PHOTOPC(1) User Commands PHOTOPC(1)NAMEphotopc - utility to control digital cameras based on Sierra Imaging
firmware
SYNOPSISphotopc [-h] [-V] [-v[v]] [-q] [-z] [-t] [-f timeformat] [-s <speed>]
[-S <pseudo-speed>] [-l <device>] [command [params] ] ...
DESCRIPTION
This is a command line tool to manipulate digital still cameras that
use certain control protocol, namely Agfa ePhoto line, Epson PhotoPC
line, Olympus D-xxxL line, Sanyo and Nikon (at least CoolPix 9xx) cam‐
eras. It can set camera parameters, download and erase pictures,
e.t.c. It was originally developed for Epson PhotoPC 500, now the
author uses it with Olympus D-600L, results with other models may vary.
OPTIONS-h This option produces a help screen of all options and commands.
-V This option prints software revision information.
-v This option enables verbose output. Using two -v options increases
the level of verbosity. This is primarily meant for debugging.
-q This option sets quiet mode. If it is not specified, the program
will show running download progress indicator.
-z This option sets no time-zone processing mode. Use this option if
the camera's clock is (should be) set up shifted by the local
timezone offset.
-s speed
This option allows setting the data rate to use when communicating
with the camera. Valid rates are 9600, 19200, 38400, 57600 and
115200 (the default).
-S speed
On some UNIX systems with some serial hardware/driver combinations
you need to "lie" to the driver about the communication speed that
you want to use at startup and during the session. Physical
startup speed is always 19200. E.g., if on your system speeds up
to 19200 are translated one to one, but in order to use 57600 baud
you have to specify 50 baud, and you want to run at 57600, you'll
need to specify photopc-s57600 -S19200,50 <commands ...>
Another example: if your driver will use physical speed four times
as high as you told it to set, and you want to run at default
115200 physical speed, specify photopc-S4800,28800 <commands ...>
-t Set timestamp of generated files to the time of snapshot.
-f timeformat
This option allows to specify the format for automatically gener‐
ated image file names; the value is used as the format string for
strftime(3) function. By default, names of the format
"MMDD_NNN.jpg" are generated, where MM is a month, DD is a day,
and NNN is a count starting from 001. A good starting point for
the timeformat value could be "%Y_%m_%d-%H_%M_%S.jpg". If the
format string contains context "%%XXXd" where XXX are digits, it
is taken for the count, i.e. if the file with such name is
present, next count is tried. If the format string does not con‐
tain "%%XXXd" part, the count field, if necessary, is appended at
the end of the name.
A few single-character formats are used as shortcuts. "x" makes
the name of seconds since the epoch in hexadecimal format (8 char‐
acters + ".jpg"), "d" - the same in decimal format (10 charac‐
ters), "1" stands for default format "%m%d_%%03d.jpg", "2" stands
for "%y%m%d%%02d.jpg", "3" stands for "%Y_%m_%d-%H_%M_%S.jpg" and
4 stands for "%Y/%m/%d/%H_%M_%S.jpg". The program attempts to
create intermediate directories if necessary (and possible).
-l device
This allows specifying the serial device to use for communicating
with the camera. The default is /dev/photopc (which is typically
created as a (symbolic) link to the real device, e.g. /dev/ttyS0)
in UNIX, and COM1: in DOS and Windows. Note that the program does
not use UUCP style locks so you need to be certain that no other
program, such as uugetty, uucico or mouse manager, is trying to
access the same device. Another note: on some systems (notably
Linux) terminal settings are kept across usage of the serial port
by different programs. photopc may have troubles if, say, hard‐
ware flow control was kept turned on. Try "stty -F /dev/ttyXX
sane" if you suspect that you are bitten by this.
COMMANDS
After the options, one or more commands can be given in the command
line.
Some commands accept frame-list as a parameter. Frame list is a comma-
separated list of tokens (no whitespace allowed), each of the tokens
being a word all, or a single number, or two numbers separated by a
dash (-), or a number followed by a dash and a word last (without
whitespace).
query
Display all current camera settings.
count
Output the number of pictures stored in the camera. This is
intended for use in shell scripts.
list List information about frames stored in the camera. Fields dis‐
played are: frame number, size of image file, protection state,
resolution mode, timestamp and filename if available. Faster than
llist but may not work with some (older) models.
WARNING: this command changes current directory on models that
support directory tree on the flash media.
llist
List more information about frames stored in the camera. Fields
displayed are: frame number, protection state, size of image file,
resolution mode, flash, shutter and timestamp. Slower than list
and does not work with models that use Exif file format.
WARNING: this command changes current directory on models that
support directory tree on the flash media.
cd <path>
On the models that support multiple directories on the flash
media, change current directory as specified.
The program chdir's to the first non-empty folder at the begin‐
ning. So, your first cd command must specify full path starting
with a slash. If it where unix you could also cd ../something but
here we do not have a way to move up one level.
protect <frame-list> On | Off
Change "protected" status of frames. Frame numbering starts at 1.
The command will fail if the frame number is omitted, not numeric,
or does not correspond to a stored frame. "Protected" frames can‐
not be erased with "erase" and "eraseall" commands or with the
"erase" button on the camera.
erase <frame-list>
Erase frames. Frame numbering starts at 1. The command will fail
if the frame number is omitted, not numeric, or does not corre‐
spond to a stored frame.
To avoid unexpected results, list of frames specified for this
command is sorted and processed in reverse order.
eraseall
Erase all stored frames.
eraselast
Erase most recently taken frame.
snapshot
Take a picture.
off Switch off the camera. This command only has this effect on some
models (notably Olympus D-600L). On other models, it just termi‐
nates the session immediately (otherwise the camera would be
active several seconds after the last command). On models with
big timeout, such as Photopc 600, it may be wise to always issue
"off" at the end of command row, to decrease power consumption.
All commands going after "off" are ignored.
image <frame-list> <file-or-dir-name>
Download an image or series of images from the camera to disk
file(s) on the host computer. Frame numbering starts at 1. The
command will fail if the frame number is omitted, not numeric, or
does not correspond to a stored frame. Files are stored in JPEG
(JFIF or Exif) format. Image file also contains a thumbnail por‐
tion, and set of parameters like the shutter speed, date and time,
I.D. string and more. Directory must be specified if frame list
is requested. If directory name is specified, downloaded file(s)
will get unique names starting with month and date of snapshot,
unless -f option is used, in which case unique names according to
-f option setting.
thumbnail <frame-list> <file-or-dir-name>
Download a thumbnail image or series of thumbnails from the camera
to disk file(s) on the host computer. Frame numbering starts at 1.
The command will fail if the frame number is omitted, not numeric,
or does not correspond to a stored frame. Files are stored in JPEG
(JFIF or Exif) format. If the camera does not keep files in EXIF
format, then the thumbnail file also contains a set of parameters
like the shutter speed, date and time, I.D. string and more.
Directory must be specified if frame list is requested. If direc‐
tory name is specified, downloaded file(s) will get unique names
according to -f option setting.
audio <frame-list> <file-or-dir-name>
Download an audio notice file or series of files from the camera
to disk file(s) on the host computer. Frame numbering starts at 1.
The command will fail if the frame number is omitted, not numeric,
or does not correspond to a stored frame. Files are stored with
".wav" extention but the format is not RIFF WAV format. It is
compressed in some way, probably with some variation of ADPCM.
The program stores the raw data as provided by the camera, it is
not playable as a normal .wav file. Directory must be specified
if frame list is requested. If directory name is specified, down‐
loaded file(s) will get unique names according to -f option set‐
ting.
preview <file-name>
take a `preview' snapshot and save image as a <file-name>. File
is in JPEG (JFIF or Exif) format, and does not contain any addi‐
tional data, just plain (very low resolution) image.
upload <file-name>
Upload image file into the camera. This command is not enabled in
LOWMEMORY version (i.e. under MS/DOS).
WARNING! You cannot upload arbitrary JPEG file. Depending on the
camera model, such attempt may result in the image not uploaded,
not viewable, or even the camera "hung" needing to remove the bat‐
teries to make it work again. File previously downloaded from the
same camera model is always uploadable. Otherwise, your milage
may vary. photopc program does not perform any checks, so it's up
to the user to provide the file in proper format.
mode Record | Play | Thumbnail
Set specified operation mode on certain models.
resolution Hi | Lo | Ext | <number>
Set the camera to high, low or extended resolution mode. Exact
meaning of the modes is model-dependant and may specify different
image dimensions and/or JPEG compression rate.
clock
Set the camera's internal real-time clock using the current date
and time from the host computer. Time of taking a snapshot is
included inside the JPEG files produced. Note that the models
which display the time on the LCD will then display GMT rather
than local time. With -z option, time shifted by the timezone
offset is set, and the LCD will display local time. Using
unshifted (GMT) time in the camera seems a proper way to go.
shutter <speed>
Set the camera shutter speed. Units can be specified in microsec‐
onds or in traditional form like "1/250". Valid interval depends
on the model. If a value outside the interval is specified, the
camera will set the speed to the nearest margin of the valid
interval. Special speed value auto will set automatic shutter.
Note that this only works while the camera is connected to the
host, and automatically turns the flash off. While disconnected,
shutter speed is always set automatically.
aperture Auto | Lo | Med | Hi
Set the lense aperture on models that support it.
flash Auto | Force | Off | AntiRedeye | SlowSync
Set the camera flash mode.
id <string>
Set the camera identifier string that is included inside the JPEG
files produced. Only few models support this.
autoshut-host <seconds>
Automatically shut off the camera after that many seconds of inac‐
tivity while connected to the computer (on the host).
autoshut-field <seconds>
Automatically shut off the camera after that many seconds of inac‐
tivity while disconnected from the computer (in the field).
lcd-autoshut <seconds>
Automatically shut off the LCD monitor after that many seconds of
inactivity.
lcd-brightness <value>
Set LCD brightness to the value (valid values are 1 to 7).
focus Macro | Normal | Infinity
Set the lens focusing mode. As far as I can tell, on fixed focus
models macro only means force minimum aperture, not change the
focal length. Only has effect in the same invocation with "snap‐
shot" command.
adjust Normal | Contrast+ | Contrast- | Brightness+ | Brightness-
Set adjustment of picture brightness/contrast.
metering Center-weighted | Spot | Matrix
Set auto exposure metering mode.
whitebalance Normal | Sunny | Incandescent | Fluorescent | Flash | Pre‐
set | Cloudy
Set white balance.
color On | Off
Set color or B/W mode.
dzoom On | Off | <number>
Set digital zoom on or off. Note that it may only work if low
resolution was set prior to turning on digital zoom, and only have
effect in the same invocation with "snapshot" command. Numeric
values have model-dependant meaning.
zoom <mm>
Set optical zoom value on models that support it.
EXAMPLES
% photopc query
% photopc-f "image%H:%M:%S" eraseall snapshot image 1 .
OTHER NOTES
The latest version of this tool can be found at http://photopc.source‐
forge.net/
Trademarks are properties of their respective owners.
KNOWN BUGS
On some models, powersaving timeouts are measured not in seconds but in
1/10 sec units. The program reports them as in seconds.
Llist command relies on the format of thumbnail image that does not
contain necessary information on some models (e.g. Nikon CP 900), this
command does not work for these models. List command, on the contrary,
do not display useful data on models that do not return it in the reg‐
ister 47 (e.g. Agfa 780).
The program is known to have some timing problems talking to Nikon
CP900 when the camera is "napping" in powersaving mode. Until the
problem is solved, a workaround is to run the program this way:
$ photopc && photopc <command list>
Nikon seem to have some other problems too, especially when doing
"actions" (e.g. snapshots, erase).
Another Nikon problem: if 32Mb (or bigger?) memry card is inserted, the
program cannot get the number of frames taken, and if "all" or "NN-
last" range is specified for downloading, the program fails. Specify
explicit range of frames. Also, with any card, number of frames taken
is not updated immediately after the "snapshot" command (the same has
been reported for other models). If you find how to find the correct
number of frames, please let me know.
COPYRIGHT
The program is copyrighted by Eugene G. Crosser <crosser@average.org>
and freely distributable. See README file for detailes. DOS and Win‐
dows support copyright Bruce D. Lightner <lightner@lightner.net>
CREDITS
The man page was originally written by Jeff Tranter <jeff_tran‐
ter@pobox.com>, who also contributed a few bugfixes. Some information
about the serial protocol obtained from Jun-ichiro "itojun" Itoh <ito‐
jun@itojun.org>, Thierry Bousch <bousch%linotte.uucp@topo.math.u-
psud.fr> and other contributors.
SEE ALSOepinfo(1), strftime(3), protocol description (protocol.htm in the
source distribution).
PhotoPC manipulation tool 24 May 1997 PHOTOPC(1)
