How to Share Images on Social Media with Canon 6D Wifi

Canon Wifi has long existed on many of the company’s entry-level devices, but the Canon 6D was the first DSLR with built-in Wifi. Although a neat feature in theory, how can photographers actually benefit from Wifi functionality? Besides the ability to remotely control your camera through Wifi, another advantage is to view and publish photos directly from the camera to social media. This tutorial is going to take you through that process of viewing your DSLR photos on your mobile device and then uploading them to the Internet.

From here on out, we’ll be dealing mostly with your mobile device’s EOS Remote app, which is free for download and available for both Android and iPhone. All you need is this app installed on a compatible mobile device and a Canon 6D.

Part 1: Setup Canon 6D Wifi for One Device

Part 2: Setup Canon 6D Wifi for Multiple Devices

Part 3: Use Canon Wifi to Share Images on Social Media

Part 4: Shoot Tethered with DSLR Controller (in case Wifi doesn’t work)

Step 1:

Launch the EOS Remote app on your mobile device of choice. In this instance, I’m using a Nexus tablet. Connect the device to your Canon 6D’s Wi-Fi network. The app should read “connection established with camera” when the two devices are successfully connected. Select Camera Image Viewing.  You can also remote select Remote Shooting to shoot tethered wirelessly, but this tutorial is focused on the former function.

Step 2:

After you select Camera Image Viewing, your mobile device should populate with the contents of your Canon 6D’s SD card. Scroll through the selections and choose the image you want to upload. In the bottom row of the app is an envelope icon; select this icon to proceed.

Step 3:

After you select the envelope icon, the following social sharing screen will pop up. Select the social network of choice you want to upload the image to. In this case, it’s Instagram. Note that whichever social sharing service you select, the same instructions will apply.

Step 4:

After you select the social network, go through the motions to slap on a filter, add metadata, etc. Then hit the upper corner check mark button to upload.

Step 5:

Now you will see an error screen. The app will notify you that upload to the Internet has failed. This actually makes complete sense. By connecting your mobile device to the Canon Wi-Fi network, you have broken your mobile device’s connection to the Internet. The Canon 6D merely provides a Wi-Fi connection to transfer files from one device to another; it does NOT create an Internet network for you. In fact, it kills all connections with the Internet. But never fear. If you’ve gotten this far, your mobile device has saved your image in its queue. All you need to do now is get reconnected back to the Internet.

Step 6:

To reconnect your mobile device to the Internet, go into your Wi-Fi settings and disconnect from the Canon 6D’s wireless network and reconnect to an active Internet connection.

Step 7:

Once you are back online, go back to your social network screen and once again attempt to upload the image. In the case of Instagram, hit the circular refresh button again. It may take a few button pushes before your device is completely back online, but it should eventually lead to the uploading of your photo.

There you have it! A quick and simple yet not very intuitive way to use your Canon Wi-Fi setting to upload DSLR images to the Internet. The advantages of being able to do this are tremendous. For one, the Canon 6D is one of few DSLR cameras at this time with built-in Wi-Fi. There are of course additional hardware that can be purchased or the popular Eye-Fi cards that can add Wi-Fi functionality to any DSLR camera. But it’s certainly an advantage to have built-in Wi-Fi at your fingertips. So think of it this way: if you’re photographing an event for a client, check with the event coordinator to see if they would like to receive DSLR-quality images during the event for posting on their social networks. It would certainly beat the otherwise poor-quality photos that generally end up on company social media accounts.

In Conclusion

Canon Wifi is a feature that many photographers are taking advantage of to grow their audience on social media, as well as to offer more services to clients. Do you think Wifi is advantageous for photographers? Let me know in the comments below!