I made some scripts on my Raspberry Pi to automate a daily shot at a specific hour.
My DSLR is plugged in through USB. I thought this would keep its battery charged, but no.
Is there really no way automate a DSLR to shoot every 24 hours without having to pick it up, charge/replace its battery, and put in back on the same spot?
Is there really no way automate a DSLR to shoot every 24 hours without having to pick it up, charge/replace its battery, and put in back on the same spot ?
Canon and Nikon cameras can be connected to AC power by means of an adapter that fits in the battery slot. For example, Canon DSLRs that take an LB-E6 battery (like the 5D II, 6D, and 7D) can use an ACK-E6 adapter:
And Nikons that take a EN-EL14 battery (like D3200, D5200, etc.) can use this EP-5A AC Adapter:
I've seen similar arrangements for other brands as well. The best plan is to check the list of accessories available for your camera -- there are sure to be solutions for powering your camera both from AC power and also from a 12V vehicle battery.
No, cameras can not be powered by a USB port because they typically require more than The 5 volts maximun available from the USB port.
Being able to do this over USB is unlikely but not impossible.
My Nikon D750 has 7-9V 2.5A stamped on the bottom of it. That's a draw between 18W and 22W.
This is significant because you can buy USB step-up converters to get to 9V. The problem is most of these (one example) are limited in terms of current output to around ~5W... And 7W before they start to melt.
I'm certain you'd start to get supply issues at the USB end too past a point.
So short of chaining together multiple supplies, this probably isn't going to be an option for a full-on DSLR. It might be an option for a lower-power camera especially if you can disable the screen, etc.
If you can do the timing internally (many DSLRs can) is a battery grip available? I'm not sure how many shots you're planning but in my experience the timer doesn't use that much power. I get weeks of standaby from mine. I could double that with a battery grip. Perhaps more with higher density batteries.
What's killing it for you is being hooked into a USB interface. Assuming you have good standby power usage, an external timer would be a better idea than leaving it on USB indefinitely.
A separate power supply is by far the better option but if you're out of range of an AC supply, a car battery can easily supply currents like 2.5A through a cheap step-down transformer. This one can pump out 8A. 12A if you improve the heatsink.
More than enough to power the camera. Add a 5V supply power supply and you can power the Raspi too.
The great thing about picking a 12V lead-acid supply setup is it's used everywhere and rural demands mean there are solutions for keeping batteries trickle-charged via solar (or mini wind/water turbines, etc). Indefinitely.
The problem now becomes keeping your camera protected. I'm not an electrical engineer (I'm just enthusiastic and well-caffeinated) so it might be ill-advised to stick something like that into your camera without additional smoothing and/or additional voltage regulation.
If you're uncomfortable with this sort of stuff, I'd aim to find a local electrical engineer. The parts cost for something like this (past the battery) really are negligible.
The simplest way to get the voltage you need from USB is to use a cheap buck up/down (depending on whether you need more or less than 5V) convertor (such as the down convertor based on the MP1584, available for around a pound / dollar / euro) These can be around 80%+ efficient and shift the voltage from the 5V available on the USB port to whatever (within reason) you need. That solves the voltage problem, but what about the current ? Most cameras only need a high current momentarily (when recharging the flash for instance) This can be achieved by adding a capacitor in parallel with the output of the convertor to provide a short duration of extra current. Bear in mind that you may have to add a resistor between the capacitor and convertor to limit the current so as not to overload the output of the convertor when you switch on. (some convertors are safe and don't need this)
Many DSLRs have external power jack (it is often cylindrical, like those which are used in laptops). Some others might use an AC adapter which fits into the battery compartment.
Most DSLRs cannot be powered through their USB port (in fact, I have not seen any that can).
I put together a homemade solution using an 8V 1A power supply and a capacitor in the old battery housings. I'd recommend this approach if you're confident in your electronics ability, in particular in your ability to do it all patiently and carefully. You could easily fry the camera if you get it wrong. Access to a bench supply, combined with a camera that's on its last legs, are recommended.
There are no first-principle prohibitions to make a DSLR chargeable through the USB port. There are cameras with power consumption comparable to that of DSLRs, which support USB charging. Sony A7RII (introduced in 2015) can be charged from a power bank or PC while shooting. That is quite handy, I could record 4k videos non-stop for >1.5hours with a cable to a power bank in my pocket. Olympus OM-D E-M5III was the first Olympus model with a large DSLR-like sensor to support charging through its USB port. It has a micro-USB connector, same as Sony A7RII. Later models (OM-D E-M1III) with USB-C support tethered power supply to the camera. Technically these are not SLR (="single-lens reflex": no mirror/"reflex" part in these), yet the effect of the mirror on power consumption is insignificant.
If the question is specific about your particular DSLR -- well, if it does not provide an option to recharge the battery without removing it then unfortunately no way to solve your problem without seriously hacking the camera.
While not a DSLR but a mirrorless camera, a Canon EOS R6 may be powered with a compatible USB-C power delivery adapter. The adapter just needs to support the correct voltage. If you buy the very expensive USB-C power delivery adapter from Canon, it does (the Canon adapter lists 5V/3A and 9V/3A). If you buy it from some other vendor, you have to ensure it's able to produce 5V and 9V both at 3A. Presumably the 9V is the voltage that the camera negotiates with the power delivery charger, and the 5V is there just for USB compatibility with devices that don't negotiate a voltage.
