[HN Gopher] Control your Canon Camera wirelessly
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Control your Canon Camera wirelessly
Author : nklswbr
Score : 81 points
Date : 2025-10-07 15:44 UTC (6 days ago)
(HTM) web link (github.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
| vednig wrote:
| Is the underlying API same as Canon Connect App
| exasperaited wrote:
| I am not a Canon shooter but I welcome really any open source
| efforts on this front; this is one area of tech where open source
| is really held back by various vendors' intransigence, API and
| protocol shenanigans (I'm looking at you Sony)
| jeffbee wrote:
| Olympus (RIP) published open documentation of their command
| protocols, which are just HTTP endpoints with URL parameters.
| RobGR wrote:
| This is related, but not wireless, and works only for the
| Powershot series of cameras:
|
| https://chdk.fandom.com/wiki/CHDK
|
| It is used for DIY book scanners.
| hennell wrote:
| This is kinda cool, but it's similar in function to the canon
| connect app which feels a little superfluous.
|
| Maybe it connects better - I have a 70d and the connection
| process is annoying. Iirc it's WiFi direct but you have to
| connect and manage it yourself, and your phone will get cross
| there's no internet and disconnect you every so often.
|
| My main camera now is a 90d which uses Bluetooth to connect first
| and then setup WiFi. Much easier process that makes the app much
| more useful. Although I've actually got an "unleashed" device
| that uses usb and hdmi for control, lets you do ramped time
| lapses and connect multiple cameras. No live view, but I can
| connect to both the 90d and 70d very smoothly which is more
| useful in general.
| m463 wrote:
| Your "superfluous" comparison is kind of apples vs oranges.
|
| I looked at the canon app on ios, and they have continually
| eroded all your privacy.
|
| At first, you could give it limited privileges to add photos
| from your camera to your camera roll.
|
| But updates changed the app, so it refuse to work unless you
| give full access to every photo on your phone.
|
| this is why we need alternatives.
| poolnoodle wrote:
| I actually had to downgrade the Canon app on my Android phone
| because all of a sudden it required an account to connect to
| my camera.
| jacquesm wrote:
| someone make this for Sony Alpha please...
|
| It is ridiculous that such simple functionality is locked up.
| mikepurvis wrote:
| I use their IEM app to dump a few photos at a time directly to
| my phone but it's very slow and limited. I'd love for it to be
| a proper remote control, with direct upload and other obvious
| things like that.
| jacquesm wrote:
| I mean, really, how hard can it be? And if they don't want to
| do it just open up the spec. But no, you have to use their
| crap software on a platform that I'm not using. Oh, and wait
| until you look at what the nifty USB connector _really_ is.
| It just looks like USB, it uses a USB connector but there is
| a whole raft of secondary connections in there! You 'd never
| know until you look at the plug with a microscope, it's that
| small.
| ChrisMarshallNY wrote:
| I wrote an iOS app like that, for Nikon cameras, many moons ago.
| It was a real pain, but I did get it working. The biggest issue,
| is the streaming video.
|
| If they use PTP-IP, you can do quite a bit.
| cultofmetatron wrote:
| as someone whos been interested in this myself and I own a
| nikon. what resources did you use to figure out how to do it?
| ChrisMarshallNY wrote:
| Long story, lots of tears. I am not at liberty to disclose
| the exact resources, but let's just say that I had an "inside
| track."
| alanbernstein wrote:
| I find the smartphone controller options for my Canon t6i so
| frustrating and dodgy, I gave up on them. The IR remote works for
| about 20 seconds and then the receiver shuts off for some reason.
| Practically useless for family portrait selfies.
|
| Instead, I have a shutter release pedal, connected via a 50 foot
| audio extension cable, to the wired remote port on the camera.
| It's not compact or elegant, but it's easy, fast and reliable.
| cozzyd wrote:
| since entangle/gphoto2 works so well, I wonder if a clunkier but
| ultimately easier way to do this would be to use very small form
| factor embedded Linux system that plugs into the side of the
| camera and has WiFi. Would need a battery and to be charged and
| such, and it's overall silly because the camera can do everything
| this dongle would itself but...
| ipsum2 wrote:
| The camera control API (free, but requires registration) that
| canon offers obviates the need for reverse engineering in my
| opinion. I wrote something very similar to this using the API,
| but with added features like those from Magic Lantern (false
| color, AI autofocus, etc) hope to open source it soon if there's
| interest.
| dewcifer wrote:
| You bet, I'm still using Sparkocam from way back when.
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