If you own a Canon camera, chances are it comes with a built-in WIFI connection. This wireless connection can be a real game changer when it comes to photographing and sharing your photographs instantly. This versatility can really up your game during sessions and create more buzz when you share your photos after a session with the use of the Canon Camera Connect application.
In this article, I was using a Samsung Galaxy Prime smartphone and Canon EOS 6D camera with a Canon EF USM 85 mm f/1.4 lens.
What is the Canon Camera Connect application?
Canon Camera Connect is an application that you can download from the app store on your smartphone. It is used to wirelessly connect your DSLR to your phone so that you can photograph remotely, view images on the camera that you’ve already taken, and edit those images as well.
If your camera has built-in Bluetooth, it can also function by connecting your camera to your smartphone via that method as well.
This is what the Canon Camera Connect application icon looks like in the Google Play Store on Android.
How to use the application
There are a couple of ways you can connect your camera and smartphone in order to use the application. The first is connecting via an existing internet connection and using the information for user ID and password on both devices and then opening the application. The biggest drawback with the application, however, is that when the internet is faulty or patchy, your devices can disconnect and not allow you to use the app.
The second is the best option, in my opinion, because it connects to the camera directly and unless you are out of range or your phone goes to “sleep” you are always connected. Setting up the connection is easy. Go to menu on your camera, where you see the option to “Enable” the wifi connection, below, you’ll see the options for connecting.
In the Menu, go to the wifi settings to set the SSID that you will use to connect to your smartphone.
Choose to “connect smartphone”. Within that menu, you are going to be able to set up your connection with a personalized name. I chose to name mine SET1 with the SSID which is the name of the wifi as “jl”. The encryption key is the password you’ll have to enter when you connect your phone to the camera’s wifi connection.
Choose Connect Smartphone to choose the settings to connect directly to your smartphone.
SET1 is the name I gave it in my camera’s menu. If you go into change/review settings you can set and change the name of the wifi that your smartphone will connect to.
Once you have the settings configured and enabled to connect, on your smartphone, go to the wifi networks and choose the one that you have named for your camera. Enter the encryption key and you will be connected. The application also has an easy to follow connection guide that can help you in case you forget the steps.
Here, using Easy Connection will help you to set the name and see the encryption key that you will need for your smartphone to connect to the camera’s wifi.
Here, you can see that the wifi network my camera has available so that my smartphone can connect. On the right, you see the main menu of the application.
You can add more Sets/Connections and can name them inside of your camera’s Wifi settings menu. This can save time if you use different devices with the application and camera.
View images and share instantly
In the Canon Camera Connect application, you have the option to view the images from camera instantly.
There is nothing more exciting than connecting your camera to the application after a session, transferring the images you believe to be great, and sharing them instantly onto social media. Clients love to see to see “sneak previews” of their session! This will also cause more excitement to see the final photographs.
Once you’re connected, you can view the images that are on your camera from your smartphone.
Connect your camera to the application, choose VIEW IMAGES, and select the ones you’d like to download. You can choose to resize or to leave them in original size. You can also edit the images in the application. They can be sorted by date in descending or ascending order which can make finding specific images faster.
Remote Live View mode
The other option that you have from the Camera Connect application home screen is to use the Live View Shooting mode. This feature is extremely helpful during sessions where you have your camera on a tripod and need to move around your subject, which could be a person or still life.
Here you can see the remote live view shooting mode. In the center photo, you can see that you can change your settings while photographing your subject. On the right, it’s the photograph that I just took.
From the live view shooting mode, you can see what you’re photographing, and change settings like aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. The live view mode feature is fantastic because you don’t have to be stuck behind your camera or go back and forth between the subject and the camera.
Moving around your set, making adjustments to the set and to the camera, and “seeing” your photograph before even hitting the shutter can save you time. You can make sure you have everything just right before triggering the remote, all from your smartphone.
Using multiple devices
The Canon Camera Connect application can be set up on various devices as long as you download it, which is free in the app store on both Android and iPhone. Download the application and set up your camera to connect directly to the device you are going to be using.
Being able to use the application on multiple devices allows for more versatility when you’re photographing in different locations. All without having to use cords or tethering your camera to one specific device.
Choose Connect Smartphone to choose the settings to connect directly to your smartphone. You can also choose to connect to multiple devices.
Drawbacks
While the Canon Camera Connect application is very useful and functional, like all applications, it has certain drawbacks. The major drawback in using Camera Connect, and it’s not so much the application but the camera, is the wireless connection can drain the camera battery. I’ve noticed that it doesn’t matter if it is via an internet connection or directly to your smartphone, the battery life is cut significantly. Make sure you carry more than one camera battery if you attempt to use the application on location.
If you are connected directly to the camera’s own “wifi” you won’t be able to use any other wireless internet. However, connecting directly to the camera does secure the connection and you won’t be disconnected due to a patchy network. Just be mindful to not distance yourself too much or the application will disconnect since you won’t be in range of the camera.
Lastly, if your phone or camera go to sleep, then it disconnects the wifi connection automatically and you have to go through the entire process of choosing the camera’s wifi and connect again. It can become tedious, so my suggestion is that you set both your phone and your camera to not to to “sleep” so that you don’t encounter this issue.
Conclusion
In the end, the Canon Camera Connect App is highly recommended for both remote live shooting and for downloading your photographs instantly so that you can share them with clients or on social media. The pros out weigh the cons. T
his application can truly give you more options when you are photographing both on location and in a studio. Download the application and test drive it, it will not disappoint.
