32 14 March 2020I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113
it’snotuntilyouexperimentwiththeapp
thatyourealiseexactlyhowmuchyou
cancontrolfromyourdevice.Someof the
featuresarecontrolledviathecamera’s
Bluetoothtechnologywhileothersrelyona
Wi-Ficonnection.Butthesedaysvirtually
everyCanonbodyis equippedwithboththese
features.Pairingandconnectingtheapptoa
cameratogetyourselfstartedis surprisingly
easyandI foundthattheconnectionbetween
myiPhone7 andCanon90Dwashugely
reliableanddidn’tcutoutat allduringtesting
- a remarkableachievementgiventhatapps
fromotherbrandsoftenstruggle.
Betterstill,I experiencednoissuescaused
byApple’slatestiOS 13 platform,whichhas
causedproblemsforappsfromother
camerabrands.Formoreinformationon
pairingseethepanelbelow.In termsof time,
it tooklessthantwominutes,sonobody
shouldlosepatiencewhileattemptingto
establisha connection.
Toexplainthefeaturesfurther,we’regoingto
walkthroughthevariousmodesoffered,which
can generally be split into two groups:
HOW TO CONNECT YOUR CANON CAMERA TO YOUR SMARTPHONE
1 Searchand
download
forfree
Visittheappstoreon
yourphone(App
StoreforAppleor
GooglePlayfor
Android)and
downloadthefree
CanonCamera
Connect.When
youopentheapp,
enablepermissions
fortheapptoaccess
your photos.
2 MakeBluetoothandWi-Fi
activeonyourcamera
NavigatethroughyourMenusystemandhead
totheconnectivitysettings.Theappset-up
guidewillinstructyoutoselectWi-Fi/Bluetooth
connection so find this option and select it.
3 Selectthe
camera
model
Theapponyour
phonewillprompt
youtoselectwhich
modelof camera
youwishtopairwith
yoursmartdevice.In
mycaseit wasthe
90D,soI typedthis
in andthenselected
the OK button.
Testbench CAMERA CONNECTIVITY
transferringimagesfromcameratodevice,
andusingthedevicetocontrolthecamera.
RemoteLiveViewshooting
Asthenamesuggests,thismodeenablesthe
photographertocontroltheircameraandits
settingsviathesmartdevice.Theinterfacefor
themodeis setoutin a simplewaywitha main
windowrelayinga liveviewof whatthe
camerais seeingwithexposureinformation
andadjustmentoptionsaroundthebottomof
thescreenandextrainfolikebatterylifeand
shotsremainingonthememorycardabove
theliveviewwindow.
TheRemoteLiveViewoptionworkswhen
capturingstillsandvideo,anduserscanadjust
variablessuchasgeneralexposuresettings
(shutterspeed,apertureandISO– depending
if youarein manualmodeora semi-automatic
modesuchasaperturepriority).However,it
doesn’tstopthereandtheappallowsyouto
alsoselectwhichfocusmodeyouwishto
employ,whichdrivemodeyou’dliketoshoot
with(burstmodeorevenself-timer)andwhich
white balance you’d like to use too. Hit the
settingswheeliconandyoucanchoosetoturn
on/offtheliveviewdisplay,lockthescreen
orientationandevenrotatetheliveview
rotationthrough90°.Thereis anoptionto
magnifytheliveviewfeedtooforstudying
scenesordetailsveryclosely.Allin all,this
givesa veryhighlevelof controloverthe
camerathroughyoursmartdevice.
Photographerscanestablisha focuspointin
thescenebytappingonanareaof thelive
viewwindowonthedeviceanda greensquare
willappearoverthisareatoconfirmcorrect
focushasbeenacquired.Thisfeatureworks
extremelywell,reactsquicklyandI foundit to
bereliable,withthefocuspointmatchingup
withwhereI intendedit tobe.If thecamerais
settoManualFocus(MF),youcanfine-tune
thefocuszoneusingtheapp,andalthoughthis
featureis incrediblyuseful,it canbea littleslow
touseoutin thefield.Onecleverlastfeature
of noteis theabilitytoactivatea bulbmode
triggerbyemployinga long-taponthescreen.
It shouldbepointedoutthoughthatthis
featureis notsupportedbyeveryCanon
camera that features wireless connectivity.
As these screengrabs illustrate, Canon’s Camera Connect app has a dark user interface. Sliders are used to turn various settings on and off in an instant