Hi Reinhard,
Thanks for the tip on the zoom. I made the list-config a few days ago and got this.
Irving-Dunns-iMac:~ irvingdunn$ gphoto2 --list-config
Detected a 'Canon:PowerShot A40'.
/main/settings/ownername
/main/settings/capturesizeclass
/main/settings/iso
/main/settings/shootingmode
/main/settings/shutterspeed
/main/settings/zoom
/main/settings/aperture
/main/settings/exposurecompensation
/main/settings/imageformat
/main/settings/focusmode
/main/settings/flashmode
/main/settings/beep
/main/actions/syncdatetime
/main/status/model
/main/status/datetime
/main/status/firmwareversion
/main/status/driver
/main/Driver/list_all_files
Then I tried to set the zoom with
Irving-Dunns-iMac:~ irvingdunn$ gphoto2 --set-config zoom=2 --capture-image-and-download
Got this error comment
*** Error ***
The passed value 2.000000 is not within the expected range 0.000000 - 0.000000.
New file is in location /DCIM/100CANON/IMG_0028.JPG on the camera
File IMG_0028.JPG exists. Overwrite? [y|n]
So maybe my zoom is not controllable on the A40. I will get a A510 next week and try. Interestingly I was not able to repeat the gphoto2 --list-config. Maybe I need the killall PTPCamera command more often.
I found 2 interesting blogs on gphoto2.
http://www.moreno.marzolla.name/software/linux-time-lapse/http://blog.dcclark.net/2009/05/how-to-gphoto-primer.htmlI emailed with Moreno Marzolla a few times. He is a prof. of computer science in Italy.
I want to experiment with using a small 2.5x telescope in front of my logitech 9000. This has been a fantastic webcam for me, running day and night for more than 6 years. I am bidding on another at Ebay for about 20?.
Irving