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Is there a way to turn the camera on and off remotely?

AricAttas
Contributor

Does anyone know of a way to turn the camera on and off remotely? I have a client that wants to mount a camera to the ceiling to photograph large rugs on the floor. We need a way to turn the camera on and off remotely and I am lookin for a solution.

 

Thank you.

 

Aric Attas

attas@photonlab.com

www.photonlab.com

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION


@AricAttas wrote:
Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions! I will most likely recommend the 70D to her... they may have to climb up and get the card and replace the battery before and after shooting... they can use the remote to turn the camera on and off when it goes to sleep. The WiFi will allow them to download some images while shooting if they choose.

That's fine, if that's what you want, but it's way overkill for shooting pictures of rugs.  The majority of people on here giving recommendations are long time pros & enthusiasts that have thousands of dollars invested in photography gear.  Thus they like to recommend expensive gear.  A T3i and a decent lens is perfectly capable; there will be very little image quality difference with the 70D.  Hell, I could use my 450D and a kit lens, plus a couple of flashes, and produce better rug pictures than most amateurs with a 70D. Just something to consider, if you want to spend the money on a 70D that’s going to spend its life strapped to a ceiling, by all means.

 

As far as the long USB cord. Don’t waste money on a long cord that will plug into a camera. Simply use a USB extension cord and plug that into the cord that comes with the camera. You can get a plain cord for a few bucks on Amazon. I’d try that first, if it acts oddly, then get a cord with a repeater (there will be some signal attenuation in longer cords that can cause issue).

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19 REPLIES 19

hsbn
Whiz
What kind of camera do you have? You just want to turn it on/off or do you want to take photo? There are ways to take photo remotely.
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Thanks for your questions. Please see my answer to Crista.

 

I appreciate your help!

 

Aric

Crista
Whiz

Hi AricAttas!

 

To have a better understanding of your issue, please let everyone know what model camera you are using. That way, community will be able to assist you with suggestions appropriate for your product.

 

If this is an urgent support need, please CLICK HERE to reach our friendly Technical Support Team.

I haven't purchased a camera for her yet. I need to make a recommendation. The abilitiy to turn the camera on and off  and operrate it remotely are factors. A crop sensor will work fine for her. Again, the camera will be mounted to the ceiling.

 

I shoot with a 6D (which I love) and use EOS Utility for all of my interior, food and product shoots. I also have the EOS app on my iPad and have controlled my camera remotely using WiFi.

 

Thanks for your help. I appreciate it!!!

If the camera has an IR sensor on the front (some do; some don't), you could set a time-out period to make the camera go dormant and later use the IR clicker to wake it back up. That may be as close as you can come. You can control many EOS cameras through their USB ports, but I don't think you can actually turn them on and off that way.

Bob
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA

Very interesting idea! Which IR remote did you have in mind?

 

Thanks for your time!

I have at least one Canon remote that I've used with my 7D's. Unfortunately, I don't have it with me, because today's shoot doesn't require it. So I can't give you the model number. (Models come and go anyway.) It has a shutter button that you can press halfway to activate auto-focussing, just like the button on the camera. But you do have to make sure that the camera has an IR sensor. On a Canon DSLR, look for it where the fingers of your right hand would cover it up; I think that's intentional, so that a spurious IR beam won't fire the shutter while you're taking hand-held shots. Also, check that the camera and the remote are compatible, e.g. that they agree on the frequencies of light that are to be used.

Bob
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA

Thanks for the tips! I appreciate it. Hope your shoot goes well today!

All of Canon's DSLR's now have IR remote. They started adding to it all their cameras as a way to remotely start/stop video. 

 

You will also need some Wi-Fi capabiliy to get the image files onto a computer as well. 

Mike Sowsun
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