? abut usefulness of WI-FI in a camera body

When Canon announced the 70D, I asked, "what good is WI-FI if you never want to want to share anything from your camera to the internet?"

The answers I received explained how you could use a smartphone to remotely operate a camera, if that camera had WI-FI. People explained how this could be especially useful to me as a wildlife photographer. I agreed that WI-FI would indeed be useful for this, as there is a need for doing remote work from time to time when afield photographing the critters.

Today, however, I realized something: the vast majority of the time I am photographing wildlife, there is no cell phone service, as I am in remote areas, out where the animals are.

So, my question is this: To use a smartphone to operate a camera via WI-FI, does the phone need to access the internet? And, if in remote areas where smartphones cannot "get a signal", will the WI-FI be totally useless? Or, do the phone and camera act like Walkie-Talkies, where they don't need any external signal to "talk to" one another?

Any insights would be helpful. Thank you.

I have been using a 6D mounted on a camera pod on my airplane for shots that would not be possible handheld. Using the eyepad one can see and trigger the image. The biggest problem is he recycle time before the next shot, which is about 4-5 seconds. A major issue! The hang up may be in the slowness of the eyepad.

T

I do not believe you need Internet access. The camera sets up a LAN (local area network) to connect with your phone. In simple terms, its analogous to your walkie talkie description.

Check out the 6D wifi manual for details.

http://gdlp01.c-wss.com …48/01/eos6d-wff-im-en.pdf

There are many reasons.

My camera didn't have Wi-Fi, but it does now (Eye-Fi card). I don't have to take out the SD card anymore. My Eye-Fi Mobi card means I can walk in the house and the pictures start to download wirelessly to whatever I choose (my phone, my desktop, laptop, or smugmug site....whatever I want).

For professionals who do on-the-spot sales, it's great because they can take pics around the convention (or whatever occasion) and the pics can instantly beam back to a tablet or monitor for customers to see instantly, even while the photographer is elsewhere and the attendant sells prints to those who want them.

Stuff like that.

cool cool. What a time to be alive. Cant wait to get one.

I rode a Segway the other day. It was really fun.

I'd love to get one if it were 300 bucks, but for five grand?

Man, did those guys miss the boat on the future or what?

FWIW, WiFi does not mean internet. This can be hard to grasp if you consider that most public establishments advertise that they 'have WiFi' when they want to let their customers know that they can connect their mobile devices to the internet while visiting.

WiFi is simply a method of connecting two devices together without wires. That's it... It has become a popular method of connecting a computer, a tablet or a smart phone to a router. And of course if you connect to a router which is connected to the internet, you have internet access. Before WiFi, you had to use a network cable to connect your computer to a router or modem...

The WiFi offered in the 70D is simply a method of connecting a computer to the camera without having to plug in a USB cable. In this case, it's a replacement for the USB cable.

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Excellent answer! Thanks for the good explanation, Jim!

The 6D also has wi-fi. I just picked mine up last Saturday and the wi-fi is an amazing perk to this camera. Basically, you set up a wi-fi name on your camera when you turn it on for the first time. Then you enable it on the camera. You then go into the wi-fi settings on your phone and your camera will appear as a connection that you can connect to. Once the two devices are connected to eachother, you can use your phone as a remote shutter release AND view all of your photos on you phone as you take them. You can also use the phone as a live view as you are taking pictures. This is a great perk if you forget a release cable, or if you are in a shoot and want to let your customers hold the iPad or iPhone as the shots are being taken.

Imagine a photo shoot where the subjects mother is sitting nearby. She can hold the iPad and view all of the shots as they are taken, and then make notes of the ones she likes the best. This is just one simple example of the uses for wi-fi. Also imagine in the wilderness, setting up your camera and luring in animals to come into the frame. Meanwhile you can be hiding around a corner so the animals are not nervous to come close to the camera.

No internet/cellular connection required!

Cheers!

As said above, your phone doesn't need any connection/reception to connect to the 6D's built in WiFi. It's simply an ad-hoc connection.

Cellphone has multiple tx/rx in it. Wifi is just one of them. Personally I wouldn't want my client to see pictures as I am taking them. And I am not sure how fast those RAW files transfter over the Wifi link.

bobbyz wrote in post #16136335
Cellphone has multiple tx/rx in it. Wifi is just one of them. Personally I wouldn't want my client to see pictures as I am taking them. And I am not sure how fast those RAW files transfter over the Wifi link.

Most definitely not raw file as most phone/tablets can't view raw anyway.

I use an eye-fi card on my 5D3 these days which saves jpeg for easy sharing on the fly.

Jim_T wrote in post #16136225
FWIW, WiFi does not mean internet. This can be hard to grasp if you consider that most public establishments advertise that they 'have WiFi' when they want to let their customers know that they can connect their mobile devices to the internet while visiting.

WiFi is simply a method of connecting two devices together without wires. That's it... It has become a popular method of connecting a computer, a tablet or a smart phone to a router. And of course if you connect to a router which is connected to the internet, you have internet access. Before WiFi, you had to use a network cable to connect your computer to a router or modem...

The WiFi offered in the 70D is simply a method of connecting a computer to the camera without having to plug in a USB cable. In this case, it's a replacement for the USB cable.

I don't think a single person on POTN doesn't already know that.

And even though you say that "Wifi available here" isn't internet, that actually isn't really the case. When someone enters an establishment that says it has Wifi, they know darn well that it means the establishment has WIFI connected to the internet.


I don't think anyone believes a Wi-Fi enabled camera to be an internet-connected server of any type.


But Wi-fi in a camera is more than simply replacing a USB cable. I've never connected my camera to my phone with a cable. Likewise, if I had a camera without wifi in Starbucks and took a picture, I doubt having a USB cable would help me upload photos to Facebook. I can't borrow the cashier's computer. So, yes, having Wi-fi in the camera is much more than just having a USB cable.

Wifi in the camera DOES mean internet, because it's unlikely you'll ever be in a wifi area that isn't online. Can you imagine an establishment with WIFI telling you, "Yes, we have Wi-Fi, but no internet. We just thought you'd enjoy the Wi-Fi."?

Dude.

MikeFairbanks wrote in post #16136568
I don't think a single person on POTN doesn't already know that..

Except perhaps the OP who asked the question

MikeFairbanks wrote in post #16136568
I don't think a single person on POTN doesn't already know that.

I am on POTN, and did not know that WI-FI didn't necessarily mean an internet connection. You seemed to put Jim T's answer down by saying that nobody didn't already know that. But I found his answer to my post very helpful and enlightening. I had no idea how WI-FI cameras and phones worked together, and he explained things in a way that was easy to understand. I am thankful for his response.

MikeFairbanks wrote in post #16136568
I don't think anyone believes a Wi-Fi enabled camera to be an internet-connected server of any type.

I actually thought a camera with WI-FI had internet capabilities, and could upload images to the internet without the aid of another device. That would make it an "internet-connected server", wouldn't it?

MikeFairbanks wrote in post #16136568
Wifi in the camera DOES mean internet, because it's unlikely you'll ever be in a wifi area that isn't online.

But, as someone above already explained, any time you connect your camera to your phone, you have a WI-FI connection; the area between the camera and the phone is a WI-FI area. I spend a lot of my time in places that have no internet and no cell phone service. If I bought a 70D and got it to "talk to" a smart phone, I would then have a WI-FI area - with no internet whatsoever.

MikeFairbanks wrote in post #16136568
Dude.

Dude? I am not sure what was meant by that.
Mike, you normally make very well-written posts here on the forum. You are typically very respectful, friendly, and helpful. But this post of yours seems to have a condescending tone throughout. Did someone say something here on this thread that rubbed you the wrong way?