Control Canon SX540 HS zoom function

Caveat: I am a linux novice and I am new to gphoto2. This is also my first
posting to this list.

I am developing a pan/tilt-with-camera mechanism that will autonomously
track and photograph the sun.  I would like to use my current camera, a
Canon PowerShot SX540 HS with 50x optical zoom, and gphoto2 to do this. The
SX540 is listed on the gphoto2 support page (
gphoto.org/proj/libgphoto2/support.php) as being supported for Image
Capture, Liveview, and Configuration.

I am running gphoto2 (libgphoto2-6 version 2.5.27-1) on a Kali linux
laptop. The SX540 is connected to the laptop via a USB cable. I issued a
few gphoto2 commands to give you some background information. Note: The
camera function dial is set to M (Manual).

*****************************************************************

gphoto2 --auto-detect

Model                          Port
----------------------------------------------------------
Canon PowerShot SX540 HS       usb:002,017

*****************************************************************

$ gphoto2 --list-ports

Devices found: 12
Path                             Description
--------------------------------------------------------------
ptpip:                           PTP/IP Connection
ip:                              IP Connection
serial:/dev/ttyS0                Serial Port 0
serial:/dev/ttyS1                Serial Port 1
serial:/dev/ttyS2                Serial Port 2
serial:/dev/ttyS3                Serial Port 3
serial:                          Serial Port Device
usb:002,017                      Universal Serial Bus
usb:001,004                      Universal Serial Bus
usb:001,003                      Universal Serial Bus
usbdiskdirect:/dev/sdb           USB Mass Storage direct IO
usbscsi:/dev/sg2                 USB Mass Storage raw SCSI

*****************************************************************

gphoto2 --capture-image

New file is in location /store_00010001/DCIM/135___02/IMG_0584.JPG on the
camera

*****************************************************************

gphoto2 --get-file /store_00010001/DCIM/135___02/IMG_0584.JPG

Saving file as IMG_0584.JPG

*****************************************************************


After this --get-file command the image is indeed present in the working
directory. Therefore, the --capture-image and --get-file commands appear to
work, at least when the camera is in Manual mode. Next I try some zoom
commands.


*****************************************************************

gphoto2 --get-config Zoom

Label: Zoom
Readonly: 0
Type: RADIO
Current: 0
Choice: 0 201
END

*****************************************************************

gphoto2 --set-config Zoom=201

*****************************************************************


This --set-config Zoom=201 command returns after 40 or so seconds with no
status message. The camera lens did not extend or retract during that time.


*****************************************************************

gphoto2 --set-config Zoom=0

*****************************************************************


This --set-config Zoom=0 command also returns after 40 or so seconds with
no status message. The camera lens did not extend or retract during that
time.



In an attempt to produce debug information I ran this command, which
produced a sizable my-logfile.txt.

     env LANG=C gphoto2 --debug --debug-logfile=my-logfile.txt --set-config
Zoom=0

 I would be happy to post this logfile to this blog if someone would tell
me how. The logfile contains several failure and timeout messages. My only
cautionary note is that the camera has powered itself off due to inactivity
several times in the course of me issuing the commands above. I do not know
how that affects things like usb port numbering.


In addition, have the following questions:

Q1: Is it OK that the camera function dial is set at Manual or should I use
something else (e.g., Auto, Live, P, Tv, Av)?

Q2: I see that there is a newer (Jan 3, 2022) version of libghoto2 (
github.com/gphoto/libghoto2/releases/tag/v2.5.28) that includes some
updates for the Canon zoom function and might solve the zoom problem I am
experiencing. How do I install it? (Please be specific, I am new to linux.)

Q3: Is using the gphoto2 --set-config Zoom=xx command even the correct wat
to control the camera's zoom function?

Q4: Is there a way to disable the function that causes the camera to power
down due to inactivity?

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

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