Canon Camera Remote using ZoomBrowser EX

[RacePhoto]

I want to shoot some timelapse with a remote camera. Or what I mean is wired camera, where I control it from Zoom Browser EX. What I don't know and wonder, before I start connecting things and just muddle my way through is:

When I disconnect the USB from the computer, will the camera still keep shooting. I think this is kind of an expected NO, since the software is controlling things. I'd hate to have the laptop running for months at a time, just to control the camera. This is likely to be a bad idea, except for the part where, all the images are recorded to the laptop instead of a memory card.

So on to question 2 Alternate plan B:

If the camera is running on it's own, which in my case means, on a intervolometer that's set for one shot every 15 minutes, and I already have the USB cable connected, to nothing, just hanging, and I connect a laptop... can I download the images from the camera and erase them from the card, without disturbing the shooting.

If you wonder what's going on, just in case there's some better idea. I'm going to have a camera, mounted in a weatherproof box. Lets say it's a Canon 20-D. Then with a4GB card, I can come check every couple of weeks, and get the images. I don't recall if I did this last time with 2GB cards, but the point is. I'd have to open the box, take out the card, replace it with a blank CF card, and re-seal the box.

The camera is pretty stable, but for the sake of maybe reducing the bumps or shifts or something that would make the camera change position, I'm wondering if I can download, and erase, without removing the card. Which means, building the box with a USB port.

I've done this with an extension cord and AC power. The eventual goal would be some day, solar powered, mounted up in a tree, shooting a rural scenic, from Spring to Winter.

This is a very poor example. Lighting, wind, I don't know if the box moved or the heating and cooling caused issues or if it was stable but just looks like it's moving, because everything else is. (all of the above)



Later after seeing how this worked, I put the box, in the shade, facing NE, so the Sun would always be behind the camera. Which worked better, but I still have to open the box and change the card. Still shadows and humidity and other issues, but it's been awhile and I was thinking of a new sealed box and wondering if I could transfer images, without opening anything?

Here's a bunny that photo bombed my daffodil patch time lapse.