Remote control of 2 cameras simultaneously - EOS R5, EOS R, EOS C70

[vjPulp]

Dear community

I’m about to film a live gig next Saturday. I use a EOS R5, a EOS R, and a EOS C70.
The C70 is operated manually, but both of the mirrorless cameras will be placed remotely closer to the stage. Since these two cameras stop filming after 30 minutes, I would have to run there and trigger the record button manually every 30 minutes… To prevent this, I’m looking for a solution to remotely hit the record button of those two – preferably on a mobile device. I know that the Camera Connect App does not support multiple cameras. How would I have to do this?

Thanks so much in advance for any advice!

[shadowsports]

Greetings ,

I'm curious if this is going to be filmed indoors or outdoors?  

The EOS R crops in 4k.  The R5 won't crop but if you're shooting above 24P, heat could be an issue.  

The Canon connect app can connect to multiple cameras, even the same model, but not at the same time.

RS-EOS or AtticusLake may have good suggestions about simultaneous camera controller triggers.  I'll ping them for you.

[vjPulp]

Thanks for your reply.
It will be filmed indoors, I’ll only film in FullHD, so heat should not be an issue.

You’re saying that the canon connect app cannot connect to multiple devices at the same time. So would it be possible to connect to one, trigger the record button, disconnect and connect to the other, and back and forth?
Or is that not possible?

[Waddizzle]

I believe the 30 minute time limit only applies to internal recording.  

If you wish to control the camera remotely, then I recommend a smart tablet like an iPad without phone service.  You cannot control two devices simultaneously from one device you would need two of them.

[vjPulp]

Thanks for your reply. 
Yes, I was thinking of recording internally.

As for the controlling – oh my gosh, of course, I would have to need two devices and install the app on both of them. How did I not think of that…? I always thought of a solution with one device, completely forgot to think outside the box… 

(But still, if someone comes up with a solution for one device, that would be the icing on top… 😉)

[rs-eos]

Unfortunately, Canon's Camera Connect app doesn't fully support multitasking under iPadOS (I just tried that).  If it did, you could launch multiple instances of the app, each running in their own window.  Presumably that would allow for a single device to control all equipment.  I would submit a feature request with Canon to allow for this.

Having said that, yes, you'd need two devices to control your two cameras.  However, I would be concerned with the stability of the connections themselves.  What happens if the device or cameras disconnect? Rather than fumble with that, it may actually be beneficial to manually deal with the equipment.

If this is a paid gig and you could pass along the cost to your client, it would be tempting rent an additional EOS C70 or even two.  Then there'd be no worries at all about the 30 minute limit.  And, post production will be more seamless (same type of footage and look from all the cameras).

[vjPulp]

Thanks for your reply!

Do you think the connections could be unstable? What are your experiences with that? I’ve never used this App before, so I have no idea how high the risk of losing connection is…

The gig is paid, but very low. I’m kind of hesitating, but I think you have a point there. I’d be really less stressed during the shooting and could focus on operating the one camera without having to worry about the other two… 

[rs-eos]

I have no idea if it would be unstable or not.  Will there be lots of folks there with their own devices (i.e. lots of devices that may lead to interference)?

[vjPulp]

Hard to tell. People will be using their phones to take pictures and video for sure, but I’m not sure how this would affect the connection. But it’s a smaller venue, the distance would be about 30-40 meters from my position to the stage… 
Will definitely think about renting another C70.

[Waddizzle]

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@rs-eos wrote:

I have no idea if it would be unstable or not.  Will there be lots of folks there with their own devices (i.e. lots of devices that may lead to interference)?

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This is why i suggested a Wi-Fi only iPad or similar device.  I use a Wi-Fi only iPad and it never disconnects from the camera Wi-Fi hotspot.  I first connected with Bluetooth, which automatically configures a Wi-Fi connection.    Even if the iPad goes to sleep, the connection reconnects when you wake it up.

My guess is that devices with phone service drop camera Wi-Fi connections because the device is looking for the Internet.  One solution to this issue could be disable automatically logging onto networks, which is probably a wise thing to day anyway, camera or no camera.  Make it ask you before it drops a connection and switches to another.  I have no way to confirm or deny this speculation.