C200: 1stAC focusing via Browser remote

I recently did the focus for an entire music video this way. 1dx mk2 on a steadycam with the Camera Connect app on an iPad. It worked, but Canon really need to come up with a way to make this better because it could be such an amazing option. The main issue is that it only sends a 18fps at most SD image back to the phone, and it frequently gets into buffer trouble and lags when there's a large change in scenery. However, when it's working it's brilliant and makes you wish they'd take it more seriously. For a small budget thing, where it's ok if there's some buzzes/retakes, it's a good option. Wouldn't recommend it for mission critical work until they improve, but I use it all the time instead of having a remote focus for gimbal/steadycam stuff.

If you're shooting more locked down stuff, maybe where the camera isn't moving a ton and you're doing a lot of walkups or close-ups, I think it's actually a better option than a lot of focus pullers.
 
Alvise Tedesco said:
Anyone giving iPad iPhone to AC as to control wirelessly areas to point Canon DPAF??
Is it working?
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I like to use the canon WFT8 on my 300Mk2 an connect through the browser remote when using a gimbal. The interface can be be subject to too much latency at times but generally it works for most of my situations I have been in. I wouldn’t use touch focus to pull focus on a feature but for many other situations it can work for you.

I just checked out the. 200 at B&H and the touch screen focus on the camera is quite responsive though its limited to that screen and I don’t know if there is a way to remote that operation.

In general it seems that on the software side Canon has 2 part time software developers from 20 years ago that they’ve kept on the job. Their camera firmware updates are infrequent and underwhelming and the browser remote function could be really cool but its sort of stuck where it was a few years ago. I have read that the WFT in conjucntion with the 1DX and a special app is quite good for remote control but have no first hand experience with that system that I can draw a comparison from.
 
Mark Smith said:
I just checked out the. 200 at B&H and the touch screen focus on the camera is quite responsive though its limited to that screen and I don’t know if there is a way to remote that operation.
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If Canon could get that touchscreen connecting wirelessly... It'd be a next level way of working with the camera. I think the future of this stuff is the 1st AC alternating between pulling focus and using the DPAF, depending on the shot.
 
I DP'd a commercial for a musical earlier this year, we used the browser remote+wfte8a on my C300ii+18-80 t4.4 while rigged on a 24 foot crane. Due to the fact we had 4 hours to shoot this thing, I didn't want to lose time changing camera settings manually so we made all settings adjustments via browser remote and kept focus on our main talent via the touch screen autofocus. FPS refresh isn't fantastic, ranging between 10-20fps most of the time but there wasn't a bad delay between live action and the feed. We had a teradek feed coming from it anyhow so our remote operator could keep an eye on both at the same time. Overall it worked really well and we didn't lose focus once. The camera was recognising up to 10 faces at a time, which is crazy. Interesting side note, you can control the zoom servo on the 18-80 t4.4 via browser remote also if you want to change your focal length between shots, I wouldn't advise doing it live due to the low refresh rate.

I've asked a Canon representative directly if they could look into improving the FPS refresh on the WFT-E8A. Considering how much the units cost ($600USD, $1000 AUD each), I expected better performance honestly. He said he'd pass on the suggestion. Not sure how the C200 internal wifi compares to the WFT-E8A, but it's a good step forward building it into the camera. It's a godsend for one man band operators who might have a camera 5-10 metres away and they want to check on their focus or adjust their exposure without darting across the room often.
 
It's a godsend for one man band operators who might have a camera 5-10 metres away and they want to check on their focus or adjust their exposure without darting across the room often.[/QUOTE]

I started using WFT 6 on C300 with browser remote back in 2013 . I was using the camera on a exterior car rig and the ability to start/stop recording , change iso, iris , ND shutter white balance without having to stop the vehicle each time was an awesome time saver.

If Canon would make a dedicated app for C series like they have for their still cameras and reduce the latency of the web browser interface it would be an incredible advance of this capability the C series cameras have.
 
NMSK said:
I've asked a Canon representative directly if they could look into improving the FPS refresh on the WFT-E8A. Considering how much the units cost ($600USD, $1000 AUD each), I expected better performance honestly. He said he'd pass on the suggestion. Not sure how the C200 internal wifi compares to the WFT-E8A, but it's a good step forward building it into the camera. It's a godsend for one man band operators who might have a camera 5-10 metres away and they want to check on their focus or adjust their exposure without darting across the room often.
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It is really unacceptably laggy, considering that it's only sending out a soft SD signal anyway.
 
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