I never really liked the idea of tethered shooting before. I had done it a few times in the past and found it slow and cumbersome to have my camera connected to a computer. Even with a small laptop it felt inconvenient to me. But recently I discovered the ability to shoot tethered to a portable computer tablet and my perspective on the whole tethered shooting concept changed in a big way.
NOTE: If you are shooting with either a Canon 5D Mark IV, Canon 6D, Canon 80D, Canon 70D, Canon 1DX Mark II with the Canon WFT-E8 Wi-Fi adapter, the Canon Rebel T6, or the Canon 7D Mark II with the W-E1 Wi-Fi Adapter, then this article will not be as useful for you and better you read my new article here entitled Wireless Tethered Shooting With Your Canon DSLR Via Wi-Fi.
Now, when I want to shoot tethered on-location, I no longer have to bring a laptop computer along, just my Android tablet, which is a lot smaller and weighs a lot less. I also discovered that, because I already owned an Android based tablet, the additional cost of setting myself up for tethered shooting would be minimal.
So in this article I am going to explain what is needed in terms of equipment to set yourself up for tethered shooting with your Canon DSLR camera and your Android based device, plus some of the benefits of shooting tethered with a tablet. Note also that the setup I am going to discuss here is the only one I’ve found which allows you to perform all 4 important tethered shooting functions via a tablet. Those 4 functions are controlling your camera settings via tablet, remote shutter release via tablet, image preview on the tablet screen, and options for both JPEG and RAW file capturing to your tablet.
First of all, you will need a Canon DSLR camera together with a USB cable that has a standard male USB connector on one end and a mini USB connector on the other end. This USB cable comes with most DSLR camera bodies when you purchase it.
Unfortunately though the Android app I am going to focus on here does not support Nikon or any other brand of DSLR camera at this time. There is however another Android app option I will offer below which will work with Nikon DSLR cameras too.
Next, you will need an Android based tablet or smartphone. I am using a Samsung Tab 2 7.0″ tablet at present, but I will be upgrading to the new Samsung Galaxy 8.4″ Tablet
That covers the basic hardware and software you will need. One small, final item you will need is what is called an OTG cable (“On The Go” Cable) for your Android device. What this small cable does is connect to your tablet at one end and then offers a female USB connector on the other end in order to connect to the USB cable leading out from your DSLR camera. Pictured below is an example of an OTG cable for 30 pin slot connectors on certain older Samsung Galaxy devices like my Samsung Tab 2 7.0″ tablet. You can purchase an inexpensive aftermarket OTG cable for under US$5 on Amazon or eBay or from most shops selling smartphone and/or tablet accessories. You can also purchase an original OTG cable from the dealer of your brand of Android based smartphone or tablet if you prefer a branded cable.
Note though that these OTG cables have different connectors depending on the make and model of the Android device you will be using it with. Many newer Android devices require an OTG cable with a USB micro connector instead of the 30 pin connector. So make sure when you buy your OTG cable that you get the right cable designed to work with your specific Android device.
You may also want to buy a longer USB cable at some point to connect with your Canon camera. The standard cable which comes with Canon DSLR camera bodies is only approximately 1 meter long. So if you would like to be able to move your tablet further than 3 feet away from your camera when shooting tethered then you can buy a longer USB cable of up 3 meters (10 feet). If though you plan to use a USB cable longer than 3 meters then you may have issues with power falloff and it could also require use of a USB power hub. I bought an aftermarket 10? USB cable on Amazon for $5
As for the DSLR Controller app itself, it is, in my opinion, everything that one could ask for in a tethered capture and controller program. It allows you to shoot in live view mode so that you can use your tablet as a large live view screen when shooting. You can also change all your camera settings and release the shutter all right from your tablet so that you don’t need to touch the camera at all when shooting if you don’t want to. This makes the app a fully functional camera controller and remote shutter trigger all in one. On all Android devices, the volume rocker button can control either the shutter speed, aperture, or ISO setting on the camera very quickly, depending on how you set it. This is extremely handy to change key camera settings quickly when you need to. Below is an image of what the app looks like using live view mode when it is running on my tablet:
After you shoot an image it then shows you a large sized screen preview of each of your images on the tablet screen, which you can also zoom in on at any time by just pinching with two fingers in order to check the sharpness, focus point, and detail of your photos. And you can set the app to save the RAW image files to your tablet, camera, or both, which is great as it allows the tablet to be a tool to capture an instant backup of all your images as you shoot them. The app supports and reads all Canon RAW file formats it seems. The amount of features offered by the DSLR Controller app are plentiful and you can see a full list of the features and functions here. I often just use the app with my tablet for a quick image preview and shutter release without capturing the images to the tablet. I save images to the camera only most of the time and this way I can shoot continuously and much faster since I don’t have to wait for the RAW files to be transferred from the camera to the tablet. This screen capture below shows you what the screen preview looks like after you take a shot:
One thing I really like about shooting tethered with a tablet is that you can quickly rotate the screen in your hand for the best preview position of either a vertical or horizontal photo. Tethered shooting with either a desktop or laptop computer will always be less convenient for vertical images because of the fixed horizontal screen position. You also don’t have the quick zoom by pinching feature on laptops or desktops that you do with tablets. With the DSLR Controller app you can also load any shots that may already be saved on your camera’s memory card to quickly view them on your tablet, even if they were not shot using the DSLR Controller app. So after a shoot you can connect the tablet to your camera at anytime and do an image review of the day’s shots on your tablet.
Thus, if you already have a Canon DSLR and an Android based smart phone or tablet, it is a very handy and useful tool you can add to your photo equipment arsenal. Before you purchase the DSLR Controller app though be sure to check the list of compatible devices here to make sure the app supports your camera and tablet models since some of the older Canon DSLR models and older Android devices may not work with this app because of limitations in technology on older equipment.
Sadly, I should mention that at present there are no inexpensive and fully functional tethered photo capture apps available for Apple iOS devices for either an iPhone or iPad, but you can buy a CamRanger, which is an aftermarket dongle designed to work with Apple iOS devices for tethered shooting. You can see the CamRanger specs here on Amazon where it is sold for $300 with free shipping.
One other option though is you can simply buy an Eye-Fi Pro X2 SDHC Class 10 Wi-Fi card
A problem though with these Eye-Fi Wi-Fi cards is that they are only available in SD card format and not CF card format. Some DSLR body types, like the Canon EOS 5D Mark II for example, can only use CF cards. So Eye-Fi wont work with certain DSLR camera models. There are SD card to CF card adapters that one can use in a case like this if you like, but I am not sure how well they will work. According to Eye-Fi there are some possible issues using an SD to CF card adapter with a DSLR camera. So one would have to take their chances using an adapter with an Eye-Fi card.
As for tethered wireless shooting in general, there are a few consumer grade DSLR camera bodies that already have built in Wi-Fi which can utilize DSLR Controller to tether to Android devices wirelessly. Cameras like the Canon EOS 70D will work wirelessly tethered with DSLR Controller. So if you are shooting with a DSLR Canon body that has built in Wi-Fi then you can skip using the cable connections I mentioned earlier like the OTG cable, etc. But at the moment there are no professional level Canon DSLR camera bodies which have Wi-Fi built into them yet.
Lastly, there is the option of buying a portable, battery powered, wireless router (like the TP-LINK TL-MR3040
In the not so distant future though I expect all full frame DSLR cameras to come standard with built-in Wi-Fi. This should help alleviate the challenges of shooting wirelessly tethered which exist at the moment as mentioned above. So, Wi-Fi being built into full frame DSLR cameras is something we can look forward to on the next generation of full frame DSLR cameras and will make shooting wirelessly tethered truly wireless for photographers. The only downside is that Wi-Fi speeds aren’t super fast. So there will be some file transfer lag with a wireless tethered setup. If speed is more important to you then you are better off sticking with shooting tethered using the USB cable setup.
Note that I add a new blog article every week covering another aspect of photography. So check back often if you would like to see my latest blog posts. You can also receive email notifications on future blog posts as and when they are published by simply clicking here to subscribe.
*UPDATE #1 / 13-Jan-14* – You can also go here to read my other blog article about the new Samsung Tablet Pro 8.4″ for tethered shooting which I mentioned I will be upgrading to soon. If you want to buy the latest version of the tablet I bought at a great price from Amazon Click Here.
*UPDATE #2 / 17-March-14* – I recently got my Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.4 Pro so you can go here to read my new review of shooting tethered with Samsung’s Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 Tablet together with DSLR Controller. This tablet has now been replaced though by the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4-Inch Tablet. Amazon has a great price on it. You can See It Here.
*UPDATE #3 / 7-August-14* – I just posted a new article about How To Tether Your Canon DSLR Camera Wirelessly To Your Android Tablet using a portable wireless Wi-Fi router. You can go here to read the post.
*UPDATE #4 / 18-March-15* – I just discovered a new wireless dongle (similar to the CamRanger
*UPDATE #5 / 16-July-15* – I just posted a new article about How To Shoot Tethered Video With Your Canon DSLR And Android Tablet. You can go here to read the article.
*UPDATE #6 / 10-Jan-16* – Canon has a free app for both Android and Apple iOS devices called “Canon Camera Connect” which can be used to wirelessly tether to a Canon camera that has built-in Wi-Fi. I have not tested the app yet though as I don’t shoot with a camera that has built-in Wi-Fi. You can read more about and download it for Android here and for Apple iOS devices here. At present, it has been rated 3.5 stars by users for Android and only 2 stars for iOS.
*UPDATE #7 / 30-Oct-16* – I just posted and extensive new article about Wireless Tethered Shooting With Your Canon DSLR Via Wi-Fi. You can go here to read the article.
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Are their any apps that would let you do a direct video feed from the camera through the tether cable?
A direct video feed to what? The DSLR Controller App allows you to tether video to the tablet, but there is a slight delay. I wrote a separate article about that. See update #5 above which links to that article.
But USB 2.0 is too slow for real time video transfer speeds. For video your still better off with an external monitor connected via HDMI in my opinion if you want a feed to a monitor. No tablet or app needed in that case. Camera direct to external monitor.
I’m trying to record video using an older dslr (canon 40d), I know it can be done through a computer capturing the video… But I was wondering if an android tablet is capable of capturing the video.
Sorry, not sure about that. Best to just test it with your setup because that is the only sure way to know. If you have an android device already (smartphone or tablet) then all you need is to do is get the DSLR Controller app. Or you can try posting your question on the XDA Developers forum DSLR Controller thread here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1202082.
Just wanted to thank you for a great article.
I have bought DSLR Controler on the strength of it. I can see so many opportunities for macro photography. It tethered right away to my EOS 60D using a Sony Z2 tablet, i look forward to “playing with it” over the coming weeks.
Regards
Frank
Your welcome and thank you for letting me know it worked out well for you with your tablet Frank. Best wishes with it and I agree it can be really useful for macro photography as you said.
Hi Marc, thanks for posting this very helpful info. Will the DSLR Controller app work in the same way tethered to an android smartphone? Thanks
Your welcome Andy. Yes, it will work with most of the newer Android Smartphones. But I think you want to check the DSLR Controller website as there is a list of compatible devices on the site here: http://dslrcontroller.com/devices.php
Hi Marc,
you write that “you can set the app to save the RAW image files to your tablet, camera, or both”. Is this happening automatically? I only saw a video on youtube showing how to save a picture manually…
Thanks,
Simon
Hi Simon – Yes, once you have DSLR Controller running with your camera connected, press the settings menu button and in there you will see an option on file saving which lets you choose between saving in tablet, camera, or both. I’ll upload a screenshot of the settings for you soon.
Hi Simon – Here is a screenshot of where the settings are that I was referring to:
http://www.marcschultz.com/blog/pix/Screenshot_DSLR_Controller.png
To access the settings you click on the little wheel in the lower right hand corner of the screen.
I hope that helps.
marc
When shooting tethered, the photographer loses the ability to review images on the back of the camera while connected, correct?
The reason I ask is I want to carry around a tablet in a shoulder bag while taking candids.
Yes, you can switch between the camera’s preview screen and the tablet screen when tethered. Not a problem. There are various ways you can setup the tablet with DSLR Controller. The Follow Shot mode is good if you just want to use the tablet as purely preview and not to control the camera. Works like the Eye-Fi app in that sense.
Thanks for the info Marc.
Clarifying further– so when teathered while app is on, I can have choose to allow for my camera screen to immediately show image after take a shot, then quickly switch to view on tablet to show client when I am ready for them to see it?
EyeFi now has a dedicated CF card adaptor made to work with their SD card.
Thanks for that info David. Sadly the EyeFi app itself only offers image preview and no camera controls. But still could be useful in certain instances. But for those who need camera control like me they still need DSLR Controller and can’t use Eye-Fi.
A pity Eye-Fi doesn’t develop their card into a camera controller too, but I think it isn’t possible to control the camera from commands being sent by the memory card.
In a way the adapter is also really just a half way step. Eye-Fi really should just develop a wifi CF card instead as an additional product.
Hello,
I’ll shoot a university drama in next week.I want to use I-pad with canon 6D. I saw WiFi connection tutorials for photography.
Can I use I-pad as my view monitor at the time of shooting?
If it possible please tell me the process
Yes, but to shoot tethered with an iPad you will need to buy a CamRanger or a CASE Remote.
Thanks a lot.
Can u say the cost of it?
🙂
Your are welcome. There is a link in the article to the Cam Ranger. About $300. And a link to the other one is in the last update above in the article. Price of that one is about half the CamRanger. If you have an android tablet that would be better. Then no extra hardware would be needed.
Hi.
Here is what i want to do:
1. Connect my Canon 5D Mark III to my iPad mini 3 with a cable (Wi-Fi is not an option)
2. Take a picture with the camera (not using iPad for this action)
3. And here comes the problem i need help to solve, i want to download the image file automatically to my iPad everytime i take a new picture.
The function i want is like tethered shooting in Lightroom without show the picture, but if you have a suggestion who can download the image file to my iPad automatically and show the pictures on the iPad screen it will work out for me.
//Magnus
CASE Remote can do this and costs about $130. CamRanger can do this too, but cost is around US$300. I’ve posted links above where you buy both of them from Amazon.
Also, if you buy an Eye-Fi SD card you can do this too with their iPad app and the Eye-Fi card is a cheaper solution than CASE Remote or CamRanger, but it won’t download the file to the iPad. It will only show it as a preview on the screen.
I hope this helps. If you have more questions you can post them.
Just starting to shoot tethered from my Canon 6D to an Asus Infinity TF700. I am a portrait photographer and I want to be able to take vertical pictures. The DSLR Controller screen does not turn from horizontal to vertical when I turn the tablet vertical. Is there a way to do that? Thank you for your help!
Unfortunately I don’t think there is any way to rotate the controls in DSLR Controller to place them in a vertical layout, but obviously you can turn your tablet screen vertically to see the pictures correctly when shooting in portrait orientation. I hope that helps.
Hi Marc.
Is it possible to use DSLR Controller plus LiveView to capture an avi file directly onto the Android device (as I think you can do with a PC using EOS Utility and the freeware EOS Camera Movie Record).
I’d like to be able to use this for astrophotography to stack multiple images from an avi file e.g. using Registax.
Thanks,
Steve
Hi Steve – For these kinds of technical questions, DSLR Controller has it’s own discussion thread at XDA-Developers.com.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1202082
Perhaps you can get some answers by posting your question on the above discussion thread.
I hope that helps.
Thanks, Marc. I’ve posted a question on the DSLR Controller website explaining what I want.
Is it possible to charge my galaxy tab s while tethering (via usb) to my 5D Mark II? In other words, is there a male to dual female OTG adapter and will it charge while tethering?
That is a good question Jim. I just Googled dual OTG cables and I see there are quite a few different types. It might be worth a try to buy one and see if you can charge the tablet and use the tablet to control the camera at the same time.
I have tried this with not much luck. (Connecting to app and Charging the Tablet at same time) I can get one or the other but not both. Any ideas??
Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, 10.1 to a Canon 7D
“Helicon Remote” is the app I use, another free worth its weight
Are you wirelessly tethering? And then when you plug in to charge the tablet the app stops working?
Any news about that? Because I don’t trust the battery in Galaxy Tab 2 for timelapse and video. Also wireless is no option and not needed.
Which Canon camera model are you shooting with and which app are you using?
Thanks Marc; now I’m really curious to check this out as well. I have never shot tethered either, but, I would imagine having a bigger screen to view images makes it easier, especially for clients who than don’t have to hover over your shoulder to look at the 3 inch LCD screen on the camera.
I have an ipad, so, I’m going to see if I can tether my Canon dslr camera to the ipad.
Thanks,
Rob
Hi Rob – Yes, tethered shooting is great for clients as you say. Sadly there aren’t many tethering options for an iPad as my article says. If your camera has an SD card slot you can but an Eye-Fi card and then shoot wirelessly tethered with your iPad. But unfortunately with Eye-Fi you can’t control the camera from a tablet. I’m afraid if you want really good tethered control then the best thing is to shoot with an Android tablet. Even an Android phone with a large screen like the Samsung Note 3 would work well for tethered shooting. I hope that helps.