Canon S100 Geotagging with Time Stamps from Hotshoe on Solo

Reach Module / M+ / M2 Hardware integration
1

I realize this topic has been dealt with in some depth in several posts dating back to nearly a year ago but I still have some questions. I have Canon S100 Camera. Exactly what parts do I need in order to record time stamps with hotshoe?

  1. Exactly which hotshoe adaptor? On E-bay I see different kinds, mini, advanced, standard???
  2. Which Tuffwing cable for time stamps?
  3. (Possibly optional?) Which Tuffwing cable to power Reach module?
  4. (Optional) Trigger Canon S100 from Solo pixhawk.

My goal is to trigger camera with CHDK KAP script(based on time intervals for now), and post process flight log on desktop after. In the future I’d be interested in triggering from pixhawk. It will be mounted on Solo drone but I will not be using Reach for drone navigation. I would prefer to power module from drone, although I do have a small, light power bar that would be suitable if I have to. I have gone through every website available dealing with the subject and I am somewhat confused. Any help would be very welcome!

2

Hello
I don’t own a S100 but I don’t see a hotshoe on the camera.
Did check this page:
http://ardupilot.org/copter/docs/common-apm-to-chdk-camera-link-tutorial.html

Cheers
Patrick

3

Thank you so much for your response. Yes, I am a beginner in that field and not always sure what I’m looking for so my research can take me down some dead ends sometimes. Thanks for pointing that out.

4

With the S100 you can extract the shutter trigger times from the KAP log file (may require a bit of fiddling to discover the time offset if the GPS clock sync is not great - it seems a bit inconsistent).

I just used a spreadsheet to merge the data from the RTKlib .pos file and the KAP log and interpolate geotags to create a geolocation file for Pix4d, agisoft, etc. Link was in the post I put up at Precision geotagging images using Emlid Reach, Canon S100, CHDK, KAP script and RTKlib – Proof of concept - Blogs - diydrones’, or go direct to it here:

CHDK can also fire the led on the front of the camera, so that may be a more robust route to go down. Tuffwing sell a vable to do this: Install a Canon Precision Geotag Cable

I have been able to get geotag errors down to an RMS error of 3-5 cm using Reach and PPK. Tested on baselines out to 30km.

5

Thanks! I read through your post numerous times, but I was concerned it required a skill level I don’t possess at this point. :slight_smile: I think I’ll give it a try using KAP logs. Thanks again!

6

Hi Brent,

I would really recommend using a better camera with hotshoe, for example A6000.

7

Would you recommend it for the Solo also? I was concerned about weight (under 2kg total) and technical difficulties of installation :slight_smile: But the long winter evenings can be a good time for studying :slight_smile:

8

A6000 is what @Luke_Wijnberg uses to get perfect results:

Here is how @Yorke performed installation on Solo:

I really think that you will get better results with improved camera :slight_smile:

9

Awesome! Thanks! With so much information available it’s nice to have some of it kind of sorted out and recommended specifically. Otherwise, I find myself a little overwhelmed. I already own a Canon S100 that I have been using. Will try to use KAP GPS log for now but I will start working toward integrating the Sony a6000 with my Solo.

10

Hi @Brent_W how do you install KAP into chdk?