Running a 1DC remotely.

[mdantzker]

We are looking to remotely control our 1DC but running up against some obstacles.  Perhaps some of you can help.  Ideally, we'd run in wirelessly, but we can run cables if necessary.  We are talking about distances from perhaps 20 meters to 200 ideally. 

Neither of the two wireless DSLR controllers that I'm aware of, the camranger  <http://www.camranger.com> and the k-circle <http://www.lockcircle.com> support the 1DC.  Even the wired remotes like the okii <http://www.okii.net/> don't list the 1DC as compatible.  In our tests, we couldn't get the okii to work with more than 6 meters of USB.    

One obvious wired remote is the EOS utility software running on a laptop, but I'm under the impression that the EOS utility software doesn't currently support triggering live view and video record on the 1DC.  Is that true or has it changed?  Does anyone have tips on running this software at a distance of 20-100 meters?  Are there distance limitations with USB to be aware of?  Has anyone managed to use it remotely. 

Other ideas? 

Thanks in advance. 

[Mykolas]

Hi mdantzker,

Thank you for posting.

Given the distances you are working with, I would say that a wireless and USB connection are both out of the question here.  The camera can connect over WiFi, but the operating range over WiFi is very limited.  This is the case with any device and WiFi.  Also, the maximum USB cable length specified by the USB standard is 5 meters.

The best thing to do in this case is to use the ethernet port on the camera for a wired connection.  It is much the same as WiFi, but your range and reliability will be greater.  The maximum cable length in an ideal situation is around 100 meters.  Just like a WiFi connection, you can establish the connection to the camera using the WFT Utility and EOS Utility.  The lastest version of EOS Utility does support the EOS-1DC and should operate both the still and video functions remotely.

One thing to note for video recording remotely is that all the video that is recorded is stored on the camera's memory card until shooting is done, then you are prompted to download it.

This didn't answer your question or issue? Find more help at Contact Us.

[mdantzker]

Can you wake the camera from sleep using this set up? We found that, over USB, the EOS Utility wasn't waking up the camera and we had to reach out and touch the shutter button ourselves. We need to be able to wake from sleep to conserve battery power.

[Mykolas]

mdantzker,

The same limitation is still there with this setup as well.  EOS Utility is still used to control the camera and it is unable to wake the camera when it has gone to sleep. 

I recommend connecting the camera to an AC power source using the AC Adapter Kit ACK-E4.  This will allow you to disable the Auto Power Off setting in the menu and power the camera continuously without having to worry about the charge level of the battery.

This didn't answer your question or issue? Find more help at Contact Us.