Are Panasonic cameras supported?

[Tobari]

Hello guys,

I'm considering acquiring a Panasonic Lumix DMC-G7. Do you know whether it is supported on Linux Mint 19.3 Cinnamon?

Greetings

[carum carvi]

You can connect that camera to a computer via micro usb. You can connect it to a display/monitor via micro hdmi. And it supports all the sd memory card formats. Especially the latter is of importance in order to correctly transfer the images from your camera via the memory card to your LinuxMint 19.3 OS.

I guess what you are asking is if your Panasonic camera can be connected directly via usb and that LinuxMint will recognize your camera and can import all the pictures?

I dont know and I wouldnt dare count on it, because most hardware manufacturers only support Microsoft and Apple. I can only assure you that the alternative route via the SD memorycard will always work, so I think you need not worry if your camera is compatible with LinuxMint, because the SD cards are guaranteed compatible...

[Tobari]

Thank you for your answer, it is helpful.

I was indeed asking whether the Panasonic camera could be connected via usb so that Linux Mint would recognize it.

Part of my idea is to do streaming & video conferences.

I assume that the SD cards alternative makes streaming impossible. Am i right?

[carum carvi]

Yes, I read that this camera could be used for making 4K videos as well and when you want to connect your camera via usb to LinuxMint OS for streaming videos I can not guarantee that it will work (perfectly), it might work, but it also might not, especially when the camera needs to use proprietary software built into the camera that is perhaps only supported by Windows (or Apple).

Do you still have a Windows10 computer or a Windows10 partition? If you really want to buy that camera and want to specifically use it for videostreaming, you always have Windows10 to fall back on. With Windows10 available it wont be any risk buying that camera for this specific purpose of video streaming. And all might turn out to be working perfectly in LinuxMInt as well in the end...

[Pippin]

Part of my idea is to do streaming & video conferences.

For that you need a capture device to convert HDMI to USB:
G7 HDMI-out to Capture card to USB
For 1080p or higher you need at least a USB3 port.

Search for Linux HDMI gaming capture card and also OBS on Youtube.

[Tobari]

Thank you guys,

I'll check on Youtube. I don't intend to stream gaming though.

I don't have windows 10 and I don't mean to install it.

I just look for a good quality budget camera that is supported by Linux (i.e. plug and play). It doesn't have to be Panasonic. It seems Canon m200 and Sony a5100 are not too bad either, but again I'm not sure they are supported.

For some reason, it's hard to find whether it is or not supported.

[carum carvi]

I found an earlier model called Panasonic Lumix DMC-G6 which is listed in a hardware compatibility list for Linux:

https://www.figuiere.net/digicam/

Modern digital cameras have mostly abandoned the proprietary formats of the past in favor of open USB protocols that are easy for GNU/Linux to support. However, if you want to make sure that you aren’t considering an exception, gPhoto, which provides the main free libraries for camera support, maintains a list of 914 cameras as well as the state of their support. Another source is Hubert Figui√®re’s Digital Camera Support for Unix, Linux and BSD, which gives more detail about not only the cameras supported, but also how to configure them, what is not supported, and the issues involved in support. Both of these sites give their information in lists rather than searchable databases.

You could ask about the return policy when you buy the camera. In some countries you can return any online purchase within 2 weeks. When the camera does not support the function in Linux that you need, you could simply return it...

[Tobari]

Thank you.