Lunar Eclipse Maestro Icon

Using Remote Live View

To use the remote live view in Lunar Eclipse Maestro you have to open the Live View dialog. This works only with cameras onto which the feature is available.

  1. Choose Camera > Live View > Camera number/name.
    Live View Dialog
    Live View Contextual Menu
  2. You can now adjust the focus on the camera lens or telescope and see the result directly on your Mac screen.
    A contextual menu, that can be invoked with a right click, will let you select various options:
    • Display Focus Metrics - Show or hide the focus indicator value.
    • Display Roll/Pitch/Yaw Angles - Show or hide the values for the roll, pitch and yaw angles on capable cameras (Nikon only).
    • Display Histograms - To show or hide various histograms
      • Luminance (Y)
      • Red (R)
      • Green (G)
      • Blue (B)
  3. On cameras with motorized lenses attached and focussing mode not set to manual, it is possible to refine the focus directly from the Mac using two minus (-) and plus (+) buttons: this method is much more accurate than hand-focusing on the lens. A third button performs an autofocus that can then be refined. Once the focussing is done, don’t forget to set the focussing mode back to manual on both the camera and attached lens.
  4. The next step is to zoom in on an area of the view to adjust the focus more precisely.
    To do just that you need first to move the focus area, the red or sometimes green frame, before changing the scale factor. To move the focus area just click anywhere on the image and the frame will be centered at the location of the click.
    A navigation area, in the lower right, displays the relative position and size of the current view (in light gray) in relation to the camera frame (in dark gray). With it you can better pinpoint which part of the image you’re viewing at.

When the live view dialog is displayed, all scheduled scripted exposures are dropped during that time period. However, a live view image is saved for each of the dropped exposures; the files will be stored in a folder named Live View Exposures located inside the current user’s Documents folder. A red indicator, located on the right of the scale factor, will indicate that one or more exposures were dropped. A general preferences setting allows to systematically force the live view termination when an upcoming exposure is about to be missed. Scheduled exposures will resume when the live view dialog is closed.

Note for Nikon DSLRs or MILCs :
The internal temperature of the camera can increase if the Live View mode is used for a long period of time. In order not to damage the camera’s internal circuitry, the Live View mode is deactivated automatically before the camera overheats. A safeguard countdown is displayed in red, at the lower left corner of the view, 30 seconds before the end. In hot climate this countdown can appear as soon as entering in Live View mode.