Digital Cameras


Just as you experience with any peripheral hardware you hook up to your computer, your digital camera might work beautifully as soon as you plug it in, or you might end up wanting to toss it out a window. Most popular cameras coming out now connect via a USB port, for which there is great support in Linux. Some cameras are now using Firewire, for which there is also support, but they can sometimes be more complex to work with. Consult an online hardware guide such as the one at http://www.faqs.org/docs/Linux-HOWTO/USB-Digital-Camera-HOWTO.html. Read up on your particular camera by searching for it online. Most problems with peripheral hardware in Linux can be traced to hooking up hardware that has no Linux support.

When you have your camera connected and ready to go, you will need to get those pictures off the camera. In Windows, most people use the proprietary software that came with their camera. That software isn't going to work in Linux. There might be a wise digital camera maker in the future that gives us Linux software with a digital camera, but right now camera makers write software for Windows and Mac. With easily attainable programs available in Linux to use with most any digital camera you own, you won't need the software that came with your camera. The freedom to not have to use special software or worry about losing the disk that came with your camera is nice. There are many good applications in Linux for snagging the pictures off your digital camera, and most of those use a program called gPhoto2.

gPhoto2

gPhoto2 is the engine that most other programs use behind the scenes to work with digital cameras. The program is installed by default in both Fedora and Mandrake. One of the best features of gPhoto2 is its scalable support. The program supports more than 400 cameras. You can look at the list of cameras by opening the program gtKam or any other front end to gPhoto2 that you are using. Check the listing of supported cameras on the gPhoto2 Web site at http://www.gphoto.org/proj/libgphoto2/support.php. The odds are good that your camera is in the list. Cameras that are not listed currently don't have the demand from users, so no one wrote a driver for them. Sometimes a camera is not supported because it is too old or because it is so new that no one has gotten around to adding it yet. I learned the hard way with an old Kodak that if your funky old camera isn't supported, it probably won't be. If you have a brand new camera that is not in the list, keep checking the gPhoto2 Web site and updating the program to its newest version because it is likely that your camera will eventually get on the list.

UNDER THE HOOD

SMART AND REMOVABLE

With some cameras, you don't need an extra program to grab your pictures. Digital cameras with Smart Cards, removable Flash memory, or compatible internal memory can often be mounted as a USB drive or can be used in card or memory readers and mounted that way. You can then use your file manager or the command line to move files on and off your computer. Search online to find tutorials and testimonials from other Linux users who own the same camera and who might have already tried alternative ways to mount the camera's memory.


Getting Pictures from Your Camera

gtKam

Program Info

Fedora/GNOME menu

Graphics > Digital Camera Tool

Terminal command

gtkam

Program URL

http://gphoto.sourceforge.net/proj/gtkam/


The makers of gPhoto2 also make gtKam. This program (see Figure 9.2) is the default front end for use with gPhoto2 to pull the images off your digital camera. You have gtKam installed with gPhoto2 in your distro if you are using Fedora. You can install the program in Mandrake using RPMDrake. It's a really simple program, with options to choose your digital camera from a list of supported cameras and then import your images to a directory on your hard disk.

Figure 9.2. GtKam is a front-end program that uses gPhoto2.


gtKam's interface is arranged in a simple two-pane window layout. There is a brief menu at the top with a File menu and menus for Select, Camera, and Help. The Camera menu is for configuring the connected camera. The left column is an expandable tree list of folders on the connected camera. The number of images is in parentheses next to the name of the folder. The right-side window is for viewing thumbnail previews of the images on your camera.

Sneaky Guessing

Linux lets you be sneaky. If you don't find your exact camera listed, try choosing one that is close to your model. Lots of times, a similar camera model will work. You can also search online to see what has worked for others.


Other programs that are available for managing your photos and creating albums have their uses, but gtKam is the best solution if you just want to quickly grab images off a camera, without any extras to get in the way of your main task.

TOOL KIT 9.1

Use Gtkam to Import Photos from a Digital Camera

I embarked on an around-the-world epic journey to get pictures of exotic locations for Michelangelo's vacation photos. Okay, actually I just took some pictures of places I could easily get to. I have an Olympus D395 that uses a USB connection. Getting the images off the camera with gtKam is easy.

1.

Connect your camera to your computer, and turn it on. Some cameras require you to select a different camera mode to communicate with the computer. Consult your camera's manual to be sure.

2.

Open gtKam.

3.

First, set up gtKam to use your type of camera. Go to the menu and select Camera > Add Camera. You will see a settings window where you can select the type of camera you have connected. You can also give gtKam a shot at automatically detecting your type of camera with the Detect button. When you have the right camera, click Apply and OK.

4.

You should see an icon for your camera in the left column of gtKam. Click the plus sign(s) for the sections of your camera to expand the tree. Highlight any entry to see the images previewed in the right-side preview pane of gtKam.

5.

Select the images that you want to save, or go to the menu and choose Select > Select All to choose all the images in that section. Then use File > Save As or the Save button on the toolbar to save those images to your hard drive.

6.

If you want to clear your camera's memory using gtKam, the process is almost the same as saving. Select the images to be deleted and use the Delete button or File > Delete from the menu.


Konquorer

Yep, I'm talking about the file manager, Konquorer. Talking about a Conquistador who could grab your photos off your digital camera would be fun. I can see him in his metal helmet fighting to import images from even the most resistant digital camera. Alas, this is just Konquorer, your handy KDE file manager. We have already seen that the file managers in Linux, both Konquorer and Nautilus, endeavor to be your central point for a lot of program functions, from simply managing files to acting as a Web browser. Add one more function to Konquorer's list, gPhoto2 front end.

To get images off your digital camera using Konquorer, the steps are few and easy. Connect your camera and turn it on. Linux detects most digital cameras, especially most USB cameras, right away. Open Konquorer. You can probably just type "camera:/" into the address bar. There should be a folder for your camera. In that folder will be either more directories or the image files on your camera, depending on how your camera stores images (see Figure 9.3). You can then copy images from the camera to a directory on your hard drive in the same way that you would normally copy files in Konquorer.

Figure 9.3. Konquorer's view of the digital camera memory.


Nautilus can also view a digital camera's memory if it is mounted as a removable media item, but gtKam is way easier for GNOME users than Nautilus for this purpose.

UNDER THE HOOD

MANDRAKE WINS

Users of Mandrake have got it very easy when it comes to digital cameras. Just plug in your camera, and Mandrake pops an icon onto your desktop. Double-click the icon, and you can copy those files right away.




Linux Desktop(c) Garage
Linux(R) Desktop Garage
ISBN: 0131494198
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 141

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