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| Sony-NEX-5R ready to shoot a copper pot with the iPhone wirelessly tethered. |
So you’ve got a brand new Sony NEX-5R (or NEX-6) and you own a smart phone. Now, I bet you’re wanting to try out that “Smart Remote Control” thing by tethering your camera to your iPhone. This is such a cool capability … I know it was one of the first things I did after getting my NEX-5R. Below is an excerpt (draft) from a book I wrote about the NEX-5R and NEX-6, explaining how to get this “tethering” operation setup.
(The Ebook is available at: www.FriedmanArchives.com )
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Once you’ve downloaded the PlayMemories app to your phone and the Smart Remote Control app to your camera, the next step is to setup a network connection between the iPhone and NEX. First, on the camera, select the Smart Remote Control app. Next, on the iPhone, go to Settings > Wi-Fi, where you will select the camera and enter a password provided for you by the camera (you should only have to do this once). With the camera “network” selected, start the PlayMemories Mobile app on your phone and soon the phone should see what the camera sees! Cool!
There will be a typical phone shutter button showing and a “Wrench” icon. Push the shutter button and the camera takes the photo, saving it to your phone (if you choose to). Press the Wrench icon and you are taken to a small menu where you can adjust the exposure compensation +/- 3EV, set a 2 Second timer, and choose between “Review, Save Image”, “Review Only”, and “Off”.
· Review, Save Image allows you to review the image on your phone while also saving it to your phone.
· Review Only just lets you review the image, but does not save it to your phone. Don’t worry, it is still saved to the memory card on the camera.
· Off lets the phone get ready to shoot the next image with viewing or saving.
One nice thing is that you can switch back and forth between using the phone shutter button and the camera shutter button and the connection should still be fine. Unfortunately, a “not-so-nice” thing is that every time you leave the app you first have to go back to Wi-Fi Settings, reselect the Camera, and back to your phone to reestablish the network connection and then restart the PlayMemories Mobile app.
I did get the connection to work up to a distance of about 30 feet (line-of-sight). On the down side, the whole operation, while a very cool capability, is also a bit wonky in use. Sometimes it took several tries to connect even from just a few feet. And if you leave the camera app at all, you have to go through the connection process again – except for the network password which it does remember.
Note: The camera got very warm while left in Smart Remote Control for several minutes and it seemed to drain the battery faster – nothing scientific in this – just an impression.
After the initial setup is complete, here are some basic steps for getting back into the Smart Remote Control mode: (These are iPhone instructions.)
· On the camera, go to MENU > APPLICATION > Smart Remote Control.
· Go to your Phone Settings > Wi-Fi > DIRECT-(series of letters)
· Now, wait for your phone to recognize the camera network and select it.
· On your phone, open the PlayMemories Mobile app.
· In a few seconds the phone should see what the camera sees.
Shoot away! 🙂
