Z7II live view not working

[cvil]

The Frame & Focus option is not working with my Nikon Z7II.  Logs are full of error messages  'Parameter is not valid'

BYN trial version 2.1.3 with Nikon Z7II

logfile-[20230514-17h38m26s085]-[3120]-2023-05-14.txt.zip

[admin]

Parameter not valid indicates that the data provided by the camera is not a bitmap/image.

Is the camera LCD able to display the image?

[cvil]

Yes the image is visible on the LCD camera.

[admin]

Odd, I see 2 values in your log files that have caused issues in the past, though I can't remember if it were related to live view or not.

1. You have ISO set to 'Hi-2.0'. Set ISO to a real value, say "800", and see if this makes a difference.
2. You have Image Quality set to 'RAW + JPEG Fine'. Set it to only RAW, and see if this makes a difference.

Thank you.

[cvil]

Same thing with ISO 800 and Image Quality 'RAW'. I tried with another software (APT) and live view is working.

Tried with my Nikon D500 and a 300 F/4 and it's working fine.

JF

Edited May 15, 2023 by cvil
Add test with D500

[admin]

That is interesting. APT uses the same Nikon SDK as BYN. I'm not sure where to go from here, I would need a Z7II for testing. Typically, I'm able to get things working without a camera, but from time to time, nothing beats having a unit on hand, and due to price, it's difficult to justify buying one.

One more thing, if AF Focus set Face + Tracking? If yes, can you turn tracking off and see if this makes a difference.

[admin]

Oh... go to Settings -> Advance Settings.

What do you have set for Live View Offset?

[cvil]

I can't test now, but I will tomorrow.

I saw a preceding thread where you advise to increase Live view offset from 512 to 1024; so I tried that but without success.

Thank you for your help.

JF

[admin]

ah.... that would have been my suggestion.... but you must tick the checkbox for the value to take effect; otherwise it won't use it.

 

[astroman133]

If APT works but BYN does not, could it be caused by the 2 apps using different versions of the Nikon SDK?

For the OP, are there different camera firmware versions available? Are you using the latest firmware?

[admin]

I did a bit of research and the Z7II has a live view offset of 512, so increasing to 1024, with the checkbox checked, won't work.

I really wish I could put my hands on a Z7II, I'm pretty sure I'd be able to figure it out within an hour or so with an actual camera to test with

 

[cvil]

Il y a 23 heures, admin a dit :

That is interesting. APT uses the same Nikon SDK as BYN. I'm not sure where to go from here, I would need a Z7II for testing. Typically, I'm able to get things working without a camera, but from time to time, nothing beats having a unit on hand, and due to price, it's difficult to justify buying one.

One more thing, if AF Focus set Face + Tracking? If yes, can you turn tracking off and see if this makes a difference.

No AF Focus set Face + Tracking. Never used that.

JF

[cvil]

Il y a 19 heures, astroman133 a dit :

If APT works but BYN does not, could it be caused by the 2 apps using different versions of the Nikon SDK?

For the OP, are there different camera firmware versions available? Are you using the latest firmware?

Firmware was 1.4. I upgraded to the latest version 1.5, but it makes no difference.

[cvil]

Il y a 18 heures, admin a dit :

I did a bit of research and the Z7II has a live view offset of 512, so increasing to 1024, with the checkbox checked, won't work.

I really wish I could put my hands on a Z7II, I'm pretty sure I'd be able to figure it out within an hour or so with an actual camera to test with

 

I wish I could lend you my Z7II, but France is a bit distant .🙁

[astroman133]

According to the initial log file provided by the OP, the camera has multiple JPEG image quality settings which are:

2023-05-14 17:38:41,323 [Main] INFO  -    'JPEG Basic'
2023-05-14 17:38:41,323 [Main] INFO  -    'JPEG Basic*'
2023-05-14 17:38:41,323 [Main] INFO  -    'JPEG Normal'
2023-05-14 17:38:41,323 [Main] INFO  -    'JPEG Normal*'
2023-05-14 17:38:41,323 [Main] INFO  -    'JPEG Fine'
2023-05-14 17:38:41,323 [Main] INFO  -    'JPEG Fine*'

It also reports image multiple image sizes:

2023-05-14 17:38:41,323 [Main] INFO  -    'L(8256*5504)'
2023-05-14 17:38:41,323 [Main] INFO  -    'M(6192*4128)'
2023-05-14 17:38:41,323 [Main] INFO  -    'S(4128*2752)'

When Frame and Focus is started, the current image quality is JPEG Fine, but I do not see the image size being reported.

Admittedly my experience is with Canon cameras, where the image quality and size are related through a single setting and BYE uses a Small JPEG image file for LiveView (Frame & Focus) frames. This leaves me to wonder if this makes the Z7II different from other Nikon models and it is what is causing BYN to not recognize the downloaded image format.

This is somewhat grasping at straws, but the discussion seems to be at an impasse, so I am throwing it out there.

 

 

[admin]

Grasping straws is what may solve this without a camera on hand to test

This said, the image size/quality is only used for still images, not live view. However, it may be a good test to rule it out.

Go to Settings and set Image Quality to "in-camera", and BYN will not try to set the image quality, it will use whatever setting the camera is at.

[cvil]

Il y a 21 heures, astroman133 a dit :

Admittedly my experience is with Canon cameras, where the image quality and size are related through a single setting and BYE uses a Small JPEG image file for LiveView (Frame & Focus) frames. This leaves me to wonder if this makes the Z7II different from other Nikon models and it is what is causing BYN to not recognize the downloaded image format.

This is somewhat grasping at straws, but the discussion seems to be at an impasse, so I am throwing it out there.

My Nikon D500 also uses 2 distincts parameters for quality and size and I think all recents Nikon camera do the same.

Btw, what do you mean with "grasping at straws" ? Sorry, french is my native language ...

J-F

[cvil]

Il y a 7 heures, admin a dit :

Grasping straws is what may solve this without a camera on hand to test

This said, the image size/quality is only used for still images, not live view. However, it may be a good test to rule it out.

Go to Settings and set Image Quality to "in-camera", and BYN will not try to set the image quality, it will use whatever setting the camera is at.

No way. I tried with all the image qualities but no live view and always 'invalid parameter'.

If I let BYN to set image quality, when I switch to live view, BYN set quality to Jpeg Fine.

J-F

[astroman133]

It would really help you to troubleshoot without debugging if the logging included the name of the invalid parameter and any other information that relates to the error.

It would help the user of the app could provide suggestions for corrective action. It may save them from creating a support issue and improve their experience.

[s3igell]

On 5/17/2023 at 3:58 PM, cvil said:

My Nikon D500 also uses 2 distincts parameters for quality and size and I think all recents Nikon camera do the same.

Btw, what do you mean with "grasping at straws" ? Sorry, french is my native language ...

J-F

"Grasping at Straws" is an idiom for "Trying/suggesting something Unusual".

But, as you advise you are in France, is your Camera Menu Language set to French??  Perhaps you can try setting the DSLR Menu Language to English for testing.  It may be that there is an API Request/Response which is getting translated incorrectly internally English-French-English or using Continental Decimal markings unexpectedly. 

(This idea is also an example of "grasping at straws" - unless it works...)

[cvil]

il y a 49 minutes, s3igell a dit :

"Grasping at Straws" is an idiom for "Trying/suggesting something Unusual".

But, as you advise you are in France, is your Camera Menu Language set to French??  Perhaps you can try setting the DSLR Menu Language to English for testing.  It may be that there is an API Request/Response which is getting translated incorrectly internally English-French-English or using Continental Decimal markings unexpectedly. 

(This idea is also an example of "grasping at straws" - unless it works...)

Just tried your suggestion, but no luck, it was "grasping at straws" 😃

JF

[astroman133]

Just to confuse things a bit.

O'Telescope is located in Ottawa, Canada and Canadian French is the author's first language. They have a French language Support area, if you think that it would help facilitate discussion with the admin.

[admin]

Please try this download with your Z7ii and live view. Please report your findings.

 

 

 

[cvil]

I am on vacation until november 20. I will report when returning.