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Author Topic: Canon 5d MKIV Wifi Range and Battery life  (Read 5464 times)

Jens_Langen

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Canon 5d MKIV Wifi Range and Battery life
« on: January 19, 2017, 09:09:59 pm »

Hi- I've been using the mk4 shooting hotel interiors. Yesterday I connected my iPhone 6 to the camera's wifi using the Canon Camera Connect app. The battery in the camera would last all day shooting tethered in my mk3. It lasted only one hour in the mk4 with wifi on! Also, the wifi range was a disappointing 15 ft! I got 3 bars of wifi on the phone at 1 ft away, 2 bars at 2 ft, and it disconnected at 15ft. This happened in 3 different large rooms with no obstructions between the camera and phone. Anyone else having these issues?
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BobShaw

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Re: Canon 5d MKIV Wifi Range and Battery life
« Reply #1 on: January 20, 2017, 12:51:20 am »

I only tried point to point wifi once and gave up. The antenna on the camera would be minuscule so the compensation is to increase the power, which comes from the battery.  Put a router in between with a decent antennae. Ideally have one path through cable so that there is one wireless section and not two.
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Jens_Langen

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Re: Canon 5d MKIV Wifi Range and Battery life
« Reply #2 on: January 20, 2017, 11:11:30 am »

Shouldn't the wifi actually work? Right now a cable release would do the same thing.
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BobShaw

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Re: Canon 5d MKIV Wifi Range and Battery life
« Reply #3 on: January 20, 2017, 10:36:24 pm »

Perhaps should work, but in my experience it doesn't work, at least reliably. Each device expects to connect to a network. Probably like a master and slave situation and you are trying to connect two slaves. Having said that, others have reported that it is as simple as disconnecting and reconnecting and it works.
« Last Edit: January 21, 2017, 12:11:50 am by BobShaw »
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nemophoto

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Re: Canon 5d MKIV Wifi Range and Battery life
« Reply #4 on: February 04, 2017, 02:34:57 pm »

The short battery life is not surprising with wifi. The camera is continuously sending out a signal, whether you are shooting, to maintain the connection. Also, I've found trying to work with a phone rather than a laptop seems to tax it a bit more because the phone's signal is weak by comparison. A laptop naturally has a stronger signal. About four months ago, I was working with the 5D4 for a prep day in the studio while we set lights and background. I connected the camera directly to the laptop via the wifi and it lasted a good 6-hours while I took test frames, etc. I did turn the camera off when we broke for lunch. Oh, one caveat I just thought of. I used the battery grip, so I guess you can halve that time.

Every time you use added electronics to do something such as run the wifi or use the GPS, you drain more of the battery. With an iPhone, they tell you to turn off wifi and bluetooth to maximize the battery.
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Jens_Langen

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Re: Canon 5d MKIV Wifi Range and Battery life
« Reply #5 on: March 02, 2017, 04:48:41 pm »

Thanks for your response. I'll try with the laptop as soon as I figure out how to use the app on it.
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Jens_Langen

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Re: Canon 5d MKIV Wifi Range and Battery life
« Reply #6 on: March 02, 2017, 05:04:36 pm »

NemoPhoto- how do you connect the 5D MK4 to the laptop?
What I want to do is carry around a flash unit and fire that from my phone while checking the results on the phone.
So this needs to work with a smartphone and have more than a few feet of range.
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nemophoto

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Re: Canon 5d MKIV Wifi Range and Battery life
« Reply #7 on: March 03, 2017, 11:20:16 am »

NemoPhoto- how do you connect the 5D MK4 to the laptop?
What I want to do is carry around a flash unit and fire that from my phone while checking the results on the phone.
So this needs to work with a smartphone and have more than a few feet of range.

You need a long USB 3.0 cable with the micro connector (not the square-ish block). In the States, there's a site called tethertools.com that sells 15 ft long USB cables. I'm not sure, though, why you'd want to connect to a laptop, but use your phone? It is possible with Canon iPhone/iPad app, though I don't use it since it's really not productive for me and as I mentioned, seems to use more battery. You can use the phone like a remote release, if my memory serves me well, as well as review images (on iTunes, Canon Camera Connect).

If I'm going to tether, and shoot RAW especially (which I do 99% of the time), a physical connection is still the best and fastest route. I wish Canon had put an Ethernet port into the 5D4 as they have on the 1Dx. When I tether with that camera, I usually use a 50 ft. cable and transfer speed are way faster. My suggestion, honestly, is to abandon the use of the phone, unless you are using it as a "client review tool". I have done that with my iPad when I had to tether and shoot in the studio. But, I've found it buggy and slow. I usually will use the smallest JPEGs sent to the mobile devise while I save RAW to the laptop.
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Jens_Langen

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Re: Canon 5d MKIV Wifi Range and Battery life
« Reply #8 on: March 08, 2017, 02:42:28 pm »

Thanks Nemo. I just want to trigger using the phone since I'm already carrying around a flash on a monopod.
It's supposed to just work, and doesn't. I'll contact Canon.
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nemophoto

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Re: Canon 5d MKIV Wifi Range and Battery life
« Reply #9 on: March 08, 2017, 02:45:46 pm »

Definitely call Canon. One last thing you might try is an app called ShutterSnitch. It may do the trick for you.
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Craig Lamson

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Re: Canon 5d MKIV Wifi Range and Battery life
« Reply #10 on: March 10, 2017, 08:45:53 pm »

You need a long USB 3.0 cable with the micro connector (not the square-ish block). In the States, there's a site called tethertools.com that sells 15 ft long USB cables. I'm not sure, though, why you'd want to connect to a laptop, but use your phone? It is possible with Canon iPhone/iPad app, though I don't use it since it's really not productive for me and as I mentioned, seems to use more battery. You can use the phone like a remote release, if my memory serves me well, as well as review images (on iTunes, Canon Camera Connect).

If I'm going to tether, and shoot RAW especially (which I do 99% of the time), a physical connection is still the best and fastest route. I wish Canon had put an Ethernet port into the 5D4 as they have on the 1Dx. When I tether with that camera, I usually use a 50 ft. cable and transfer speed are way faster. My suggestion, honestly, is to abandon the use of the phone, unless you are using it as a "client review tool". I have done that with my iPad when I had to tether and shoot in the studio. But, I've found it buggy and slow. I usually will use the smallest JPEGs sent to the mobile devise while I save RAW to the laptop.

If you use Capture 1, the Capture Pilot app works great and is very reliable with an iPad. Of course you still need to wire connect the camera to the computer and a dedicated wifi works way better than an ad hoc connection.  Travel wifi devices are really cheap and the ones with a built power plug vacant just plugged into an outlet and you are off and running.
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