Wireless Tethered Shooting With Any DSLR Camera

ATTENTION! UPDATED AND BETTER VERSION CAN BE FOUND HERE:

https://www.instructables.com/id/Wireless-tethered-shooting-with-any-DSLR-camera-V2/

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Newer DSLR Cameras allow you to shoot tethered wirelessly over your wifi lan. Unfortunately most cameras don't support this tecnlogy. BUT! There is a solution! You can make use of cheap wifi routers to build your own system for less then 50$!

What you need:

- Wifi network connected to Internet where you plan to shoot. (needed to download the executable since the internal memory is not enough) [alternatively you can be without internet but will have to install apache on your laptop.. see steps below]

- EOS camera

- TP-Link MR3040 (if version 2.0 or above is better) costs around 50$

- lan cable (for inital setup.. one is included in the MR3040 and is enough)

- PC

- usb cable to connect your camera

Step 1: Replacing the Router's Firmware

Before we do anything we need to find out what IP address your home router has. usually its 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1 or 10.25.25.1.

To do this you can follow any of the hundreds of guides available on the web, but if you are here then you most likely already know how to do it. Find out the IP address and remember it.

When you get your router you have to replace the firmware with OpenWRT.

If you have a V1.0 router then you need this files:

http://downloads.openwrt.org/barrier_breaker/14.07...

http://downloads.openwrt.org/barrier_breaker/14.07/ar71xx/generic/openwrt-ar71xx-generic-tl-mr3040-v1-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin

If you have a V2.0 or above version then you need these:

http://downloads.openwrt.org/barrier_breaker/14.07...

http://downloads.openwrt.org/barrier_breaker/14.07/ar71xx/generic/openwrt-ar71xx-generic-tl-mr3040-v2-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin

Notice that one file has the ending "factory.bin" and the other one "sysupgrade.bin". Pay attention in the following steps and be sure that you are using the proper file or you could damage (Brick) the router.

Disable your wifi card after downloading in order to avoid IP conflicts.

Connect your PC to the TP-link via lan cable, open the browser and go to the page 192.168.0.1

Login using the default username and password (admin/admin) and go to the firmware upgrade page. Hit "browse" and select the file you downloaded earlier with the ending "factory.bin". If you already have a OpenWRT firmware on your router you dont need to flash the factory.bin file and can go directly to the sysupgrade.bin.

Flash the firmware and wait for the router to reboot. Notice that after this step the router's IP address changed. now it is 192.168.1.1. So type this in your browser and log in into the interface. The interface is called Luci.

Now go again to the firmware upgrade page and select the file with the ending "sysupgrade.bin" and flash it.

Wait again for the reboot and log in into the router.

Your Router is now running the openWRT firmware! Lets configure it now.. :)

Step 2: Configuring the Router

First of all we need to enable SSH.

To do so you need to download PuTTY from HERE and run it.

In the "Host name" field type 192.168.1.1 and as connection type select Telnet.

Hit connect, and when you are connected you have to set up a password in order to enable SSH connections.

To set up a password type "passwd root" and hit enter. You will be prompted to type your password twice. (note that you wont see anything while typing.. its normal.. )

Close putty, now your password is set and SSH is enabled. We will need SSH later.

Now we need to set up the Wifi and Lan.

Open your browser at the address 192.168.1.1 and login using "root" and the password you just specified.

Go to "Network -> Wifi" and hit the "Scan" button.

Select your existing wifi network (the one you have internet access on) and enter the requested password to access the network. Save and apply.

Now go to "Network -> Interfaces" and edit the "LAN" interface.Set the Protocol to "static Address" and enter an IP address that matches your router's IP address. For example if you router's ip address is 192.168.0.1 enter an address like 192.168.0.200. set the Mask to 255.255.255.0 and the gateway to your router's ip address.

Hit save and apply.

Now disconnect the router from your PC and connect it directly to your router via cable. At this point you can reenable your wifi card and will be able to connect to the router via your existing lan at the address you have set above. (in my example it was 192.168.0.200)

Now access your router at the address you specified via browser and log in again. Go to Network->interfaces and edit "WWAN" this time.

Go to Firewall, and set the mark on "lan". Hit save and apply.

Now go to Network->Interfaces again and edit LAN. Go to Phisical settings, And set the interface to wireless network ONLY. when you hit save and apply you will totally disable the ethernet port, so before you save be sure that the TPLINK is indeed connected to your wifi or you wont be able to connect to the TPLINK anymore. You can check this in the "Network -> Wifi" page. If you're positive that the TPLINK is connected hit save and apply.

From now on your Ethernet port wont work and you will be connected only through your wifi! This last step is needed in order to be able to make the project work via wifi if we are in client mode.

Step 3: Downloading and Setting Up the Scripts

Now its the time to use SSH we previously configured!

Open up PuTTY and enter the tp-link's IP address you have set up in the previous step, set the protocol to SSH and connect.

Now enter following command and hit enter (without quotes): "wget -P /etc/hotplug.d/iface/ http://www.mad-sharky.com/99-download"

This downloads a script to your tp-link that is automatically executed as soon as the tp-link connects to your wifi.

This script will download a software (virtualhere) that is about 4 Mb and put it into the ram of your router and execute it.

If you do not have Internet access where you shoot, then you can install xampp on your computer and put the file http://www.virtualhere.com/sites/default/files/usb... into your c:\xampp\htdocs folder. Then you need to edit the above script located on your router under /etc/hotplug.d/iface in order to download the file form your pc in your lan.

Once this is done you do only have to set up the PC.