clean after wiping it on your sponge. little blobs on the tip look like boulders under the magnifying glass
other than that, DJ's guide was very helpful.
 
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Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!

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Droider

Drone Enthusiast
Probibly full use of ALL the camera functions and not just the auto mode available via infrared.
 

MombasaFlash

Heli's & Tele's bloke
What type hdmi-analog converters you are using? I've been looking for one for gh2 setup.

Kari

Did you eventually get one of those HDMI converters and did it work with your GH2? I found the GH2 reluctant to output via the HDMI converter (it didn't work), but it would with an HDMI equipped TV or monitor.
 

Kari

Member
Did you eventually get one of those HDMI converters and did it work with your GH2? I found the GH2 reluctant to output via the HDMI converter (it didn't work), but it would with an HDMI equipped TV or monitor.

Yes i actually bought one from ebay and took it out from metal box but haven't tried it yet with GH2. What i heard about it is not going to work anyway with 720p50 modes. Did you try HBR, 24p or 1080i modes all? Also might be good to try with different lower bitrate patch, this is just a guess but never know..

Kari
 

MombasaFlash

Heli's & Tele's bloke
I was trying it with a stock GH2 out of the box, no hacks or patches, set at all resolution options. It would not output a video signal via the HDMI converter but it would to a TV or HDMI equipped monitor. But, even with the TV it had to be connected and switched on in a very specific order, otherwise no picture. Panasonic's complete stupidity is in disabling the composite video output during record. It is a totally pointless output because with the HD option next to it, who the hell will ever choose to playback images through the A/V output?

In contrast, with the Canon 5D and the NEX-5n, anytime the HDMI cable was plugged into either TV or HDMI converter the picture popped up straightaway. They are no sensitive in any way to connection or switch on order.
 

While the last entry in this thread is already more than a month old, I hope this is not seen like hijacking this thread.
I too have a GentLed Shutter and Nex5N combination. I wanted to use it on a MP360 from PhotoShipOne. Whil I do notice that it seems to work the delay between a magnet triggering the shutter and the actual picture been taken is too big. Also the camera seems to need ages to recover and be ready for the next picture.

Can somebody give a hint to the settings of the Nex5N allowing for the fastest release of pictures in a row.

Thanks and excuses is this does not completely belong here.

Regards,
Ruud
 

MombasaFlash

Heli's & Tele's bloke
As a rule with video I always use manual focus set to infinity - or as close as these consumer cameras permit infinity focus. The problem with them is that they can focus 'beyond infinity' which is a bit daft. Anyway, I did find out on a photo session that when using the HDMI converter you basically have little choice but to use manual focus. If you leave the camera set on Auto-Focus it will take one shot and then either not take any more at all or will make you wait for minutes before it allows another to be taken - this is with the gentLED i/r shutter release.

All this was discovered with a Sony NEX-5n and I was curious to know whether the GH2 had the same weird habit, even though it uses a gentWIRE shutter release and not an i/r. The answer is, yes. It too does not like taking photos if left on Auto-Focus whilst using the HDMI converter.

I am wondering whether the recent discovery that the camera is able to power the HDMI converter via its HDMI cable has anything to do with this, as there will be two separate power supplies meeting in the middle somewhere if the HDMI converter is powered by another source.

So, in answer to your final question, if you leave the camera on manual focus you will find that the shutter release and recovery times are quite acceptable for normal purposes. If you need to take a burst then the camera will have to be set to that mode.
 

Hi MombasaFlash,

thanks for the update.
I was trying to do pictures in manual focus too. Never mind the result (I never looked at them, they were tests), but they take too long. Even in the slowest settings the MP360 takes to pan, the camera is not ready when the next magnet lines up.
I feel I have to do this hack DJ is proposing, but it all looks so dam.... small to me.
My soldering device is 20W and 1mm, but still it looks real difficult. Honestly more difficult then soldering the small parts from the expansion board or WiFi boards from MK.

But the Sony seems way too slow for the GentLed Shutter.

Regards,
Ruud
 

Vipe

Member
I had same problem with Sony NEX-5N and hdmi converter connected and using Flytron Sony IR shutter. With autofocus on, it won't take pictures.

Solution is here: Use mode P, S, A or M and then in autofocus area, select flexible spot!
 


Same problem too with 5n. Will not focus (and, subsequently: shoot) if hdmi converter is connected. The hdmi converter, by the way, is able and does get the supply from the camera through the hdmi connection so that if i leave the camera on the hdmi converter will drain the camera battery empty.
Funny enough the old Nex5 doesn't show this problem at all and keeps shooting regardless of the hdmi converter.
My suggestions with the 5n when used with hdmi converter are to leave the camera set to manual focus and to disable picture review.
 

Vipe

Member
Why not try flexible spot and autofocus, have you tried it? I have mini hdmi2av converter from ebay and it is powered separately from 5V ubec with modded usb cable. Works very good now!
 

My fault, i was not clear enough, sorry: i am already supplying the hdmi2av through a separate ubec, what i mean is that when i switch off the ubec the hdmi2av stays on, using camera battery through the hdmi cable. I prefer manual focus because it solves more than one problem:
-the camera refusing to focus when connected to the hdmi2av
-at night (i love the 5n high iso's) the af of the nex will hunt a lot before finding something to focus and shoot, in mf it's shooting immediately

At last, even in good light, f8 at 18 mm depth of field is so large that everything in front of the camera will be in focus, only problem maybe if we shoot at very short distance, but this does not happens very often and in these cases we use the 5 (not n) in autofocus.
 

Vipe

Member
Maybe that that camera battery problem can be solved by modifiying hdmi cable? I will test what happens if I cut that +5v power wire from hdmi cable.

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As a rule with video I always use manual focus set to infinity - or as close as these consumer cameras permit infinity focus. The problem with them is that they can focus 'beyond infinity' which is a bit daft. Anyway, I did find out on a photo session that when using the HDMI converter you basically have little choice but to use manual focus. If you leave the camera set on Auto-Focus it will take one shot and then either not take any more at all or will make you wait for minutes before it allows another to be taken - this is with the gentLED i/r shutter release.

All this was discovered with a Sony NEX-5n and I was curious to know whether the GH2 had the same weird habit, even though it uses a gentWIRE shutter release and not an i/r. The answer is, yes. It too does not like taking photos if left on Auto-Focus whilst using the HDMI converter.

I am wondering whether the recent discovery that the camera is able to power the HDMI converter via its HDMI cable has anything to do with this, as there will be two separate power supplies meeting in the middle somewhere if the HDMI converter is powered by another source.

So, in answer to your final question, if you leave the camera on manual focus you will find that the shutter release and recovery times are quite acceptable for normal purposes. If you need to take a burst then the camera will have to be set to that mode.

I had this same problem as you on a shoot I did, but I set object tracking on and got it to work on auto focus. It always worked before, then one day I turned off object tracking on my camera and I noticed I couldn't get shots anymore the next time I flew. Turned it back on and bam, auto-focus works with hdmi out. Not sure why it works then, maybe it is not really auto-focusing then? All the green squares appear in my down-link monitor like it's focusing on objects right before it snaps, and snaps about once every second.

also, my camera powers the hdmi converter
 
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Yes, great finding. Pity i just reverted to a servo operated shutter but i'll keep in mind this as an alternative in case the servo breaks or ...who knows. BTW: i switched to a sero operated shutter because it allows the super fast continuos shooting that we need in some occasions (freestyle riders and snowboard).
 


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