×

INDI Library v2.0.6 is Released (02 Feb 2024)

Bi-monthly release with minor bug fixes and improvements

Canon Imaging and focus.

  • Posts: 7
  • Thank you received: 1
I was doing more testing with different cables and found there was something other than cables slowing me down. I was not shooting Raw and Native as I thought.

There is a disconnect between the Indi Control Panel -Stars Image Settings(Screen that pops open on Connect) and the Ekos -KStars CCD and Filter wheel settings window. In Indi Control Panel Image Settings Tab Capture was set to RAW and Transfer Format is set to Native. I didn't notice this does not affect the capture format in the CCD & Filter wheel tab. Or Maybe they have different meanings that I do not understand. I am still on the left side of the learning curve.

My transfer speeds, when set to native in the correct tab, are similar to yours. 6 seconds or 7 depending on if I have the save to SD option. I have pulled the fits speeds down to about 30 seconds by adjusting different options. I am still "tweaking" the settings to reduce the fits transfers. For comparison, My image files are 31Mb in cr2 format and 48mb in fits.

I have been using the 16Gb SanDisk Ultra SDHC. I found a way to benchmark them in the rPi using this website listed below. it seems the SD bus is limited to around 21MBps. it mentions some overclocking options that I am going to explore with a new SanDisk Extream SDXC I just picked up.

www.pidramble.com/wiki/benchmarks/microsd-cards
5 years 2 months ago #33623

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

in Ekos, native means whatever format your camera sends it will take in. So your camera format can be JPG, TIFF, CR2, or whatever.. it would not attempt to convert this if it was sent to native. For FITS, it will convert any sources to FITS as the name suggests.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Clive Stachon
5 years 2 months ago #33629

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 407
  • Thank you received: 74
I use one of these but 32gb version www.picstop.co.uk/microsd-sdhc/sandisk-u...or-android-16gb.html.

The pictures I provided were from a test RPI running off an old 32gb USB stick with an even older 16gb boot SDHC card but the timings are about the same on my "production" system.

Obviously the file sizes are dependent on res of your camera hence the discrepancy.

Still not bad for a £32 board :-)

I hadn't realised the obvious ,as pointed out by KRNO (thanks) , that it depends on you actual camera settings - I am used to software being able to change this :-) (which would be nice for a future version of Indi Canon driver :-) )
RPI3 Ubuntu 16.04 / AMD desktop Kstars under Ubuntu 16.04 Mounts :azeq6 ,SWAZGoTo

RPI3 Fedora testing out on AMD desktop Fedpra 28 - running kstars 2.9.4 , Indilib 1.7.4 ?????
5 years 2 months ago #33632

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 1309
  • Thank you received: 226

Replied by Andrew on topic Canon Imaging and focus.

I've brought it up once before as a suggestion to add an option to the align and focus modules to change the image format to jpg just for those processes. But it did not get much traction. Sounds like you are interested in something similar Stash.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Madison Perkins
5 years 2 months ago #33664

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 407
  • Thank you received: 74
Yes but only because I was spoilt by APT but that had full access to Canon SDK - this is reverse engineered stuff but I believe the last time I looked at GPHOTO it could change to download image type :-)

Plus online Platesolve has the option to convert image to JPG ????
RPI3 Ubuntu 16.04 / AMD desktop Kstars under Ubuntu 16.04 Mounts :azeq6 ,SWAZGoTo

RPI3 Fedora testing out on AMD desktop Fedpra 28 - running kstars 2.9.4 , Indilib 1.7.4 ?????
Last edit: 5 years 2 months ago by Clive Stachon.
5 years 2 months ago #33666

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 7
  • Thank you received: 1
I’ve been tweaking multiple options in the rPi3b+ for performance. I finally settled for just overclocking the sdcard by modifying the /boot/config.txt file. I have shaved the image transfer speed down to 3-4 seconds from 5-6 seconds when shooting RAW, NOT saving to SDcard and transfering native. When transferring fits I’m down to 17 seconds from 28.

Overall performance of the pie has increased as well. Opening KSTars has gone from watching it load slowly to almost instant. Switch screens or opening menu is snappy and responsive.

Overclocking anything can cause stability issues so do this at you own risk. I manage to brick my pie more than once before i finally figured it out.
5 years 2 months ago #33667

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 407
  • Thank you received: 74
If you place the RPI near to your scope lens if will keep the dew at bay LOL :-)
RPI3 Ubuntu 16.04 / AMD desktop Kstars under Ubuntu 16.04 Mounts :azeq6 ,SWAZGoTo

RPI3 Fedora testing out on AMD desktop Fedpra 28 - running kstars 2.9.4 , Indilib 1.7.4 ?????
5 years 2 months ago #33668

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 7
  • Thank you received: 1
KRNO...
I am a little confused with your response and what I am seeing between the focus screen and the capture screen. When I capture native with the camera settings set to native, no save to sdcard and RAW I transfer to the pie in 3-4 seconds for each image. The image size is 31mb. When I switch the capture type to fits in the capture screen it transfers in about 17 seconds. The image size is 48 mb. I understand there is a lot more going on when it is converted to fits. With a file size 150% larger than the raw file and the conversion process this seems reasonable.

Here is what’s confusing me with the focus screen. It takes roughly the same amount of time to capture for framing and focus as the fits capture not the native capture. In addition the only way to enlarge it is to view it isn the fits viewer. It seems like the image created from this screen is getting converted to fits.

Am I missing something about the focus screen? Should the focus screen be in native format? Can it be in native mode?
Last edit: 5 years 2 months ago by Madison Perkins.
5 years 2 months ago #33669

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 407
  • Thank you received: 74
A joke about overclocking - increases heat - rpi3b+ gets hot anyway - dont worry about it - my dry sense of humour :-)

Fits used anywhere in Indi when using DSLR is a convertion - I think Focus/Align all use FITS format and there is no way to use Native format. Align does then convert images to JPG when uploading to Online solver - if you tick the box. As I say a guess on whats happening ! :-)
RPI3 Ubuntu 16.04 / AMD desktop Kstars under Ubuntu 16.04 Mounts :azeq6 ,SWAZGoTo

RPI3 Fedora testing out on AMD desktop Fedpra 28 - running kstars 2.9.4 , Indilib 1.7.4 ?????
5 years 2 months ago #33671

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 7
  • Thank you received: 1
Lol. Ya it’s dry heat though.

On a serious note I checked the thermals andthe was no noticeable change when o/c the sdcard.

Well let’s face it there are a lot of dedicated AP cameras today compared to 5 years ago. Fits seems like the native AP format. Dslr AP gonna have to take the back seat.

My workaround for frame and focus is to shoot medium jpeg to get setup. Then jump out and reset camera to raw for a final focus and then start shooting a series. Just theory at this point though. Have had clouds for almost the whole time I have had the pie.
5 years 2 months ago #33672

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.


Only capture module can capture in Native format. Everything else uses FITS format. If you check INDI Control Panel, you see the format switching from Native to FITS when focus/align modules are used.
5 years 2 months ago #33677

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 7
  • Thank you received: 1
Thanks for the clarification.
5 years 2 months ago #33678

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

Time to create page: 1.849 seconds