Bug Report: gphoto2 Fails to Capture Image on Sony ILCE-7RM5 (PC Remote Mode)

[racer993]

Describe the Bug
When attempting to capture an image using gphoto2 --capture-image-and-download, the command fails with the following error messages:
ERROR: Could not capture image.
ERROR: Could not capture.

The camera does not respond as expected.

The camera's display shows the "-PC-" indicator switching from orange to white and back to orange, but no image is taken.

Camera Information
Detected Camera via gphoto2 --auto-detect:
Model Port----------------------------------------------------------Sony ILCE-7RM5 (PC Control) usb:002,004

USB Device Info (lsusb):
Bus 002 Device 004: ID 054c:0e0c Sony Corp. ILCE-7RM5
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 2109:3431 VIA Labs, Inc. Hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

The Sony camera is set to USB - PC Remote Mode.

gphoto2 and libgphoto2 Version
gphoto2 2.5.28Copyright (c) 2000-2021 Marcus Meissner and others
This version of gphoto2 is using the following software versions and options:
gphoto2 2.5.28 gcc, popt(m), exif, no cdk, no aa, no jpeg, no readline
libgphoto2 2.5.31 standard camlibs (SKIPPING docupen lumix), gcc, no ltdl, EXIF
libgphoto2_port 0.12.2 iolibs: disk ptpip serial usb1 usbdiskdirect usbscsi, gcc, no ltdl, EXIF, USB, serial without locking

Steps to Reproduce
Connect the Sony ILCE-7RM5 camera via USB.
Set the camera to USB - PC Remote Mode.

Run the following command: gphoto2 --capture-image-and-download
Observe that:The "-PC-" indicator on the camera turns from orange to white and back to orange.
The command fails with the following errors:
ERROR: Could not capture image.
ERROR: Could not capture.

No image is taken.

Debug OutputDebug output was captured using:gphoto2 --capture-image-and-download --debug --debug-logfile=debug.log

debug.log

The log file (debug.log) is attached to this bug report.

Expected Behavior
The command should successfully trigger the camera shutter and download the captured image.

Additional Notes
This issue appears to be specific to the Sony ILCE-7RM5 in PC Remote Mode.The camera is recognized correctly by gphoto2. If any additional debugging or testing is required, I am happy to provide further details.

Submission Details
Bug report submitted to:gphoto2 GitHub RepositoryMaintainer
Contact: Marcus Meissner

[racer993]

Additional Observations with libgphoto2 2.5.30
I tested the same setup with libgphoto2 2.5.30 instead of 2.5.31, and the behavior is slightly different:

Setup Details:

gphoto2 -v

This version of gphoto2 is using the following software versions and options:
gphoto2 2.5.28 gcc, popt(m), exif, no cdk, no aa, no jpeg, no readline
libgphoto2 2.5.30 standard camlibs (SKIPPING docupen lumix), gcc, no ltdl, EXIF
libgphoto2_port 0.12.2 iolibs: disk ptpip serial usb1 usbdiskdirect usbscsi, gcc, no ltdl, EXIF, USB, serial without locking

Camera detection via gphoto2 --auto-detect:

Model Port

USB PTP Class Camera usb:002,004

New Behavior Observed:

1. gphoto2 now triggers a capture, but the focus behavior is inconsistent.
2. The "-PC-" indicator on the camera turns from orange to white when executing gphoto2 --capture-image-and-download.
3. The camera tries to focus (lens moves), but does not emit a final "beep", which normally signals that focus is complete.
4. gphoto2 appears to wait indefinitely for a signal from the camera.
5. While gphoto2 is waiting, pressing the shutter button manually forces the camera to:

• Focus again.
• Emit the "beep".
• Capture the image.

6. After manually triggering the shutter button, gphoto2 completes the process as expected, downloading and deleting the image from the camera. The "-PC-" indicator turns back to orange.

Comparison to libgphoto2 2.5.31
With libgphoto2 2.5.31, gphoto2 fails completely with:
ERROR: Could not capture image.
ERROR: Could not capture.

With libgphoto2 2.5.30, gphoto2 does trigger an image capture but only if manually assisted by pressing the shutter button.

This suggests a possible change between 2.5.30 and 2.5.31 that may have affected the **

**. Let me know if I can provide any further testing or logs! 🚀

[racer993]

I also have a debug.log available for the last test, however github doesn't let me upload it.

please pm if you want the debug log.

[racer993]

Kindly note that I have tested the following versions / combinations:

combination 1

gphoto2         2.5.27         gcc, popt(m), exif, no cdk, no aa, no jpeg, no readline
libgphoto2      2.5.26         standard camlibs (SKIPPING docupen lumix), gcc, ltdl, EXIF
libgphoto2_port 0.12.0         iolibs: disk ptpip serial usb1 usbdiskdirect usbscsi, gcc, ltdl, EXIF, USB, serial without locking

combination 2

gphoto2         2.5.27         gcc, popt(m), exif, no cdk, no aa, no jpeg, no readline
libgphoto2      2.5.27         standard camlibs (SKIPPING docupen lumix), gcc, ltdl, EXIF
libgphoto2_port 0.12.0         iolibs: disk ptpip serial usb1 usbdiskdirect usbscsi, gcc, ltdl, EXIF, USB, serial without locking

combination 3

gphoto2         2.5.28         gcc, popt(m), exif, no cdk, no aa, no jpeg, no readline
libgphoto2      2.5.28         standard camlibs (SKIPPING docupen lumix), gcc, no ltdl, EXIF
libgphoto2_port 0.12.0         iolibs: disk ptpip serial usb1 usbdiskdirect usbscsi, gcc, no ltdl, EXIF, USB, serial without locking

combination 4

gphoto2         2.5.28         gcc, popt(m), exif, no cdk, no aa, no jpeg, no readline
libgphoto2      2.5.29         standard camlibs (SKIPPING docupen lumix), gcc, no ltdl, EXIF
libgphoto2_port 0.12.0         iolibs: disk ptpip serial usb1 usbdiskdirect usbscsi, gcc, no ltdl, EXIF, USB, serial without locking

combination 5

gphoto2         2.5.28         gcc, popt(m), exif, no cdk, no aa, no jpeg, no readline
libgphoto2      2.5.30         standard camlibs (SKIPPING docupen lumix), gcc, no ltdl, EXIF
libgphoto2_port 0.12.1         iolibs: disk ptpip serial usb1 usbdiskdirect usbscsi, gcc, no ltdl, EXIF, USB, serial without locking

they all responded the same as this combination of which I posted the results above.

gphoto2 2.5.28 gcc, popt(m), exif, no cdk, no aa, no jpeg, no readline
libgphoto2 2.5.30 standard camlibs (SKIPPING docupen lumix), gcc, no ltdl, EXIF
libgphoto2_port 0.12.2 iolibs: disk ptpip serial usb1 usbdiskdirect usbscsi, gcc, no ltdl, EXIF, USB, serial without locking

Kindly note that also combination 5, that others reported as working, at first didn't work for me. It gave me the exact same behaviour when issuing this command:

gphoto2 --capture-image-and-download --debug --debug-logfile=debug.log

The camera tries to focus (lens moves), but does not emit a final "beep", which normally signals that focus is complete.
gphoto2 appears to wait indefinitely for a signal from the camera.
While gphoto2 is waiting, pressing the shutter button manually forces the camera to:

• Focus again.
• Emit the "beep".
• Capture the image.

After manually triggering the shutter button, gphoto2 completes the process as expected, downloading and deleting the image from the camera. The "-PC-" indicator turns back to orange.

However, after I rebooted the raspberry pi combination 5 did work.

This is the sequence of commands I used to iterate over the various versions, make sure all previous references to gphoto2 were deleted:

sudo apt purge gphoto2 libgphoto2-6 libgphoto2-dev libgphoto2-l10n libgphoto2-port12 -y
sudo rm -r /usr/local/lib/libgphoto2* 
sudo rm -r ./gphoto2-temp-folder
rm -r .gphoto/
rm *.jpg ; rm debug.log ; clear ;
nano .env

time(sudo ./gphoto2-updater.sh)

lsusb
gphoto2 -v
gphoto2 --auto-detect
gphoto2 --capture-image-and-download --debug --debug-logfile=debug.log

I changed the content of .env every time, in order to compile a new version, which is part of gphoto2updater by gonzalo.

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gonzalo/gphoto2-updater/master/gphoto2-updater.sh && wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gonzalo/gphoto2-updater/master/.env && chmod +x gphoto2-updater.sh && sudo ./gphoto2-updater.sh

I probably should have rebooted the Raspberry Pi every time after running the "sudo ./gphoto2-updater.sh" command.

I really would like to do some more testing if that helps.

[racer993]

I have noticed that there is something off. When using this software setup:

gphoto2 2.5.28 gcc, popt(m), exif, no cdk, no aa, no jpeg, no readline
libgphoto2 2.5.30 standard camlibs (SKIPPING docupen lumix), gcc, no ltdl, EXIF
libgphoto2_port 0.12.1 iolibs: disk ptpip serial usb1 usbdiskdirect usbscsi, gcc, no ltdl, EXIF, USB, serial without locking

I'm able to take pictures, however the "focussing" step is skipped. The camera immediately takes a picture without focussing when using command like this:

gphoto2 --capture-image
gphoto2 --trigger-capture
gphoto2 --capture-image-and-download --force-overwrite

In later versions the camera tries to focus, as I see the lens moving, but doesn't finish the focussing step ("no beep" is heard).

So, for me it seems like, the problem seems to be in the "focussing" part of the software.

[racer993]

Another issue appeared: I can't seem to download files from the camera manually, it looks like the gphoto2 accesses the wrong memory in the camera and can't find the folder with the images when using this version:

gphoto2 2.5.28 gcc, popt(m), exif, no cdk, no aa, no jpeg, no readline
libgphoto2 2.5.30 standard camlibs (SKIPPING docupen lumix), gcc, no ltdl, EXIF
libgphoto2_port 0.12.1 iolibs: disk ptpip serial usb1 usbdiskdirect usbscsi, gcc, no ltdl, EXIF, USB, serial without locking

This is what I get to see when I use the following commands:

gphoto2 -L

There is no file in folder '/'.
There is no file in folder '/store_00010001'.

gphoto2 -l
There is 1 folder in folder '/'.
 - store_00010001
There are 0 folders in folder '/store_00010001'.