Support for Nikon Z8

[kalhana_ck]

Is support for Nikon Z8 coming?

[astroman133]

Per the develoipers, the answer is YES. The issue is that Nikon only supports the Z8 in 64-bit applications so the O'Telescope developers are working to come up with a 64-bit version of BYN. That is complicated because they use some libraries in BYN that have a 64-bit release, but it has some issues. Still, they are working on it.

[admin]

Try this download with your Z8. Please report your findings.

You are breaking grounds with this version, this is the first 64 bits for BackyardNIKON. Only the Z8 and Z50 are working for now. I'll be working on adding the other camera models slowly. My first target is to support all Z series cameras that have a Nikon SDK, then move to older models where possible.

 

 

 

[Bob3137]

I downloaded version 3.5.0. The app is unable to connect to my Z8. I have tried switching cables & ports but to no avail. 

21:04:10  Licensed to Bob3137
21:04:10  BackyardNIKON 3.5.0 RC5
21:04:20  Attempting to connect camera...
21:04:20  NikonX64/Z8 drivers initialized.
21:04:27  Camera Not Found!  Make sure it's connected to the PC and turned ON

[admin]

 

Send me the log file.

 

 

 

[admin]

How is the camera connected to the PC?

You must use the usb cable, wifi connection is not supported.

Is Windows seeing the camera in Device Manager?

I don't have a Z8 but I do have a Z50, and it connects in 64bits.

[Bob3137]

My Z8 was connected via USB cable. I used a C to C and also a C to A. Yes, the camera was on. I forgot to check the device manager to see if the computer was seeing the camera. I am on my way to work right now. I will try again tonight & let you know.

[Bob3137]

I just e-mailed my log file to you at the support@otelescope.com.

 

[admin]

Got 'em, thank you. 

The SDK was properly loaded.

Please confirm Windows Device Manager sees the camera and confirm no other application is connected to the camera, as only one application can be connected to the camera at a time.

 

Quote

2023-11-20 16:54:27,568 [Main] DEBUG - Nikon drivers 'Type0031_Z8/C:\Program Files\BackyardNIKONv3.5\NikonX64\Type0031_Z8\Type0031.md3' is loading...
2023-11-20 16:54:27,597 [Main] INFO  - Nikon drivers 'Type0031_Z8/C:\Program Files\BackyardNIKONv3.5\NikonX64\Type0031_Z8\Type0031.md3' initialized.
2023-11-20 16:54:27,948 [Main] INFO  - NikonX64/Z8 drivers initialized.
2023-11-20 16:54:35,463 [Main] INFO  - Camera Not Found!  Make sure it's connected to the PC and turned ON

 

[Bob3137]

22 hours ago, admin said:

Got 'em, thank you. 

The SDK was properly loaded.

Please confirm Windows Device Manager sees the camera and confirm no other application is connected to the camera, as only one application can be connected to the camera at a time.

 

 

How can I tell if something else is trying to connect to the camera? I never had this issue with my D300.

[astroman133]

First things first...Does the Windows Device Manager see the camera?

It is unlikely that some other software is jumping in and connecting to the camera, especially if it does not occur with your D300.

If you are still unable to connect with the Z8, but Windows sees the camera in the Device Manager, then I would suggest rebooting the PC and avoiding loading any programs other than BYN to see if you still have the same issue.

You may also need to disable WiFi in the camera in order to get the camera to accept connections via USB.

Let us know how it goes.

[Bob3137]

On 11/21/2023 at 6:05 PM, astroman133 said:

First things first...Does the Windows Device Manager see the camera?

It is unlikely that some other software is jumping in and connecting to the camera, especially if it does not occur with your D300.

If you are still unable to connect with the Z8, but Windows sees the camera in the Device Manager, then I would suggest rebooting the PC and avoiding loading any programs other than BYN to see if you still have the same issue.

You may also need to disable WiFi in the camera in order to get the camera to accept connections via USB.

Let us know how it goes.

My apologies for the delayed response. Yes, the windows device manager sees the camera. My wife & I both checked, nothing else was trying to access the camera. The camera version is 1.01. For grins & giggles, I have another older laptop that also runs Windows 10. I installed Version 3.5 on that machine and same results. The computer sees the camera, knows it's connected but will not connect to the camera.

[admin]

This is weird, I have triple checked to make sure I had not mixed the SDK for the Z8 and I can confirm I have compiled the correct drivers with BYN 3.5 for the Z8. I'm stumped :(

[admin]

Does the Z8 have wifi connectivity with the computer? If yes, please disable it. Please confirm you are using a usb cable to connect the camera. 

[Bob3137]

15 hours ago, admin said:

Does the Z8 have wifi connectivity with the computer? If yes, please disable it. Please confirm you are using a usb cable to connect the camera. 

I had wifi disabled on both the camera & the computer. Still no luck. I am using a USB cable. I have tried a C to C connection & a C to A, still no luck. I can confirm that the computer sees the camera. On the camera, I went to Network Menu/USB data connection/MTP/PTP. I am just a stumped also. I'm thinking we may be missing a step, just not sure what.

[astroman133]

How have you confirmed that the computer sees the camera?

When you first connect and power on the camera, Windows may display its AutoPlay menu to ask you "What happens with this device? You should answer "Take No Action" since none of the other options make sense for what you are trying to do.

If all else fails you might try to install NX Studio to see if it is able to connect with the camera. However, if NX Studio is installed you do not want it connected or even running when you try to connect BYN with the camera. If NX Studio is not able to connect to the Z8, then Nikon may be able to help troubleshoot since they support both the camera and NX Studio. If you can get that to work then you can try to connect BYN with the camera.

[Bob3137]

1 hour ago, astroman133 said:

How have you confirmed that the computer sees the camera?

When you first connect and power on the camera, Windows may display its AutoPlay menu to ask you "What happens with this device? You should answer "Take No Action" since none of the other options make sense for what you are trying to do.

If all else fails you might try to install NX Studio to see if it is able to connect with the camera. However, if NX Studio is installed you do not want it connected or even running when you try to connect BYN with the camera. If NX Studio is not able to connect to the Z8, then Nikon may be able to help troubleshoot since they support both the camera and NX Studio. If you can get that to work then you can try to connect BYN with the camera.

I have confirmed the computer sees the camera. Windows autoplay did ask "what happens with this device" and we responded "take no action". I will download and install the NX Studio and see what happens there.

[admin]

I think you meant NX Tether, not NS Studio. 

I believe NX Studio is to open images only while NX Tether is the to control the camera.

Edit: NX Tether appears to be using PTP to connect to the camera, not the standard SDK . Camera Control Pro 2 is the one that uses the same Nikon SDK BYN uses, but Camera Control Pro 2 is not free, though there is a free trial that could last you long enough to run some connectivity tests.

 

[astroman133]

Thanks for the correction. I guess I am showing my lack of experience with Nikons, compared to Canons.

[aorr]

On 11/25/2023 at 7:43 PM, admin said:

I think you meant NX Tether, not NS Studio. 

I believe NX Studio is to open images only while NX Tether is the to control the camera.

Edit: NX Tether appears to be using PTP to connect to the camera, not the standard SDK . Camera Control Pro 2 is the one that uses the same Nikon SDK BYN uses, but Camera Control Pro 2 is not free, though there is a free trial that could last you long enough to run some connectivity tests.

 

Interesting! I will try this to see if it connects to my Z9 (from the other thread I started). Good to know it uses the same SDK you’re using. 

[RobYoung]

I have a similar problem with my new Z8 running fw2.0 and BYN. I was running BYN with my Z7, and it was working great. The same BYN version will not recognize the Z8 at all. Following along through this post I downloaded the new 64 bit version (BYN v3.5 x64) as suggested. It seems to recognize the Z8 now, but none of the camera controls show up on the screen. And then after a minute or so, BYN just closes itself. As suggested, I downloaded NX Tether v2 and the trial version of Camera Control Pro 2. Both work great, which verifies the camera, cable, laptop and the Nikon SDK. So I guess the ball is back in your court now. Any more suggestions? I really like BYN so I hope to be able to continue to use it. Thanks!

[admin]

The thing is that Nikon's own SDK test tool does not even connect to the Z8 once the firmware has been updated, so no, the ball is not in my court, it is in Nikon's court, since its own SDK testing tool won't allow the camera to connect.

Regards,

[RobYoung]

I'm not able to confirm that, since I cannot find the Nikon "SDK test tool". Perhaps you can send me a link. I'd be glad to give it a try using my setup. But according to your post above, "Camera Control Pro 2 is the one that uses the same Nikon SDK BYN uses". I did try that and it works without an issue using the Z8 with fw2.0. So perhaps they actually do have a different (or more updated) SDK than what you are using. In any case, we are stuck without being able to use BYN on our cameras. So if you have any advice for what to try it would be greatly appreciated. 

I am using a freshly downloaded copy of BYN v3.5 x64.

OS Name    Microsoft Windows 11 Pro (fully updated)
Version    10.0.22631 Build 22631
 

The installed Windows Z8 device driver is shown in the graphic below. I also added the latest log file.

Let me know how else I can help.

logfile-[20240309-16h04m55s030]-[21104]-2024-03-09.txt

[admin]

here it is.

Z8 Test Tool.zip

[dforcier]

Il y a 8 heures, admin a dit :

The thing is that Nikon's own SDK test tool does not even connect to the Z8 once the firmware has been updated, so no, the ball is not in my court, it is in Nikon's court, since its own SDK testing tool won't allow the camera to connect.

Regards,

Ah! I just went through the investigation to finally find that (including the Nikon's testing app not working anymore). It's reassuring to see that it's not a "my camera" issue, but a general one. Thanks!

[RobYoung]

This is what I get, which I am guessing is what you see as well;

Select (1-6, 0)
 1. Select Device            2. AsyncRate                3. IsAlive
 4. Name                     5. ModuleType               6. Version
 0. Exit
>1
1. ID = 1
0. Exit
Select (1, 0)
>1
Failed in Opening an object.
Source object can't be opened.
An Error occured. Enter '0' to exit.

Looking at Nikon's SDK download site, it appears that the latest commercially available SDK for the Z8 is dated 06/23/2023, which is way before fw2.0 came out. So Nikon must be using an in-house version of their SDK to get their apps to work. Oh well, so I guess we wait until they release a new SDK version before we get the Z8 fw2.0 to work with BackyardNikon. Thanks for trying. These types of things have to be a nightmare for you.

Let me know if you need any more info, or if you want me to try something else.

[admin]

2 hours ago, RobYoung said:

These types of things have to be a nightmare for you.

Yeah, they are. What makes it even more difficult is that there is no support from Canon or Nikon for their SDKs, they are provided as-is without support and with limited documentation.

This said, I'm tempted to drop/include this Nikon testing tool small .exe with BYN installer. I do provide the 4 SDK files for each camera model, so all I would need to do is copy the small .exe in each of the .../NikonX64/Type#### folder in the installation directory.

 

[RobYoung]

2 hours ago, admin said:

I'm tempted to drop/include this Nikon testing tool small .exe with BYN installer. I do provide the 4 SDK files for each camera model, so all I would need to do is copy the small .exe in each of the .../NikonX64/Type#### folder in the installation directory.

 

I'm sure that would be useful to help people troubleshoot. As long as it doesn't violate some license agreement. Probably wouldn't. If you do decide to do it, it would be useful to also add some brief instructions so people know it's there, can see how to run it, and know what kind of output they SHOULD get. It would definitely put the "blame" where it belongs, right away.

Thanks again for your support! And good luck.

[FilippoBasso]

New installation on a new machine, no other software, only Win 11 Pro.

I installed BackyardNIKON (setup-BackyardNIKON-v3.5.0-RC7-x64.exe) and it's not connecting to my Z8. I then experimented with other software (such as NX Tether 2.0.0), and they are connecting to it. Can I provide you with some more data/logs or make some tests, to help solving the problem?

(I tried now also in a new VMWare machine, and it has the same behaviour: BackyardNIKON is not connecting, while NX Tether is connecting, on a new Win 11 Pro installation. I'm going to try with Win 10 too... 😞 )

I put in the attachment my logfile, thank you for your support!

logfile-[20240529-19h11m39s749]-[10816]-2024-05-29.txt

[FilippoBasso]

I've installed a new machine Win 10 Home, on VMWare (so that it will be easy to replicate, for you). I've then aded the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5
(including .NET 2.0 and 3.0, and .NET 2.0 SP1 and .NET 3.0 SP1 - all from the same .NET 3.5 installation file).

https://www.microsoft.com/en-US/download/details.aspx?id=21

Same problem, the camera Nikon Z8 (firmware 2.0) doesn't connect. I'm adding the logfile as attachment...

Then I install NX Tether 2.0.0 and it works correctly.

From this post it seems that the Firmware 2.0 can be an issue: 

 

 

If so, I should wait... thank you team, please resolve this issue as soon as possible...!

logfile-[20240529-19h30m47s531]-[1972]-2024-05-29.txt

[FilippoBasso]

The Nikon SDK was updated the 24/05/15... can you check if it will work for the Z8?

Thank you!!!