[biz-engineer]

I can very easily updalod and download images from my phone to my notebook, via bluetooth without having to disconnect from WLAN.
Whenever I want to download images from my K1, I have to enable it as WiFi host, disconnect the notebook from the WLAN , transfer the photos, disable K1 WiFi and reconnect the notebook to WLAN.
Also, if I want to trigger my K1 without LV, I use the IR remote, which has the disadvantage of having to point the IR in the direction of the IR sensor at the front or back of the camera.
If I want to remote trigger my K1 with a radio, I need to add a RF trigger receiver mounted on the hotshoe with a cable wiring from the RF trigger to the camera trigger connector.

How about Ricoh Imaging ditch the IR sensors on cameras, remove WiFi, Add Bluetoth and relese a mobile app that does both LV tethering via bluetooth, remote tigger and photo transfer in one app? I could use my phone to trigger the camera, download shots, all with a single app and without disconnecting my notebook from WLAN.

What kind of connectivity is offered by other brands?


Would that be something worthwhile communicating to Ricoh Imaging for new camera models?

[sbh]

That would be great. I‘m not happy with the current connectivity (which is somilar on most DSLRs).

I didn‘t know that BT could do that kind of data. If so, i‘d like it. Anything that can control the camera and transfer images faster than the current slow wifi.

[UncleVanya]

Several Panasonic cameras offer NFC as well as wifi. I'm not sure about Bluetooth.

[photoptimist]

Bluetooth is extremely slow. Even the newest version 5 standard has a max bandwidth of only 175 kB/second (version 4 was only about 40 kB/second). A 20 MB K-1 JPG would take 2 minutes to transfer and RAW files would take about 6 minutes each.

Bluetooth would be great for remote control of the camera although it would only be able to mirror the backpanel display at about 1 frame/second.

NFC is also very slow (≈50 kB/sec) and has the restriction that the two devices must be nearly touching ("near field" refers to very short-range electromagnetic fields where data is transmitted between two coils rather than two antennas)

I'm not sure why many camera makers seem to implement WiFi with the camera as an access point (requiring the computer/phone to switch WLANs). Maybe it would be too cumbersome for the camera to have the required login screen where you type in the username and password to join an existing WLAN. In fact, they'd have to build in a web browser into the camera to join most WLANs.

[UncleVanya]

I had seen these on Wiki - not sure if it is accurate. It did also talk about the speed of connection and the lack of a need for pairing for NFC. My only use of NFC on Panasonic was with control over the device - typically I used Wifi direct.

Bluetooth comparison
Aspect NFC Bluetooth Bluetooth Low Energy
Tag requires power No Yes Yes
Cost of tag US$0.10 US$5.00 US$5.00
RFID compatible ISO 18000-3 Active Active
Standardisation body ISO/IEC Bluetooth SIG Bluetooth SIG
Network standard ISO 13157 etc. IEEE 802.15.1 (no longer maintained) IEEE 802.15.1 (no longer maintained)
Network type Point-to-point WPAN WPAN
Cryptography Not with RFID Available Available
Range < 20 cm ≈100 m (class 1) ≈50 m
Frequency 13.56 MHz 2.4–2.5 GHz 2.4–2.5 GHz
Bit rate 424 kbit/s 2.1 Mbit/s 1 Mbit/s
Set-up time < 0.1 s < 6 s < 0.006 s
Current consumption < 15 mA (read) Varies with class < 15 mA (read and transmit)

From here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near-field_communication

[biz-engineer]

Transferring a 20Mp JPEG from my phone to my notebook is faster than transferring a JPEG from my K1 to the notebook via WiFi. And I prefer using Bluetooth because it's easy.

[sbh]

Transferring a 20Mp JPEG from my phone to my notebook is faster than transferring a JPEG from my K1 to the notebook via WiFi. And I prefer using Bluetooth because it's easy.

I just tested this from my iPhone to MacBook via "AirDrop", which a Bluetooth connection to send files without going over the internet or a wire. It's quite fast, even for videos, but it is only available when Bluetooth AND WiFi is turned on. I don't know why. If that worked with the camera, it would be awesome.

[UncleVanya]

I just tested this from my iPhone to MacBook via "AirDrop", which a Bluetooth connection to send files without going over the internet or a wire. It's quite fast, even for videos, but it is only available when Bluetooth AND WiFi is turned on. I don't know why. If that worked with the camera, it would be awesome.

Airdrop uses wifi and bluetooth. Bluetooth is used to setup the peer to peer wifi.

What Is AirDrop? How Does It Work?

[leekil]

I'm not sure why many camera makers seem to implement WiFi with the camera as an access point (requiring the computer/phone to switch WLANs). Maybe it would be too cumbersome for the camera to have the required login screen where you type in the username and password to join an existing WLAN. In fact, they'd have to build in a web browser into the camera to join most WLANs.

They could have the camera store the Wi-FI connection settings, including the password, so you would only have to type it the first time you connect. Though this seems to be more "computery" than cameras -- or at least Pentax cameras -- tend to be.