# gphoto/libgphoto2

The libgphoto2 camera access and control library.

Repository: https://github.com/gphoto/libgphoto2
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/libgphoto2
Language: C
License: LGPL-2.1
License Family: copyleft
Topics: camera, digital, access, usb, canon, nikon, library, sony, pentax, powershot, eos, dslr, linux
Last push: 2026-08-17T17:13:58+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 86/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 98, release rhythm 62, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4050, "days_push": 16, "days_rel": 95, "gap_med": 163.5, "n_releases_24m": 3}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1356, forks 379 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:29.281723+00:00)

## What it is
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
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: sdk, file-system, image-processing
- domain: photography, hardware, cross-platform, developer-tools
- platform: windows, cross-platform, c
- tags: camera-control, ptp, mtp, usb, dslr, tethering, photo-transfer, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- gphoto/libgphoto2 (main) score 86

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:29.281723+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T04:41:54.450436+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/gphoto/libgphoto2 (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:29.281723+00:00, sha b2188d83e9bb)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.