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26 

Functional principle of the joker² light barrier system 

Copyright eltima electronic 2022 

Wake-up 

Name: 

wake-up

, Levels: 

 

Default setting: 0 s 

Some camera models as well as some speedlights have a power saving fea-
ture, which put these devices into a sleep mode after a certain period of in-
activity. They are not suitable for light barrier photography if they are asleep. 
Sometimes this setting can be turned off on the camera or speedlight. Oth-
erwise, the wake-up function can be used to keep such devices constantly 
awake. It activates the camera, by “pushing the release button halfway”, i.e.  
switch 1 is turned ON, in an adjustable time interval thus keeping the camera 
in the wake state. 

Speedlights cannot be kept awake directly, but only if they are attached to 
the camera and speedlight is activated periodically. 

The value of the parameter determines the time interval in seconds in which 
the measurement function of the camera is activated (halfway button push). 
If the value is zero, the function is switched off. 

range 

unit 

step 

0- 99 

1 s 

 

Keep-active 

The keep-active function is a part of the 

wake-up

 function. It is activated by 

setting the 

wake-up

 parameter to the value 

99

Most cameras have two modes of operation: active and stand-by. 

The active mode begins when the shutter button is pressed halfway 
and ends, depending on the camera model, either just after release of 
the button, or about 5 to 10 seconds after the release of the button. 
During this time e.g. the viewfinder display of the camera lights up. 
After the display is turned off, the stand-by starts. 

If the cameras are triggered while they are in the active mode, the lag 
time of most cameras is much smaller as if they were triggered from 
stand-by mode. 

By activating the keep-active function, the camera is put into the active mode 
after the training process and after the specified light barrier is interupted 
once. This state is maintained until the light barrier is interrupted again. The 
interruption will release the camera. After that, the output waits for about 
1.5 seconds and the camera is put into active mode again. 

The keep-active mode is therefore a very important function in order 
to significantly reduce the shutter lag of many cameras. 

 

 

Summary of Contents for joker2

Page 1: ...1 Copyright eltima electronic 2020 Instruction manual Light barrier system joker Version 12 2020 From software version 2 2 2 0 Copyright eltima electronic 2020 ...

Page 2: ...ton left button level down button control panel display light barrier plug tripod thread light barrier receiver IR transmitter tripod thread light barrier plugs 1 3 DC plug aux plug outputs a d battery case cover battery case ambient light sensor level up button up button right button down button ESC button ...

Page 3: ...ight eltima electronic 2022 action mode icon Date dd mm yy time light barrier interrupted light barrier reflection bar one output is active outputs a and b are active switch a1 and a2 are active step chain is active level icon ...

Page 4: ...barrier system 12 The analog part 12 The reflex barrier 12 The light beam 13 The reflectors 14 The action modes 15 The one beam barrier 15 The cross barrier 16 The directional barrier 16 The curtain barrier with two or three beams 17 The three beam cross barrier 17 The directional cross barrier 18 The time trigger 18 The parameters of the action modes 19 Sensitivity 1 3 19 Range 20 Dwell Time 20 S...

Page 5: ...measurement 39 Language 39 Resetting the parameters 40 Reset to factory 40 Software version 40 Taking pictures with the joker light barrier system 41 Setup and alignment of the light barrier 41 Setup 41 Alignment of the light barrier 41 Improving the alignment of the reflector 42 Minimum distance to the reflector and sensitivity 42 The training process 42 Important camera settings 43 Autofocus 43 ...

Page 6: ...op photography with X parameters 53 Basic Parameters 54 Output parameters 54 X Parameters 54 Electrical connections 55 Camera device connection 55 Power Supply 55 Specifications 56 Type 56 Action Modes 56 Dimensions 56 Weight 56 Power Supply 56 Range 56 Smallest detectable object 56 Shortest response time 56 Scope of delivery 56 Disposal of electronical devices 57 Contact 58 ...

Page 7: ...o avoid damage to the device or the devices con nected to it Purpose of use The light barrier system joker is designed exclusively for triggering photo graphic equipment such as cameras speedlights filming devices etc Only use it for this purpose The improper use of the device can cause damage to the light barrier system or the connected devices In this case the warranty will be void Maintenance a...

Page 8: ...rrier and one reflector on a tripod each Place the light barrier and reflector opposite to each other at a distance of about 1 m see Figure 3 Note This distance is arbitrary and is neither the smallest nor the greatest distance between light barrier and reflector that can be achieved Turn on the joker controller by pressing the button for at least 2 seconds The display will show the working level ...

Page 9: ...e focus object Touch the button to return to the working level With this step the light barrier is trained to the particular level of reflection when the beam is not interrupted The system is now ready Interrupting the beam will trigger the camera Taking photos Let your subjects interrupt the light beam The optimal framing of the camera Zoom level or distance from the beam and the plane of focus d...

Page 10: ...lowing levels are available in the specified order Working and set up levels Working level Alignment level Parameter levels Basic Parameters Parameters for output a Parameters for output b Parameters for output c Parameters for output d Parameters for experimental photography steps or X levels System parameters To move along the levels touch the or key The key allows switching from any level excep...

Page 11: ...digit You can reach the desired digit of a number using the or key see Figure 9 For some parameters the units can also be set µs microseconds ms miliseconds s seconds or m minutes Use the key to get to the units To change a digit or units touch the or key see Figure 9 To save the change touch the button To discard the change touch the button The action modes in the basic level are changed in the s...

Page 12: ... are re flected by a reflector and sent back to the receiver The strength of the re flection is shown by the reflection bar see Figure 11 If at least one pulse is missing or is received very weakly e g because an object is in the beam the light barrier is considered to be inter rupted This status is reported as a trigger to the digital part which will now control the outputs a to d At the same tim...

Page 13: ... divided into three sections The middle section marked green is the normal working section of the light barrier Depending on the reflector and the selected working distance the effective beam diameter is about 2 5 mm An object must cross this beam in order to trigger the light barrier This small diameter leads to a very precise and reproducible switching point of the light barrier In the orange se...

Page 14: ...r reflectors have the prop erty that they reflect light back to its source with a minimum of off set Figure 14 shows the operating principle of a corner reflector Due to this property a retro reflec tor in comparison to a mirror does not need to be aligned exactly to wards the light barrier It is suffi cient to be aligned roughly towards the light barrier Only for reaching the maximum working dist...

Page 15: ... considered to be met This status is then reported to the digital part as a trigger for an action Each action mode is represented by a pictogram In these pictograms the numbers 1 to 3 indicate the light barriers involved A parameter set is saved for each action mode which determines the optical and timing behaviour of the light barriers The one beam barrier Symbol Level The one beam barrier consis...

Page 16: ... is met both beams must be reset before a new action can be triggered The directional barrier Symbol Level The directional barrier is formed by the light barriers 1 and 2 The action mode is met if at first the light barrier 1 and subsequently the light barrier 2 is interrupted When light barrier 1 is interrupted the system is activated and waits for light barrier 2 to be interrupted If this happen...

Page 17: ...example in Figure 15 In this case the wide wingspan of the bird allows the beams to be placed farther apart increasing the area of detection blue rectangle In the hori zontal arrangement the birds present a narrower target so the beams must be closer together and the active area is much smaller The three beam cross barrier Symbol Level Just like the simple cross barrier the three beams barrier inc...

Page 18: ...n to the digital part As with the simple directional barrier the action may not work as predicted if an animal interrupts barrier 1 but then does not pass the cross barrier Once the action mode is met all three light barriers must be reset before the system is ready for the next sequence The time trigger Symbol Level Time scheduled recordings can be made with the time trigger For this a start time...

Page 19: ...The larger the value the less sensitive the barrier and the larger an object must be In the case of working without a reflector the parameter determines the minimum amount of light that must be reflected by the subject to set a trig ger This parameter can be used for example to blank out small objects in favour of large ones For example when photographing mammals larger values should be set so the...

Page 20: ...th the setting sensitive the light barrier can react to objects down to 0 5 mm When photographing of very small objects at working distances less than 60 cm we recommend the use of 40 mm reflectors not included in the scope of delivery Dwell Time Name Default setting Range Level dwelltim 0000 0 ms 60 minutes The dwell time determines the time an object must stay in the beam of the light barrier to...

Page 21: ...e parameter sensi tivity is detected by the receiver a trigger will be issued In the mode without reflector the range essentially depends on the re flective properties of the subject It is recommended to set the scanning method to distance Since no defined beam is interrupted in this operating mode and the reflec tion of the beam depends very much on the geometry of the subject the switching point...

Page 22: ...ker system are turned ON or OFF at the same time A number of parameter determine the behaviour of the outputs These are stored in a non volatile memory as a parameter set for each output A trigger condition must be met for an output to switch The trigger is set by the analog part as previously described if a light barrier has been inter rupted or an action mode has been met The switching behaviour...

Page 23: ...ase to the start of the next release Since the release period as defined above includes the release time the re lease period must be at least as long as the release time This condition is ensured by the software If the release time is changed to a value greater than the release period the value of the release period is automatically in creased by the software to the same value as the release time ...

Page 24: ...r in the right part of the inequality is increased the value of the interval parameter is adjusted if necessary However when a value on the right side is decreased the interval will not be modified When changing the values for lag time release time release period interval and repetition make sure when you are done that all param eters have the desired values range unit step 0 8800 µs 200 µs 0 9999...

Page 25: ...rigger actions can be started at the push of a button none The output does not respond to a trigger It is switched off Each trigger can be used for every output even if it has been used already See also the advanced example on page 49 Drive mode Name drv mode Levels Values single contin Default setting single Using the default setting single after a trigger the system will go once through the para...

Page 26: ...ed off range unit step 0 99 s 1 s Keep active The keep active function is a part of the wake up function It is activated by setting the wake up parameter to the value 99 Most cameras have two modes of operation active and stand by The active mode begins when the shutter button is pressed halfway and ends depending on the camera model either just after release of the button or about 5 to 10 seconds...

Page 27: ...the same time as the other device An output cannot be linked to itself Inheritance is not intended to work For example if output c is linked to b and output b is linked to a output c will not trip if output a trips Application example The parameter link of the output b is set to with a The trigger for output a is set to light barrier 1 and that for output b is set to light barrier 2 Programmed in ...

Page 28: ...e output e g output a and the camera of which the shutter speed is set to bulb to a second output e g output b The trigger for the speedlight output is set to an action mode or any of the three light barriers The camera output is set to the same trigger as the speedlight output Furthermore the open shutter mode is activated for the camera output by setting the parameter to a value between 1 and 99...

Page 29: ...nd comprehensible way The Steps There are a total of 9 equivalent steps available which can be used individu ally or as described above can be concatenated to a step chain In the broad est sense even a single step can also be considered as a step chain consisting of just one step In the following therefore we will speak of step chains even if the chain consists of only one step A step chain can co...

Page 30: ...h this step A step or a sequence of steps can be repeated one or many times Endless loops are also possible If several step chains that run in parallel are to be repeated there is the op tion of synchronizing them The step chains with the shorter step durations will then wait for the one with the longest duration to start again all at the same time The activity of the outputs is shown in the displ...

Page 31: ...ing the key follow If a step is not the first one in a chain it must have the trigger fol low This indicates that this step is being called up by another step Delay time Name Delay Levels Default setting 0 ms range unit step 0 8800 µs 200 µs 0 9999 ms 1 ms 0 3600 s 1 s 0 60 min 1 min The delay time determines the time offset between the trigger and the switching of the contacts The ON time can be ...

Page 32: ... this time Important Delay and ON time together must not be longer than the step duration Values for the delay or ON time whose sum is greater than the step duration will not be accepted The step duration must be modified first Step duration Name step dur Levels Default setting 500 ms range unit step 0 8800 µs 200 µs 0 9999 ms 1 ms 0 3600 s 1 s 0 60 min 1 min The step duration specifies the total ...

Page 33: ...ng none The joker light barrier system provides 4 outputs each of which consists of two switches A maximum of 8 different devices can be controlled such as cameras flashes electric valves electro magnets relays etc One of the eight switches or a pair of switches can be assigned to each step These will be closed during the ON time All switches are solid state transistors in open drain circuit 2 5 m...

Page 34: ...shall happen after the end of the current step duration With the setting end the step chain is terminated If the step chain is to be continued the next step is specified here Steps can be concatenated in any order If a certain step was already used as a following step it cannot be specified once more as next step This will prevent cross connections between step chains which can lead to unexpected ...

Page 35: ...eps or because the step duration of the participating steps is different In order to repeat such step chains or to run them in an endless loop the new cycle must not start before the end of the longest chain is reached This is ensured by the parameter synchronization In order to synchronize several step chains the parameter synchroniza tion must be set to yes in the first step of each of these cha...

Page 36: ...ers can be used to set the time and date The time parameter is set in the format hhmmss hours minutes seconds the date parameter in the format YYMMDD Year Month Day Display lighting Name Lighting level Default setting 10 seconds range unit step 0 99 s 1 s When there is low ambient light the display and key illumination are switched on when a key is touched The lighting parameter specifies the time...

Page 37: ...ight barrier 3 three beeps with a high frequency The beeper has four operating modes off The beep function is turned off On align The beeper is active in the alignment level It can help to find the reflector safely without observing the reflection bars in the display The loud ness increases with the amount of reflection It behaves in the same way as the length of the reflection bar If several ligh...

Page 38: ...display at a distance of approx 40 to 80 cm Interrupt the light beam of the light barrier system The camera will be released and the flash will fire The device now measures the time be tween the triggering of the camera and the arrival of the flash light on the display of the controller Read the lag time from the display of the light barrier for example td 145 60 ms If no camera is connected or th...

Page 39: ...e distance between the two beams and set the parameter mes spe to this value Carry out the training process Let an object interrupt the light beams Read the speed on the display Unit for speed measurement Name Unit level Values km h m s Basic setting km h The parameter specifies the unit in which the speed should be displayed Language Name Language level Values Deutsch English Francais Italiano Ne...

Page 40: ... cause of a strange behaviour gets difficult all parameters of the basic level the outputs and the X parameters can be reset to the de livery status Then the light barrier system will behave again normally and the program can be entered again To reset all user parameters set the parameter res para to yes and press the key After the reset operation is completed the parameter will be reset to no Res...

Page 41: ...An exact alignment is only required if the highest range is to be achieved Then install one of the light barriers pointed approximately towards the re flector and connect it to one of the light barrier slots 1 3 Connect the cam era to one of the outputs a to d The light barriers can also be plugged in and out while the system is turned on Alignment of the light barrier Turn on your device and swit...

Page 42: ... is advisable to choose a distance of less than 1 m between the light barrier and the reflector Furthermore it is advisable to use a 40 mm reflector Art No 50018 not included in the scope of delivery In principle it is also possible to use a 80 mm reflector for this purpose how ever it will be necessary to work with a very high sensitivity level level 1 2 due to the high amount of reflected light ...

Page 43: ...of the camera the image may be created only at some distance from the beam of the light bar rier The optimum focus setting is determined by trying it out As noted earlier the lag of the system can be reduced to almost zero if you are shooting in a dark environment by opening the camera shutter on bulb and using the barrier to trigger flashes instead Speedlight Flash If you are photographing fast m...

Page 44: ...focal plane is parallel to the light beam the subject can be depicted sharply from the left to the right edge of the image no matter where it breaks the light beam see Figure 24 In this context it is irrelevant whether the light beam itself is installed hori zontally or vertically If the plane of focus and the light beam intersect at an angle the subject is only sharply imaged when it interrupts t...

Page 45: ...ry of the subject The detection rate will be at its highest when the light beam is oriented so that it crosses the broadest side of the subject profile This becomes clear in the follow ing example Birds in flight with their wings spread out are much wider than tall when viewed from the front If the light barrier is positioned vertically then with only one beam an area here marked blue can be cover...

Page 46: ...ion of the system in this mode is not as high as when operating with a reflector since it is difficult to predict which parts of the subject will cross the beam and how well it will reflect Nevertheless this mode may be very at tractive in some circumstances It can work especially well when working with a large depth of field or if the subjects are small in relation to the depth of field For this ...

Page 47: ...tical experience are in tended to show how the values of the parameters affect the function of the light barrier system The symbols used are shown in the following table Symbol Meaning interruption of the light beam dwell time trigger action mode met lag time output switch is ON release time release period interval time window ...

Page 48: ...free again Since the parameter drive mode is set to single and because no repeti tions are set the programmed cycle runs once The light barrier system triggers regardless of a time window because the start and end time of the time window are the same Basic Parameters Value action mode one beam barrier sensitivity 1 3 6 range distance dwell time 0 ms scanning mode with reflector Output parameters a...

Page 49: ...ake pictures of an animal feeding nearby which is detected by the light barrier 3 As long as there are animals in the beam the cam era should take a picture every 2 seconds so that a motion profile of the animals during the feeding can be created Setting up the system The light barriers 1 and 2 are arranged crosswise at the desired location light barrier 3 as a one beam barrier is installed at the...

Page 50: ...ve function The wake up parameter is therefore set to 99 A time window is not required so the start and end times are the same The open shutter function is not used in this example Output b As required the lag time is set to 200 ms Release time 200 ms see above In this case the release period is 300 ms to add a 100 ms delay before the second repetition The interval is calculated from Lag time 2 x ...

Page 51: ...ts trigger 1 Because no output triggers on light barrier 1 it has no effect With the interruption of the beam 2 at 100 ms the analog part sets trig ger 2 and reports both the fulfilment of the action mode here the cross barrier as well as the interruption of the beam 2 Outputs a b and c react to this trigger Strictly speaking three triggers are set at this time one for the action mode and one for ...

Page 52: ...d is ready for a new trigger at the time of 1000 ms after the interval has elapsed Output c reacts to the trigger 2 triggered by the light barrier 2 and switches immediately at 100 ms for 200ms Because the release time period and the interval are equal the output is immediately ready for a new trigger This is set at 500 ms Output d reacts to the trigger 3 triggered by the light barrier 3 at 2 sec ...

Page 53: ... image After the 500 ms elapses the camera output is switched off and the camera shutter closes Although the drop collision shown was achieved with the times given in this example they are only for guidance The times to be used de pend very much on factors such as the viscosity of the water the exact falling height and so on It is necessary to experiment to find the tim ing that works best Importa...

Page 54: ...nger needs to be changed Since the step chain should be run through once there is no repetition When using an eltima flash adapter switch a2 must be chosen The step chain ends here so the next step is set to end Second step chain The second step chain consisting of X2 followed by X3 controls the drop dispenser It starts with X2 and is triggered manually Without a delay time b1 switches for 68 ms T...

Page 55: ...jack plug with the pin assignment as shown in Figure 32 see also section Switch Power Supply The power supply is reverse polarity protected and is connected via a DC plug with 4 75 mm outer and 1 7 mm inner diameter Figure 32 Pinning of the camera connector Release GND common pole minus Measure Figure 33 Pinning DC plug Minus inner contact Plus outer contact ...

Page 56: ... barrier Time trigger Dimensions Controller l x w x h 199 mm x 94 58 mm x 40 28 mm Light barrier l x w x h 64 mm x 36 mm x 35 mm Cable length of the light barriers 3 m Weight joker controller without batteries 190 g Light barrier with cable 80 g each Power Supply 3 AA batteries or rechargeable batteries External power supply 3 2 15 V DC Current consumption max 55 mA Range Maximum approximately 10 ...

Page 57: ...tronic equipment Improper handling of old equipment can have harmful effects on human health and the environment By properly disposing of this product you make an important contribution to the effective use of natural resources Do not dispose of batteries or electronics in domestic waste As consumer you are legally bound to return batteries and rechargeable bat teries for recycling Return them to ...

Page 58: ...58 Copyright eltima electronic 2022 Contact eltima electronic Hans Gierlich Staufenstraße 10 73230 Kirchheim unter Teck Tel 49 7021 863444 mail eltima de www eltima de ...

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