Remote shutter release using Phocus Mobil

[fotophil]

I have connected my X1D and iPhone using Phocus Mobil. The remote shutter release function on the iPhone works but unfortunately it does not seem to support the auto bracketing function. When I set the auto bracket function to a 3 shot series of -2, 0,+2, pressing the iPhone release button takes the first shot at -2 and stops. Pushing the iPhone button a second time results in a second exposure at -2 and pushing a third time results in third at -2 exposure. If I use the X1D shutter release button, one push results in a sequence to the three exposures -2, 0, +2 which is the expected result. Can someone else please verify the Phocus Mobil behavior with auto bracketing?

[fotophil]

Now I know that Phocos Mobile is not a solution to my desire for a remote shutter function supported by auto bracket! Next up is the wired remote. In a X1D FAQ Hasselblad indicated that although they would not add a cable release to the X1Dthey said that a potential solution would be a third party wired release using the USB connection. I wonder if Hasselblad would provide the USB configuration to a third party supplier like Vello (one of B&H's third party suppliers of wired releases) or the various suppliers on E-bay that have has such items for Nikon, Canon, Sony, etc. but none specifically for the X1D. Any electronic wizards around that have already tried to build a release?  Any ideas?

[davidthescot]

Well I think that would have to disclose their OS for the camera as this would not be a simple electrical solution.  A better result would be for Phocus mobile to work through the lightning/USB connector with some changes to the camera OS and Phocus to enable it to mirror camera OS exactly.  That would be an easier solution IMO for Hasselblad to do.

[rent]

@fotophil The issue you observed was acknowledged by Ming as a bug, which hopefully they will fix soon.

The bigger issue is that, at least to me, Phocus Mobile has not been a very reliable remote trigger. The connection drops if I use the phone for anything else, if either the phone or the camera goes to sleep, or if I move about to more than few meters / yards from the camera. Once the connection drops it's a hit and miss to re-establish connection. It is a PITA to use for anything critical.

The preferred solution is a simple remote device that plugs into the USB-C port. Alternatively I'd be ok with a wired connection from the USB-C port to iPhone/iPad as a stop gap measure.

But Phocus Mobile is a complete FAIL as a remote trigger.

[fotophil]

While we all hope that the "firmware bug" can be fixed, the E-mail that I recently received from Hasselblad New Jersey brings up the question of if Hasselblad even thinks it is a bug let alone try to fix the bug. The attached E-mail from Hasselblad in New Jersey was sent to me responding to my request for a solution to the self timer - auto bracketing issue. The is the E-mail that I received form Hasselblad is as follows: "No, there haven't been many requests for the two combined features.  And bracketing in general wasn't highly sought after.  At this point, they said that product management is fully aware and they can't say if this feature will be added."

It appears to me that although Hasselblad is aware of the situation, they may not view it as a high priority problem since they claim that have not received many requests for the two combined features nor do they feel that auto bracketing was even a highly sought after feature. This is discouraging and doesn't reflect the optimism expressed by Ming. Perhaps we X1D Users need to contact Hasselblad directly and re-state our requests. If we don't take action we may find the X1D up-grade is delayed until the X2D.

[BillW]

Then please everyone, email Hasselblad. Here is where I will send my request. The first one is Europe and the second is the USA.

customersupport@hasselblad.com
support.us@hasselblad.com

[sog1927]

Well I think that would have to disclose their OS for the camera as this would not be a simple electrical solution.  A better result would be for Phocus mobile to work through the lightning/USB connector with some changes to the camera OS and Phocus to enable it to mirror camera OS exactly.  That would be an easier solution IMO for Hasselblad to do.

They wouldn't have to disclose the entire camera OS, merely the format of the packet (and my bet is that there's only one) that Phocus sends to command the camera to fire when it's tethered. There are both hardware and software USB protocol sniffers available which could capture this data, although Hasselblad might object to a 3rd party reverse engineering the protocol in this way (since it's proprietary).