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I'm looking for a new dSLR with WiFi (or build-in WiFi, can't tell if there's a difference) to connect the camera to a WiFi with internet in order to upload photos to the cloud while shooting.

The WiFi feature is usually presented as a "hotspot" for the camera, which means that I can connect my computer/smartphone to the camera and transfer media from the camera to the computer. example

but what if I what to connect my camera to a WiFi (with internet) and not the other way around? example

does that always included when the camera has a build in WiFi or is that a specific feature?

thank you!

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but what if I what to connect my camera to a WiFi (with internet) and not the other way around?

Unfortunately, almost no cameras with Wifi work this way. Their target is not a managed, expert-level workflow. They are made for people to quickly transfer files to their phones in the field. As such, they generally all work as access points using a proprietary transfer method in conjunction with a proprietary app.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Is there any solution for accessing the internet? I know Eyefi and CamRanger are pretty much based on the same idea of a hostpot and they don't let you access the internet \$\endgroup\$
    – Nitay Milner
    Nov 27, 2018 at 18:15
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    \$\begingroup\$ Another problem with finding this feature might be -- how would the camera send the images "to the cloud"? Different services are going to have different protocols/APIs which can change over time. It looks like the camera companies don't want to support that. Nikon (and I'm sure Canon and others) has some expensive accessories that support auto uploads via FTP, but then you are looking for an FTP service, not a photo-specific service. \$\endgroup\$
    – David Rouse
    Nov 27, 2018 at 19:05
  • \$\begingroup\$ "proprietary transfer method"? As far as I can tell Nikon, Canon, Kodak, Sony, and RICOH all use PTP/IP. It's true that Nikon's implementation of PTP is slightly different to everyone else's (it doesn't use the event channel, and instead requires you to request event data over the command channel), but that's not too hard to special case in software. \$\endgroup\$
    – Peter Taylor
    Nov 29, 2018 at 19:34
  • \$\begingroup\$ @DavidRouse one reason is likely that 3rd party services are liable to change their APIs or even shut down completely, which would demand a firmware upgrade to the cameras accessing them in order to get them working again. Which is one reason many companies run their own cloud services for synchronising settings between devices, it makes them largely independent of 3rd parties. \$\endgroup\$
    – jwenting
    Dec 3, 2018 at 4:56
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I have a Canon 80D that has wifi built-in. I can set the camera up as a wifi hotspot, as you did with your Nikon in the screenshots, or I can connect the camera to a wifi network.

When my camera is connected to wifi, I can upload to Flickr, Twitter, or Canon's proprietary cloud service. I can also connect to the camera with my computer or phone through wifi and save directly to those devices. The other nice feature of a wifi-enabled camera is I can use my phone or computer as a remote control (The same goes for when I'm connected to the camera as a hotspot).

There are other options for wifi, like connecting to a printer, but those options don't seem to align with any of the needs you listed.

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Generally cameras with wifi are made in the "hotspot" way because you may not have access to your own wifi everywhere you're shooting but if the hotspot is made from the camera, you can wander around with the wifi connected to your other devices.

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You can do it with a Canon 6D. Mine allows uploading directly to some social networks, incluiding flickr and twitter I think. I tested years ago and it worked although it was kind of slow and only by choosing which image to upload each time.

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As long as I know, professional cameras as Nikon D4 can be linked to FTS networks, but maybe there's some more budget friendly options.

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Yes, apparently for some Canon cameras:

I've done a little bit of research and I have found out that Canon cameras with built-in WiF seem to support something called "Canon Image Gateway" that allows a camera to attach to a WiFi network and send images to Canon's online storage and sharing service. The service can then send images along to other services, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Google Drive, and Irsta. The services have to be setup on the user's Canon Image Gateway account, but then can be selected in camera. It appears that this can be made an automatic process, but the process of setting it up may be a little involved, maybe fragile.

The name Canon Image Gateway is a little confusing, as Canon uses the same name for their mobile device software. They also don't seem to have a simple list of compatible cameras, and not 100% of the WiFi cameras support all of the features.

I didn't have time to look at other camera manufacturers, but I know that Nikon either supports "SnapBridge" which works through the user's mobile device or -- when using some of the WiFi adaptors -- FTP connections.

It would be interesting to heard about similar options for other camera brands.

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