After trying to use my Fujifilm X-T3 under Ekos/Indi control I finally “succeeded”. What follows is a list of things I learned so far:
I control my system with a MacBook running Kstars talking with an Astroberry Raspberry Pi 4B (4GB with SSD boot) using Ethernet and VNC viewer. This controls the Fujifilm X-T3 main camera, an ASI120mm mono as the guider and a Skywatcher HEQ5 mount (as Eqmod).
The camera is set as follows:
1. Manual Focus
2. Electronic Shutter (ES) (not manual shutter) is required to allow external control of shutter speeds.
3. "B" setting on exposure dial – allows Ekos/Indi to set shutter speed. The list of permissible speeds is listed in the Kstars log file (Debug enabled) following the line:
[date & time DEBG][org.kde.kstars.indi] - Fuji DSLR Fujifilm X-T3: "[DEBUG] Finding exposure widget…
Using shutter speed settings NOT in the permissible list (Ekos Camera module has many available) results in the exposure sequence aborting and having to “reset”. There are 68 permissible shutter speeds according to the list. The long exposures are best set by manually entering the number of seconds as the Ekos drop down doesn’t show any valid times beyond 120 seconds. (past 120 secons only 240s, 480s and 900s (4, 8 and 15 minutes) are valid.
4. "A" setting on ISO dial. Ekos/Indi sets the ISO
5. Camera's PC Connection Mode set to "USB tether shooting auto"
6. When using camera with a Fuji XL lens installed (rather than on the telescope) I have the lens in manual aperture mode and image stabilization set off.
7. Camera is also set to fire with no camera lens attached ("Shoot without lens" = ON) This is the mode for using the camera on a telescope.
In the Ekos/Indi setup screens:
1. In the Indi Control Panel – Options screen,
“Force Bulb” must be OFF for any function to take place.
2. To reduce time between exposures I have set the (laptop) Ekos Capture Module to
“Save = Remotely”. This saves the image files on the Pi.
3. To make this work the Indi Control Panel – Options is set to
“Upload = Local”. This keeps the ~53MB RAF files from downloading over the Ethernet (which takes typically 20-80 seconds, preventing the next exposure in the sequence from beginning. Make sure both settings are pointing to the same directory.
4. SD Card (Save/Delete) seems to always write the RAF file to the camera's SD card. The image files saved to the Pi use the file naming set in the Ekos Camera Module (File Setting) whereas the files on the SD card use the normal Fujifilm designations. (equates to two files of each exposure with different file names – not an issue as far as I’m concerned.)
5. Update on SD card: Setting "SD image" = Delete solved an issue I was having with large sequences ending up with duplicate images (but with "correct" filenames) and images with incorrect exposure times or ISO values. As mentioned in 4. above, the RAF file is saved to the camera SD card regardless of the setting. The bug reported at
github.com/indilib/indi-3rdparty/issues/230 has the details. When I switched from save to delete my problem disappeared.
Other observations:
- I use a 12V powered USB 3 hub (prevents under-voltage errors on Pi) for the Fuji camera, the boot SSD and the mount. Hub plugs into a USB 3 port on the Pi
- Guide camera is USB 2 and connects directly to one of the Pi’s USB 2 ports. (plugging both cameras into the hub caused issues)
- The LED on back of camera:
Camera off and plugged into USB 3 = solid green
Camera plugged into USB 3 and power switched on = LED off
Exposure started = flashes alternately green and orange during normal operation
Exposure ended (saving file) = flashing orange
Exposure ended (awaiting next exposure start) = flashes alternately green and orange
Something is wrong = flashing green
Hopefully Fuji X-T series users will find this of some use. Please share anything you discover.