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Pinout: a smart, versatile gadget for your camera

Redefine your camera with remote release, geotagging, timelapse, HDR, loss prevention, and more

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Pinout: a smart, versatile gadget for your camera

Pinout: a smart, versatile gadget for your camera

Pinout: a smart, versatile gadget for your camera

Pinout: a smart, versatile gadget for your camera

Pinout: a smart, versatile gadget for your camera

Redefine your camera with remote release, geotagging, timelapse, HDR, loss prevention, and more

Redefine your camera with remote release, geotagging, timelapse, HDR, loss prevention, and more

Redefine your camera with remote release, geotagging, timelapse, HDR, loss prevention, and more

Redefine your camera with remote release, geotagging, timelapse, HDR, loss prevention, and more

Long Li
Long Li
Long Li
Long Li
1 Campaign |
Tokyo, Japan
$51,847 USD by 604 backers
$22,902 USD by 273 backers on Jan 29, 2016
Choose your Perk

Gold kit (Type A) Indiegogo

$119 USD $120 USD (0% off)
Est. Shipping
August 2016
13 out of 380 of claimed

Gold kit (Type B) Indiegogo

$119 USD $120 USD (0% off)
Est. Shipping
August 2016
10 out of 400 of claimed

Unleash your creativity with Pinout

 

 

Pinout is a small device that plugs to your DSLR camera; it uses Bluetooth LE technology and a dedicated app on your smartphone to give you remote access and much more to the camera. Let Pinout take your photography to the next level! 

  • Remote shutter release: snap pictures wirelessly with your smartphone through a click on the app, voice command, or by shaking your phone. Also supports simple and advanced mode for selfies, time-lapse, star trail, HDR, Bulb ramping and much more. Multi-camera control supported.
  • Geotagging: Automatically record GPS position data for your pictures. 
  • Compact design: Seamlessly blends in with camera. No cable, does not use hot shoe, and no need to take it off before stowing away camera in camera bag.
  • Battery free: Does not require batteries and uses a very tiny portion of camera’s charge. 
  • And,with Loss prevention feature, Never lose your expensive DSLR again!

 

Pinout can control focus just like half-pressing the shutter button. 

Introduction

We believe that digital devices can enhance our surroundings and lifestyle for the better, and that technology should be affordable and accessible for everyone. Pinout was created after we found that many of our DSLR-owning friends took most of their pictures with their smartphone’s camera, even though the quality was much lower, while their fancy camera collected dust. We wanted to create a device to make DSLRs more accessible for everyone—and thus, Pinout was born. 

Pinout is not just a remote control for your camera—it is a theft prevention device, GPS, remote control, and supports HDR imaging, time-lapse, and many other features all rolled into one small, slick device + free application for smartphones. It has features for the professional cameraperson but is easy enough for anyone with a smartphone to use. Like a pin defining spaces on a map, Pinout is a tool that can help you make your surroundings your own through photography. 

 

 

The features

Remote shutter release

 

Make that perfect, DSLR-quality selfies and hassle-free group pictures a reality. Pinout has no wires, and is easily controlled via an app on your smartphone. You can snap a picture with the volume control button, a simple click using the app, shaking your phone, or even by simply saying “CHEEESE” with the voice command mode. 

 

Remote release is a popular tool used by serious photographers both outside and inside for shooting wildlife, scenery, and studio shoots. One reason is because when you manually press the shutter on your camera, even the steadiest of us send a small vibration to the camera body leading to blurry pictures. With Pinout, you can capture that crisp, beautiful shot of sunset you always wanted. 

 

Loss/theft prevention

Expensive cameras are an easy target for theft. With Pinout, you can set your smartphone to alert you when your camera goes 20 or 30 meters (up to 98 feet) away from your phone, with your camera on or off. No more leaving your camera somewhere and forgetting it behind. You can even track the point where your camera went out of range if it does get lost or stolen.

 

GPS

With the GPS feature, you can automatically geo-tag your photos by recording GPS position data of each picture you take into EXIF information, as you shoot. Moreover, on the easy-to-use map interface on the dedicated app, you can set your location to the place you’re taking a picture of. For example, you can take pictures of Mt. Fuji from hundreds of kilometers away and set your location to Mt. Fuji so that all of your pictures are automatically tagged with what’s actually in the picture. 

Automatically geotagging saves a lot of time in the long run and also makes it easy to share location of the shoot when you share photos on social media.

 

 

High-dynamic-range (HDR) imaging

HDR imaging allows you to take better pictures by adding more “dynamic-range” or ratio of light to dark. The same scene is shot multiple times with different exposures and all images rendered together to yield a “HDR” image that is closer to what your eyes see than what your camera “sees”. Recent smartphones come with HDR imaging function but with DSLRs the process is cumbersome as it requires manual editing. Pinout makes taking better pictures of landscapes, low-light or backlit scenes with your DSLR much easier.

 

Time-lapse

A series of pictures are captured at a particular interval and played back to yield what looks like a video. This feature is perfect for capturing subtle changes to scenery or objects over a period of time. Time-lapse allows you to cut through the noise and observe things from a different perspective by manipulating the flow of time.

Moreover, you can also perform distance-lapse with Pinout which allows you to take a series of pictures with interval of a particular distance, instead of time. For example, you can strap your Pinout-attached camera to your car’s roof and drive around your neighborhood to capture scenery that changes with distance. 

With Pinout, you can easily set the interval, number of frames to shoot, and exposure on the app. With the premium function, you can set exposure of each frame individually as well. Once you press start, Pinout receives the command and starts the time-lapse, allowing you to watch videos, surf, or even turn off your smartphone. 

Pinout also offers advanced options with time lapse such as preset for shooting star trails, HDR time lapse, and bulb ramping

Multi-camera control

Pinout app can control up to 10 cameras simultaneously, so by setting up cameras at different angles you never miss the perfect angle for that perfect moment. Great for photographing sports!

 

Sensor-based photography (under development)

DSLR cameras have few sensors built-in but smartphones come packed with sensors such as motion sensor, vibration sensor, face detection sensor, along with camera and microphone. Pinout can use your smartphone's sensors to enhance DSLRs’ capabilities. We have some cool features under development but we'd like your feedback so feel free to let us know what you want!

Some features we're thinking of developing:

Lightning sensor: Capture perfect lightning shots with Pinout. Flash of bright light (such as lightning) captured through your smartphone’s camera activates your camera’s shutter through Pinout. You can set the sensitivity at which it activates through the app on your smartphone.

Motion sensor: With this feature on, any changes in your smartphone’s position triggers the shutter on your Pinout-connected camera so you can snap a picture at the moment your phone moves. 

 

Compact design

The stylish pin-shaped design in black and red blends in seamlessly with Nikon DSLRs, adding a cool accent to your camera. The compact size also means Pinout doesn’t get in the way when shooting, and there is no need to take it off before stowing it away in your camera bag. It attaches to  the accessory port, leaving the hot shoe free for an external flash unit.

 

Range

Pinout works with your smartphone at a distance of up to 30 meters (98 feet). 

Battery free

Pinout does not require any battery power. It uses power from your camera, yes, but the amount of power it requires for a year’s worth of use is approximately the amount of power stored in a miniature button battery, so it does not use up your camera’s precious power.

 

Kits

Pinout has many features for everyone from novices to professionals. To make it easier to choose, we’ve bundled features in easy to use kits, all of which come with one Pinout device. The Basic kit is very affordable with functions anyone can use such as loss prevention and remote control. The Pro kit is aimed at more advanced users who want to step up their photography with features such as time lapse and GPS (geotagging) function. For users that want it all, we have the Full kit with all features Pinout has to offer. Each feature is also available individually so you can mix and match depending on your needs.

Compatibility

 

 

Cameras: Currently Pinout is only compatible with Nikon DSLRs, and some digital cameras. Specifically: 

* Pinout (Type A) supports Nikon D5, D500, D4, D4s, D3, D3S, D3X, D2X, D2XS, D2HS, D2H,  D800, D800E, D810, D810A, D700, D300, D300S, D200 and Fujifilm S5 Pro;

* Pinout (Type B) supports Nikon Df, D750, D610, D600, D90, D7200, D7100, D7000, D5500, D5300, D5200, D5100, D5000, D3300, D3200, D3100, COOLPIX A, COOLPIX P7800, COOLPIX P7700;

 

Smartphones: 

iPhone 4s and later generation iPhones/iPads include the latest iPhone 6/6s and plus, Apple watch, and any Android smartphone with OS4.4 or above is compatible. Your smartphone has to have BLE capability to use Pinout. 

 

Our Story

We started our company Zesty 6 years ago in Tokyo, Japan and were one of the earliest companies that acquired a MFi(Made for iPod, iPhone, iPad) license from Apple.  Currently we focus on IoT(Internet of Thing) and digital life. We have developed and introduced products on the market such as an infrared communication adapter, an RFID reading and writing adapter, a visible light communication SDK, a multi-function wireless remote controller, etc. 

In 2012 we launched ZGR, a device to remote control Nikon cameras with iPhone, with the mission to make cameras and photography better. We received a lot of love for our ZGR series, so we decided to make it even better with the Pinout. This time, we wanted to make a product for everyone so we shrunk the size while adding tons of new features such as loss and theft prevention, easy to use remote control, and many more.

But we need your support!

  • We want to know more about you—the user’s—needs. This is one reason why we’re crowdfunding, because we want to build a community and get feedback from users. Please feel free to leave us comments and suggestions on what to develop. Let’s work together to enhance the DSLR experience! 
  • Currently our product comes in two types, A and B and can only be used with Nikon cameras. We have the technology to expand compatibility with cameras from other manufacturers, but we don’t have enough funds to start production. If the campaign succeeds, we plan to make Pinout compatible with other camera makers. 
  • We want to expand and improve on features. We have already developed many free and premium features but there is still room for improvement. 
  • If our campaign succeeds, we can speed up the development and manufacturing process. 

With your contribution you get 

  • 7 USD: Donate and get a coupon to unlock one premium feature from the app. Applicable to Nikon and other brands (when released), so even if you do not have a Nikon camera now, you can use this to get discounted premium features later on. Code to unlock premium feature will be sent by email. 
  • 24 USD: Basic kit (includes one Pinout device) with free app. Choose from Type A or Type B based on your camera. See chart below for included features. 
  • 54 USD: Pro Kit (includes one Pinout device) with free app and access code to all Pro kit features. Choose from Type A or Type B based on your camera. See chart below for included features. 
  • 89 USD: Full Kit (includes one Pinout device) with free app and access code to all Full kit features. Choose from Type A or Type B based on your camera.  See chart below for included features. 
Special for Indiegogo
  • 89 USD: Gold Kit (includes one Gold Pinout device) with free app and access code to all Full kit features. Choose from Type A or Type B.  Limited Quantities. Indiegogo Only.

 

 

Plan

We have worked hard to get Pinout to where it is today and we have the technology and manufacturing process set. We hope to successfully finish our campaign by the end of January 2016, finish manufacturing by March, and get Pinout to the contributors in April.

If we get enough support, we will develop devices for other camera manufacturers ASAP, start the manufacturing process in May or June 2016, and ship the first batch out in July 2016. From our R&D experience with developing previous devices in the ZGR series, we have the technology to develop devices compatible with Canon and other manufacturers. We just need your support ☺

We want to hear from you! Please leave a comment with any questions!

 

 

Packaging

We've produced a convenient case to store Pinout when it's not connected to a camera. The case is small enough to fit in a packed camera bag but big enough to not lose it easily. 

 

CONTRIBUTE NOW

 

FAQs:

Q: Why is Pinout only compatible with Nikon cameras? 

A: Previously we developed a precursor to Pinout that is compatible with other camera manufacturers and we'd like Pinout to be compatible with other brands too. However, we do not have the funds currently to start developing and manufacturing Pinout compatible with other brands while keeping all its features. We decided to focus on one brand (Nikon) to put this cool device on the market as soon as possible, and hopefully use the funds we raise to expand compatibility to other brands. 

Q: I don’t have a Nikon camera, but I’m interested in Pinout. Should I contribute to your campaign? 

A: Yes! Your contribution will help us reach our campaign goal, and if we reach our campaign goal, we will start development and production of Pinout compatible with other brands ASAP. We already have the technology to make Pinout compatible with most Canon DSLRs; if there is demand we are prepared to answer it! Your feedback is very important for us, so please let us know if you’d like us to develop Pinout to be compatible with your favorite brands in the comments section. 

Q: I’ve ordered the Basic Kit, but I want to add features while the campaign is still ongoing. Can I upgrade to Pro or Full Kit?

A: During the campaign, you can donate 7 USD to unlock premium features at a discounted price, so you can add whichever features you'd like. However, once the transaction is complete for a contribution, you cannot change it to another kit. You can also add additional features at any time after the campaign is over at the prices listed in the features table above or at www.letspinout.com

Q: Is there a limit to how many coupons I can buy? Is there an expiration date on the coupons?

A: No limits or expiration dates! You can buy coupons for as many features as you need, and they can be unlocked whenever you need. These coupons are also valid for Pinout compatible with other camera brands such as Canon, when we release it in the future. You can show support and demand for Pinout compatibility with other brands and by purchasing these coupons now, enabling us to release Pinout for other brands soon. 


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