gphoto/libgphoto2
The libgphoto2 camera access and control library. observed · 2026-08-28
Health v2 · maintenance only
86/100
- Activity 98
- Release rhythm 62
- Longevity 100
How is this computed?
round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10) — computed 2026-09-02. Adoption (stars, forks) is never an input.
- gap_med: 163.5
- age_days: 4050
- days_rel: 95
- days_push: 16
- n_releases_24m: 3
Adoption not part of the score
1356 stars · 379 forks observed · 2026-08-28
What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-30, confidence not recorded
libgphoto2 is a C library that provides access to and control of digital cameras, supporting PTP, MTP, and many vendor-specific USB protocols. It serves as a backend for applications needing to transfer images or remotely control camera settings, rather than being a standalone GUI application.
Use cases
- download photos from a DSLR over USB programmatically
- remotely control a Canon or Nikon camera from an application
- tether a camera for live capture in a photo studio app
- access PTP/MTP devices that are not USB mass storage
- build a GUI frontend for camera access
- trigger camera shutter from a script or service
When to choose
- your application needs to talk to cameras via PTP or vendor protocols
- you need remote control of camera settings, not just file mounting
- the camera is not exposed as a USB mass storage device
- you want a mature, widely-ported C library with broad camera support
When to avoid
- the camera appears as a standard USB mass storage drive - just mount it
- you need a ready-made GUI application rather than a library
- the camera uses an undocumented proprietary protocol not supported by libgphoto2
Facets
library · maturity stable
sdk file-system image-processing photography hardware cross-platform developer-tools windows cross-platform c camera-control ptp mtp usb dslr tethering photo-transfer linux macos
1 source
- readme: https://github.com/gphoto/libgphoto2 · fetched 2026-08-28 · b2188d83e9bb
Member repositories
| Repository | Role | Health v2 |
|---|---|---|
| gphoto/libgphoto2 | main | 86 |
For agents
markdown · JSON · MCP: product_card(name="gphoto/libgphoto2")
Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00 · Report a problem