UKC

Thinking of getting a new compact camera to take on a trip to Costa Blanca this winter. What I am interested in is a camera with wifi and the associated phone app. The thought being mounting the camera on a tripod off to the side of a climb and then (at an appropriate point!!) use the phone to remotely take a picture. Has anyone tried this?, and what kinda distance does it work from? or am I asking to much!!!

In reply to stuart jones:

I bought the Panasonic TZ-40 and I am getting some good results for what I want. I am by no means a keen photographer but I am getting hooked. It has the associated app that you want which can alter iso and other settings too. As for the range I haven't really tested it.

In reply to mh554:

Thanks, was looking at a Panasonic. But it's really how far away from each other without the aid of a home/ work wifi network will the two talk to each other

In reply to stuart jones:

Oh i get you, the panasonic creates its own wifi so that it 'talks' to the phone. It maybe in the technical data somewhere.

Its also has a leica lens which is good quality apparently

In reply to stuart jones:

Without be specific about the exact camera, wifi typically has a peer to peer range of up to 200m with good line of sight.

if you can see the camera (and lets be honest you need to be able to, for the camera to take your picture, ahem) then it should be able to connect to it ok

so unless you are using some mahooooosive zoom lens you should be OK

In reply to rallymania:

Ive had a look through the instructions quickly, but cannot find a reference to the distances.

another alternative is to use a camera with an intervalometer.

In reply to rallymania:

Thanks for that, was hoping for about 10 metres to be honest, didn't expect the camera to have much power for the wifi signal. When you say about being specific about the camera, i.e. it's spec's, is there something specific in it's wifi settings I should look for, like bandwidth or such like?

In reply to Dan Arkle:

Ok, so an intervalometer would take shots every 5 seconds or such like?

In reply to stuart jones:

Would wi-fi via a mobile phone be any more reliable than a standard IR remote control? I don't know the range of a standard IR and they do tend to come as optional extras so I guess there's some cost to factor in vs. the phone you already have. But it's just a thought.

Intervalometers should allow you to vary the interval. Although one that I had on one (35mm film) camera had a max rate of one shot per minute which was a bit pish for single pitch stuff

In reply to Blue Straggler:

I have not seen a modern camera that offers a remote, it seems to have been ditched in compacts?
I suppose my hope was that someone had used the wifi app combo and could give some feedback on how it performs

In reply to stuart jones:



I have used it, user friendly and work across the living room (about 10 foot?)

In reply to stuart jones:

Sorry, I didn't mean to derail the thread! Just thought it MIGHT be an alternative consideration you MIGHT have overlooked. I've not tried to find a modern compact with a remote.

In reply to stuart jones:

i can test the wifi app on my camera over about 30 paces tomorrow if that helps?

(line of sight in my work place)

i suspect the wifi on my phone will be the limiting factor though as it's sh1t connecting to wifi as it is

In reply to stuart jones:

I have a fuji xt1. I can take photos using my phone from around ten metres away, you can also adjust most settings from the phone too and get a live view.

If I'm going further I use a remote intervalometer which allows me to expose from upto 100 metres away.

In reply to rallymania:

That would be good of you.
My phone is also old that's a good comparison, it would be nice if the camera or phone were not able to use a different wifi network to boost the signal i.e. a work one, and it would be really nice to no if you can use the touch screen on your phone in the same way you can with the TZ40, i.e to choose focus points
Many thanks for this

In reply to andi turner:

Thanks Andy, that's good to know, do you have a name/ company for the remote intervalometer?

In reply to stuart jones:

ok, i have a gopro rather than the exact camera you are looking at,
the camera sets up it's own "hotspot" that the phone connects to. (it's a galaxy s2 btw... the wifi on my one is not good, doesn't connect to netowrks other devices have no problem seeing)

i was able to see a camera preview, change settings and activate the shutter (video and stills) from a good 25 paces away. certainly for this camera that's so far away as to be not useful for actually taking a picture. hte lens is way to wide angle for that sort of distance.

HTH's in some way

In reply to stuart jones:

I've a Panasonic TZ60 and iPhone and have done this recently. Worked fine for single pitch routes- probably about 20m. Can't comment on the range- occassionally it fell out of connection, not sure if this was dependent on the range or other factors.

In reply to Ander:

Thanks for all the info folks, sounds like it works, better than the usual no photo's from a trip, just now need to decide on which camera

In reply to Ander:

Just found this on the Cannon website, answers the question I think

The PowerShot G7 X's Wi-Fi connectivity makes remote shooting easy. Using the Canon CameraWindow app, the PowerShot G7 X can be controlled from up to 5m away and images captured with a single tap. A live image is displayed on the screen of the smartphone or tablet – great for group shots featuring the photographer, or wildlife pictures of an easily disturbed subject.

In reply to stuart jones:

Finally bought an Olympus camera and put the app on my old Motorola Defy plus phone. So far, in line of site, I can be 8 metres away and my phone and the camera still communicate, it can be slow to update the live view image, but that is my phone. One feature of the app is a self timer, (why?) but this also has a burst mode, from 2 through to 10, this works like this, set up camera and phone, set up app with self timer of 2 seconds and burst of, say 5, it counts to 2, takes 5 shots processes the images, then counts to 2 takes 5 shots, etc, taking 25 pics in total, So I'm hopeful that a belayer could press once on the phone, put the phone down and carry on belaying without there being any issue for the climber. Hopefully this is useful info, and will test it in Spain in a few weeks