Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

FWIW:

I just received a Nikon WU-1A wifi adapter from Amazon, $39.00.

http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-Wireless-Mobile-Adapter-Digital/dp/B007VGGIB6?ie=UTF8&keywords=wu-1a&qid=1462569987&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

It plugs into the USB port of the camera (certain models need a different adapter) and when activated, it creates a wifi hotspot from the camera. I am not familiar with what is needed for a Canon.

It can be used to transmit pictures from the SD card to your computer for processing, however to me that is worth very little, but I understand others might want that capability or need it.

For me the thought of completely tethering the camera to a tablet or computer with full control of the camera holds a lot of promise, and to this end, qDslrDashboard, a free app for Windows, OS X, and Linux is great.

From my iMac I can connect easily to my D7100, over 30 feet away, obtain a live view, set and change most any setting and easily get macro shots with multiple images ready for focus stacking. (Nikon says 49 feet is the limit, at 30 feet I was still getting a full wifi signal back at my iMac.)

My next step will be to add the DslrDashboard app to my iPhone or to an iPad, the app is available for under $10.00 for IOS & Android devices. I have heard that the IOS app may have some issues, but then I saw that a new version for IOS was just released.

It also works when cabled to the camera USB port - of course there is a slight speed difference between cabled and wifi, but the wifi is still very useable.

For information and downloads of the DslrDashboard app - follow this link

http://dslrdashboard.info

There are plenty of You Tube videos that show how the system works.

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

:thumbup: Good thoughts.

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

I've explored this quite a bit. My needs are to shoot wireless for focus stacking, so the download bit is useless to me. I'm still looking for a solution

cmc65

Thank you for this info....the prices are reasonable...the capabilities would be very handy. Keep us updated on your experiences please..

DavidS 117 Loc: Berkshire, UK

I'm using qDslrDashboard 3.5.1 on an iPad iOS 9.3.1 with no problems so far. :-)

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

interesting Thanks

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

The 1a was designed (primarily) to connected the camera with Wi-Fi on a cell phone. It was and will not connect to most computer networks. It will connect to an Android or Apple IPhone or pad directly (if you make sure that you are out of range of any other computer Wi-Fi devices AND you are using the app provided in the Apps section of your phone. Nikon sells a Wi-Fi adapter for regular networks at a (slightly) higher price. Somewhere in the neighborhood of $800-$900 US and you probably need to purchase the receiver for the network too if you don't have a Wi-Fi or to make your connection life easier.
http://www.nikonusa.com/en/nikon-products/product/wireless/wt-5a-wireless-transmitter.html

When I worked for Nikon Professional Services, we setup Wi-Fi networks for the Professional Photographers covering the Super Bowl, NBA Playoffs etc., connecting their cameras to ftp servers so that their home offices could get the shots for publication immediately after they were shot.

picturesofdogs Loc: Dallas, Texas.

I tried this about 3 years ago with a D3200.
One of the reasons I switched to Sony.

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

Good to hear, the operation of the software is very smooth on an iMac, even wirelessly, but I have not seen it operate on an iPad yet - good to know!

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

Thats pretty much what the description said - BUT, what I see is that the wu-1a sets up a wifi hotspot that any wireless device can connect to and the DslrDashboard app uses that wifi connection to connect to the camera for live view and control as well as optionally transferring images to the computer.

As I said above, my interest is in the control of the camera with live view, not particularly transferring images, and with the Wu-1a, DslrDashboard software and a device (computer, phone or tablet) it provides the utility of full tethering, making macro focus stacking shots easy. There is also a Nikon app that can be used to just act as a file transfer system - eliminating the need for DslrDashboard - but there is zero camera control, only file transfer I believe.

Being out of range of other wifi networks is not necessary, at least with Apple devices you can specify what network to connect to, and with a computer you can be connected wifi and cat 6 at the same time, effectively making the computer a router between the two networks.

Of course you cannot be connected wirelessly to more than 1 network at a time.

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

FWIW - I just downloaded and installed the Nikon WMU software on my iPhone - it allows wifi connectivity to the WU-1a, will show and transfer files and also shows Live View and allows you to set the focus point and snap a picture easily, BUT did not see a way to adjust any camera settings thru the program. I am assuming it gets all exposure settings from the camera. Will play a bit more, maybe even read the instructions ;)

Another tool in the kit ;)

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

LOL true, I have so many tools in the kit that I have trouble remembering what I have. As for control of the camera through the apple ap. As I remember, you have limited control but much needs to be done on the camera it's self. I used to tell customers that the WU-1a was really nice to set your camera on a tripod in the yard, go in the house and find that someone was running down the street with your camera and tripod. I am more of a tethered or hands on guy. There are uses, like portrait photography where you might want the camera on a tripod and have the freedom to move around the subject then snap the photo without returning to the camera, but I can do that other ways. The other system gives you full control of everything through Camera Control pro (which I love) and Lightroom Tetherering Not nearly as nice or as much camera control from the computer as Camera control pro.

picturesofdogs Loc: Dallas, Texas.

Don't know if this is still true, but there was no password protection on the conection. Gateway straight into your device.

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

:D AND you only get that warning for 50 feet or so ;)

topcat Loc: Alameda, CA

I got one for my Nikon, I use it to connect to my smart phone to email.
I also got a gadget on ebay that connects a USB to my smart phone. If you put a card reader to it, it reads off your card. Only problem is that when it gets the list, it can't read the file, because I shoot in raw. But it downloads the photos and I can do everything with the photo, process and post. Good deal, it only cost $1.60.