Re: Noob questions regarding Sony A7C remote control

Hi Luigi, 

New DSLRs are obviously a bit expensive, so I started with a Canon 350D, then an aunt gave me her Nikon D5000 and now I have a Canon 450D, it's the cheapest one with temperature embedded in the sensor. As you are going to do a lot of post processing of your images eg stacking and stretching, once you get into darks, flats and biases, you can get quite amazing results from a cheap camera. The only caveat is you must process the RAW 12-16 bit images, not the 8 bit jpegs. 

I have a Celestron 200mm f/5 Newtonian telescope and I've automated everything with a Rpi 3b+ (server) with a Kubuntu desktop client. All written in python. The gphoto2 python wrapper is from Jim Easterbrook (Google will give you his site) and you can download his software to access your dslr. 

You haven't mentioned a telescope, so I assume you don't have one. Many people do beautiful nighttime photography with dslrs only, including John Fox, a professional photographer in the UK. Again Google. Personally I prefer a scope. 

Finally, I would suggest joining a local photography club or astronomy club, in real or online or both. Most towns have quite large and well attended photography clubs and less well attended astronomy clubs. CloudyNights in the US or stargazerslounge in the UK are also good astronomy sites with large followings. 

Good luck, 

Steve. 

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On 1 Aug 2021, 21:35, at 21:35, Luigi Borasi <[email protected]> wrote:
>Dear Steve,
>
>thank you very much for your feedback! I would like to ask if you could
>tell me more specifically what Canon/Nikon models you use for
>astrophotography, for me to get some ideas. Your configuration with
>raspberry pi + python + gphoto2 sounds really like what I was hoping
>for.
>To be completely honest, since I am completely new to photography, I am
>still quite unsure regarding how I will use the camera I will buy.
>Astrophotography is something I would really like to do, but so is some
>video shooting. That is why I was gravitating toward the Sony. But I
>will
>research more if there are alternatives from Canon.
>
>Thank you again.
>Best,
>Luigi
>
>
>On Sun, Aug 1, 2021 at 10:10 PM Steve Cookson
><[email protected]>
>wrote:
>
>> Hi Luigi,
>>
>> Canon is generally accepted as being the main manufacturer for
>> astrophotography DSLRs and suppliers mainly make telescopic
>accessories for
>> Canon.
>>
>> I use remote controlled Canon cameras (and sometimes Nikon) for
>> astrophotography via a raspberry pi with my main machine being
>Kubuntu
>> 20.04 desktop. I use ghoto2 with Python (there is a python wrapper
>for it)
>> and it works perfectly. Video is very slow, but everything else is
>perfect.
>> Long, tracked exposures of 3 to 5 minutes, remote download etc etc.
>>
>> Hope that helps,
>>
>> Kind regards,
>>
>> Steve.
>>
>> Get BlueMail for Android <https://bluemail.me>
>> On 1 Aug 2021, at 16:14, Luigi Borasi <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> I am new to photography and I am thinking of buying a Sony A7C.
>>> On the other hand, I am not a new to linux and foss and to me the
>camera
>>> itself is interesting only if it can be "remote controlled" from
>linux (or
>>> if there is reasonable hope it will be in the "near" future).
>>> Ideally I would like to: change settings, shoot photos (e.g. with
>"basic"
>>> astrophotography in mind), and shoot/record (high quality) videos
>(e.g.
>>> web-cam like but with superior characteristics).
>>> It is possible that I have unrealistic expectations.
>>>
>>> My questions are:
>>> What can I expect in terms of remote control for this model?
>>> Should I instead be considering other model/vendors to have better
>>> support for remote control?
>>>
>>> I have found:
>>> https://github.com/gphoto/libgphoto2/blob/master/NEWS
>>> from which I would guess the Sony A7C is work in progress, but
>already
>>> has some support.
>>>
>>> Moreover I saw that Sony has a remote control SDK (I guess non open
>>> source)  which works under linux and supports the Sony A7C.
>>> I wounder if this SDK could prove useful in developing gphoto.
>>>
>>> I am not a real developer, but, if I end up buying the Sony A7C, I
>would
>>> gladly offer my basic skills to help in any way.
>>>
>>> I am grateful for any further information and also for any
>suggestion
>>> regarding where to find more information.
>>> I apologize for the long letter.
>>>
>>> Kind regards,
>>> Luigi Borasi
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ------------------------------
>>>
>>> Gphoto-user mailing list
>>> [email protected]
>>> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/gphoto-user
>>>
>>>

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