Information on R5 Mk II

[Ron Hillstromb]

Hello Guy,

 

  This is some information to put in your folder marked "for a cold dark cloudy day in winter".

  I checked in and downloaded the current X64 prerelease version.  I connected to my recent purchase of a R5 Mk II and got the following information.

 

Real Model #

4294967294 (FFFFFFFE)

  I saw on the non-release of new firmware 1.1 there was an item about new SDK compatibility.  Maybe you can get it updated when you have time.

 

  I know people in Canada have to make the most use of summer's long days and comfortable temperatures and I won't be getting out in the Texas heat before it cools down in either November or December so no rush on my part.  The R7 is working fine.

  I will check in weekly for the next month or so then probably less often until November or December.  I will be happy to test any software modifications.  When you get to them.

 

Have a happy summer.

 

Ron

[admin]

The (FFFFFFFE) indicates that the camera model is not supported with the SDK available at the time BYE was compiled. I may be able to add it if Canon has released the SDK since then. I'm away on vacation until August 11th. Please reach out in a few weeks, and we'll try to make it work if the SDK is available.

Thanks.

[Ron Hillstromb]

OK.  I will check back after August 11.  Thanks for letting me know.

 

  Enjoy your vacation

 

Ron

[admin]

Hi Ron,

I have my laptop, and like magic I was able to connect to my dev environment 

Please try this download, it still won't connect, but you should be getting a different set of numbers when you are trying to connect your R5 Mk II. Send me those numbers.

Thank you.

 

[Ron Hillstromb]

Hello Guy

 

Here is the text return on sign in.

************
17:39:23  Canon drivers 'CanonX64\' initialized.
17:39:23  DEVICEINFO DESCRIPTION IS Canon EOS R5m2
17:39:23  DEVICEINFO NUMBER IS 3470492101.
17:39:23  YOUR *REAL* MODEL NUMBER IS 4294967294(FFFFFFFE)
17:39:23  YOUR camera is not currently supported by the Canon SDK available at the time of this software release.

********

Ron

[Ron Hillstromb]

Sorry I missed the down load instruction and working on that now.

 

[Ron Hillstromb]

OK I'm Back.

17:58:51  Licensed to Ron Hillstromb
17:58:51  BackyardEOS 3.5.0 RC10
17:59:13  Attempting to connect camera...
17:59:13  Canon drivers 'Canon\' initialized.
17:59:13  DEVICEINFO DESCRIPTION IS Canon EOS R5m2
17:59:13  DEVICEINFO NUMBER IS 2971957933.
17:59:13  YOUR *REAL* MODEL NUMBER IS 2147484822(80000496)
17:59:13  YOUR camera is not currently supported by the Canon SDK available at the time of this software release.
 

 

Ron

[admin]

Hi Ron,

Please try again with this download. Try both 32 and 64bits if you can.

Regards,

[Ron Hillstromb]

Hi Guy

I downloaded both 32 and 64 bits files.  I can connect to both programs

 

I haven't wrung either one out but 64 bits program seems to be good for Still images but when I try planetary it gives me a box saying it need permission to install the AVI recorder.  I get past that and get a box from Microsoft and I click on approval box (I think).  I click on the movie icon again and get the same messages.

 

  The 32 bits program takes one image in Still mode then it shuts down and exits.

Same problem on planetary as with 64 bits.

Log file from the rogram-

00:10:15  Licensed to Ron Hillstromb
00:10:15  BackyardEOS 3.5.0 RC10
00:10:26  Attempting to connect camera...
00:10:26  Canon drivers 'CanonX64\' initialized.
00:10:29  EOS-R5MkII CONNECTED!
00:10:37  Unable to set LiveviewAutoFocusMode, current setting is assumed!
00:10:50  Planetary imaging started.
00:10:56  BackyardEOS is unable to create AVI movies, encoder not found!

 

  I have been told I will busy tomorrow, Sunday, but later in the day I hope I can test both further and generate log files for you.  

I will wait for instructions before sending them to you by posting to this  topic in case something may be in them you don't want to be in the open.  I will remove my camera's serial number which I found in one.

I will try to generate a log file for each program and not combine or have data from previous activations in them.

 I had some problems with preview files but they may have been caused by operator errors. It may be Monday before I get you the information you need.

Ron

 

 

 

  

[Ron Hillstromb]

Hello Guy,

I have been able to spend some time with the RC10 files.

  Results for the x86 version are dismal in my mind.  I can take a preview and get the image in the thumbnail strip and in the image display center as well as being saved to the computer.

  When I execute a simple multi-line capture plan, one image is taken and saved to the computer.  After it is saved, the program shuts down (exits).

Results on the x64 version is better.  I can take a preview image and it shows up in the thumbnail strip as well as the image display center and is saved to the computer. 

  When I set up a capture plan and execute it, no images show up in the thumbnail strip or image display center but they are saved to the computer.

  Both programs don't seem to have the AVI file creator installed or a way to give permission to load it.  This is also true for RC9.

Small niggles and maybe only in the RC files: 

Always loads in night mode (red). 

Doesn't save any custom settings in either settings menu.

  I have the log files for each program up to the point stated here.  I will continue to play with it and the R5 Mk II and see if there other things I need to report.

Ron

 

[astroman133]

The fact that thumbnail images don't show up could just be that the setting is turned off, so the thumbnail strip is not updated.

There are buttons around the top and down the right side of where the images are displayed. The bottom button down the right side of the main image frame turns that feature on or off. But that wouldn't explain why the image is not displayed in the main image center area. The log file might be revealing.

Also, I believe that the ByteScout encoder that creates the AVI files during planetary imaging is installed with BYE, but perhaps there may be a missing C++ runtime library that it needs and is not installed. I thought that BYE should install that, if needed. In any case, that capability is unnecessary because both RegiStax and Auto Stakkert can take the individual JPG images, as well as the AVI, for processing purposes. The AVI file is larger than the sum of the JPG images, but is more convenient to manage. As an alternative you could keep the individual JPG files, but ZIP them up after you have stacked them, to reduce the storage burden/

To help diagnose wny BYE  3.5.0 RC?? x32 is dying, it may help to turn off some optional features, like creating TIFF files and turning off writing EXIF data to the image to see if any of those make a difference. I believe that both of those operations take place before the image is displayed. Are the images all available in the Download folder (as specified in the Settings dialog) or do you find them in the BackyardTEMP folder?

I am sure that Guylain appreciated the feedback from your testing.

[Ron Hillstromb]

Hi Rick,

 

  I will try your suggestions and see if that remedies the problems.

 

  On the 32 bits program, it only downloads the first image Taken to the bye folder and doesn't continue to the next line in the capture plan.  It exits immediately.

 

  I didn't get to the .tif option so it isn't activated I did have the exif activated on at least one try but not all.  I will step through each additional action one by one to try to trap the error causing action.  If necessary, this can take as long as necessary with pauses for Guy's and my schedules.  I thought it would be another camera to go on the working list and it's my first ever digital full frame camera and it has 45megapixels room to crop and use wide angle lens for hopefully spectacular full sky shots.

 

  It is used mostly for wildlife photography.  I had to reprogram it and save it to C3 for astrophotography.  I may not have all the setting right yet but the basic settings are good for table top tests.

 

  I will try your suggestions today.  I got out of the plans for yesterday but they only shifted to today.

 

Thanks for the possible solutions.

Ron

[admin]

I will be deprecating the avi encoding in future release, so don't spend too much time trying to solve this one.

For the 32 bits dying on you, go to advance setting and set max stability and see if you observe the same.

I will be without internet for the next few days until Monday, so may be slow to provide assistance.

[Ron Hillstromb]

Hi Guy,

 

  I got the same result with the 32 bits program as the 64 bits so there is progress.

 

  I will start working backwards one checkbox at a time to see when it exits.

  It also doesn't show images in the thumbnail or main display but that's  something I can work on when I have spare time.  I will also try some of Rick's suggestions.

  Ok on not being available.  Get back in the groove after arriving back in the real world.  I will be checking this site from time to time.  I don't have any road plans in the next month or two.  We can hash this out when we both have the time.

Ron

[Ron Hillstromb]

Hello Guy

I have been struggling for a few days with what I can do and have resolved in finding where my problem is or so I think.

 

  The problem is I had the resolution in CRAW + L.  When I tracked the problem with the X86 program quitting after the first frame but working with the Preview snapshot I found that the background worker had to be selected to continue with the capture plan execution. All of the capture plan images were taken and saved to the computer except the CRAW images.  Only the .jpg images were saved.

  I changed the camera selection to RAW + L.  Now the capture plan takes and saves the images to the computer and displays them in the Image Center.  This resolves that problem in both X64 and X86 programs and I was able to deactivate the background worker in the X86 program and everything still worked.

  I use CRAW in my wildlife photography to extend my buffer which isn't a player in astrophotography.  It may be an idea to make a note to the R5 Mk II entry in the supported cameras table if you decide not to or can't support it due to limitations in the SDK.

  I have logs if you need them of the problem showing up in the software and after I changed to RAW + L where it cleared.

  I am going to see if I change saving to camera will allow saving CRAW files.

  Also the R5 Mk II saves video files in what is referred to as "cinema files'.  I have to use the Canon  XF Utility to play back my video files.   I will check my files, which are on another drive.  I think they are .mp4 files but I have found they only play back on XF Utility.  

  I will check on the video file and if the camera will save the CRAW files to close those loops.

 

Ron

[Ron Hillstromb]

Hello Guy,

 

  The videos I have are .mp4.  They are 4K 60.

  This is for the x86.

  The save in camera did not work at all.  Nothing was saved in either card in Raw + L or CRaw + L.

  The programs do save RAW and .jpg files to the computer when in that is selected but not CRaw.

 I am back not getting anything displayed in the Image Center after the Preview image. which is a jpg file.  Just a thought - Does the DCRAW file used support the R5 Mk II?

I'll keep trying different settings

Ron

[astroman133]

It is not likely that you will be able to do anything in BYE with Canon MP4 video files. They are not supported by the Canon SDK and so there is no mechanism to use the SDK to download/import them into BYE. BYE is able to download LiveView frames as JPGs and assemble them into AVI files, but I believe that Guylain has posted that this ability will be going away at some point. There are a few issues issues that have led him to this decision...1) finding a 32-bit and 64-bit video encoder for JPGs that is reliable and will be supported by its author(s), and 2) the combined AVI file is larger than the sum of the JPGs that were used to create it. Also, programs that are commonly used to stack selected images from an AVI file will also work directly with the JPG image files.

[astroman133]

You should ask the DCRAW developers about what cameras they support. The original author has apparently found other folks to support this app.

[Ron Hillstromb]

Hello Rick,

    I don't take many videos, just when there is action that I want to catch.

    But others may want to use the video for whatever purpose in astrophotography.  For those people, they need to have the information available as to whether BYE can capture or use the new video files or capture abilities.

  Several processing programs use DCRAW and when the Canon R5 Mk II was delivered it was a month or two before the DCRAW file was available.  This was a stressful time for me since Canons Processing program was the only program for viewing and processing.  In my opinion it isn't user friendly.  Libraw LLC who updates the DCRAW files was slow because, as I understand, is a group of people who like technical challenges in the digital world and update as they find time.  Libraw LLC did release FastRAWViewer within a few weeks of the release of the R5 Mk II with compatibility for viewing the files, not processing them.

  My question to Guy was is the DCRAW file up to date?  It may be.  BYE does display my Canon R7 files fine but I think BYE displays either .jpg or .jpgs extracted from the Raw files.  The R7 and R5 Mk II Raws are different. 

  If I save .jpgs only they are displayed.  If I select RAW and ,jpg it saves them to the Backyard EOS folder and the BackyardTEMP Download folder (Sometimes) in the computer but not the CRAW.

   I don't want to say that it works when it's not fully functional as previous releases have been.

 

Ron

[astroman133]

It is really a question forGuylain, who is vacationing at the moment, but you seem to believe that BYE uses dcraw to support display of downloaded raw images within the BYE capture window. I do not believe that is the case. I believe that dcraw is only used by BYE to create TIFF versions of raw images and that display of raw images in BYE is managed by BYE and the Canon SDK.

And dcraw is out-of-date, mostly because other than pre-releases, there have not been any new releases of BYE in quite a while. The version of dcraw in BYE 3.2.3 is from 2022 and the version of dcraw that is in BYE 3.5.0 x86 - RC7 is from last year.

I hope this is useful.

 

[Ron Hillstromb]

Hi Rick,

 

Thanks for the information on what displays the files in in the capture window.

I do know that when RAW + L is selected nothing is displayed but they are saved to the computer, when that is selected but not to the camera when that option is selected.  When only .jpg is selected the images are displayed and saved to the computer.

Thanks again for the info.

 

Ron

[admin]

I haven't updated DCRAW in a long while, but BYE is reading the embedded JPG in the raw file using the Canon native SDK API. Rick is correct, DCRAW is used only for TIFF conversion as a convenience only, it is not used for BYE normal operation.

[astroman133]

Ron,

You have triec soooo many things, I am confused about what is working and what is not working. For example, BYE does not offer a RAW+L option. Its option is RAW, JPG, or RAW+JPG. I believe that the JPG is Large. Snap images on the Frame & Focus screen are Small JPGs,  and LiveView frames on F&F and Planetary are also Small JPGs.

Going forward, please just stick with one version of BYE and just one camera. I would suggest BYE 3.5.0.RC9 (the 32-bit version). In order to troubleshoot BYE Guylain needs to have a clear idea of what doesn't work. Remember, you are not the only person using this software and nobody else has reported similar issue. Although historically, there have been some issues around downloading RAW+JPG to the PC only (not saving to the camera's memory card, as well). Also consider that if you are having a download issue, it could be caused by anti-virus software and/or firewall software on your PC.

Try downloading RAW only (not CRAW...is this even an option in BYE?). Does it display the image and the thumbnail? If that works consistently, then make just one change, say to RAW+JPG. Does that work? If not, go back to just RAW. Does that work again? Does downloading just JPG work? Hopefully these steps will give a clearer picture of what is working and what is not working.

Thanks!

[admin]

BYE does offer in-camera setting for image quality in the setting dialog, and if set to in-camera, BYE we not attempt to change the image quality, if the camera is set to RAW+L, then both file will be created and downloaded.

BUT, I remember some issues with some models that if you set it to both RAW and JPG (2 files per image) some camera model will crap out, I was never able to solve this. Please confirm you are using either just RAW or just JPG, but not both.

[Ron Hillstromb]

Hi Rick,

  I checked in to the BYE support page and since I had a new camera not in the supported list I tried to connect with it and got the expected not supported message.

  I sent the returned information to Guy.  He responded and told me he was on vacation and when he was expecting to be located when he could act on this when he had time. 

  A day or two later he sent me a program to connect to and then send him the response received after trying to connect the R5 Mk II.  I completed that and sent him the results.

  Even later he sent me a link to Bye 3.5.0 v x64 RC10 and BYE  3.5.0 v x32 RC 10 and asked me to try them both.  I did try to connect and was able to connect to both but v x32 exited after taking the Preview displaying it then taking the first image in the capture plan but not saving it.

  v x64 took and displayed the Preview image and displayed it.  It took the photos in the capture plan but nothing was displayed in the the thumbnail row or the Image center.  All of the images in the capture plan and Preview image was saved to the BackyardEOS folder and sometimes to the download folder in the Backyard temp folder.  Guy asked me to set the Maximum Stability in the Advanced Settings.  I did that and both cameras were able to display and take photos in the Capture Plan. using RAW + jpg or RAW + L.

 I have tried to save the images to the camera using the option available but the images were not saved to the camera.  I tried both RAW and CRAW expecting that this would be an avenue to save the CRAW images and bypass giving the workload to the program.

  CRAW isn't a gotta have for my Astrophotography.  I have used BYE  with cables in wildlife photoblinds where the targets are usually at an expected spot and remote photos are less stressful to the animals.

  This is where I am today

Ron

[Ron Hillstromb]

Hello Guy,

 

  I am using Both RAW and JPG at the same time and it is saving to the Backyard folder.  I haven't saved to RAW alone but will today.

 CRAW doesn't save at all.  It is a new format in the mirrorless cameras.

  And when I select save in camera option nothing is saved any where.

Ron

[admin]

I have not implemented CRAW as of yet, so yeah, these won't download.

[Ron Hillstromb]

I have just tried save to camera in the Setting, not Advanced settings menu.  It does not save using that menu.

  I saw the save to camera in the capture plan and selected that and it does  save using that and both RAW and jpg.  I had t set in the camera to CRAW and jpg but as far as I could tell it still saved in RAW.  When I disconnected the camera and looke in the menu I saw it had changed to RAW.  just for info.

  This has all been done table top and now I have to give the table over to my wife.  Shared domicile.

 

Ron  

[astroman133]

Where to you select "save to camera" on the Settings screen? The only setting that even comes close is the "In-camera" option on the Quality dropdown list. That does not cause BYE to save to the camera. It tells BYE to capture using the quality setting in the camera's menus. If that setting is CRAW, then that explains why you are not getting any images downloaded. You should either select RAW Image Quailty from the camera's menu OR change the quality to RAW on the BYE Settings screen. AFAIK, the only place that control's where BYE puts the images is the Save To control in the Capture Plan Center on the main Imaging screen. The 'PC' option downloads images taken on this screen to the PC and ultimately to the Download folder. The 'Camera' setting should result in your images being stored on the camera's SD card, with no image downloaded and no thumbnail displayed.

 

I hope this explains some of that behavior that you have seen.