Linux and pentax

naldopr · 11-16-2015, 01:49 PM

Hello
I'm going to build a Linux system for Ubuntu studio blender 3D gimp Inkscape darktable etc and I'm wondering if Pentax camera are compatible with Linux system?
Anything I should know?
Thanks

**jbinpg** · 11-16-2015, 01:55 PM

Yes, fully compatible for the programs you mentioned. Make sure you have as much RAM in your system as you can afford. Post-processing photos can be hugely memory-intensive.

**jatrax** · 11-16-2015, 01:56 PM

Compatible how? I don't understand why it would make any difference??

As long as the software you want to use can read standard image formats, jpg or DNG or PEF then the only other issue is getting the images onto the computer. So your hardware needs to support either a SD card reader or a USB external drive. I'm sure none of that would be an issue for any flavor of Linux I have ever looked at.

If you are concerned about something else perhaps a little more detail would help give you a good answer.

Adam · 11-16-2015, 01:57 PM

Originally posted by naldopr

Hello
I'm going to build a Linux system for Ubuntu studio blender 3D gimp Inkscape darktable etc and I'm wondering if Pentax camera are compatible with Linux system?
Anything I should know?
Thanks

What do you mean by compatible? If you're referring to USB connectivity for file transfers, that should work just fine. Darktable should also be able to open .DNGs, though it might take you a bit longer to figure out the optimal color settings than with commercial software or the Pentax DCU.

Adam
PentaxForums.com Webmaster (Site Usage Guide | Site Help | My Photography)

PentaxForums.com server and development costs are user-supported. You can help cover these costs by donating or purchasing one of our Pentax eBooks. Or, buy your photo gear from our affiliates, Adorama, B&H Photo, KEH, or Topaz Labs, and get FREE Marketplace access - click here to see how! Trusted Pentax retailers:

fb_penpho · 11-16-2015, 02:42 PM

I use the FEDORA 23 distribution. Using Wine to run Faststone. The facts of life are that photo utilities from mainstream supplies may only be available in Windows. I can live with the limitations. One thing I always do is allow the camera to format the memory card. Linux will detect the format and use the correct filing system.

tromboads · 11-16-2015, 04:00 PM

yes I've just re discovered darktable, ot really is pretty good.

Make sure your version is enabled to use your graphics card, some were by default not. but I confess it was 6months ago when I installed it

paolotrabuio · 11-16-2015, 04:34 PM - **1 Like**

I use RawTherapee on Linux Mint 17.2 64bit and I found it more complete (and less memory eater) than Darktable. have a look, maybe you will like it.
About modification, just learn how to use The Gimp and you will forget Windows. You can also use linux for camera firmware update. Just cannot use the windows program (or in case, if you really need , even I cannot imagine for what, just use "wine" for windows program using).

Oh, I have only Linux (Mint is my favorite) since 2009.

**kiwi_jono** · 11-16-2015, 05:08 PM

+1 on Darktable. Works well on my Kubuntu.
Don't use Gimp as much as I used to, because a lot of what I need to do is available in Darktable.

naldopr · 11-16-2015, 07:40 PM

Originally posted by paolotrabuio

I use RawTherapee on Linux Mint 17.2 64bit and I found it more complete (and less memory eater) than Darktable. have a look, maybe you will like it.
About modification, just learn how to use The Gimp and you will forget Windows. You can also use linux for camera firmware update. Just cannot use the windows program (or in case, if you really need , even I cannot imagine for what, just use "wine" for windows program using).

Oh, I have only Linux (Mint is my favorite) since 2009.

Thanks to all
I will look info Raw therapee
Im a mac user my G5 just die on me and since I see folks building massive pc system on Linux and way cheaper than a Mac I want to build one my self .
What are your system spec? Any suggestion on a good configuration?

tromboads · 11-17-2015, 02:45 AM

As others have said, as much m as you can afford is a good start.

Heck my machine I use is ancient, 16g ddr3, 3g Intel quad core, some geforce something or other.

Plenty good enough for 16mp raw files.

**Sir Nameless** · 11-17-2015, 05:16 AM

I have a 5 year old Dell with an i3 processor, 6GB of RAM and integrated intel graphics, and it's enough horsepower for me as a hobbyist. It was Dell's entry level box when I bought it, I just stuck some extra RAM in. (I use darktable and gimp.) You can get good deals on well-spec'd off lease business-class desktop machines with better specs than mine for only a few hundred. A little hardware goes a long way with Linux.

From what I understand darktable can offload some of it's processing to the video card (GPU) if it has OpenGL support. That might be a worthy upgrade if you find the photo processing too slow. Stick with NVIDIA for best compatibility. I'm going from memory though, so check into that before you buy.

If you want a new machine, make sure you stay mainstream and do your research via google to see if there are any hardware incompatibilities with Linux. It takes some time for new hardware support to make it into the kernel and then float down into the current releases of most distros.

tromboads · 11-17-2015, 02:04 PM

Yes but if you aren't using bleeding edge stuff, you'll be ok

**jbinpg** · 11-17-2015, 11:08 PM

It isn't OpenGL that offloads some of the graphics processing onto the graphis card, it is opencl. Both AMD and Nvidia graphics cards support opencl. Oh, and yes, always format your SD card in the camera, not in your PC

naldopr · 11-20-2015, 06:14 AM

Thanks guys I will start looking for all the components I need

kain · 12-04-2015, 01:03 AM

darktable 2.0 (in release candidate, comes out soon) is awesome. If you calibrate your camera/monitor, it also knows how to deal with additional ICC profiles.

11-16-2015, 01:49 PM	#1
naldopr Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2014 Posts: 163	Linux and pentax Hello I'm going to build a Linux system for Ubuntu studio blender 3D gimp Inkscape darktable etc and I'm wondering if Pentax camera are compatible with Linux system? Anything I should know? Thanks

11-17-2015, 02:45 AM	#10
tromboads Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Melbs Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,240	As others have said, as much m as you can afford is a good start. Heck my machine I use is ancient, 16g ddr3, 3g Intel quad core, some geforce something or other. Plenty good enough for 16mp raw files. Last edited by tromboads; 11-17-2015 at 02:04 PM.

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11-16-2015, 01:55 PM	#2
jbinpg Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Prince George, BC Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,546	Yes, fully compatible for the programs you mentioned. Make sure you have as much RAM in your system as you can afford. Post-processing photos can be hugely memory-intensive.

11-16-2015, 01:56 PM	#3
jatrax Site Supporter Join Date: May 2010 Location: Washington Cascades Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 12,991	Compatible how? I don't understand why it would make any difference?? As long as the software you want to use can read standard image formats, jpg or DNG or PEF then the only other issue is getting the images onto the computer. So your hardware needs to support either a SD card reader or a USB external drive. I'm sure none of that would be an issue for any flavor of Linux I have ever looked at. If you are concerned about something else perhaps a little more detail would help give you a good answer.

11-16-2015, 01:57 PM	#4
Adam Administrator Site Webmaster Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Arizona Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 51,595	Originally posted by naldopr Hello I'm going to build a Linux system for Ubuntu studio blender 3D gimp Inkscape darktable etc and I'm wondering if Pentax camera are compatible with Linux system? Anything I should know? Thanks What do you mean by compatible? If you're referring to USB connectivity for file transfers, that should work just fine. Darktable should also be able to open .DNGs, though it might take you a bit longer to figure out the optimal color settings than with commercial software or the Pentax DCU. Adam PentaxForums.com Webmaster (Site Usage Guide \| Site Help \| My Photography) PentaxForums.com server and development costs are user-supported. You can help cover these costs by donating or purchasing one of our Pentax eBooks. Or, buy your photo gear from our affiliates, Adorama, B&H Photo, KEH, or Topaz Labs, and get FREE Marketplace access - click here to see how! Trusted Pentax retailers:

11-16-2015, 02:42 PM	#5
fb_penpho Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: London Photos: Gallery Posts: 212	I use the FEDORA 23 distribution. Using Wine to run Faststone. The facts of life are that photo utilities from mainstream supplies may only be available in Windows. I can live with the limitations. One thing I always do is allow the camera to format the memory card. Linux will detect the format and use the correct filing system.

11-16-2015, 04:00 PM	#6
tromboads Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Melbs Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,240	yes I've just re discovered darktable, ot really is pretty good. Make sure your version is enabled to use your graphics card, some were by default not. but I confess it was 6months ago when I installed it

11-16-2015, 04:34 PM - 1 Like	#7
paolotrabuio New Member Join Date: Nov 2015 Posts: 8	I use RawTherapee on Linux Mint 17.2 64bit and I found it more complete (and less memory eater) than Darktable. have a look, maybe you will like it. About modification, just learn how to use The Gimp and you will forget Windows. You can also use linux for camera firmware update. Just cannot use the windows program (or in case, if you really need , even I cannot imagine for what, just use "wine" for windows program using). Oh, I have only Linux (Mint is my favorite) since 2009.

11-16-2015, 05:08 PM	#8
kiwi_jono Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Christchurch, New Zealand Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,437	+1 on Darktable. Works well on my Kubuntu. Don't use Gimp as much as I used to, because a lot of what I need to do is available in Darktable.

11-16-2015, 07:40 PM	#9
naldopr Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2014 Posts: 163 Original Poster	Originally posted by paolotrabuio I use RawTherapee on Linux Mint 17.2 64bit and I found it more complete (and less memory eater) than Darktable. have a look, maybe you will like it. About modification, just learn how to use The Gimp and you will forget Windows. You can also use linux for camera firmware update. Just cannot use the windows program (or in case, if you really need , even I cannot imagine for what, just use "wine" for windows program using). Oh, I have only Linux (Mint is my favorite) since 2009. Thanks to all I will look info Raw therapee Im a mac user my G5 just die on me and since I see folks building massive pc system on Linux and way cheaper than a Mac I want to build one my self . What are your system spec? Any suggestion on a good configuration?

11-17-2015, 05:16 AM	#11
Sir Nameless Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Mass a chew sits Photos: Gallery Posts: 574	I have a 5 year old Dell with an i3 processor, 6GB of RAM and integrated intel graphics, and it's enough horsepower for me as a hobbyist. It was Dell's entry level box when I bought it, I just stuck some extra RAM in. (I use darktable and gimp.) You can get good deals on well-spec'd off lease business-class desktop machines with better specs than mine for only a few hundred. A little hardware goes a long way with Linux. From what I understand darktable can offload some of it's processing to the video card (GPU) if it has OpenGL support. That might be a worthy upgrade if you find the photo processing too slow. Stick with NVIDIA for best compatibility. I'm going from memory though, so check into that before you buy. If you want a new machine, make sure you stay mainstream and do your research via google to see if there are any hardware incompatibilities with Linux. It takes some time for new hardware support to make it into the kernel and then float down into the current releases of most distros.

11-17-2015, 02:04 PM	#12
tromboads Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Melbs Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,240	Yes but if you aren't using bleeding edge stuff, you'll be ok

11-17-2015, 11:08 PM	#13
jbinpg Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Prince George, BC Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,546	It isn't OpenGL that offloads some of the graphics processing onto the graphis card, it is opencl. Both AMD and Nvidia graphics cards support opencl. Oh, and yes, always format your SD card in the camera, not in your PC

11-20-2015, 06:14 AM	#14
naldopr Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2014 Posts: 163 Original Poster	Thanks guys I will start looking for all the components I need

12-04-2015, 01:03 AM	#15
kain Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Photos: Gallery Posts: 162	darktable 2.0 (in release candidate, comes out soon) is awesome. If you calibrate your camera/monitor, it also knows how to deal with additional ICC profiles.