Canon T6i How to Transfer Photos to Computer via Wifi

[jon617]

I just bought the new Canon T6i camera, and love it.

Is there a way to copy photos to my computer via Wifi?  I don't see a way.

When I go to the "Wi-Fi function" menu, I see only 5 options:

- Transfer imgs between cameras

- Connect to smartphone

- Print from Wi-Fi printer

- Upload to web service

- View images on DLNA deviecs

I do NOT see a "Connect to computer" option as shown in some Canon articles such as this:

https://support.usa.canon.com/kb/index?page=content&id=ART137235

I can successfully do "connect to smartphone" and connect to the camera with the Canon CameraConnect app on my iPhone and iPad.  However I'd like to also connect my computer if possible.

I am using infrastructure Wifi.  So when my camera is at home, I'd like to have it connect to my Wifi to upload photos to my computer.

Thanks.

[Arcade]

No you cannot use wifi to transfer images from the camera to the computer.

[Waddizzle]

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@jon617 wrote:

I just bought the new Canon T6i camera, and love it.

Is there a way to copy photos to my computer via Wifi?  I don't see a way.

When I go to the "Wi-Fi function" menu, I see only 5 options:

- Transfer imgs between cameras

- Connect to smartphone

- Print from Wi-Fi printer

- Upload to web service

- View images on DLNA deviecs

I do NOT see a "Connect to computer" option as shown in some Canon articles such as this:

https://support.usa.canon.com/kb/index?page=content&id=ART137235

I can successfully do "connect to smartphone" and connect to the camera with the Canon CameraConnect app on my iPhone and iPad.  However I'd like to also connect my computer if possible.

I am using infrastructure Wifi.  So when my camera is at home, I'd like to have it connect to my Wifi to upload photos to my computer.

Thanks.

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I don't see what relevance that a link about a Powershot camera has to an EOS T6i. 

There seems to be much confusion centered around capabilities of Canon EOS cameras with built-in Wi-Fi.  One misconception that people seem to have had [myself included] is that "Wi-Fi" means "networkable."  Unfortunately, it does not.

The above illustration [80D] shows the capabilities of EOS cameras that have built-in Wi-Fi.  Canon does make a separate wireless adapter for EOS cameras that can connect to computers.  I do fault Canon for not making it abundantly clear exactly what their EOS cameras with built-in Wi-Fi are capable of doing.

It would seem that the default approach seems to be more of a cloud based storage solution, over more traditional local storage.  Personally, I think users should be given a choice of direction.  But, local storage doesn't seem to be the prevailing strategy in software design.  Everything seems to want to be cloud based somewhere that can generate recurring revenue.

[jon617]

Thanks jmy for your reply.

Thanks, Waddizzle.  Very helpful information.

Yes, it is confusing.  When they say this camera has built-in Wifi, it's easy to assume that means "networkable."  I misunderstood this as well.  In reality, it only allows connections to my smartphone and something called DLNA which maybe my Windows 10 can do, not sure, looking into this.

I think most SLR camera users use a PC or Mac for Photoshop, Lightroom, or simply just storing all their photos.

I find it baffling why an SLR camera could be controlled by my iPhone and iPad, but not my PC.

Not that I'm complaining much, the Canon app on my iPhone/iPad works great, and super helpful in reviewing/copying my photos.  Plus, I can always remove the SD card and plug into my PC, but I had hoped my PC could just read the camera's photos wirelessly.

[Waddizzle]

"In reality, it only allows connections to my smartphone and something called DLNA which maybe my Windows 10 can do, not sure, looking into this." 

DLNA stands for Digital Living Network Alliance.  It is a media server technology that is built into many consumer products, especially Wi-Fi enabled disk players and televisions, as well as some network storage devices, or NAS.  DLNA is compatible with Windows Media Player.  DLNA devices can act as a server, a client, or even both in some cases like WMP.

"I find it baffling why an SLR camera could be controlled by my iPhone and iPad, but not my PC." 

One problem that PCs suffer is that they typically can only communicate through one network port.  If your PC is connected to the Internet, that leaves nothing to communicate with your camera. 

[jon617]

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@Waddizzle wrote:

One problem that PCs suffer is that they typically can only communicate through one network port.  If your PC is connected to the Internet, that leaves nothing to communicate with your camera. 

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Thanks for your help.  For the record though, you are right when the camera is in "camera access point" mode - it does a direct link between the camera and your Wifi mobile device.  BUT, the camera also supports "infrastructure" Wifi.

Infrastructure Wifi means any device on your network (wired and Wifi) can communicate with each other.  Whether or not software exists to do that comunication is another story.  You know that "netmask" you always see when looking at a device's IP address? That tells the device what other IP addresses are local to that device.  Regardless of whether that device knows how to talk to the Internet, it always knows its netmask, hence what other IP addresses are available on the local network.

When my Canon T6i is in infrastructure Wifi mode, it is on the same network as all my other devices.  Any computer, tablet, smartphone, networked printer, and yes even my Wifi TV can talk to the camera if they know how to.  The iPhone's CanonConnect app knows how to talk to my Canon camera.  The iPad can also talk to the camera using the same app. If software existed on my PC, it could talk to it too, regardless of whether my PC also knows how to talk to the Internet.

There is definitely a demand to make things "app" based.  More people prefer to use their portable smart devices, so I get it. However it is by Canon's choice to go in that direction, not a technical reason.

[theandies]

This may help a little:

You can view pictues via WiFi as the camera is DLNA enabled.  When you choose WiFi function in the Camera's WiFi menu choose the icon that looks like a computer (DUH!)  choose connect then go into control panel (I use Windows) go to Network and Internet.  Then choose view network computers and devices.  You should see Canon T6i(s) in the media devices section.  Right click on the camera device (mine says Canon EOS Rebel T6i) and select open media player.  You should then see the camera listed.  Double click on the camera and the menu drops down which includes pictures.  Click on the pictures and you can view them there.  Unfortunaly you can't really do much more that viewing pictures.