All Our Apps Run Natively on Apple’s M1 Silicon

November 10, 2020 by

Apple’s event is over, and now you have an idea what the M1 silicon can do in terms of performance and power efficiency.

Following the event’s theme, I’m thrilled to announce that our Mac apps are optimized for the new chip, and the updates that bring this to you are available on the Mac App Store right now.

While it’s just a nice touch for ShutterCount, as it isn’t a demanding app in terms of performance, the picture is completely different for Kuuvik Capture.

Kuuvik Capture was always lightning fast and gentle to the battery, leaving other apps literally in the dust. But with the M1, it found a new soul mate. It feels much snappier on the new chip, and I’m sure will save even more time for you on the new Macs than ever before.

Of course the updated versions (ShutterCount 4.7 and Kuuvik Capture 5.3) are also optimized for macOS Big Sur.

Enjoy!

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iOS 14 Compatibility and Device Support Updates

September 26, 2020 by

During the last week we had issued updates to all our apps. These cover compatibility fixes with iOS 14 as well as new iPad and camera support. All apps will work on the new iPad Air, for example.

Bad news first: due to the fact that USB camera control is still completely broken in iOS 14.0.1, we advise Kuuvik Capture and ShutterCount users to defer updating from iOS 13 until Apple fixes the issue. People using only Wi-Fi connections to their cameras are not affected. We’ve added a message when a non-operating USB connection is detected, so you can see whether Apple’s bug affects you.

Update (November 6): The just-released iOS 14.2 finally fixes this bug.

Now the good stuff…

Both Artist’s Viewfinder and Technical Camera was updated with added functionality to be able to use the volume down button as a shutter release, and support the ultra wide camera in this year’s iPad Pro models. Artist’s Viewfinder’s camera database was also expanded with 23 new models.

ShutterCount as well as Kuuvik Capture 5 received a new progress indicator on iOS, displayed when connections take longer than a second. Connections may take a long time if you have numerous images on the memory card, and thus it is a good practice to have an empty card in the camera when using these apps on iPhone or iPad. We’ve also improved Wi-Fi pairing problem detection in all variants and platform versions.

Camera-wise, Canon’s 850D/Rebel T8i is now supported in both apps, and ShutterCount is also certified to work with Nikon’s D780 and Z5. Speaking of cameras, Kuuvik Capture 5 finally gets EOS R5 support!

Since the R5 firmware is still a bug farm, be prepared for some serious limitations. For example, multi-point live view is not available and the snail-fast Wi-Fi is not supported. We are continuously monitoring new firmware versions to see whether these issues are fixed. Honestly, we were waiting for v1.2.0 promised to be released in early September, but since it haven’t materialized yet, we’ve decided to release the app with these limitations.

If you noticed a theme that large companies, such as Apple and Canon, release manure-quality software these days, well, you are not alone…

Kuuvik Capture 5 also got a surprisingly useful new feature on both Mac and iPad: beep when a sequence or a bulb exposure is finished. It is on by default, but can be turned off in the app’s preferences.

These updates are available free of charge for existing users, and can be downloaded from the respective App Store.

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iOS 14 Breaks USB Tethering

September 16, 2020 by

WARNING: iOS and iPadOS 14 that is going to be released later today completely breaks USB camera remote control on iPad and iPhone.

Customers relying on USB connections for Kuuvik Capture and ShutterCount Mobile MUST NOT upgrade to iOS 14.

We had reported the problem to Apple on July 23, and it is still not yet resolved as of today despite our numerous attempts to get Apple to fix it. I will not add further comments right now, I think the facts speak for themselves, but I’m not amused. Not remotely amused.

Update (October 2): Apple confirmed that this is a bug in iOS 14, with no workaround, and they “anticipate a fix getting included in an upcoming iOS release”. Stay tuned.

Update (November 6): The just-released iOS 14.2 fixes the bug.

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Kuuvik Capture on iPad : Gestures

June 29, 2020 by

Being an iPad app, gesture support in Kuuvik Capture takes center stage. Let’s dive right in!

Long Press

Where you normally would right-click in the Mac version, use a long press on iPad. It brings up context menus on browser thumbnails (shown on the screen shot), on the displayed image, on live view and on the bracketing monitor. It opens the corresponding option panel for the Live View, Clipping Warning, Marker, Sharpening, Focus Peaking, Guide and Image Overlay icons on the toolbar. Long pressing the camera selector in the top right corner will show the Wi-Fi and Ethernet Pairing dialog.

In Pan (Hand Tool) Mode

While an image is displayed, double tapping will toggle between 100% and Fit zoom levels. Otherwise use pinch and spread to zoom in and out. Drag the zoomed image around with a single finger, or flick it for faster movement. Swipe left or right with two fingers held together to show the next or previous image in the session, respectively. Note that the app will change the image when you lift your fingers.

In live view things work a bit differently. You can use flick-zoom (a fast, flick-like pinch and spread) to change zoom levels. And then drag the zoomed image around with a single finger. What a double tap does can be configured in the menu: initiate AF or toggle medium or high magnification levels. Swiping up and down with two fingers will pull focus. Step size for focus pulling depends on the magnification: Kuuvik Capture uses small steps for zoomed-in levels and medium steps at Fit zoom level.

Use the rotate gesture to rotate both displayed images and live view (the latter when live view auto-rotation is disabled). Rotation happens at 90 degrees. Once the app recognizes the rotation gesture, it will highlight the corresponding rotation icon on the toolbar. Let the screen go at this moment, and the image will be rotated.

In Marker Tool Mode

Tap the image/live view to place a marker, and tap an existing marker to remove it. A single-finger left or right swipe can be used to move between the markers. Two finger swipe is also recognized in this mode, just like in pan mode.

In Reposition Overlay Mode

You can resize and rotate the overlaid image with two fingers, and drag it with a single finger. Simple as that. Double-tapping the displayed image will toggle between 100% and Fit zoom levels, to facilitate precise overlay placement.

Guide Dragging Takes Precedence

When you tap a guideline (and it becomes a dashed line), then all other gestures are ignored while you hold or move that line around, regardless of the current tool or mode.

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Kuuvik Capture 5.1 Available on iPad

June 26, 2020 by

Continuing the decade long tradition of bringing you industry-first solutions, I’m pleased to announce that Kuuvik Capture 5.1, both on Mac and iPad, is now available on the App Store. It is the world’s first Canon EOS remote control app that can be used with a USB cable between your camera and iPad – thus skipping slow and error-prone Wi-Fi completely.

Camera connections on iPad work exacly the same way they do in ShutterCount Mobile, as described in my post announcing USB support, as well in the Getting Started Guide for Wi-Fi.

More information about Kuuvik Capture on iPad can be found my previous posts (here and here).

Now I’m taking a deep breath, a few days off, and start posting short articles as the handbook is updated.

Enjoy!

IMPORTANT: If you purchased the app for Mac and want to download it to your iPad (or vice versa), the App Store may not recognize your previous purchase and display the full price. Make sure that you are using the same Apple ID you did for the original purchase, and go ahead with “buying” the app. Instead of charging your card, the App Store should display the message “This update is free”. This is an App Store bug, so please address your comments to the party responsible for it (that is, Apple).

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Sneak Peek : Kuuvik Capture 5 on iPad

May 13, 2020 by

After a month, we’re roughly halfway through the project that brings Kuuvik Capture 5 to iPad, and I wanted to show you how does it look now. Click the image for a full size version.

The iPad version sports the familiar Kuuvik Capture interface, but there are several subtle differences because of the touch input. Buttons are generally bigger, for example. I’ll show you quite a few interesting new user interface elements during the coming weeks.

As I mentioned previously, it’s going to be a full-featured professional tethering app, supporting both direct USB connections as well as your Canon’s built-in Wi-Fi. 3rd party Wi-Fi boxes are NOT required. I strongly think that Kuuvik Capture on iPad will open up a new era of in-the-field tethered shooting.

I’m currently working 7 days a week on this project, and you could encourage me to push even harder by purchasing the Mac version right now. Since the app is a universal purchase, the iPad version will be yours for free soon.

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