iUSBport Camera Review
The iUSBPort Camera is a wireless camera to iPad tethering device compatible with a number of Canon and Nikon DSLR’s. It communicates with the camera via a USB cable and communicates with the iPad in WiFi 802.11b/g/n "Access Point", "Ad Hoc” and "Infrastructure” modes.
It allows your iOS devices, MAC’s and PC’s to remotely control your camera. Of significance is the ability to expand the size of your LCD view into the size of your IOS or personal computer screen.The iUSBPort Camera is manufactured by Sanho Corporation the makers of IUSB Port, HyperJuice and HyperDrive devices.The remote control software is a free app available from Apple iTunes Apps store for iOS devices and from Sanho for Android devices. As of the writing of this review I found the most control and operation flexibility is offered when using an iPad.
| Dimensions: | 84 x 72 x 37mm / 3.31" x 2.83" x 1.46" |
| Weight: | 89g / 3.14oz |
| Screen: | Mono 132 x 32 pixels LCD |
| Ports: | 1 x High Speed 480Mbps USB Host Port (5W Powered) |
| Wireless/Speed: | WiFi 802.11b/g/n "Access Point", "Ad Hoc” and "Infrastructure" Mode, 20Mbps |
| Built-in Memory: | 4GB (500+ image buffer to support continuous shooting) |
| Software: | Native iOS, Android, Mac, Windows app |
| File System | FAT / FAT32 / exFAT / NTFS / HFS+ |
| Battery: | 3300mAh Rechargeable Li-Poly Battery. Up to 8 hours battery life |
| Input Power: | 10W (5V, 2A) via standard micro USB port. 5-7 hours to full charge. |
| Included Accessories | DC USB charging cord and USB cable |
The iUSBport Camera package includes a standard mini USB cable and a USB recharging cable. You will need to charge the battery that is internal to the unit and rated at 3300 mA hours. The battery can be charged using any USB port on your PC or an external USB charger. A fully discharged battery requires about 7 hours of charging time and gives you a useful charge of approximately 8 hours. This is as stated by the manufacturer but not tested for this length of time during this review. I do find that this duration for recharging may pose a problem. A battery compartment would be a nice feature allowing you to replace the discharged battery and continue shooting.The device itself is made of plastic and is relatively large. The underside of the unit has a standard cold shoe mount enabling you to mount the unit into your camera’s hot shoe flash mount. This mount also has a quarter inch socket allowing you to use the unit with any alternative method of threaded mounting. The mini USB cable connects to the USB port on your camera. Turning on the unit with the power button on the side opens the display on top of the unit. This is a two-line display that provides various status messages. An additional blue light indicates power on and flashes during data transfer activity. A battery charge indicator stays a yellow/orange during charging and turns green when the battery is fully charged.To control the iUSBport Camera using an iOS device you must download the application from the Apple App Store. You will see two available apps, the one you want is the black and orange icon app. See image below
If you have the older app please delete it and install the latest app. There are significant enhancements and additional features that have been incorporated.Once you have downloaded the application from the app store you will need to pair your iOS device with the iUSBport Camera. There are multiple ways to pair and connect the devices using either an ad-hock network or your existing Wi-Fi network. If you use the ad-hoc network your iOS device will not communicate with the Internet. Pairing using your existing Wi-Fi network will allow your iOS device full access to the Internet while connected. Either of these options works well and both operate at about the same network speed. However, the advantage of an ad-hock network is that you can use the paired configuration in any location. This is clearly a convenient feature and will be appreciated by most photographers.Let’s step through the setup for an ad-hock connection. With the unit connected to the camera power on the unit and then the camera. If the connection is successful the display on the unit will read “iUSBport Camera Ready”Now go to “settings” on your iPad and you should see iUSBport as one of the network choices. Select it and wait until the connection is established.
Now open the iUSBport application and if you do not see your camera on the Dashboard tap the refresh icon (top right).
On a successful detection of the camera the iUSBport Camera will display “iUSBport Camera Tethered”. Concurrently the Camera Control Panel will be launched.
The top right of the screen displays all the camera settings that the camera has been set with.Tap Lv and the camera will switch to Live View mode and the image preview will be displayed on your iOS device.
Using the control panel you can set ISO, Aperture, white Balance, etc. Each of these can be changed remotely using the iOS device. Tap on the orange text buttons to open a window where you can modify the setting. Tap on the green check button to commit the setting in the camera. See the image below.
In live view mode, you are also able to select the point of focus by tapping on the area on screen to establish that as the focus point.
If focus is established the focus indicator will turn green.
If focus can not be established the indicator will turn red.
Taping the “Camera Icon” you can remotely release the shutter. The shutter will be triggered only if there is a card in the camera with available space to store captured images and the camera attains focus. The image will be captured on the camera's memory card and also transferred to the iOS device. These functions are based on the "Settings" panel shown below.
You can also manual focus by tapping the MF button. A manual focus panel will open. Three sets of arrows will move the focus in either direction in small, medium and large increments.
Five regions are available to review various areas of the live view screen. A slider is provided to increase the magnification for fine tuning focus. See the next image.
Various functions are made available or greyed out base on Still or Video capture.If you click on the video icon the unit will switch the camera to video more. The shutter release button will change from a camera to a red dot. See below.
Taping the button will start the video recording. While the video recording is in progress the red button will become brighter with a red indicator on the button's circumference. A red flashing indicator will also display on the preview screen.
Video Record Mode: This will switch the camera from still capture to video captureThe iUSBport Camera and the iOS app also provide HDR and Timelapse functionality. HDR images can be captured in either Aperture priority mode (I do not recommend this method at all), Shutter priority mode and ISO mode where each can be bracketed in various increments and numbers of images captured. To capture HDR you must use the "Run" button not the shutter release button.
Time lapse sequences are captured by using the time-lapse button to the right of the HDR button. Set all required ISO, aperture and shutter setting in the camera settings panel. Next tap the Time-lapse button and set the initial start delay, the interval between shots and the number of images to be captured. Start the capture by tapping the "Run" button.
A screen toggle icon is available on the left lower third of the screen. Tapping this toggles to a semi full screen mode.
Tapping the camera icon (lower right corner) opens a settings window where you can make changes to your camera settings for exposure, white balance, etc.
The top right corner has a icon that can be used to toggle live view on or off. The right edge center is the shutter release button. On the left edge toward the center is a filmstrip view that shows images captured. You can scroll up and down to select any image for display. See the image below.
If you select an image from the film strip it will open full screen. A set of three additional icons will be displayed in the bottom edge of the screen. from left to right, the trash can, the histogram and a star ratings icon. The histogram and the other to set ratings icon open individual windows to display a histogram and a 1 to 5 star rating panel.
The histogram will only be displayed if the center icon (the histogram icon) is tapped.
When this screen is active and live view is active the app will not permit any incremental zooming. However zooming in is available when reviewing any images from the filmstrip.
When an image is selected for review the top of the screen displays the file name, time of capture and the image file size.
Using the iUSBport Camera
Establishing an ad-hoc connection with the iPAD was very easy and all the functions on the primary screen work as they should. The preview and Live modes remain in the Landscape display mode irrespective of how you camera is oriented. This could be resolved and would make the application much more valuable. Camera functions were easy to change and registered as they should. The HDR mode is a bit clumsy and requires a little getting used to. The time-lapse function is more than adequate for normal time-lapse capture.
In the full screen mode all functions work as expected with one exception. I was unable to set any star rating. Each time the application would crash and required a restart. This problem exists in both screen modes and is an annoyance that need to be addressed. The other significant issue is during capture. As you capture images the filmstrip will show the first three images captured but none of the incremental images. You must scroll through to get to the current image. This filmstrip needs to advance as each image is captured.
On the physical aspects the unit is fairly large and since it is designed to be mounted on the hot shoe of the camera the hot shoe foot is very loose. A clamping lever or a scream wheel as provided on most hot shoe flash heads would have been a good feature.
At its current price point of $199 I would recommend this product for anybody wishing to remotely control their DSLR using an iOS device in a wireless network environment.