Linux support for digital cameras

[trevor_little]

I am planning on switching over to a professional digital camera setup for when go through college next year (photojournalism). I have contacted Nikon and Canon and they have stated that they currently have no plans to add support for the Linux operating system for any of their cameras. +
My question is, is there any third-party software / drivers out there for linux, or is there any other company creating pro-grade digital cameras that provide linux support (ie. fuji, pentax etc....)

thanks,
Trevor

[Michael Fanelli]

I am planning on switching over to a professional digital camera setup for when go through college next year (photojournalism). I have contacted Nikon and Canon and they have stated that they currently have no plans to add support for the Linux operating system for any of their cameras. +
My question is, is there any third-party software / drivers out there for linux, or is there any other company creating pro-grade digital cameras that provide linux support (ie. fuji, pentax etc....)

There is little support for cameras that actually works consistently. I would suggest getting a card reader that has better driver support.

I don't want to start a war here (and will not participate if one starts) but, if you are new to Linux, you'll need to know the following:

Be aware that USB support on Linux is very spotty and crude. It tries (at least as late as Mandrake 9.1) to emulate USB using the SCSI interface. You can only use the primary USB ports (usually the ones on the back of the computer, not the ones on the front). There is no plug-and-play so you'll have to manually edit several config files and do a mount/demount every time a USB device is added or removed.

Although GIMP is OK, it's no match for PhotoShop or even cheap packages such as Elements or Paint Shop Pro. It's OK for simple tasks but lots are several generations behind. For example, the last time I looked, Gimp only had the very simplest interpolation option (no cubic or bicubic). The lack of color profiling makes getting printing and web colors sheer luck to get right.

Also be aware that my Linux computer has no support for any of my USB printers. The support for the Epson flatbed scanner is crude but works, the film scanners are not supported at all.

I keep the Linux box around just to play with once and a while. As servers, they work very well. Linux has made great strides in usability but is still way behind Windows and Mac for the desktop. Even Linus has pointed that out to the great concernation of many Linux fanatics.

I would suggest, if you haven't had a lot of Linux experience, download a free copy of Knoppix. This version runs from a CD drive, is an excellent port of Debian (SuSe?), has great device support, and doesn't require any committment or modification of your existing computer.

[trevor_little]

yeah thats what i was thinking. Accually on the contrary to that, i find gimp to be superior to photoshop in both memory allocation and functionallity. As far as USB support goes, the new 2.6 kernels have amazing usb 2.0 plug and play support as well as usb printer/scanner support etc.
The apple OS 10 now runs on the linux 2.4 kernel, because of its advanced multitasking and memory allocation properties, something that windows lacks, and allows apple computers to be the prefered brand for multimedia editing.

[Sebastian]

yeah thats what i was thinking. Accually on the contrary to that, i find gimp to be superior to photoshop in both memory allocation and functionallity. As far as USB support goes, the new 2.6 kernels have amazing usb 2.0 plug and play support as well as usb printer/scanner support etc.
The apple OS 10 now runs on the linux 2.4 kernel, because of its advanced multitasking and memory allocation properties, something that windows lacks, and allows apple computers to be the prefered brand for multimedia editing.

Trevor,

OSX is based on Unix, NOT Linux.

The top editing systems from the top companies, Avid and Media 100 both run on Windows 2000/XP boxes.

Like a good preacher, you didn't research the facts before you got on your soapbox.

[Michael Fanelli]

yeah thats what i was thinking. Accually on the contrary to that, i find gimp to be superior to photoshop in both memory allocation and functionallity. As far as USB support goes, the new 2.6 kernels have amazing usb 2.0 plug and play support as well as usb printer/scanner support etc.
The apple OS 10 now runs on the linux 2.4 kernel, because of its advanced multitasking and memory allocation properties, something that windows lacks, and allows apple computers to be the prefered brand for multimedia editing.

Interesting. What functionality do you find better with GIMP? How do you cope without color profiling?

The USB support is not part of the kernel. USB is a separate module that links into the kernel. The last time I looked, USB 2 was still a beta release. Maybe this status has recently changed but I've seen nothing about that.

OS/X is based on FreeBSD (Berkley UNIX), Mach, and other tools, not Linux.

I am not a Mac fan but it is a much better desktop choice than Linux at this point in time. But maybe not forever...