34 11 April 2020I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113
HOW TO CONNECT A NIKON CAMERA TO NIKON SNAPBRIDGE1 Download
DownloadtheNikon
SnapBridgeappfromthe
GooglePlayoriOSApp
Storeonyourphoneor
tablet.Onyourphonemake
surethatyouhaveBluetooth
and Wi-Fi both turned on.2 Connect
Withtheappinstalled,open
it andpress‘Connect To
Camera’.3 Select
your
camera
Taponyourtype
of camera,either
DigitalSLR
Cameraor
Mirrorless
Camera,andthen
pressWi-Fi
Connection.Testbench CAMERA CONNECTIVITYAsthesescreengrabsshow,SnapBridgehasa darkuserinterface.Userscanselectwhichimagesthey’dliketotransferfrom a gallery of small thumbnails
usinga password,in exactlythesame
wayyouwouldconnecttoa Wi-Firouter.
A basicguideonhowtodothisis foundbelow.
Thereis alsotheoptiontocreatea very
quickconnectionusingNFC.SadlyforiPhone
andiPadusersNFCisn’timplemented,but
Androiduserscantakeadvantageof this
methodof pairingbysimplytouchingtheNFC
spotsonbothdevicestogether.
Usefully,if youhavemorethanoneNikon
camerathatyouwishtouse,theappmakesit
easytoswitchbetweenwhichcamerayouare
pairedto,withuptofivecamerassupported.
Liveviewandremoteshooting
Whenit cametousingtheliveviewoptionfor
remoteshootingI hadnoproblemsgettingmy
iPhoneXSandNikonZ 6 topair.Thelive
displaypoppedupquickly,andtherewaslittle
lagbetweenmovingthecameraandtheview
changingonmysmartphone;thisparticular
pairingof cameraandsmartphoneseemsto
beveryresponsiveandusable.
Thereis a fullcomplementof exposureand
shooting settings available when shooting still
images,withtheexposuremode,shutter,
aperture,ISOsensitivityandwhitebalanceall
capableof beingchanged.
Aswehaveseenpreviouslyin Sony’s
ImagingEdgeapp,it isn’tpossibletochange
anyadvancedsettings,suchasautofocusor
picturestyle.Thesemustbesetupasyouwant
thembeforeyoucommence remote shooting.Autofocus
Oneof themainbenefits of beingableto
shootremotelyusinga smartphoneis the
abilitytoshifttheautofocuspoint.Simply
pressthescreenandthefocuspositionwill
shift,witha smallgreenboxlettingyouknow
thattheimageis in focus.Quitehowthe
autofocusbehavesafterthisdependson
whichAFmodeyouhaveyourcamerasetto.
ForthosewithNikonCoolpixcameras
generallyusingtouchAFthroughSnapBridge
willactivateAFtrackingin thecameratotrack
a subjectarounda frame.SnapBridgewillalso
allowsomeCoolpixmodelstozoomthelens
in andoutviathe‘W/T’buttonswhichappears
on screen for compatible cameras.Video
Usingliveviewforremotevideoshootingis
muchthesameexperienceaswhenshooting
stillimages.Youhavea choiceof either
programormanualexposuresettings,but
sadlythereis noshutterpriorityoption.White
balanceandISOsensitivitycanbechanged,as
wellasexposurecompensationin program(P)
mode.
TheWi-Ficonnectionallowsyoutotransfer
moviesfromthecameratoa smartphone,
althoughinterlacedandAVIvideoscan’tbe
transferred.Playbackof thefiles,especially4K
videofiles,is verymuchdependentonyour
phone.Moviesaren’tplayedwithintheapp,
butwhateverproprietary video player you use
onyourdevice.Imagetransfer
Nikonis, at thetimeof writing,oneof onlya
fewmanufacturerstoallowthetransferof raw
imagesviatheapp.Withmanysmartphones
andhigh-endtablets,suchastheAppleiPad
Pro,havingthepowertoeditrawimageswith
apps such as Adobe Lightroom, the ability to