SnapBridge: that was fun! Now what: USB Tethering? WiFi?

[David H. Hartman]

Ilkka,

Can DigiCamControl be set to save new NEF and or JPG files to both the DigiCamControl session folders and the camera's memory cards at the same time or is this a one or the other situation? I seem to remember saving to both locations is a limitation of the Nikon camera and not the software.

Can DigiCamControl rename files during download? I currently have Nikon Transfer 2 set to add the suffix "D850_" to NEF(s) as they are downloaded, e.g. DSC_0002.nef becomes D850_DSC_0002.nef.

I have had no luck searching online and the search feature for the DigiCamControl online manual plays dead. I'm trying to learn on my own but my normal search resources aren't working for me.

Dave

[Matthew Currie]

I've not yet found a way to save images back to the camera in Digicam Control.

There are various options for naming files, but I don't know if you can do anything you want.  There's a window on the right headed "session," and the settings menu (gear icon) gives various options for the file name template, as well as one to use the camera's original name.  That menu also includes options for where files are saved, including backups, but you can't back up directly to the camera as far as I can see.

Windows sees a connected camera as a device other than a drive.  In the backup menu for Digicam Control, you can find the camera, and the files on the card, but when you assign that as a backup, it says the device is busy and it won't allow it.  You can, however, designate a camera memory card in a card reader or slot as the backup location, and if you put the card in the camera without modifying the images it can read them.

I find Digicam control works pretty well with the D7100, though I haven't done much with it and haven't explored all its settings.  The documentation is lousy, though, and if you get the on line instructions, they appear to be hosted by "manuals online," which tries to sneak other software in if you're not careful.  That's a caveat if you download the program itself too.  Don't accidentally get the Winzip drivers or some such junk.

e.t.a. I also tried the program "entangle," which does tethered shooting in Linux.  It also does not seem to have an option for saving the image on the camera, at least not on a Nikon.

[David H. Hartman]

Thank's Matthew! I'll have another session with DigiCamControl tomorrow.

Dave

[ColinM]

What options are members finding for serious preview of full resolution JPG(s) on a laptop or desktop computer with low latency?

Sorry if this has already been mentioned, but (when it works) I find Snapbridge most useful as a bigger version of Liveview, using my tablet.

Great for macros
Really useful when I needed to take some videos for a yoga teacher and their class

But sadly, too unreliable with my D500.
It's possible they've tweaked the software & firmware in more recent camera bodies like the Z series....

More fun with SmartBridge: just now I had multiple failure to swtich from Bluetooth to WiFi. I pulled the battery out of my D850 and replaced it. Still no joy. 

For me, Digicam control seemed promising and much more fully featured....
....but the underlying issue of achieving, then maintaining a wireless connect between device and my D500 remained. Without this, even Digicam can't help.
It works with a USB lead, but I've not got round to getting a cable long enough to make it usable in real world situations.

I posted in another thread someone else's findings that changing timeouts can make a big difference.
I belive Nikon defaults to fairly short timeouts for external comms that can then cause the connection to be dropped. You see this where you're able to take a few pictures initially...then lose the connection

They probably wanted to minimise impact on battery life
If you're still having issues, Google this - you can always change the timeouts at the start and end of the sessions when you want remote connection.

[ColinM]

Oh and please continue to post your results and any ideas that prove reliable David (and others)

I'd love to know.

[David H. Hartman]

Something I tried along time ago might give me close to what I want...

1) Setup an external HDMI display which will replace or parallel the image and data displayed on camera's LDC using a long HDMI cable.
2) On camera controls will be used to set the camera.
3) Hands off shutter release with a radio remote release (in my case Phottix Strato II flash trigger, excellent for my purpose).

Now the clunky part...

4) Use Nikon Transfer 2 to move NEF and or JPG files to a computer either by USB cable or tennis shoe network.

Things to research...

Replace the HDMI cable with a BlueTooth connection to an external display or computer.
Download image files from the cameras memory cards (after the fact, not in real time) by WiFi.

I would think the wireless replication of 1 and 4 is possible if there is software available to accomplish this.

DigiCamControl messes with my file naming and storage system. The (D850 Custom Settings Menu, d7) File Number Sequence is not disturbed for images saved to internal memory which is good but DigiCamControl uses its own parallel numbering system which is a problem for me.

Dave

[Steven Paulsen]

I first tried snapbridge a few years ago on the KeyMission 360. (Most likely helped the camera to fail.) There is really a missed opportunity that there is not a sophisticated app that works via USB or Bluetooth. Remember, Apple makes their products Not to be compatible with anything. ( I do use an older, apple phone.)


On the other hand, for me, photography is an escape from all the online nonsense.


 

[David H. Hartman]

Back to SnapBridge...

I only use Snapbridge to feed GPS data to my Z50. All other functionality is turned off.

I will likely adopt this use of SnapBridge.

My workflow in the field is camera -> SnapBridge -> Lightroom Mobile for editing -> broadcast through Lr Mobile to social media / press officer. This all in a matter of minutes. ...

There is utility in MFloyd's use of SnapBridge that I might find useful occasionally. I'll keep it in mind.

Dave

[David H. Hartman]

When SnapBridge pairs with my D850 using BlueTooth to down load photos SnapBridge must subsequently switch to WiFi. If switching to WiFi fails repeatedly fails (for no apparent reason) rebooting the phone may correct the problem. If this doesn't work perhaps uninstalling SnapBridge and reinstalling SnapBridge may correct the problem.  Reinstalling SnapBridge just worked for me. Nikon needs to do better.

Dave

The fool quotes himself...

There is utility in MFloyd's use of SnapBridge that I might find useful occasionally. I'll keep it in mind.

The use I may have for downloading photos to the phone is to provide 2MB JPG files for a friend to use for listing on eBay and other online selling platforms, these photos can then easily be emailed to my friend. I doubt that I will have any personal use for SnapBridge aside from passing GPS data to my D850.

Thank you everyone for your kind assistance!

[Ilkka Nissilä]

When SnapBridge pairs with my D850 using BlueTooth to down load photos SnapBridge must subsequently switch to WiFi. If switching to WiFi fails repeatedly fails (for no apparent reason) rebooting the phone may correct the problem. If this doesn't work perhaps uninstalling SnapBridge and reinstalling SnapBridge may correct the problem.  Reinstalling SnapBridge just worked for me. Nikon needs to do better.

Snapbridge can send 2 MP photos to the phone using bluetooth only, I believe. So you only need wifi with Snapbridge if you want (1) faster transfers, (2) larger files, or (3) camera control capabilities. But the kind of transfer selected files in 2 MP size in the background works without switching to wifi mode.

Snapbridge does drop the wifi connection to mobile phone quite quickly after not being used. This is annoying.

D6 wifi connection to laptop or desktop computer does seem reliable, it doesn't drop the connection and it's fast to reconnect if you turn something off and back on (it remembers the computers it's been connected to in the past and you can pick from the list). However, this is with newer hardware.

[David H. Hartman]

I can't find a way in SnapBridge 2.7.1 to download 2MP images [from my D850] using Bluetooth only. All I see is when I press Download pictures is the, "Enable camera Wi-Fi" (OK/Cancel) message and the same for Remote photography.

I've had no luck switching to WiFi for about 24 hours. SnapBridge fails to connect and gives the lame, "The connection to the camera has failed. Try again after reading the online help information on how the problem can be addressed." This to me is a totally deficient error message giving no idea what the problem is. SnapBridge might as well say, "Go search the Web and Good Luck."

Dave

[MFloyd]

Which camera ?

[David H. Hartman]

Which camera ?

Nikon D850. I edited my post above to indicate my camera model.

Dave

[MFloyd]

Nikon D850. I edited my post above to indicate my camera model.

Dave

Ok Dave, I have a look at it. 

I’m shooting in RAW. So, when I want to transfer a NEF D850 image, I have first to make a JPEG image (within the camera body) before the D850 will consider the image to queue up for transfer. With the D6, no need, the D6 produces automatically a JPEG file for transfer.

[David H. Hartman]

Maybe I'll try SnapBridge and my D850 for file transfer after SnapBridge (currently v2.7.1) gets an major update but for now I'm finding SnapBridge unreliable for file transfer and control with my D850 and it doesn't do what I want in several ways anyway. SnapBridge does reliably pass my phone's GPS data to my D850 so that's good. The phone is a Moto G7 running Android 10. My D850 is running the latest firmware. I do see a use for downloading 2MP JPG(s) and emailing them to a friend for eBay listings so I would like to achieve 2MP file transfer to my phone. 

I've found a utility, AirNEF by name which is reliable and will consistently download NEF(s), JPG(s) and MOV(s) to a 64GB Samsung Fit, USB 3.1 button drive. I've copied the necessary files and folders to the Samsung Fit so that Nikon Transfer 2 sees it as a camera memory card and renames and copies files to this laptop's SSD. The Samsung Fit is tiny and stays permanently attached to this laptop. I can now transfer files to my laptop without removing a memory card from my D850 or attaching a USB cable.

To accomplish a connection between my D850 and Laptop I have to manually start Wi-Fi on my D850 (expected) and then using the Windows 10 fly-out in the lower right task bar I connect this laptop to the D850. There is supposed to be a way to get Windows 10 to switch to the D850's Wi-Fi server from my Wi-Fi router automatically when the D850 is available but I haven't achieved this so far. For now it's semi-automatic and reliable.

I have tried the command prompt method of ranking Windows 10 Wi-Fi sources to connect to the D850 first, Wi-Fi router 5G second and then basic Wi-Fi (2.4 band) but without success. I was following the instruction here...

How to change Wi-Fi network connections priority order on Windows 10

This should be a lot easier. I survived Windows NT (Neanderthal Technology) v4.0 (SP-3 to 6) with the help of a Bible sized administrator's guide from Microsoft. I'm getting lazy now. I'm used to recent Windows and MAC OS(s) and their relative ease and automation.

Dave