What softwareand cables do I need for this?

I have a Canon Xti. I built a remote pan/tilt head for it and I have a remote shutter release, however, I need a way to frame the image remotely. I am approximately 55 feet away. Is there a way to do this with existing hardware and software or am I going to need to rig up a wireless web-cam type thing?

All the remote control movement is done with the RC unit, so the PC will be only used to frame the shot.

Any suggestions?

Do you mean to focus and frame the shot on the PC before you take it?

If so, you can't do that with the Xti. You need live view, and this is only available on the 40D at the moment.

You can take a shot remotely and then adjust it according to the image on the PC, but focusing and composing before shooting won't work with this camera.

Primm wrote in post #4606208
You can take a shot remotely and then adjust it according to the image on the PC, but focusing and composing before shooting won't work with this camera.

What do I need to do this?

This is a reasonable work around for me. I think auotfocus works with my remote shutter release (halfway down) so that shouldn't be too much of a problem, I hope. I can set the camera up, as far as all the settings, before I put it out; I really just need some way to frame the picture. So if I need to shoot, re-frame, then shoot again, I can handle that.

Look at the EOS Remote software that came with your camera. You can use that, with Zoombrowser, to connect to the camera from your PC via a USB port.

EOS Remote worked for me, but I needed an active usb cable. Normal USB vill only work for appr. ~5meter.
I used it once for taking pics from animals about 12meters away.
Laptop-active usb cable-eos remote did work well.

You'll need an external webcam mounted on-axis to track the camera's motion. Or you could get a Zigview finder; they pick up the view from the VF and replay it on an LCD screen. One model at least allows you to do that remotely. B&H carries them, among others, but they're pricey.

Thanks everyone, heading to Ebay for active USB cables!

I tried it out tonight, with a reguler short USB cable, and it works great. Just waiting on the active USB cables to get here now so I can use it long range.

7hanks for the help everyone.

BTW, my Zoombrowser EX was crap, wouldn't open, just froze on the first screen with the tip of the day thing. I downloaded the the newest version from the Canon website and it seems to be working fine now.

Once again 7hanks!

This will take care of the problem.

http://www.argraph.com …2/Zigview%20S2%​20Page.htm

Hope you got lots of cash.