Displaying live view on a PC - D850.

spraynpray

Hi Guys,

Something I haven't done before:

Trying to focus a Nikon on stars is a complete PITA because they don't have any kind of dynamic (video) noise reduction on the live view it seems. My Canon shooting clicking buddy has a black screen with with white stars, I have a berserk flickering mess of a screen covered in colour noise among which only the brightest stars (planets) can be seen. It is virtually impossible to focus because you cannot see the aberrations that being a fraction out of focus cause until you get home and find you have wasted your time and money on a trip. GRRR!

Can I at least get the live view to display on a PC? At least that way it will all be bigger and I may have more 'luck'.

PB_PM

I know of some third party programs, like qDslrDashboard that do this, and it works with computers and smartphones/tablets. Doubt viewing it on an external device will get rid of the noise though, that will still show.

spraynpray

If only it would help with noise! No, I am just hoping it will enable critical focussing of the stars while checking the stars near the edges for coma/astigmatism without scrolling around.

Thanks for that PB, I'll try it out.

MunchmaQuchi

Use live view with a wide open lens -magnify in on the brightest star in the fov. Focus your lens until the pinpoint is minimal. Now close down to 2.0 or 2.8. You can pretty much trust this will be in focus when you're done.

spraynpray

That's the plan, I was just interested in the easiest way to get live view on a laptop in the field i.e. away from home networks. I'm still interested in suggestions on the best software/method to achieve this guys.

mhedges

Could you use a tablet and connect via WiFi?

spraynpray

I could if I had one...

seriously though - I do have a prehistoric Samsung 7", but I don't know if it will even work with the latest apps?

mhedges

If it doesn’t - well, tablets are pretty cheap these days.

Ton14

I have this one Andrew:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rupiapps.cameraconnectcast&hl=nl

Bought it and I Asked him if he had a laptop version, but that was a negative.
You can try it on your fossil Samsung 7 first to see if it works.

Works by me with the D7200 and with the WU-1b on the D600.

spraynpray

@mhedges true.

@Ton14 Thanks Ton, I'll give it a try.

PB_PM

Was just thinking about the noise issue spray, do you have exposure preview turned on in live view, that would create more noise.

spraynpray

Hi PB,

Funny you should mention that ( embarrassed emoticon goes here). I tend to think of myself as someone who gets the best out of their kit, and I certainly did with the D750. I disabled the exposure preview on the D750 and it improved matters, although it darkens the view to the point that only planets show up clearly. With the D850, as soon as I tried it and saw the noise, I looked for the exposure preview to turn it off but couldn't find it. I was out shooting the milky way the other evening and while I was bitching about not being able to find it (on the D750 you find it on the live view screen, but on the D850 it isn't there), I accidentally hit something while the camera was pointing vertically which switched it off! I then read the manual and found the left hand OK button toggles it. So now I turn it on to find a bright star or planet then zoom in and turn it off to focus. Dynamic noise reduction would be better if it had it though. My mate's 7D2 has a much better view than any of my Nikon's which does get on my nerves!

Thanks for your interest and taking the trouble to reply.