Trouble Shooting Guide

I press connect, but my Camera does not show up in the choose list?

There are 2 reasons this can happen.

  1. The most likely is that your camera direct from the factory has the communication mode to set Printer. You need to access your camera menu and change the mode to PC or Computer or Normal (depending on your camera model)
  2. The 2nd possiblity is that you have not installed the Canon Camera drivers for your camera model. These get installed when you install the Canon supplied software. You can also download these from Canon here:

After pressing connect I get an error telling me that "The Camera can not be put in remote release mode".

This usually happens if you have a Serial or Parallel cable connected to the Bulb port on the camera. Sometimes these ports are set to on by your computer at start-up. This means the camera is being told to do something by the Bulb port and will not accept commands to go into remote control mode. The solution is to unplug your Serial Cable and connect with the USB cable only. Then after DSLR Focus has started, connect your Bulb cable. DSLR Focus is programmed to set your port off on start-up.

Use this quick test to confirm succesfull installation.

1.   Set Lens on camera to Manual Focus (MF)

2.   Set your Camera to Manual (M) mode

3.   Make sure camera has CF card in the memory

4.   Connect USB cable to your camera and PC

5.   Turn on camera. Cancel Canon Popup Dialogue that should appear.

6.   Start DSLR Focus (should say 3.3.x on title bar). Enter your key if asked to activate software

7.   Press Connect Toolbar Button or Select "Connect to Camera: from the Application menu.

8.   When the Connect window appears, press the "Connect" button.

09.  A Camera connection dialogue box will pop up

10.  Select your camera model and press "Ok"

11.  If this box is blank it means you have not correctly installed with canon WIA or TWAIN drivers or you do not have your USB cable connected, or your Camera Communication mode is on Printer

12.  Make sure you are in focus mode. The Focus Mode radio button should be selected.

13.  Set the following on the camera if they are not already set. Image Size to normal/medium, Tv to 2” seconds, Av to lowest your lens can do. Probably f4 on a standard 18-55 lens

14. Press the spacebar to fire shutter on camera

15. Shutter should fire and an image should download and display in a new window.

 

If this all happens, then this confirms that basic connectivity is established and that DSLR Focus can communicate with your camera.

 

When I press Spaceabar to fire shutter in Focus Mode nothing happens or an image does not download and display.

Make sure your Tv is not set to Bulb. If you have a camera lens on, make sure the lens is set to manual focus (MF). If you have a 20D,20Da, 350D, 10D or D60 then make sure Mirror lock in the Camera Cfn setting is turned off. Also try unplugging your serial or parallel cable and seeing if this makes a difference. When you plug in your camera to your PC, a Canon dialogue box may pop up asking what you want to do. make sure you close this before starting DSLR Focus

I connected my Serial or Parallel cable, but nothing happens when I press start in Long Exposure Mode.

Make sure you told DSLR Focus what Bulb cable you are using.

From the Camera Control Menu, Choose -> Bulb exposure setup -> Port Setup... Follow the instructions in the user manual to enable your cable depending on if its a serial or parallel cable.