Back to Linux . . . cameras

[Duane Attaway]

I'm not sure exactly what you are asking, but my Kodak DC215 has a little
command line utility (from freshmeat.net) that can take control over the
camera, such as snapping pictures, returning specific size jpgs, etc.  
Also I hear many of these Kodaks can be flashed with nifty programs and
games, such as Doom.  I'm sure other cameras have similar capabilities.  
Anyhow, here is a snippet from my Kodak and what it can do with a little 
command line program:

"DigiCam 1.20"

http://www.ne.jp/asahi/linux/timecop/

here's the program run without arguments to give you an idea what it can 
do (and I have used it for a very high resolution web cam :)

[dattaway at attaway digicam-1.20]$ ./cam
Kodak DC21x Digital Camera utility by timecop [timecop at japan.co.jp]

	Usage:
	-s devname	Use devname for camera port (/dev/ttyS0 for 
example)
	-q		Minimum messages to console [script use]
	
	-i [n]		Display Camera [ or picture n ] information
	-n		Display number of pictures in camera
	-d n		Delete image number n from camera
	-D		Delete all images from camera
	-t [filename]	Take a picture, save to filename
	-r [n] [fname]	Retrieve picture n, save as fname
	-R		Retrieve all pictures, save as imageNNN.jpg

	-z 1|0		Set resolution to [1:High,0:Low]
	-Q 1-3		Set JPEG quality. [1:Best,2:Better,3:Good]
	-Z 0..4 | 5	Set zoom. 
[0:58mm,1:51mm,2:41mm,3:34mm,4:29mm,5:Macro]
	-f 0-4		Flash setting. [0:Auto,1:Flash,2:NoFlash]
				       [3:RedEyeAuto,4:RedEyeFlash]
	
	Some options can be combined, for example:
	cam -s /dev/camera -z 0 -q -f 1 -t webcam.jpg

On Tue, 29 Jan 2002, Bradley Miller wrote:

> Speaking of Linux . . . I've been hammering away on tons of PHP solutions
> for client web sites.  90% of what I do now from scratch is in PHP.  
> 
> Here's an interesting problem I'd love to solve via Linux:
> 
> I'm wanting to setup a high resolution web cam -- basically a megapixel++
> camera that snaps photos and has photos sent to a web site.  I've tried the
> Axis camera and the $1000 model (based on Linux) has the capture stuff, but
> still doesn't have the quality I would like.  I would like stunning lake
> photos with zoom type camera -- not these wide angle shots that the Axis
> camera gives me.   Any suggestions?   A distro would need dialing
> capability, and USB support as most cameras use this for transfer.  I would
> probably have to build a remote trigger for the camera because most of them
> do not have "on dock" triggering.
> 
> This is the quality I'm getting now:
> 
> http://www.golakeozarks.com/html_includes/golakeozarkscam.php
> 
> I found out the Axis 2100 cameras that I'm using are not happy with outdoor
> light . . . the box says for indoor use only, but I assumed that to mean
> "don't play with this in the rain" like most appliances would say.  They
> have a "outdoor light" setting and say "don't point to sun" but it never
> says "this camera is for indoor shots with natural light and don't point it
> out a window".   
> 
> The next step up the evolutionary ladder with the cameras offers an
> auto-iris lens, but the quality still doesn't go up -- it's still 640x480
> camera basically.  
> 
> The ideal situation would be a digital megapixel++ camera that would snap
> photos when the computer triggers it.  I'll settle for a camera that can
> have a remote trigger, or even something as mundane as a basic servo to
> press the button to take a photo.  The thing I need most is high quality
> shots at regular intervals without worry.   Any suggestions?
> 
> -- Bradley Miller
> 
> 
> 
>