topic Re: SFTP with Canon EOS R5 Mark II in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

SFTP with Canon EOS R5 Mark II

pedz — Fri, 23 Aug 2024 15:52:01 GMT

I've tried to set this up for the past hour or so. I can not even get the camera's MAC address to show up on my arp -an output. Is there a way I can configure the local network and test it out to make sure the password is correct before moving on to the FTP (or SFTP) set up? Right now, the only thing I get is that it can not connect to the FTP server.

I have not set the root certificate but I assume that is ok.

I setup a Comm and then set up a Function and then go into Connection Settings and create a "set" using my home network and Mac server. I noticed in the manual that only Windows is supported but that doesn't make any sense to me so I just assumed it was an error.

Re: SFTP with Canon EOS R5 Mark II

Waddizzle — Fri, 23 Aug 2024 17:22:33 GMT

What leads you to believe that the camera supports SFTP?

Just because the camera supports WI-Fi doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s fully networkable. Canon sells accessories for the high end models that can make your camera support FTP.

As is out the box, the camera uses Wi-Fi hardware to extend the range and speed of Bluetooth communication with Canon Connect.

Re: SFTP with Canon EOS R5 Mark II

pedz — Fri, 23 Aug 2024 18:26:51 GMT

I am not sure you noticed the title: R5 Mark II. I have both the R5 and the R5 Mk2. The book for the R5 is confusing but it effectively tells you that it can’t really do FTP. The Mk2 book, as far as I can see, does not say that. Plus, the menu system is quite different on the Mk2.

If you can cite me a page number that does, I’ll concede. I’m definitely not saying you are wrong. Just hoping for clarification.

Re: SFTP with Canon EOS R5 Mark II

pedz — Fri, 23 Aug 2024 18:34:52 GMT

The manual says this in at least three places:

Use of wired LAN with the camera requires Battery Grip BG-F20EP or Cooling Fan CD-R20EP (both sold separately )

To me, it implies that a Wi-Fi LAN is supported without the grips.

Re: SFTP with Canon EOS R5 Mark II

Waddizzle — Fri, 23 Aug 2024 18:43:22 GMT

My apologies. I’m unable to prove a negative. The basic rule of thumb says if it’s not in writing, then it doesn’t exist. I believe that this is the accessory you need.

https://www.usa.canon.com/shop/p/battery-grip-bg-r20ep

Re: SFTP with Canon EOS R5 Mark II

pedz — Fri, 23 Aug 2024 18:51:53 GMT

Page 704 of the manual has a long list titled "Available Network Features" without any mention of needed add ons.

Re: SFTP with Canon EOS R5 Mark II

davidmullen — Thu, 05 Sep 2024 23:09:17 GMT

Hi Pedz,

I use an R3, and assume the R5 M2 will have the same networking functionality as the R3. I have the R3 configured to connect wirelessly to my laptop which runs an FTP server app. I can download selected images by pressing the "Set" button. The images are automatically imported into photomechanic via its "Live Ingest" function where I add caption info and then upload to a website via a wired (USB) iphone connection. I would imaging the setup for SFTP would be the same ..

I use a macbook air, so my set up procedure is specific to an apple OS.

1. Create a new network - give it a name and set the IP address of the network manually, typically 192.168.1.101 with subnet mask 255.255.255.0

2. Download an FTP server app (FTPServer) onto your laptop and set up a username and password in the app.

3. Select the new network on the laptop and then start the networking process in the camera menu. I`ve attached 2 images of my Comm setting and Function setting. In the Comm setting use the network IP address (192.168.1.101) of the new network and the subnet mask address as above. In the Function setting screen (FTP) use an IP address like 192.168.1.110, and you will be asked for the ftp username & password that you set up. I have the procedure on a pdf, but cannot attach it here...

Re: SFTP with Canon EOS R5 Mark II

shadowsports — Fri, 06 Sep 2024 04:54:44 GMT

Good Evening,

Its a coincidence this was posted today. I was looking at this on my R5 C. I also looked at the Canon Mobile File Transfer and CTP Professional Apps. These are for iOS and Android. The MFT app is being deprecated 11/1 in favor of the CTP App. These are both subscription based.

FTP is supported on the R3, R5, R5 C and the R5mkII via its Wi-Fi. FTPS is supported and appears to be sFTP.

davidmullen provided screenshots from his R3. 😃

The instructions for the R5 are here. They are the same.

Canon : Product Manual : EOS R5 : Image Transfer to FTP Servers (start.canon)

R5 C: File transfer (FTP) is supported in Photo Mode via wireless. There is no native wireless support in Cinema OS Mode on this body 😕 (Boo). But you can with the WFT-R10A if you don't mind the $1K price tag.

Page 537 - eosr5c-aug5-photo-en.pdf

R5 mkII - Same as the R3 and R5

Canon : Product Manual : EOS R5 Mark II : Transferring Images to an FTP Server (start.canon)

I haven't used the FTP connection myself, but did review its settings on my camera. I use Canon Connect when needed. Thanks for posting this this topic. I've been meaning to read about it for a while. 🙂

Re: SFTP with Canon EOS R5 Mark II

p4pictures — Fri, 06 Sep 2024 09:49:24 GMT

With FTP connections a single device called an FTP server is required to accept connections and transfers from one or multiple FTP clients. Canon cameras that support FTP are clients, you cannot connect to them, they connect to the FTP server. Take the case of many professional sports events, the event organisers may provide a dedicated network connection for the photographers to send images from their cameras to an FTP server for an agency to then distribute. The agency runs the FTP server, and the agency photographers connect to the server to send their images. Canon cameras can be configured to send all images as they are captured, or more commonly send images by pressing a button when the image is on the playback screen.

There are three types of FTP connections, not all types are supported by all cameras.

FTP - the original version, and least secure
FTPS - Secure FTP transfer using a root certificate to secure the connection
SFTP - Secure FTP transfer using a SSH connection

It is quite common for people to confuse SFTP and FTPS.

EOS R5 and EOS R6 support FTP & FTPS
EOS R6 Mark II, EOS R5 Mark II & EOS R3 support FTP, FTPS & SFTP

Re: SFTP with Canon EOS R5 Mark II

pedz — Fri, 06 Sep 2024 10:52:46 GMT

What I have found with the R5Mk2 is that sftp does not seem to work. I got the camera on the house Wi-Fi because I can see the ARP packets via wireshark. I started a debug ssh process on port 2022 and the camera does not even hit the port. There are no sftp packets on the network at all. Now... this is Wi-Fi so the packets from each device are going to the Wi-Fi hub which is also my router. There is no way I can find to capture packets on my router. So I can't see 100% of the traffic just packets destined for my laptop and broadcast packets. But there still should be packets that I'm not seeing.

I also set up the Mac to be its own Wi-Fi hub and I still do not see the packets I should see.

I have not tried FTP. I see for a low price ($5?) there is an FTP server in the Apple app store BUT...

I don't think this is going to work for me anyway. To transfer 6G via Wi-Fi is a several minute process in the best of conditions. To pull the card and transfer the images and videos via a CF card reader is much faster -- roughly 20 times faster by my experiments. So... I've talked myself out of exploring this further.

As far as the R5, I played with it a couple of years ago and never got it to work either and, at the time, there was somewhat explicit statements in the manual that it was not designed to work without the grip.

So... to be clear... the question is: has anyone gotten SFTP (specifically) working to a Mac without a grip?

What I would really like to see is the ability to just plug the camera in to the USB-C port and have both cards show up on the desktop without any Canon specific apps. I really don't like foreign apps especially those written by horrible amateurs like Canon on my machine. The experimentation with their software always leaves me scared to death of their programmers.

Re: SFTP with Canon EOS R5 Mark II

p4pictures — Fri, 06 Sep 2024 11:33:09 GMT

You could give FileZilla a try as the server on your Mac. It's free and supports all three capabilities, FTP, SFTP and FTPS. I have used it in the past on a Mac with an EOS 5D Mark IV, but not in recent times. If you havent already implemented some FTP server the camera won't connect to it.

I am not able to help on the packet sniffing results as I don't understand much more than what packet sniffing is.

The grips that exist to add additional network capabilities to the EOS R5 / R5 Mk2 but also add a wired gigabit port to them. This is often the preferred connection for professionals at large sports events where wireless signals are not reliable enough.

In my experience a good quality card high speed reader connected to the Mac USB4 port is still the fastest way to move large amounts of data to the computer. I have tried a few different SD UHS-II and CFexpress readers and there are some that are fast and many that are not so fast.

Re: SFTP with Canon EOS R5 Mark II

shadowsports — Fri, 06 Sep 2024 12:06:10 GMT

Brian,

Great suggestion. I was going to recommend filezilla next. It can be configured for SFTP and FTP.. I don't know if it supports FTPS, I've never tried but I do know that you can load certificates with it as well.

@pedz,

I would think you'd be able to see packets with Wireshark. It sounds like you understand the process. Connect the camera to the same network as the system running the FTP server. Point the camera to its IP address and listening port. Supply credentials. So that's not working, huh?.

I've never tried to ping my camera when it's connected to my wireless network. Can you try?

One of the reasons why I've never pursued this is I'm not a professional in the field needing to get my pictures to a publisher or editor as soon as possible. Canon has their professional apps for that which can be used on mobile. I also know that a wired connection is 10x faster and much more reliable.

Brian. I appreciate your additions. I've never used FTPS and a certificate only SFTP with a private key. Thanks for setting me straight on the FTPS protocol.

Re: SFTP with Canon EOS R5 Mark II

pedz — Fri, 06 Sep 2024 13:26:48 GMT

Another factor in this is Canon now has the ability to set "Priority" on the card selected. For me, this is a BIG win. There have been three or four small "favors" that Canon has done with the Mk 2 that I really appreciate.

With the R5, when the CF card was ejected, the camera would switch to the SD card when the card door was closed and not switch back automatically when the CF card was later reinserted. Now with "Priority" set for the CF card, the Mk 2 will switch back when the CF card is put back into the camera. For me, removing the card and using a reader to transfer files is going to be faster and probably simpler. If I thought I would use networking extensively then I would dig back into this more but I just don't think I will. If I could capture packets on my router (my Wi-Fi hub), then I would analyze this to death. That's my nature. But I'm stymied trying to figure out how to capture all of the packets the camera may be sending. I've never snooped Wi-Fi before. The doc says that if the network is not "protected" (i.e. not with a password), then I can see all the packets so I'm tempted to set up my guest Wi-Fi just to see, experiment, and piddle with this.

In a past life, I was on the customer support team for networking at IBM. The fact that I don't see any packets coming from the camera to the server with SFTP leads me to believe that there is a significant bug in the current implementation. Also, with regards to pinging the camera. Yes, the camera does ping. I don't recall the specifics. I believe it does not ping until the transfer is attempted as oppose to when the "CONNECT" is done on the camera but I was not paying careful attention. I do remember the ping would start and then stop and then start again but I didn't really characterize it precisely.

Re: SFTP with Canon EOS R5 Mark II

bitoneeight — Sun, 16 Feb 2025 10:46:21 GMT

I feel your pain, Pedz.

I'm also on Mac, and after a very frustrating afternoon, I can confirm that the R5 Mark II’s SFTP function is NOT working for me either.

I have my own Linux server online, accepting SFTP traffic via the default port 22. Ideally, SFTP should allow us to transfer proxy files overseas privately.

Port 22 is open (confirmed with nc -zv),
SFTP login works fine with a desktop client,
Permissions are correct (folder set at 0755),
Credentials and settings are verified,

Yet, the R5 Mark II keeps throwing error 41, failing to connect to the SFTP server via SSH.

I run multiple servers and am no stranger to SSH. I’ve checked and validated my credentials, server IPv4 address, (disabled IPv6) and router settings multiple times. I’m 100% sure my server isn’t blocking SFTP traffic on port 22—there’s no firewall interference.

Interestingly, my router detects the R5 under Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd. with the correct MAC and local IP address, so the camera is at least connecting to the network.

I’d love to hear what Canon support says if you manage to get this working.

Best,
BL

Re: SFTP with Canon EOS R5 Mark II

pedz — Sun, 16 Feb 2025 13:21:10 GMT

After some thought, I gave up. There is no way wireless SFTP is going to be fast enough to be simpler / better / faster than just pulling the card out, putting it in a reader, and transferring the files to the Mac.

If you recall, when you first connect to a new server (new server as viewed by the client), there is a warning that comes out that the true identity of the remote host can not be assured. This can be avoided by using "ssh certificates" but the monkey business needed to get that to work I don't 100% recall and I don't see a place to add the "ssh certificate" to the camera. Plus (it has been a while so I may be mistaken), if you put the server into debug mode, it does not get up to the point where the host validation is occurring.

At the time I had several disadvantages. My Wi-Fi and router was on a device I could not log in as root so I could not see all the network traffic. The Mac had a bug in it at the time where sharing its network connection was not working (according to the net and according to my attempts to get it working) so I could not make my Mac be the router. This would have allowed me to see all of the network traffic which I was not able to do capturing packets just on the Mac. As I recall, I concluded that the camera was not getting the IP address of the server because the SYN packet to the server from the camera was never captured. Again... its been a while so my memory of the details has been lost so take the above with a bit of skepticism.