# Determine from camera if acquisition has started
**URL:** https://aravis-project.discourse.group/t/determine-from-camera-if-acquisition-has-started/860
**Category:** Uncategorized
**Created:** [January 23, 2025, 2:55pm UTC](https://aravis-project.discourse.group/t/determine-from-camera-if-acquisition-has-started/860 "2025-01-23T14:55:56Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@horchler](https://aravis-project.discourse.group/u/horchler)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2025, 2:55pm UTC](https://aravis-project.discourse.group/t/determine-from-camera-if-acquisition-has-started/860/1 "2025-01-23T14:55:56Z")
Is there a way to determine from a connected camera if it is currently acquiring after a call to `arv_camera_start_acquisition` has been made? Apparently one can call `arv_camera_start_acquisition` multiple times with no issue, but I’m interested in some way to ask the camera itself. I didn’t find anything in the Aravis API, but is there some register that I can read or other means?
I’m using a Lucid Vision Labs Atlas10 ATX470S-MT over GigE but I’m hoping for a general solution.
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### Author:  [@eudoxos](https://aravis-project.discourse.group/u/eudoxos)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2025, 10:32am UTC](https://aravis-project.discourse.group/t/determine-from-camera-if-acquisition-has-started/860/2 "2025-01-30T10:32:31Z")
Have a look at SFNC (Standard Features Naming Convention): [https://www.emva.org/wp-content/uploads/GenICam\_SFNC\_1\_5\_1.pdf](https://www.emva.org/wp-content/uploads/GenICam_SFNC_1_5_1.pdf) , which is usually followed, then you might have `AcquisitionStatus` genicam property which you can read (`arv-tool` makes this really easy).
`arv_camera_start_acquisition` is really a shorthand for writing `AcquisitionStart` (plus check `TriggerSelector` and others).
One model I have XML of here it seems (based on a rather terse description) to be reporting whether the sensor is acquiring data (but can’t test now), not whether the acquisition was started, but I am not sure.
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### Author:  [@horchler](https://aravis-project.discourse.group/u/horchler)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2025, 6:16pm UTC](https://aravis-project.discourse.group/t/determine-from-camera-if-acquisition-has-started/860/3 "2025-01-30T18:16:47Z")
@eudoxos Thank you. Unfortunately my camera doesn’t appear to support `AcquisitionStatus` or `AcquisitionStatusSelector` even though they are listed as “recommended” in the [GenICam SFNC 2.3](https://www.emva.org/wp-content/uploads/GenICam_SFNC_2_3.pdf) which is applicable to my camera. I can reach out to the camera vendor to inquire.
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### Author:  [@eudoxos](https://aravis-project.discourse.group/u/eudoxos)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2025, 8:20pm UTC](https://aravis-project.discourse.group/t/determine-from-camera-if-acquisition-has-started/860/4 "2025-01-30T20:20:52Z")
What I would do: dump `arv-tool values`, then start acquisition (via `arv-tool` or as you normally do), dump `arv-tool values` again, and diff them.
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### Author:  [@horchler](https://aravis-project.discourse.group/u/horchler)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2025, 2:52pm UTC](https://aravis-project.discourse.group/t/determine-from-camera-if-acquisition-has-started/860/5 "2025-01-31T14:52:25Z")
Good idea. I just tried this, but unfortunately the only things I see changing are things I’d expect to change over time: `DevicePower`, `Timestamp`, `DeviceUpTime`, `LinkUpTime`, `CalculatedMean`, `CalculatedMedian`, `GevPrimaryApplicationSocket`, and `PtpDataSet`. I don’t know much about the last two but these appear to change over time independent of `AcquisitionStart`/`AcquisitionStop` having been called or not.
Additionally, I also tried running `arv-tool-0.8 -d genicam:3 control AcquisitionStart` and `arv-tool-0.8 -d genicam:3 control AcquisitionStop` to see what registers where changed by these commands. Unfortunately, the only registers I saw appear to be immediately reset to zero following the commands. I checked this via calls to `arv_device_read_register` in my code.
So, looks like I’ll need to change how I do some things in my software and talk to the camera vendor. Thanks again. I’m marking your first response as a solution as it may be so for other users whose devices support the `AcquisitionStatus` property.
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### Author:  [@eudoxos](https://aravis-project.discourse.group/u/eudoxos)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2025, 1:21pm UTC](https://aravis-project.discourse.group/t/determine-from-camera-if-acquisition-has-started/860/6 "2025-03-17T13:21:07Z")
Thank you for the report. If you talk to Lucid and get any useful answer, please post here a summary. Might be useful.