Tulip field in northern Holland - © Geert
Shooting data from Camera Companion: Kodachrome 64 ASA - 1/50s - f11 - 24mm - Aperture priority - matrix metering

Will there be future development of the software?

• The development of Camera Companion is an almost continuous process. The software is constantly improved, enhanced, enriched or whatever you want to call it. A lot of the new features and improvements are due to users emailing us their suggestions. Every now and then a new version is released and those new versions are announced on the website and to the registered users, including the stuff that is fixed and added.
  

Will there be support for the F90? For the F5?

• Future support of the F90 depends on demand. This has -so far- been very minimal. On top of that, the reality is that the F90 has been replaced by the F100 as the new advanced amateur/semi pro line camera of Nikon. The F90 was officially discontinued quite some time ago. The protocol of the F90 (as opposed to the one of the F100 and the F5) is well documented and publicly available on the internet, so if you want support for the F90, tell us so, and we'll see... But please understand that one or two persons asking is just too little to justify the efforts in the development. And one or two people is exactly the number that have asked us for it....
• The F5 will be supported in the future. For the moment, there is no timeframe for the completion of the implementation. The F5 version will be based on the same design, layout and principles as the current F100 version. Most probably there will not be two programs but only one that will then support the F100 and the F5.

How about when I buy this version and want to have support for the F5 once it is available?

• At the time we incorporate the F5, most probably we will support both cameras in one program. The new version will be made available at a slightly higher price than the current version which only supports the F100. People having already the current version will be able to upgrade for the price difference (to be referred to as "peanuts" :-) ). But remember there is no timeframe for the implementation of the F5... yet.

What if I have any issues with your software?

• Just send a mail to [email protected]. We'll do our best to solve any problems you have as soon as possible.
  

How about a cable? Your competitors make cables. Why don't you?

• Our competitors make good cables. Our competitors make expensive cables. While one of them claims its cable is technologically superior, the bottom line is they are still expensive. In short: no, enough cables around, we don't do cables ourselves. In fact, it isn't that hard to make your own cable - the hard part is to find the 10-pin plug for connecting to the camera. If you find a good source for it: let us know!
• How to make your own communications cable!
  Our friend Marcel Eremia - one of our beta testers - found time to put all the information on his "home-made MC-33 cable" on a website. Here is the URL: http://www.amedesign.ro/F100.htm (link published with permission and thanks to Marcel).
  While this cable works perfectly (the beta testing program proved this beyond doubt) and can be a very low cost alternative to the expensive Nikon MC-33 cable neither we nor Marcel can be held responsible for anything going wrong. In other words: for those people who have some basic electronics skills and are confident enough to build this cable themselves, this is by far the cheapest cable solution possible.
  Another user of Camera Companion - Emmanuel Geneste from France - has also published documentation for a home made cable. The URL is http://photo.geneste.free.fr. The site is in French only. Follow the link to technique - Trucs Astuces. All this said -to our humble opinion- the site is really worth a visit because it contains a lot of interesting information on photography in general and the F-100 in particular. The galleries are really nice too!
  
• List of cables supported:
  • the HarTALK interface/cable made by cocoon-creations
  • the MC-31 and MC-33 made by Nikon. Note that the MC-31 is for the "old" DB-25 serial connector and the MC-33 is for the DB-9 serial connector. In general, only persons using a fairly old PC (486 generation or before) might still have a DB-25 com port connector on their PC.
  • a home made cable made to the specs of Marcel Eremia. IMPORTANT REMARK: although Marcel has proven to us that his home made cable works perfectly, Holymoose.com nor Marcel can not warrant anything concerning people that make their own cable.