For our May 2019 “Community Choice” Project of the Month, the community elected digiCamControl, a free and open source camera control solution. Creator and programmer Duka Istvan shared some thoughts about the project’s history, purpose, and direction.
SourceForge (SF): Tell me about the digiCamControl project please. What made you start this?
Duka Istvan (DI): In 2012 I bought my first DSLR camera, a Nikon D5100. Then I realized there was no free software which can communicate and control the Nikon cameras so I decided to make a software to fulfill this need. In the first year only I used the software, but soon after I released it to the public as open source software. The first release only supported the Nikon DSLR cameras but with time more camera models were supported like Canon, Sony and some exotic cameras Like Xiaomi Action Camera or Panono 360 Camera.
SF: Has the original vision been achieved?
DI: Yes it is archived at Google Code Archive (https://code.google.com/archive/p/nikon-camera-control/downloads)
SF: Who can benefit the most from your project?
DI: Professional and amateur DSLR camera users who want to automatize the image capture and transfer process; creators of 3D image models; bullet time video creators.
SF: What core need does digiCamControl fulfill?
DI: Control camera capture parameters, capture and transfer photos, control multiple cameras, create timelapse videos.
SF: What’s the best way to get the most out of using digiCamControl?
DI: Connect your camera to the PC using a USB cable or WiFi connection and start using the software.
SF: What has your project team done to help build and nurture your community?
DI: The application has a dedicated forum (http://digicamcontrol.com/phpbb/index.php) and a Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/DigiCamControl/) to make contact with new users.
SF: Have you found that more frequent releases helps build up your community of users?
DI: Absolutely, with more frequent releases bugs are corrected faster and the user experience is improved in this way.
SF: What was the first big thing that happened for your project?
DI: I don’t know if it was the biggest but definitely a milestone when I was contacted by a company which creates 3D models from real persons using a multiple camera setup. This collaboration led to the application having multiple camera support.
SF: How has SourceForge and its tools helped your project reach that success?
DI: SourceForge helps my users to download the application in a secure and reliable way and this leads to a higher trust and appreciation.
SF: What is the next big thing for digiCamControl?
DI: Support for more camera models like Pentax, Fuji, Panasonic and to port the application to an Android platform.
SF: How long do you think that will take?
DI: Hard to predict the necessary time but I think years, depending a lot on my free time.
SF: If you had to do it over again, what would you do differently for digiCamControl?
DI: More modular interface and code structure and documentation in the code because now it is really hard for an external developer to do any improvement in the code base.
SF: Is there anything else we should know?
DI: I would like to thank the community for voting digiCamControl as project of the month and for SourceForge for making this possible.
Good afternoon,
I am a Pentax user, Is your software compatible with Pentax?
Thks, Frederik