cameracommander

CameraComander

A CLI application for creating time-lapse videos using a gphoto2 compatiable camera. So far only tested with a Canon EOS 6D2 and EOS R50 tethered (USB). The application allows you to configure camera settings utilizing a file which makes it easier to reproduce captures. Main function is to capture snapshots and start time lapse recordings, by continuously capturing images at a given interval. The images are saved to a folder and can be used to create a time-lapse videos, e.g. using ffmpeg.

Example settings.yaml

script_settings:
  interval: 10
  frames: 100

camera_settings:
  iso: 100
  aperture: 2.8
  shutter_speed: 1/60
  white_balance: auto

Example Workflow (timelapse)

1. Connect Camera via USB
2. Run cameracommander auto_adjust --save-settings to detect camera settings and save them to settings.yaml
3. Modify settings.yaml to your needs
4. Run cameracommander timelapse --settings-file path/to/settings.yaml to start a timelapse
5. Use ffmpeg to create a video from the images

Here is one example result of a timelapse created with this tool without any post processing:

Commands

The CLI provides several commands to interact with the camera. Below are some examples of how to use these commands.

Check Settings

Check the validity of a given settings.yaml file by applying it to the camera.

$ cameracommander check_settings --settings-file path/to/settings.yaml

List Settings

Show all possible camera settings and their keys.

$ cameracommander list_settings

List Available Values

Show all possible setting values for camera settings in the given settings.yaml.

$ cameracommander list_available_values --settings-file path/to/settings.yaml

Snapshot

Create a snapshot using the camera settings in a given settings.yaml.

$ cameracommander snapshot --settings-file path/to/settings.yaml

Timelapse

Start a timelapse using settings in settings.yaml.

$ cameracommander timelapse --settings-file path/to/settings.yaml

Auto Adjust

Take a snapshot with all auto settings and print the used camera settings. Optionally, save the detected settings to settings.yaml.

$ cameracommander auto_adjust [--save-settings] 

How to install

From Source, in a venv

This project uses uv as a package manager. So install it first -> https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation/)

Then:

$ git clone https://github.com/fwarmuth/CameraCommander.git
$ cd CameraCommander
$ uv run cameracommander --help

From PyPi

$ pip install cameracommander
$ cameracommander --help