Will the Canon 6D allow me to transfer images through WiFi to a Windows PC?

Question

I am after a bit of information regarding the WiFi on the Canon 6D. I am thinking of purchasing this camera to do event photography. At the moment I am using a 50D and connecting it directly to my Windows laptop computer with a 10m USB cable. I take the pictures of clients and my colleague shows them to the clients and prints the required images. I have been looking at a wireless file transmitter for the 50D but thought I could kill two birds with one stone and get a new camera with it all built in.

Can anyone tell me if the 6D will do this, as the Canon site is a bit vague?

Answer 1

Canon has a detailed manual available for the Wifi functionality of the 6D. You can both remotely operate the camera with EOS utility over Wifi and share photos with computers or smart phones. You can also do remote shooting from a smart phone.

Answer 2

I did a quick google and found this: FAQ: Sending images to a computer (Wi-Fi function) (EOS 6D) which is a very detailed step by step procedure for transferring pics to a computer.

But I also came across this post: 6D WIFI: how long for RAW transfer?(dpreview.com) which references The New Canon EOS 6D – Welcome to the Full-Frame Club! which says:

6D boasts GPS receiver and WiFi transmitter. This is great, but, as rumored, 6D’s WiFi does not support transmission of RAW files, but is meant for sending JPG files and video clips to devices like smartphones, photo printers etc. This is cool to play with, and can be handy to review your JPGs on a PC tablet for example, but that’s it.

However the dpreview post has several people saying that this is incorrect and that you can transfer raw files. But there is at least one comment that says:

I was able to transfer through the wifi raw from the body to either my computer and my ipad 2.

However it's a huge difference in between the transfer speed with the usb cable and the wifi.

For a few photos it's ok but but for a large amount I still prefer the usb option.

Another comment from the dpreview post has hard numbers on what I suspected .. the process is slow:

In the tests I performed, going from the 6D to a computer running DPP (via WFT), with both devices connected to the same access point (running at N speed, and both fairly close, so let's say "normal" signal degradation) I was averaging 15 seconds per RAW (avg 24Mb in size) and 4 seconds for JPG, around 5Mb in size. This was timed from shutter click until it appeared in the DPP window. That was in the tether mode for shooting.

This delay may or may not be acceptable depending on what you are shooting.

Answer 3

Yes, you can do this. But this will drain the battery a lot quicker, so keep spare ones ready! When you are connected to remote shooting more from the PC, the photos captured are directly transferred to the computer instead to writing to the SD Card.

Answer 4

The Canon 6D acts a an access point so in effect you can use it in the field connected to a laptop. This process is via the Adhoc mode only - do not use the 'add device' in windows WPS as you will need a local router. But.....and a big but - Canon has failed to update the firmware for Windows 8 or 8.1 only use Windows 7 You will need to load the EOS utility.

Answer 5

Yes, You are able to transfer images wirelessly using the EOS Utility application this is because the 6D has WiFi built in. Here is the application you need:

https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/support/self-help-center/eos-utility

Answer 6

On paper 6D supports wifi. But that is it. Just on paper. It is simply unimaginable that such a giant company has such poor software on the camera and on desktops.

6D wifi is a pain to setup. And impossible to use. When you compare it to how easy it is to access a file network from an Andoid phone, transfer files, cast, DLNA, .. 6D doesn't come close to any of that. The canon Android App was so bad they started making another one, which is still as bad. (may be it works better with newer cameras, but with 6D it is a pain to setup)

Compared to that, you can setup a Gopro 6, with much less pain. (which is still not flawless)