Arsenal was my 16th Kickstarter project and I plan to use it to replace the other projects from Kickstart that have so far failed to help me add timelapse and remote control to my camera. The Arsenal project was fully funded on June 16th 2017.
The downside of receiving Kickstarter projects from the USA is the paying of import duties – for the Arsenal this was £26.08 plus the £8 added by Royal Mail for their hassle! My hassle was having to go 10 miles and to have to queue for 45 minutes to pick it up and pay.
I was one of many backers frustrated by the delay in shipping from Hong Kong which took from the reported August 3rd to August 23rd to arrive in the UK. Then it was handed over to ‘Domestic Sorting’ which I now know was the Royal Mail on August 23rd and the failed delivery attempt was made on August 24th quoting a UK Postcode that wasn’t mine! The only contact number provided was in Switzerland for help with delivery. All a little frustrating to say the least.
5 days later I had a note in my door saying that the parcel was being held at a Royal Mail sorting office.
Unpacking Arsenal
What was included:
- Arsenal
- Mini USB cable (for my Canon Camera)
- Charger cable – USB to mini-USB
The inner packaging revealed empty spaces which I’m guessing was for the USB charging plug for North American backers. There were no instructions just a notice to go to the Arsenal website. I was offered some free time on 500px if I quoted a code from the other insert.
I already had the iPhone app downloaded and connected the Arsenal to both camera and iPhone and there should be no surprise I had a nearly 500 MB firmware download to the iPhone which then had to be transferred to the Arsenal.
Happy days!
Arsenal more details
The group behind Arsenal raised $2,650,310 on Kickstarter and a further $9,042,915 making $11,693,225 in total raised.
Arsenal runs Linux on an ARM processor and its intelligent algorithm suggests settings based on your subject and environment.
In addition Arsenal can
- control time lapse photography
- control long exposure without filters
- run focus stacking
- set HDR images, and
- run camera remotely using wireless control..
Let’s see if it lives up to its billing!