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Can you tether a camera to iPad 2 yet?

cjbryce

cjbryce

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 4, 2008
567
285
London
Is it yet possible to tether a camera to a non-jailbroken iPad (without the Mac-based server like the Oneto1 app)? Perhaps via a WiFi/EyeFi SD card?

I'd like to occasionally use my iPad as a live preview/viewfinder. Full camrea remote control would be great, but I guess this will take even longer for manufacturers to sort out:(

I have a Nikon DSLR and I'm about to buy a "superzoom" compact (probably the Nikon Coolpix S8000).

TIA

Edited to clarify the title
 
Last edited:
I use an eye fi card with shutter snitch app. Pretty quick transfer, few seconds from when you take the shot to it showing up.
 
cjbryce said:
Is it yet possible to tether a camera to a non-jailbroken iPad (without the Mac-based server like the Oneto1 app)? Perhaps via a WiFi/EyeFi SD card?

I'd like to occasionally use my iPad as a live preview/viewfinder. Full camrea remote control would be great, but I guess this will take even longer for manufacturers to sort out:(

I have a Nikon DSLR and I'm about to buy a "superzoom" compact (probably the Nikon Coolpix S8000).

TIA

Edited to clarify the title
Click to expand...

This is the only non JB option right now...

http://lifehacker.com/#!5636979/how-to-take-wireless-photos-with-your-dslr-and-ios-device

For a direct connection from DSLR to iPad 2 you need to JB and using MiFi or the like...

http://lifehacker.com/#!5678555/set...a-for-wireless-and-router+free-ipad-tethering
 
Last edited:
bowlerman625 said:
Get the Eye Fi cards (www.eye.fi) with Direct Mode. It is a SDHC card for your camera that instantly sends the pictures to an iOS device and other locations that you choose. They are very neat.
Click to expand...

I second this. I recently upgraded my PRO X2 card to support "direct mode." They will configure the card with a name and WPA2 password, and you just set up your iPad to use a network of the same name and WPA2 password. The EyeFi card will then send JPG photos to your iPad when your iPad is tuned to the network created by the EyeFi card. You can use the ShutterSnitch app or the EyeFi app to view the photos on your iPad.

If you have a camera like the Nikon D7000 with dual SDHC slots, it's even better. You can shoot RAW images to a normal SDHC card and JPGs to the EyeFi card.
 
Yes but...

I use a Nikon D3, iPad2, Eye-Fi x2, Zalip wireless router, and ShutterSnitch. Tethering work but there are some issues.

The biggest issues is that the wireless signal from Eye-Fi cards is super weak. By the time I put it in a CF adapter (with metal casing removed to help signal) inside a pro magnesium bodied camera, the signal is next to nothing. When I did my initial testing with my ipad and router on the desk and my camera in my hand, my transfers would stop when I held the camera normally and resume when I removed my hand from the grip so I was no longer covering the card.

To get around this, I have to wear my router hanging around my neck so that it's about 12" away from the camera. When I do that, I can shoot all day long and the iPad can be in the other room and still connect to the router. The weak link is the Eye-Fi card so as long as the router is close to the camera, I'm good.

Eye-Fi has come out with their direct-mode and a mobile app. I haven't tested this but I don't think it would work at all in my case because I would be removing the router and there is no way the Eye-Fi would reach directly to the iPad. Keep in mind, you might not have any of these issues if your camera supports SD directly without adapter and has a plastic body that won't block the signal.

Once you get the connection sorted out, ShutterSnitch works great but it does take about 5-7 seconds from the time I click the shutter for it to appear on the iPad. It's not really useful for me if I'm doing a studio setup etc. because it takes to long to see what each change to my lighting is doing etc. but for group / model shots, it's awesome. I love handing the iPad to a mom while I'm shooting pics of her kids and she can see what we're getting. When I'm done, I let models quickly go thru and tag the images from the set that they like.

The Author of ShutterSnitch is really helpful and answers posts on his forum. I made a feature suggestion and he implemented it in the very next release a couple weeks later.

Over all, it's very cool to be able to tether but you have to understand it's limitations.
 
Thanks all - very informative.

I'm a little surprised that the camera manufacturers haven't beaten a path to Apple's door and worked with them to use iPad in particular as a remote viewfinder/shutter release/full controller for even point-and-shoots as well as their DSLR ranges.

It's such an obviously brilliant use for iPads and Nikon and Canon already have after-market wireless systems for their DSLRs.
 
AceCoolie said:
I use a Nikon D3, iPad2, Eye-Fi x2, Zalip wireless router, and ShutterSnitch. Tethering work but there are some issues.

The biggest issues is that the wireless signal from Eye-Fi cards is super weak. By the time I put it in a CF adapter (with metal casing removed to help signal) inside a pro magnesium bodied camera, the signal is next to nothing. When I did my initial testing with my ipad and router on the desk and my camera in my hand, my transfers would stop when I held the camera normally and resume when I removed my hand from the grip so I was no longer covering the card.

To get around this, I have to wear my router hanging around my neck so that it's about 12" away from the camera. When I do that, I can shoot all day long and the iPad can be in the other room and still connect to the router. The weak link is the Eye-Fi card so as long as the router is close to the camera, I'm good.

Eye-Fi has come out with their direct-mode and a mobile app. I haven't tested this but I don't think it would work at all in my case because I would be removing the router and there is no way the Eye-Fi would reach directly to the iPad. Keep in mind, you might not have any of these issues if your camera supports SD directly without adapter and has a plastic body that won't block the signal.

Once you get the connection sorted out, ShutterSnitch works great but it does take about 5-7 seconds from the time I click the shutter for it to appear on the iPad. It's not really useful for me if I'm doing a studio setup etc. because it takes to long to see what each change to my lighting is doing etc. but for group / model shots, it's awesome. I love handing the iPad to a mom while I'm shooting pics of her kids and she can see what we're getting. When I'm done, I let models quickly go thru and tag the images from the set that they like.

The Author of ShutterSnitch is really helpful and answers posts on his forum. I made a feature suggestion and he implemented it in the very next release a couple weeks later.

Over all, it's very cool to be able to tether but you have to understand it's limitations.
Click to expand...

Is th router a battery operated router since you are wearing it around your neck???

Thanks and great info.
 
I tried out the eye-fi this week and wasn't too impressed. my setup was: Nikon D7000, eye-fi X2 in direct mode and my ipad2.

It wasn't very reliable.. The pictures got to my iPad about 50% of the time.

My biggest issue was the files sent to the iPad where reduced in size. For example a picture on my normal SDHC card was 8mb, the file that showed up on my ipad was 1.5mb. (Camera was set jpeg fine, SD slots set to 'backup'.. ie.. the file is copied to slot1 and to the eye-fi in slot2).

I ended up taking the eye-fi card back.
 
cjbryce said:
Thanks all - very informative.

I'm a little surprised that the camera manufacturers haven't beaten a path to Apple's door and worked with them to use iPad in particular as a remote viewfinder/shutter release/full controller for even point-and-shoots as well as their DSLR ranges.

It's such an obviously brilliant use for iPads and Nikon and Canon already have after-market wireless systems for their DSLRs.
Click to expand...

This may be what you're looking for:

DSLR Camera Remote HD

http://itunes.apple.com/app/dslr-camera-remote-hd/id417693635?mt=8

I personally do not own it, so I cannot comment on how well it works, etc. It's on my wish list, but it's kinda pricey. Let me know if you decide to get it as I would like to hear how it is.
 
brianm801 said:
I tried out the eye-fi this week and wasn't too impressed. my setup was: Nikon D7000, eye-fi X2 in direct mode and my ipad2.

It wasn't very reliable.. The pictures got to my iPad about 50% of the time.

My biggest issue was the files sent to the iPad where reduced in size. For example a picture on my normal SDHC card was 8mb, the file that showed up on my ipad was 1.5mb. (Camera was set jpeg fine, SD slots set to 'backup'.. ie.. the file is copied to slot1 and to the eye-fi in slot2).

I ended up taking the eye-fi card back.
Click to expand...

Direct mode won't cut it. To get any usable range with an eye-fi, you have to use a router as a signal booster.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8H7 Safari/6533.18.5)

I set up my new eye fi card last night. Direct mode is great! It works as disclosed!
 
Many thanks all. Brilliant advice and links.

Got a Nikon CoolPix S9100 and Eye-Fi card in direct mode to ShutterSnitch on my iPad fully working in < 10 minutes. Excellent. Even if the iPad keeps reverting to my home WiFi as being the stronger signal, which isn't a real problem as most of my usage will be away from my house.

I also bought OnOne's DSLR camera remote, which may or may not work with my Nikon D50 (not listed as compatible, but it's worth a try when I find the mini-USB cable to plug the camera into my laptop)
 
Please let me know which Eye-fi you purchased for your Nikon S9100 and does the iPad now work as a viewfinder to check focus etc.
 
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