# Accessing an external camera

**URL:** <https://discourse.processing.org/t/accessing-an-external-camera/16628>\
**Category:** Libraries\
**Created:** [December 25, 2019, 11:24am UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/accessing-an-external-camera/16628 "2019-12-25T11:24:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![nabhyaparmar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58f4c7/32.png) [@nabhyaparmar](https://discourse.processing.org/u/nabhyaparmar)\
**Post date:** [December 25, 2019, 11:24am UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/accessing-an-external-camera/16628/1 "2019-12-25T11:24:29Z")

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Hi, I am fairly new to processing and I want to be able to access an external camera in my processing sketch. It is a DSLR Nikon D5100. I am not able to find the necessary source for this anywhere. Can someone please help me with this?

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**Author:** ![kll](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.processing.org/kll/32/964_2.png) [@kll](https://discourse.processing.org/u/kll)\
**Post date:** [December 25, 2019, 12:13pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/accessing-an-external-camera/16628/2 "2019-12-25T12:13:23Z")

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> [@nabhyaparmar](#):
>
> DSLR Nikon D5100

[https://cdn-10.nikon-cdn.com/pdf/manuals/dslr/D5100\_EN.pdf](https://cdn-10.nikon-cdn.com/pdf/manuals/dslr/D5100_EN.pdf) ,

are you running USB and software already?

> Capture NX 2: A complete photo editing package offering such features as white balance adjustment and color control points.

> Camera Control Pro 2: Control the camera remotely from a computer and save photographs directly to the computer hard disk.

after transfer pictures use

> **[loadImage() / Reference](https://processing.org/reference/loadImage_.html)**
>
> Loads an image into a variable of type PImage. Four types of images ( .gif, .jpg, .tga, .png) images may be loaded. To load correctly, images must be located in the …

* * *

or you want use it like a webCAM? ( even if possible / what a waste )

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**Author:** ![mortap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@mortap](https://discourse.processing.org/u/mortap)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 5:22pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/accessing-an-external-camera/16628/3 "2020-02-18T17:22:53Z")

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> [@kll](#):
>
> or you want use it like a webCAM?

Yes, is there a way to know if a certain camera can do this? I work with Processing to live capture images/movies in certain ways and am trying to attach a better camera than the typical external “webcams”.

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**Author:** ![mala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@mala](https://discourse.processing.org/u/mala)\
**Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 9:39am UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/accessing-an-external-camera/16628/4 "2020-02-19T09:39:46Z")

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I think currently there is no processing library that could control and download images from your camera direct.

Though if anyone was up for the challenge you can get the NIkon SDKs [here](https://sdk.nikonimaging.com/apply/)  
and the Canon SDKs [here](https://asia.canon/en/campaign/developerresources)

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**Author:** ![jeremydouglass](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.processing.org/jeremydouglass/32/20_2.png) [@jeremydouglass](https://discourse.processing.org/u/jeremydouglass)\
**Post date:** [February 26, 2020, 9:37pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/accessing-an-external-camera/16628/5 "2020-02-26T21:37:26Z")

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> [@mala](#):
>
> I think currently there is no processing library that could control and download images from your camera direct.

If you have a command-line camera download utility then another option is that you can use `launch()` or `exec()` to call it from a Processing sketch.

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**Author:** ![mala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@mala](https://discourse.processing.org/u/mala)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2020, 9:43am UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/accessing-an-external-camera/16628/6 "2020-02-28T09:43:00Z")

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Don’t tempt me down the rabbit hole 🙃

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**Author:** ![wsintra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/0ea827/32.png) [@wsintra](https://discourse.processing.org/u/wsintra)\
**Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 1:17am UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/accessing-an-external-camera/16628/7 "2020-05-08T01:17:45Z")

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Did you ever get anywhere with this problem. I have been trying to do the same thing. I came across the gphoto2 library that has hope. As yet I’m still none the wiser but would love to know how you got on and what your solution was for using the DSLR as a webcam,  
One solution is software written in python called rtiacquire