
Ricoh releases SDKs for Pentax cameras - brudgers
https://www.pentaxuser.com/news/ricoh-releases-sdks-for-pentax-cameras-1373
======
rhn_mk1
> RICOH Camera SDK provides your application with functionality to control
> DSLR cameras remotely

This is progress, cameras can be now automated! Nevertheless, all
customization is outside of the camera, meaning that the interesting parts
like UI, and builtin processing cannot be touched. Magic Lantern still wins,
hugely [0]

The THETA series of cameras are apparently based on Android, and "plugins" are
possible, so maybe that's the real step forward. [1][2]

[0] [https://magiclantern.fm/](https://magiclantern.fm/)

[1] [https://api.ricoh/docs/theta-plugin-reference/camera-
api/](https://api.ricoh/docs/theta-plugin-reference/camera-api/)

[2] [https://github.com/ricohapi/theta-plugin-
sdk](https://github.com/ricohapi/theta-plugin-sdk)

~~~
brudgers
The use cases will tend toward tethering. Because Pentax's high end competes
with medium format cameras from Hasselblad, Mamiya, Fuji, and Phase One,
tethering matters a lot. Rearranging menus doesn't because important controls
are physically on the body. In the tethering context, custom in-camera image
processing is also a bit of the wrong tool for an important job. If nothing
else, the SDK makes integration with existing tools like CaptureOne and
Lightroom easier in the comsumer space. It also fits with Ricoh's overall
business by facilitating use of Pentax cameras for medical imaging etc.

------
markvdb
Many el cheapo Canon consumer cameras can run the alternative CHDK firmware.
CHDK exposes almost all of the camera's canonical UI masked bits...

I built a series of book scanners using these under the umbrella of the
[http://diybookscanner.org](http://diybookscanner.org) project.

~~~
52-6F-62
This is great. I took a book history course at U of T and this would probably
be right up their alley. I'm not sure if it runs anymore (this was ~11 years
ago).

I _can_ tell you it was running at St. Michael's college, U of Toronto.

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Sir_Vival
I would pay good money for this for Nikon. I'm a wedding photographer and on
the D750 the primary ISO button is right next to a "quality" button. Because
of this, with one slip you can change from shooting raw + high quality jpeg to
only basic quality jpeg. The button doesn't need to exist. Nobody ever needed
to quickly change their quality settings. Most people would probably never
change it. The only indication you've done this is the number of shots you can
take on your current SD card will go up.

You can enable another button to be your ISO button, but it's a bit less handy
to use and quite small.

Best of all, the predecessor to the D750 has the ISO and quality buttons next
to each other but in a slightly different place. Fun stuff if you only
upgraded one camera.

~~~
kumarvvr
[https://sdk.nikonimaging.com/apply/](https://sdk.nikonimaging.com/apply/)

Nikon has an SDK program too. Though it requires you to apply first. D750 is
supported.

~~~
glenneroo
Actually the application isn't necessary to download - just fill out the
required fields spread across 7 pages and (seemingly) regardless of what you
input, it takes you to the download page for the SDKs chosen (per camera and
one for NEF files and one for the film scanner APIs). Haven't had a chance to
look at them yet, but the most recent SDK updates are from 2017.

------
lmz
Docs for the interested: [https://api.ricoh/docs/](https://api.ricoh/docs/)

------
forthispurpose
Is there a camera that has some kind of API that allows to control most of the
aspects of picture / video taking remotely?

An example - changing ISO settings using some custom web app of the remote
camera.

------
jimmies
If you're into hardware hacking, almost all big camera brands (Canon, Nikon,
Sony) have (unofficial) custom firmwares [1] that enhance the functionality of
the original ones.

I have a Sony mirrorless one that is locked to Japanese language and I can't
be happier to have it unlocked with the custom firmware.

1: [https://github.com/htruong/hackable-consumer-
hardware](https://github.com/htruong/hackable-consumer-hardware)

~~~
baldfat
Stupid EU Tax for video cameras makes my Sony and other brands have a time
limit of how long you can record a video for. They even have different model
numbers for cameras in the states vs EU to try and get around this problem.

~~~
mschuster91
You got a Sony? Search for "OpenMemories-Tweak" and you will be helped...
(worked for my A7S2 just fine, though no guarantees etc)

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maxxxxx
Cool! I hope other manufacturers will follow. There is so much cool stuff you
could do if you had full control of the camera hardware.

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kbumsik
Looks good. This includes controlling camera through USB/Wireless. Any other
manufacturers offer SDK?

~~~
jamesg
As for camera makers releasing SDKs, there’s a few, though I’ve found them to
be unimpressive (binary only blobs for Windows, etc). However more interesting
to me are cameras that speak standard(ish) protocols. I’ve been looking into
this recently, here’s what I found: Panasonic cameras (GH4 is the one I’m
looking at) expose a HTTP API over WiFi, and are able to upload images to an
SMB share while you shoot. The API is fairly extensive: lets you control
focus, etc. Nikon cameras have a pretty bad story on WiFi (at least up to the
D810, which is the newest one I own), so I haven’t got far with them. I hear,
though haven’t verified that Canon cameras speak PTP/IP, which is pretty neat.
Olympus also has a WiFi control mode, but annoyingly it seems to disable the
on-body controls when you use it (tested on an OMD EM1 Mk 1). I’m yet to get
my hands on a Sony camera (will probably buy an A7 later this year), but I’ve
seen videos that suggest it should be fairly straightforward to control
remotely.

~~~
haldean
Sony has an Android app you can use to get live previews off the A7, tweak
exposure parameters, and trigger images. Everything can go over either
bluetooth or WiFi. I imagine that a little time with Wireshark would open an
API up real quick :)

~~~
opencl
Sony already has an API and there are a few third party Android apps using it:
[https://developer.sony.com/develop/cameras/](https://developer.sony.com/develop/cameras/)

------
griffinkelly
This is definately cool that you can get this access, but would be even better
if they built a gimble and allow you to control the camera together with zoom
and shutter. Otherwise, this is just a little bit better than a remote
shutter.

~~~
slantyyz
Well, with the SDK, you can build your own gimbal and control the camera's
shutter... which I guess is the point of releasing the SDK in the first place
- let users make neat stuff that Pentax won't/can't make itself.

I'm not too sure about zoom though. Unless the lens is a power zoom that's
controllable from the body, you'd probably be better off making your own
mechanism to control the zoom.

~~~
mark-r
Pentax tried power zoom years ago and gave up on it rather quickly. The mount
contacts that they created for it were repurposed when they introduced in-lens
focus motors.

------
tranquill
Hmm. Doesn't look like the software runs on device but rather on an connected
device via USB or Bluetooth/WiFi.

It doesn't seem to offer much more than PTP already does for many years - or
am I missing something?

------
frostburg
This is interesting... but I checked the documentation and I can't find any
mention of controlling focus with autofocus lenses, which would be crucial for
most interesting uses that I can think of.

~~~
brudgers
There's documentation here [.NET], [https://api.ricoh/docs/camera-usb-sdk-
dotnet/capture/](https://api.ricoh/docs/camera-usb-sdk-dotnet/capture/) In
programming terms, it looks a bit like clicking the shutter.

~~~
frostburg
That's asking the camera to try to focus, not setting the focus remotely. I'd
like the thing to work as a software focus puller for video.

~~~
brudgers
Oh, I see. I use Pentax as my primary camera. If I were serious about video,
I'd probably go with a Sony or some other mirrorless system. I wouldn't try to
make a DSLR work because the mirror is just in the way.

~~~
frostburg
I don't use a Pentax, but you can't do that on a Sony either (or Canon, Nikon
and actually even on most professional cinema cameras, because those typically
don't have focus motors).

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pjmlp
Nice that the C++ SDK is C++11, but they could have it at least C++14.

~~~
maxxxxx
Don't be greedy :-)

------
miohtama
Has anyone here been using Pentax cameras and how do they compare to Canon and
Nikon professional/hobbyist/tourist offering?

~~~
paulmd
The cameras themselves are good. Weather-sealed bodies, had in-body image
stabilization long before anyone else, reasonable (although not great)
compatibility with older lenses, etc.

The first-party lens selection is not up to par with the Canon/Nikon
offerings. If a third-party like Sigma makes the lens you're looking for, it
will usually come in a Pentax-mount variant, but most of the Pentax lineup is
focused on consumer-grade lenses rather than the high-end stuff. That's fine,
but Nikon and Canon have entry-level/midrange lenses too, while the reverse
isn't true of Pentax with the high-end stuff.

~~~
pietroglyph
> reasonable (although not great) compatibility with older lenses

All Pentax cameras from 1975-on have used the Pentax K-Mount[0], which means
that in (almost) all cases you can use most of the lenses made in the last 43
years. I would call that pretty good compatibility.

[0]: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentax_K-
mount](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentax_K-mount)

~~~
paulmd
I'm specifically referring to the crippled K_af2 mount, which does away with
the feelers necessary to read out the aperture setting on older lenses
(approximately pre-90s).

The lenses mount, but you need to go into a menu on the camera body each time
you adjust the aperture to tell it how much the lens is going to stop down. I
think it's perfectly fair to ding some usability points for that.

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fithisux
Another blob in my computer?

