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I would like to use my Nikon D7000 on a Mac for Skype video calling. Is there a way to do this? There is a way, if I was using a Canon, but I'm not.

And no need to tell me that there are webcams for that :). If I have hundreds of dollars worth of equipment, I want to use it.

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Not sure if there is a way or no, but be careful when you do this because you can burn your sensor, which is made to be exposed to light for only a few seconds (which is already long) at a time. – Greg Aug 10 '11 at 21:51
Newer DSLR's that boast HD video and offer extra add-ons to enhance film-making aspects have sensors designed to handle exposure times much longer than a few seconds. But for Skype? Just buy a $20 webcam for that. :) – techie007 Aug 10 '11 at 22:44
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I've heard of sensor burn, so I did some research and found that it's perfectly safe for usual use cases. Techie: I have that on my Macbook Pro, so I don't have to buy anything and I still don't want to use it. There's a huge difference using profesional lenses. – duality_ Aug 11 '11 at 9:58
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Nikon has "Camera Control Pro 2" ($$) and there is a program call Sofortbild (mac, free) which support "live view" and remote capture via usb or firewire. I have not used either.

Perhaps you merely replace the live camera cap software in step 2 of the page which you posted. The free software is easy to test...

(I use remote capture on a Canon DSLR from Breeze. They don't have Mac software for Nikon unfortunately, but AFAIK they use the Canon API which is what Canon EOS Util uses (the one in your link about doing this))

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This, obviously, will not work. I don't think that even you think it might work. I have Sofortbild and it does not act as a camera for Skype to use. Also, the problem is not controlling the Nikon DSLR, the problem is using it's live view for video on Skype. – duality_ Mar 30 at 11:02
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sofortbild has live view, and in your own link the steps are: get capture software to show live preview, configure CamTwist to capture a portion of the desktop where the live view is, 3 pipe this to skype. If you did what is in the link you provided, you could capture ANYTHING on your desktop for use as a video source to skype. – horatio Mar 30 at 13:21
Yes, you're right, this works! Thanks! :) – duality_ Mar 30 at 19:00
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up vote 2 down vote

Nikon have Camera Control Pro software http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/software/control_pro2/ Which can actually control the camera remotely from a computer, but this software does not provide external interface for the camera. In the other words: your system will not know that there is camera, just some USB device. So, Skype will not find it.

Also there is some third-party software to control Nikon cameras that may include video interface:

http://www.breezesys.com/NKRemote/index.htm

http://www.optcorp.com/product.aspx?pid=4189

http://nikonrumors.com/2009/05/07/free-pc-capture-software-for-nikon-dslr.aspx/

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The same comment as I wrote to horatio applies to this answer. – duality_ Mar 30 at 11:03
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