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Setting the Cameras

To setup the cameras in Solar Eclipse Maestro you have to open the Hardware Configuration dialog.

  1. Choose Setup > Hardware Configuration…
  2. Fill in the required fields.
    When a camera device is connected through the USB or Firewire bus and powered it will appear in the dialog once the camera is answering. Chasing arrows will be displayed while waiting for the camera’s answer: after the memory card light indicator is off. If the camera doesn’t show up click the Refresh button once the device is connected and powered. If this button is deactivated, then a camera search is running and you must wait a bit more. The Refresh button doesn’t exist in the Intel version.
    Note: if the memory card is already full of pictures it may take a while, up to a few minutes, before the camera appears.
    Hardware Configuration Dialog
  3. You can now check that the cameras are functioning.
    After selecting the checkbox of a camera, clicking on the Fire button will take a single exposure. This commands the camera to take a 1/2000 f/8 ISO 200 exposure. Check that the camera accepted these settings and that the exposure time, aperture and ISO are now set to those values, and that an image was created on the memory card at those settings.
  4. Give a name to the camera: it must be identical to the name used in the script.
  5. If not correctly set, select the model of the camera. If you don’t find your camera’s model, then select Other.
  6. To synchronize the date and time of the camera with the Mac’s clock if the camera allows it, check Synchronize.
  7. The serial number of a camera is displayed in an help tag when hovering over the content of the Detected column. It can help you distinguish multiple cameras of the same model.

These settings aren’t saved when the application quits because there is no way to guarantee that the cameras will be connected in the same order the next time.

If a GPS unit is connected to the Mac, it will be shown in the dialog even if it was turned off when you opened the dialog and later powered it.

With Solar Eclipse Maestro Pro, you can also connect a Weather Station and retrieve its data.