Canon R6 I EOS R6 to PC

[cdavison2022]

Hello all,
writing with a quick question: is it possible to connect my R6 to my PC so that my PC screen will show me what the camera is seeing? I know how to record and transfer files using USB or WiFi but haven't yet figured out if it's possible for the two screens (R6 screen and PC screen) to mirror each other? Thanks in advance for your consideration, all replies most gratefully appreciated.

Chris

 

[Kwazy]

Hi.
Check out the Advanced Manual page 589 - "Connecting to a Computer via Wi-Fi."
There's a section on "Operating the Camera Using EOS Utility."

You can also use an HDMI cable to connect to any HDMI device, but that has some limitations.

 

[cdavison2022]

Hi Mike,
thanks for your reply, really appreciate your taking the time. I have connected my R6 to my computer using WiFi and am transferring files, all good there. But I haven't yet figured out if it's possible for the two screens (R6 screen and PC screen) to mirror each other? Whatever my R6 screen displays would also be displayed (mirrored) real-time on my PC screen? Is this possible? Thanks much, hope you are well.

Chris

 

[Kwazy]

Chris,

I haven't actually tried this yet myself, but reading the manual it sounds like this can be done. The pages I quoted seem to be different in the manual I just pulled up from the website - perhaps they changed them

https://cam.start.canon/en/C004/manual/c004.pdf

On page 596 it says "Using EOS Utility, you can import images from the camera, control the camera, and perform other operations"

Have you tried "controlling the camera"? It seems to be implying that you can do more than just transfer the files.

Please let me know if you've read the chapter in the manual about Using EOS Utility to control the camera and have tried following the steps.
If you have but something is amiss, I can try doing this myself sometime this weekend to see if I can get it to work.

 

[cdavison2022]

Hi Mike,
it looks like it might be possible using the Remote Live View function. I haven't been able to get it work but it does seem to be possible. Any thoughts?

Chris

 

[MikeZ]

Hi Chris,
If I understand your request (see your image on a computer screen while shooting), that is called "tethering". I checked my copy of the R5 manual and I can't find any reference to it. I know that you're shooting with an R6 and there might be some differences, so it might be worthwhile scouring the R6 manual. I do find it hard to believe that Canon didn't add that feature to either the R5 or R6 though.

Mike

 

[Kwazy]

Perhaps you need and HDMI connection for that.
Unfortunately I won't have time to do this myself in the next few days, but should really try it out because this gets brought up from time to time, and it sounds like a feature worth knowing about.

You might be better off calling Canon tech support in the meantime. I'm sure they'll be able to help.

 

[cdavison2022]

Hi Chris,
If I understand your request (see your image on a computer screen while shooting), that is called "tethering". I checked my copy of the R5 manual and I can't find any reference to it. I know that you're shooting with an R6 and there might be some differences, so it might be worthwhile scouring the R6 manual. I do find it hard to believe that Canon didn't add that feature to either the R5 or R6 though.

Mike

Hi Mike Z,
I believe you are exactly right, with the R6 you have to tether the camera to your PC using an HDMI cable (Micro HDMI from the camera, to regular HDMI port in the PC) and then you can activate Remote Live Viewing via the EOS Utility app on the PC. And then basically, the PC screen becomes a large real-time monitor while adjusting lights, focal distance, sound, etc. Seems especially useful for video recording and/or for on-location photo shoots since you can set up the camera and tripod in one location then view and control it from your PC in another location.

Chris

 

[cdavison2022]

Perhaps you need and HDMI connection for that.
Unfortunately I won't have time to do this myself in the next few days, but should really try it out because this gets brought up from time to time, and it sounds like a feature worth knowing about.

You might be better off calling Canon tech support in the meantime. I'm sure they'll be able to help.

It has to be an HDMI connection, doesn't work over WiFi even though you transfer files over WiFi. And then I had to be very careful to order the right HDMI cable, turns out the Mini HDMI and Micro HDMI are different sizes and it's the latter port that is built into the R6.
I'll be testing it this weekend and it should work well (said every beginner ever).

Chris

 

[Kwazy]

It has to be an HDMI connection, doesn't work over WiFi even though you transfer files over WiFi.

Glad you figured it out. I kept wanting to say "using the included HDMI cable" but then thought that it probably came with my "bundle" but not necessarily included if someone buys just the camera.

Nevertheless, perhaps it's worth noting that I was able to control the camera and see what the camera sees on my phone using their app with just the WiFi and Bluetooth connections (it needs both). So if you have a large iPad or tablet, you can get it to work w/o HDMI unless you specifically need it to be on a computer.

 

[cdavison2022]

Right, the bundle that my camera came with was a lens kit, an RF 24-105 lens plus accessories, but no cables.

So you were able to use Remote Live Viewing and fully control your camera using the phone app?

 

[Kwazy]

I got one of those big bundles with all the filters, extra batteries, attachments, software, and everything else you would think you could possibly need from Amazon, that show up with all the R cameras if you search. Most of those things are pretty low quality and I ended up having to order more things that I could actually use, but the bundle was basically the same price as the camera by itself, so I it's all just free junk. And yea, it had a mini-hdmi cable in there, but I haven't used it.

I tried the phone app, and after connecting with bluetooth and wifi I was able to see what the camera sees and tap to focus/shoot from my phone. I think I could change some settings too. It was pretty neat, but I generally prefer working with the actual camera, so had no real use for it. I have an android phone if that matters.

 

[cdavison2022]

Just as well you never used the Micro HDMI cable since directly connecting it to a PC doesn't work, unless you have an HDMI recorder or other kit. The good news is that connecting the EOS camera to a PC using a USB cable (USB-C for the camera to USB 3.0 for the PC) works perfectly, plug and play. As soon as I USB connected it, the EOS Utility popped right up then I clicked Remote Shooting and then when that popped up I clicked on "Live View shoot" and bingo, everything my EOS camera saw was displayed real-time on my laptop screen. Which for shooting video saves me a lot of time in the positioning of lights, subject, distance to green screen, zoom, and so on, since I can see right away what works and what doesn't, in detail.

Also used WiFi to connect my EOS to my phone, kind of cool but the phone screen is too small, not much larger than the LCD flipscreen on the EOS.

As for HDMI, it is actually useful if you want to connect to a monitor such as a large screen TV.

And so in summary, you can see what the camera sees on your phone screen using WiFi, on your laptop screen using USB tether, and on your TV screen using HDMI tether.

 

[MikeZ]

Thanks for the follow-up and the solutions. I'm sure that info will come in handy for me some day.

 

[cdavison2022]

Sure thing, it seems like the kind of basic functionality that should be outlined in the User Manual but at least it's easy enough to figure after some trial and error.