diff --git a/src/openflexure_microscope_server/things/camera/__init__.py b/src/openflexure_microscope_server/things/camera/__init__.py
index a48dc2c3..82aa6f28 100644
--- a/src/openflexure_microscope_server/things/camera/__init__.py
+++ b/src/openflexure_microscope_server/things/camera/__init__.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ See repository root for licensing information.
 """
 
 from __future__ import annotations
-from typing import Literal, Optional, Tuple, Any
+from typing import Literal, Optional, Tuple, Any, Mapping
 from types import TracebackType
 import json
 import io
@@ -650,6 +650,11 @@ class BaseCamera(lt.Thing):
         # Manually save settings as the setter is not called.
         self.save_settings()
 
+    @property
+    def thing_state(self) -> Mapping[str, Any]:
+        """Summary metadata describing the current state of the Thing."""
+        return {"capture_time": time.time()}
+
 
 CameraDependency = lt.deps.direct_thing_client_dependency(BaseCamera, "/camera/")
 RawCameraDependency = lt.deps.raw_thing_dependency(BaseCamera)
diff --git a/src/openflexure_microscope_server/things/camera/picamera.py b/src/openflexure_microscope_server/things/camera/picamera.py
index 92902718..a6b851c9 100644
--- a/src/openflexure_microscope_server/things/camera/picamera.py
+++ b/src/openflexure_microscope_server/things/camera/picamera.py
@@ -1093,3 +1093,9 @@ class StreamingPiCamera2(BaseCamera):
         to be static (except "reset")
         """
         return tf_utils.lst_is_static(self.tuning)
+
+    def get_thing_state(self) -> Mapping[str, Any]:
+        """Update generic camera metadata with Picamera-specific data."""
+        state = super().get_thing_state()
+        state["camera_board"] = self._camera_board
+        return state