Linux on Your Canon DSLR? Why Not? | Hacker News Reader

Linux on Your Canon DSLR? Why Not?

magiclantern.fm

78 pointsfla20 comments

Soon I imagine most DSLRs will be running Linux, specifically Android. Android has dramatically improved their image rendering pipeline in the Lollipop release, and it's just a matter of time before the remaining camera manufacturers switch. Vendors can concentrate on their device pipeline drivers and apps, they get the associated benefits of a fully-featured OS.

A lot of the "smarter" cameras already are running Linux; here is an example (more of a "look at how bad the security is" post, but you get the idea):

http://op-co.de/blog/posts/hacking_the_nx300/

Personally I think this is a fun hack that shows how much processing power the hardware has, but I wouldn't want to run a full OS on my camera...

I wonder; i am sceptical.

I am a very satisfied owner of a Nikon D80, and have been since, like, 2007? 2008? In all, it's been super reliable (touch wood), but more than that, it has always worked. Instantly. Never needing reboots. Never crashing, never doing something wonky or glitchy that i didn't intend. I really, really value that, and i hope that the everything-must-be-an-general-purpose-computer craze will pass over my cherished DSLR.

The same people who are proponents of smartphones can pry my "dumb" camera from my cold, dead fingers.

Long live simplicity.

EDIT: Something else it cannot do: update software (well, i can't anyway). I think this type of device would be much better served by writing some good firmware and using modern full-stack proof/guarantee/checking so that the software can be certified to be correct and bug-free, then put on the device, never to be changed again. That is something that would make me truly happy. In 2015, we should have aeroplane-grade stability in software for devices like cameras (and phones, mind you, but that opinion is less popular).

Fortunately high grade DSLR's primarily serves professionals, a market that seems at least slightly less prone to whimsey.

Also promising is the fact that things like shots-per-second and boot-time have been standard specs for ages right up there with megapixels- reassuring me that whatever the software stack choice may be, the manufacturers and customers both care about what matters.

FYI, Magic Lantern has been a thing on Canon DSLRs since 2009. The sister project for Canon compact cameras, CHDK, has been going since 2006. Your Nikon D80 is already an embedded computer, the fact that it's running a weird OS only means the initial barrier to hacking is higher.

But I do echo you sentiment wrt. stability. I also believe Canon and Nikon are very aware of this. Fortunately for us amateurs, the stuff used by professionals like the Canon 5D and Nikon D4 runs the same OS as our prosumer devices, so stability is pretty much guaranteed. Touch wood also here.

I'm indeed aware that it's an embedded computer too, but it's an embedded computer that doesn't have a network stack, doesn't need to do very fancy GUI things, doesn't have user-installable applications, et cetera. It's very special-purpose ⇒ minimalistic ⇒ more likely to be stable/safe.

But indeed, i hope that professionals don't start wanting a functionality like "download and install custom applications for your camera" :p (but i would be surprised, i admit). This niche doesn't seem to exist as clearly in the mobile phone market: my very minimalistic Nokia does precisely what i want, but is rather low-quality and crashes occasionally. If only there was a "professional dumb phone".... :p </ severely off-topic >

>But indeed, i hope that professionals don't start wanting a functionality like "download and install custom applications for your camera" :p (but i would be surprised, i admit).

Why not? It would an absolute godsend if it was allowed to happen.

Speaking as a DSLR film-maker and photographer, there are TONS of applications that this would enable.

From customized timelapses to custom complex follow-focus sequences, to DoP calculation, and tons more besides.

Have a look at Lua scripting for CHDK. Get a Powershot SX50 and a handheld stabilizer. Then make something magic.

I couldn't agree more, I love the simplicity and speed of my Nikon. Switching it to ON, autofocusing and clicking the shutter button can all be done in less than a second, which is CRITICAL when getting an unexpected shot sometimes. Not every good shot can be well planned.

Nikon and Canon do have to stay on top of this sort of thing though, lest a competitor come along and do something that nobody thought of and scoop up a big market share, so its nice to think that they are at least trying to improve the product somehow.

That's what worries me: that some exec there will convince them that all prosumer models need whatever bell or whistle $competitor is offering. I consider the fact that certain devices have minimalistic feature sets a pretty strong feature on its own.

How about having two OSes on the camera? One will be minimal, just as it is now, to take pictures, and the other one will be an Android like OS to be able to do things like modifying the pictures. The camera would have a dual boot, so when you turn it on, you decide if you want to boot the "take picture" OS that is kept minimal for stability, or the Android one if you want to do something else with the camera.

You're the paid photographer at a wedding and you hear those words "you may kiss the bride." You frame up your shot, click the shutter... Oops hang on, I gotta restart my photos app! Can you guys do the kiss thing again?!

I have to restart one or another mobile app probably once every week or two, which granted is not a big deal. My DSLR on the other hand has never, ever one time failed or needed a restart in many years.

I would never in a million years call Android a "Linux". It's a shit slow Java shell running on the Linux kernel. It's a barely passable interface for those that don't care about UI sluggishness on a smartphone. It would be market suicide on a DSLR.

>Soon I imagine most DSLRs will be running Linux, specifically Android.

And give up most of the benefits of manufacturer control, to a race to the bottom, like smartphones did (where only Samsung makes any profit from the Android space)? Yeah, no.

>Android has dramatically improved their image rendering pipeline in the Lollipop release

Which is totally irrelevant to the processing that's involved in a DSLR.

I think one of the people involved in the Magic Lantern project is a DC guy that is part of the HacDC collective. I was very inspired when he tangentially mentioned his invovlement with a custom Canon DSLR firmware. It seems they have certainly progressed leaps and bounds.

The humilty and awesomeness of that guy made me want to splurge and buy a Canon DSLR that was compatible just to learn how to hack from this guy, but alas it was and now is again out of my budget range.

You can still buy the original EOS M with a sweet 22mm f/2 pancake for sub $300.

This is absolutely correct! Philip came by and did some presentations a while back. The membership ebbs and flows a bit, though (for example, two ex-presidents now live in the Bay area, one in Münich, one in NYC, etc). A very transient bunch.

For those, like myself, wondering what DC and HacDC are: Washington, DC, USA, and a hackerspace in that city.

On Gopro (and other cameras using Ambarella) you can also telnet into a linux shell

The newest Gopros have a pretty decent API. Sadly, it's on an absolute crap wifi connection. While Canon's USB stack has its issues as well, it's still a heckuva lot more stable than any of the wifi-based cameras I've tested...

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