2.8 WIRELESS REMOTE CONTROL AND TETHERING

Fuji’s own Camera Remote app works with wireless iOS and Android devices, and it allows you to remotely control your camera by providing a live view image and a touch-screen interface to set the focus point, change exposure parameters, and release the shutter.

Camera Remote allows you to control Wi-Fi enabled X cameras from an Android or iOS device running Fuji’s Cam Remote app. To use Camera Remote, you must first download and install the free Cam Remote app on your smartphone or tablet. You can find download links, instructions, and additional information online [143].

Important: Make sure you use the Cam Remote App and not the older Camera App.

Here’s how Camera Remote works with iOS devices (it shouldn’t be much different for Android users):

• Select SHOOTING MENU > (SHOOTING SETTING >) WIRELESS COMMUNICATION on your camera. It now enters wireless mode and emits a Wi-Fi signal.
• Hook up your smartphone’s or tablet’s Wi-Fi with the camera’s Wi-Fi network. Each camera comes with a unique network name that you can customize in SET UP > CONNECTION SETTING > WIRELESS SETTINGS > GENERAL SETTINGS > NAME.
• Open the Cam Remote app and select Remote Control. The mobile device will now assume control over the camera and display a live view image along with options to adjust shutter speed, aperture or exposure compensation. There’s also a virtual shutter button and a small shooting menu that allows you to adjust parameters like ISO, film simulation, white balance, macro, flash mode, or self-timer.
• To autofocus on a specific part of the live view image, double-tap on it with your finger. Focus will be confirmed with a green rectangle. If no focus lock can be established, the rectangle will appear in red.
• Adjust your exposure parameters as required. The brightness of the live view will change accordingly. Please note that there’s no live histogram.

Fig. 248: Camera Remote offers a simple interface to control your camera with a smartphone or tablet. To autofocus, double-tap on a specific part of the WYSIWYG live view and wait for the green confirmation rectangle to appear. Sadly, there is no live histogram, and you can’t magnify the live view. There is a rudimentary shooting menu, a virtual shutter button, and a playback button that allows you to review images and transfer JPEGs to your mobile device.

Here are a few things you might want to know about Camera Remote:

• Fuji’s Camera Remote app allows you to adjust exposure parameters (aperture, shutter speed, ISO, exposure compensation), but you can’t remotely change the camera’s exposure mode. This means that you must manually set the camera to either P, A, S, or M mode before you select WIRELESS COMMUNICATION in the camera menu. To change the exposure mode during remote shooting, you must first disconnect Camera Remote, make the desired changes in the camera, and then start over with a new connection.
• There’s no electronic level indicator and no live histogram in the Camera Remote live view on your mobile device.
• You can change several shooting parameters from within the Camera Remote app (ISO, film simulation, white balance preset, macro, flash mode, self-timer), but other parameters (such as dynamic range or Auto-ISO minimum shutter speed) must be preset in the camera before entering wireless communication mode.
• There is no bulb functionality in Camera Remote, so your maximum exposure time is limited to the extent of the T setting. If you need more, better use a conventional (tethered or wireless) remote shutter release.
• Some cameras also allow you to shoot HD video (but not 4K) with Camera Remote.

Fig. 249: Changing exposure parameters affects the WYSIWYG live view. The live view in Camera Remote always reflects the currently selected film simulation and JPEG parameters. If the camera offers this feature in its own live view, there is also a preview of manually selected DR settings (DR200%, DR400%).

A few more tips and hints:

• I use Camera Remote mostly in manual exposure mode M; I feel that this is the most convenient and efficient way to adjust shooting parameters. Changing a parameter (shutter speed, aperture, ISO) immediately adjusts the live view brightness.
• iOS users may be annoyed by the need to frequently reconnect the smartphone to the camera’s Wi-Fi network, since the connection must be dropped and reestablished for every mode or parameter change made in the camera. This can be particularly cumbersome at home, where the iOS device is automatically reconnecting with your home network as soon as the camera has been disconnected. This has become easier with newer Bluetooth-enabled X cameras, because the app can automatically initiate a Wi-Fi connection between the smartphone and a Bluetooth-paired camera as needed.
• Some users may suffer from connection losses caused by interfering networks that are transmitting on the same Wi-Fi channel as the camera. Sadly, there is currently no way to change the camera’s transmission channel.
• To transfer JPEGs from the camera to your mobile device with full resolution, make sure to select SET UP > CONNECTION SETTING > WIRELESS SETTINGS > RESIZE IMAGE FOR SMARTPHONE > OFF. Otherwise, the transferred images will be downsized to 3 megapixels.
• Manual DR expansion settings (DR200%, DR400%) are reflected in the Camera Remote live view (as long as your camera supports DR expansion simulation in its own live view). The same applies to JPEG parameters such as contrast (HIGHLIGHT TONE, SHADOW TONE) or white balance settings. In manual mode M, the Camera Remote live view will also respect any settings made in SET UP > SCREEN SET-UP > PREVIEW EXP./WB IN MANUAL MODE.

Besides remote controlling [144] the camera, the Camera Remote app offers additional functions that allow you to transfer JPEGs from the camera to your mobile device (one by one [145] or in groups [146]) and to copy GPS location data [147] from your smartphone or tablet to the camera.

If you are using an X series camera with built-in Bluetooth, location data and the current time can automatically be synchronized from your smartphone. Bluetooth-enabled cameras can also benefit from a simple remote shutter release function [148], and there’s the possibility to automatically obtain and install camera firmware updates [149]. To use Bluetooth with Camera Remote, make sure to pair the camera with your smartphone or tablet [150].

The X-T2 and all other X cameras that were released after summer 2016 offer HDMI live-streaming, meaning that the contents of the live view (electronic viewfinder or LCD) can be transmitted to a monitor, TV, or beamer via the camera’s HDMI output. All you have to do is connect the camera’s Micro-HDMI jack to a suitable monitor with a digital input (HDMI, DVI, etc.). Real-time streaming will start automatically once the connection is established.

This is a useful feature for workshops, product demonstrations or professional productions, where customers can watch on a monitor what the photographer is seeing in the live view.

You can also use the HDMI live view output to connect the camera to an HD frame-grabber which is in turn connected to your computer. With this setup, you can make video recordings and screenshots of the live view.

Fig. 250: The camera screenshots in this book were created by streaming the live view’s HDMI output to my MacBook Pro, where I used Elgato Cam Link [151] with Game Capture HD software to capture screenshots. You can also use this hard- and software to create 60 fps HD video recordings of your camera’s live view.

Tethered shooting involves controlling the camera via a computer that is connected (tethered) to the camera via an USB cable or a Wi-Fi connection. As of December 2018, tethering was available in the X-T1/2/3, X-H1, X-Pro2, and GFX cameras.

In order to use USB tethering, you must select either USB TETHER SHOOTING AUTO or USB TETHER SHOOTING FIXED in the SET UP > CONNECTION SETTING > PC CONNECTION MODE menu. That way, the camera is either recognizing (AUTO) or even forcing (FIXED) a computer connection via USB, yielding control to compatible tethering software on the computer. For Wi-Fi tethering [152], select WIRELESS TETHER SHOOTING FIXED.

Speaking of compatible software, there is a table on the Fujifilm website that displays what’s available for each X camera model [153]. There’s also an online manual explaining different software options [154]: HS-V5 for Windows, Fujifilm X Acquire, the Fujifilm Tether Shooting Plug-in for Lightroom/ACR, and the Fujifilm Tether Shooting Plug-in Pro for Lightroom/ACR.

Fig. 251: The Tether Shooting Plug-in Pro for Adobe Lightroom includes a live view image and comprehensive control over the camera. Features include color histograms, focus stacking, expanded bracketing and the possibility to enter copyright information. You can also save and load full camera configurations.

I do not recommend buying HS-V5 for Windows. It’s an outdated software with a terrible user interface and limited functionality in concert with more recent X camera models [155].

Fujifilm X Acquire [156] is a simple freebie app for macOS and Windows that saves images to a hot folder from where other apps can obtain them. It also allows you to backup and restore full camera settings on your Mac or PC.

The Fujifilm Tether Shooting Plug-in [157] and Tether Shooting Plug-in Pro [158] are plug-ins for Adobe Lightroom/ACR. The Pro version offers shooting with a remote live view and remote control over most of the camera’s settings.

In addition to that, Capture One Pro [159] now also adds direct tethering support thanks to the partnership between Fujifilm and PhaseOne that was revealed at Photokina 2018.