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EOS R5 C Thoughts on Remote Control, Wi-Fi Connectivity

AtticusLake
Mentor
Mentor

I have my R5C (arrived in 6 days??) and it seems fantastic. The dual operating system feature is great -- put it into video mode, and it's a C70 plus.  But there's one thing Canon seem to have screwed up hugely -- remote control for video.

To recap: the C70 has one very stupid design flaw, no built-in WiFi. To get remote control using Browser Remote, you have to get an external WiFi dongle, and you need to get one which is EXACTLY compatible with the drivers in the firmware. Which is a pain, and cost me £44.

The R5 has built-in WiFi, and you can remote control it using the Camera Connect app, both in photo and video modes. Great.

The R5C has built-in WiFi, and you might suppose that it would also be great -- but no, sadly Canon have really crippled it for video. In photo mode, remote control works with the Camera Connect app as you might expect, no problem. In video mode, remote control uses Browser Remote, as per the C70 -- but Browser Remote will not work with the built-in WiFi chip. Instead, you have to buy the external WFT-R10 WiFi GRIP -- yes, you have to buy a whole CAMERA GRIP to get an extra WiFi chip, even though the camera already has one built-in. And this grip costs £1,389.00 in the UK -- B&H have it for $999.00.

This is crazy.  My camera already has a WiFi chip built in, which probably cost one, maybe two pounds.  So why am i expected to pay ONE THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED POUNDS for an external WiFI chip?

Yes, I get that the WFT-R10 has extra features, like wired gigabit Ethernet, loads of WiFi bands, MIMO, an extra battery slot, and of course it's a vertical-shooting grip. I'm not saying it shouldn't exist, and though the price is a bit eye-watering, that's what you expect for this kind of gear. But I shouldn't be forced to buy this thing just to get browser remote working. The camera already has a WiFi chip, and it already supports remote control, including live view, for photo mode. The R5 shows that it could also work for video mode, and the C70 shows that Browser Remote could use it.

I'm hoping that Canon can fix this with a firmware update. It really should be pretty simple -- after all, they already have a driver for this chip. So please, Canon, fix it. There's no way I'm buying the WFT-R10, it has nothing I need. All I want is basic WiFi, and the R5C aleady has that.

I would love to hear that Canon has plans to address this. Because right now, the R5C isn't practical for single-person piece-to-camera shooting -- which, of course, just happens to be my use case.

22 REPLIES 22

If anyone is going to Cine Gear Expo pull one of the Canon folks aside and ask this question. 😊

What are you trying to do with the remote?  I own 2 Canon R5c’s in our studio and I’ve been using them for a while.  I had to buy a cheap special remote adapter to be able to wireless trigger the record button.  It would have been nice to have more functions I could access wirelessly.  But I’m happy that I at least can do that.  I own several Sony camera’s as well.  The native Sony remote kept dying on me very quickly for some reason.  So I bought a cheap alternative which was working great for my a7S III until the big a7S III update.  So my experience with remotes on Sony bodies hasn’t been the most positive.  I kind of hate it.  This workaround for Canon has been way more reliable so far.  To be clear, the issues I have had with Sony and remotes happened with a Sony a7 IV as well across multiple Sony remotes.  I have yet to try the cheap remote again on the Sony A7 IV.

shadowsports
Legend
Legend

@mattselvans,

I understand and share your frustration. However, the R5 C is hardly mediocre.

I've had mine over 2 years so I can say that confidently.

I am not defending Canon here. This future should be included.  As I said previously, no import, just basic control with live view..  I fully understand if it needs USB-PD or a V-mount for this to happen.  

Keep visiting the Canon USA website and leave your product [+]Feedback...  I just did it again myself.  

~Rick
Bay Area - CA


~R5 C (1.0.7.1) ~RF Trinity, ~RF 100 Macro, ~RF 100~400, ~RF 100~500, ~RF 200-800 +RF 1.4x TC, BG-R10, 430EX III-RT ~DxO PhotoLab Elite ~DaVinci Resolve Studio ~ImageClass MF644Cdw/MF656Cdw ~Pixel 8 ~CarePaks Are Worth It

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