Further States Fixes

Fixes on abort exposure

camera states fixes

With this small change i hope to bring more stability in the camera states and downloads from imaging/sequencing software

Full Changelog: 7.0.6...7.1

new resolutions for gh6 and fz1000

added 2 new cameras in the support.

Connection Error Handling

fixing some issues on the discovery of the camera:

1. if the camera is already connected to another device an error is now handled
2. I found that some unknown devices were responding to the lumix query string. So if the response from such devices is not matching the expected Lumix Protocol it is now ignored.

Fix setup resolution discovery

There was an annoying VB issue in the setup form where the resolution that was discovered from the model was not really taken into account in the driver. I believe this is now fixed.

This combined with previous updates should make the first time discovery of the camera a little more trustworthy.

clear skies!

fix GH3 resolution and other improvements

Changed the resolution definition of the GH3 (and similar sensor formats)
Info message when the camera is not discovered
Tried to change the behavior of the setupform to adapt to multiple definitions.

Updated Lumix Models

This release added a few new models to the Lumix series and their respective resolutions.
To note that the source for models and sensor sizes/resolution is found here: https://www.digicamdb.com/cameras/panasonic/
Raw resolution are given by "Sensor resolution"
JPG resolution are given by "Max. image resolution"

So new models are

• BGH1
• S5
• G100
• S1H

Fixed resolution for G9 (now mapped to : Sensor resolution: | 5200 x 3910/Max. image resolution: | 5184 x 3888 e.g. 20.0 from the driver setup window)

Note:

1. if a model is not recognized or the wrong resolution is mapped in the driver, it is still possible to "Override" the resolution manually in the driver setup window by selecting the correct resolution.
2. in case all else fails the THUMB readoutmode defaults to the thumb size which is constant for all models (1440x1080). this is in any case the prefered mode since it is the fastest transfer and also works very well for astrometry (ASTA or Platesolve2)

Libraw and RGGB sensor type

This release provides

1. a new integration with LibRaw. This allows to handle correctly the RW2 14bit format that was introduced with GH5S and S1 cameras.
2. changed the sensor type to RGGB and image array to single plane instead of the previous Multiplane color array. This was required to integrate with NINA.
   Also to workaround a limitation of NINA that was expecting a temperature value the driver will now send a fake temp of 25C.
3. dropped the legacy G80 name of the driver since it should work with all lumix Wifi capable camera.
4. fixed also an issue with the camera state machine

Multi Threaded Connection

This release includes a few bug fixes and mostly a more stable and multi-threaded connection with the camera. Also a better way to download the file from the camera.

Theoretically it should also work with Lumix Full Frame models like S1 and S1-R but have not been able to try them.

The driver does try to recognize the model of the camera it is connected to and applies the corresponding resolution in the setupdialogueform. However on the very first use it is required to drop down the resolution box manually in order for it to be accounted for in the driver.

For older WIN32 machines use the setup32.exe
For win64 use the setup.exe. This should install a compatible 32 and 64 bit driver working with 32 or 64 bit apps.

Follow other instructions in the previous releases.

ASCOM Driver for Lumix - now with camera model discovery and other improvements

ASCOM Camera driver for Panasonic Lumix Cameras

Purpose

This driver provides an interface to the Lumix http over wifi remote control protocol in order to present lumix cameras as ASCOM cameras and be used by astro photo software like APT. The camera believes that it is connected to the Panasonic ImageApp

The driver was tested with the G80, GH4 and GH5s but should work with all Wifi Lumix.
16MP sensor was the prototype. Now it is possible to work with a range of sensor sizes such as:

• 10M (GH5s)
• 12MP(GH1)
• 16MP (GH4, G80, etc.)
• 20MP (GH5, G9, etc.)

Notes:

1. Since ASCOM does not expose any "liveView" or video mode this is not implemented here.
   Mostly this driver sets the ISO (i.e. Gain), ShutterSpeed, Capture (Start and Abort) and GetImageArray methods along with other needed methods for ASCOM.
2. All settings are stored in the ASCOM Proflie Explorer
3. Trace log is stored in default ASCOM location
4. Presumably could also work with the full frame S series from Panasonic since it shares the same http protocol. The different format of the sensor should be handled but i have no way of testing it. (this is a call to get loaned an S1 to test!)

Usage

Video tutorial is available

First install the driver. Of course you need to have ASCOM platform installed on your target windows PC.
To connect your PC to the camera:

1. First on the camera (similar to what is needed with the Panasonic ImageApp)

   1. Prerequisites
      1. set it to "M"
      2. make sure there is an SD card too. (this exception is not handled yet)
      3. best if camera is set to manual focus too. (indeed if the camera tries to capture and cannot find a focus it will not capture. that exception is not handlded yet)
   2. Connect to a wifi network where you will also connect your PC
   3. Camera then waits for an app to connect
   4. Proceed to steps on the PC. If you are too slow to do these steps on the PC the camera will timeout and leave the waiting to connect status.

2. On the PC

   1. launch the Imaging software (e.g. APT)
      
   2. choose the LumixG80 Ascom from the chooser window and click properties
      
   3. the driver will look for the Lumix camera on the local wifi network and connect to it (the camera should say "under remote control")

   
   4. IP address is populated by the driver after its discovery.
   5. Check that the correct resolution for your camera is discovered
   4. set the ISO, Speed and TransferFormat (JPG, Thumb or Raw): read below for details
   6. Temp folder to store the files from the camera.
   8. Path to the DCraw.exe file that is required to deal with the RAW file from the camera. This File is distributed with the setup and should be in C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\ASCOM\Camera
   9. hit ok.
   10. The Astro Software then gets data from the driver like the pixel pitch but does not get the temperature… in your Astro Software you can then set the Bulb seconds of the capture the gain etc.
   
   11. You can now shoot!
   
   12. in APT you can then also (and more importantly)use the image received by the driver to perform platesolving.
   13. AGAIN NO LIVEVIEW supported. this is beyond what ASCOM does. For Live view you can look at alternatives discussed here the beauty is that they can work in parallel to the ASCOM driver since the Lumix camera is just a "Media Server".

The driver allows to set the speed, iso and format of the camera transfers the image (Raw or JPG) on the PC and exposes the image array in RGB to the calling program. This will create a 16bit image regardless of what the transfer format was. Note that the driver will force the camera to store RAW and Fine JPG.

It relies on DCRaw to handle the Raw format, or the native VB.NET imaging for JPG
Images are then translated into Tiff and then passed to the image array.

RAW would be preferred but the file is substantially larger and therefore longer to transfer. Therefore the download is often interrupted. the driver tries to recover/continue the download but it does not always work smoothly. this leaves with an incomplete RAW file that is still passed on but not ideal.

Given the longer transfer time it substantially cuts into the active shooting since all this process is sequential
So, if you have a 1mn exposure and it takes 40s to get it onto your driver that is 40s you are not shooting...

Hence the jpg transfer option. file is smaller and transfer faster and should still be valuable for the Astro SW.
in any case the camera keeps the RAW or the RAW+jpg on the SD card and the Astro SW should have a fits file from the driver. The transferred files (jpg or raw) and intermediary tiff files are deleted as soon as possible (i.e. once the imagearray has been passed to the astro Software) in order to save disk space. Code is quite nasty and could use some factoring into further utility classes/methods etc.

I added a "thumb" transfer mode which takes a large thumbnail of the image (1440x1080) in order to further reduce the transfer size. I am not sure if this helps much and if it will screw up the platesolving since now resolution is different from the actual sensor size. In this case though the pixelpitch is changed in the driver so to help in that process.

Lastly there is still a pending issue with 14 bit RAWs from GH5s. this has to do with DCRaw that does not yet handle this format. For that reason, it is best for GH5s to use JPG format (or thumb)
If DCRaw gets updated, just replace the DCRaw.exe on your driver with the newer version and point to it usinf the "Path to DCRaw.exe" option in settings

Installation

for windows 32 and 64 bit. download and run ASCOM.LumixG80.Camera Setup.exe.

Implements: ASCOM Camera interface version: 2.0
Author: robert hasson [email protected]
this is freeware. no support, no liability whatsoever, use at your own risk, etc...

Credits to

ASCOM library : https://ascom-standards.org/

DCRaw: https://www.cybercom.net/~dcoffin/dcraw/

NDCRaw : https://github.com/AerisG222/NDCRaw

MedallionScript: https://github.com/madelson/MedallionShell

the lumix Wifi interface protocol is heavily discussed here: https://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/6703/control-your-gh3-from-a-web-browser-now-with-video-/p1

License

Copyright (c) 2019 < robert hasson [email protected]>
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.