Is there a Canon DSLR to transfer photos to a server directly?

Question

Is there any Canon DSLR camera that can transfer photos directly from the camera to a server via FTP or to Dropbox wirelessly ?

Anything like that ?

Answer 1

Pretty much all of the 1-series have an ethernet port that allows FTP over ethernet. The two most recent models are the EOS 1D X Mark II and the EOS 1D X Mark III. But that requires a wired connection to a network host.

There are plenty of recent Canon models in several classes and price ranges that have WiFi capability. Some require an external WiFi adapter. Others have Wi-Fi built in.

The Canon EOS 1D X Mark II and C300 Mark II can use the Canon WFT-E8A Wireless File Transmitter¹ to log onto a Wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac) and use FTP or other transport protocols to wirelessly transmit images.

The (discontinued) Canon EOS-1D X and the (discontinued) EOS C300, EOS C300 Mark II, EOS-1D C and EOS C500 Digital Cinema Cameras can use the Wireless File Transmitter WFT-E6A¹ which supports the 802.11n protocol.

The Canon WFT-E7A Wireless File Transmitter (Version 2)¹ is the current unit for the EOS 7D Mark II. The earlier version of the WFT-E7A worked with the previous EOS 5D Mark III. There are reports that the V2 (which only seems to be a firmware update) also works with the EOS 5Ds/5Ds R and EOS 5D Mark IV.

There were also various WFT units sold in the past for use with previous 1 Series models (1D Mark IV, 1Ds Mark III, etc.) and 5 series (5D Mark II, 5D Mark III) with varying levels of capabilities.

_{¹ Suitability depends upon what country one is in. The WFT-E6B, for example, is sold for use in the UK and uses different radio frequencies than the WFT-E6A. Please check with Canon customer service in your world area to determine which version will work with wireless networks in your location.}

Unfortunately, to provide images directly to a remote server wirelessly via built-in WiFi on other Canon models, one still needs an intermediate device with the ability to connect to the WiFi network hosted by the camera on one hand and a separate ability to connect to "the internet" on the other hand. Other than bodies that use an external WFT module, none of Canon's other bodies allow the camera to log onto a WiFi network hosted by another device. All WiFi connectivity using internal WiFi connectivity is only via a network hosted by the camera.

Some of the newer models with Bluetooth are able to use Bluetooth (which has a fairly limited range) to automatically connect to a device such as a phone or tablet. But the actual transfer of images is done via WiFi after the Canon Camera Connect App installed on the Bluetooth device tells the device to switch its WiFi connection to the camera's network. Current models with Bluetooth include the EOS M5, EOS M6, EOS Rebel T7i/800D and the EOS 77D.

Due to limited battery power available and bandwidth issues with wireless connections, one is usually limited to transferring only JPEG images.

Answer 2

The canon WFT-4E accessory for the 5D mark ii can do that.

I just tested it with my camera and the camera connected to my home wifi and a few seconds later I could view the image I took on my computer where I hosted the ftp server.

Answer 3

Another solution is to use a SD card with built-in Wifi (works in about any camera that takes SD cards). Some can upload images to the cloud. See here for some options.