Nikon Z50 wireless

Hardware
1

Anyone know if/how the Z series wireless works?
More importantly if it’ll work without proprietary software required?

2

The WT-7 has an ethernet port, which should be mandatory on all cameras, to be honest :wink:

1 Like
3

Y’might take a gander at this:

https://testcams.com/airnef/

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4

Paging @Marcus_Meissner for the gphoto side of things.

5

Nikon Z series supports PTP/IP , which is supported by gphoto2

you need to establish wireless with the camera first, find the cameras address and pass to the ptpip:

gphoto2 --port ptpip:192.168.1.1 --camera “Nikon DSLR (WLAN)” --summary

4 Likes
6

Thank you. I am a little bit stuck: When creating a new Connection to the Computer I am able to connect to my network. But then the wizard on the Z50 is stuck and seems to wait for a connection from the computer. When using your gphoto2 example commandline gphoto2 properly identifies the camera and its capabilites. It then exits and the camera claims that a connection is not possible - and does not store the newly configured wifi settings.

What would I have to do to convince the z50 that the connection from gphoto is actually the proof that the connection works?

Thanks,
Simon

1 Like
7

Wait. It does not properly show all the properties:

Battery Level(0x5001): error 2005 on query.
[etc]

I wonder if there is something needed to “authenticate” the computer against the camera.

8

could you tell us which commands give you that error?

9

Let me try to trace what I do.

  1. I have a Nikon Z50, updated to firmware 2.02.

  2. in the system menu I choose “connect to PC” / “Network Settings” / “Create Profile”

  3. I do “Search for WiFi Network”, pick my home network and enter the wifi credentials and pick the dhcp option

  4. the camera connects to my wifi, I can ping it. The camera shows the "Connection Wizard and tells me “Pairing computer and camera. Start the Winreless Transmitter Utility on the computer and select the camera”.

  5. executing @Marcus_Meissner’s command from above gives the following result:

    simon@mezzanine:~$ gphoto2 --port ptpip:192.168.23.249 --camera ‘Nikon DSLR (WLAN)’ --summary
    Camera summary:
    Manufacturer: Nikon Corporation
    Model: Z 50
    Version: V2.02
    Serial Number: <redacted serial number>
    Vendor Extension ID: 0xffffffff (1.10)
    Vendor Extension Description: Microsoft.com/DeviceServices: 1.0

    Capture Formats: JPEG Undefined Type
    Display Formats: JPEG, Undefined Type, Association/Directory, TIFF, Script, Apple Quicktime, MP4

    Device Capabilities:
    File Download, No File Deletion, No File Upload
    No Image Capture, No Open Capture, No vendor specific capture

    Device Property Summary:
    Battery Level(0x5001): error 2005 on query.
    Image Size(0x5003): error 2005 on query.
    Compression Setting(0x5004): error 2005 on query.
    White Balance(0x5005): error 2005 on query.
    F-Number(0x5007): error 2005 on query.
    Focal Length(0x5008): error 2005 on query.
    Focus Mode(0x500a): error 2005 on query.
    Exposure Metering Mode(0x500b): error 2005 on query.
    Flash Mode(0x500c): error 2005 on query.
    Exposure Time(0x500d): error 2005 on query.
    Exposure Program Mode(0x500e): error 2005 on query.
    Exposure Index (film speed ISO)(0x500f): error 2005 on query.
    Exposure Bias Compensation(0x5010): error 2005 on query.
    Date & Time(0x5011): error 2005 on query.
    Still Capture Mode(0x5013): error 2005 on query.
    Burst Number(0x5018): error 2005 on query.
    Focus Metering Mode(0x501c): error 2005 on query.
    Artist(0x501e): error 2005 on query.
    Copyright Info(0x501f): error 2005 on query.
    Property 0xd303: error 2005 on query.
    Session Initiator Info(0xd406): error 2005 on query.
    Perceived Device Type(0xd407): error 2005 on query.

  6. after this command, the camera complains “unable to connect” and jumps back into the “connect to pc” menu. I can try again, but I have to enter the credentials again, which is a royal PITA.

Instead of the command above I also tried “–shell” and this kept the connection to the camera open until quitting gphoto. I did not manage to get any meaningful actions though.

I then bit the bullet, booted into windows and installed nikons “Wireless Transmitter Utility” and started it when the camera prompted for it. It then detected the camera and I had to enter a PIN number shown on the camera screen into the PC. This allowed me to finish creating the profile, which then got stored on the camera and was available for later use. However, activating the stored profile later did not result in success - Booting Linux and then activating the profile connected to the network, but then the camera apparently was waiting for an connection, but gphoto failed to connect to the camera.

This is gphoto 2.5.26 as of debian unstable.

Thanks for your help.
Simon

1 Like
10

I see the very same issues. Also tried digikam, but same issues arise - connection fails, the camera discards the connection, and you have to start all over again. The message there is “Failed to connect to the camera. Please make sure it is connected properly and turned on.”. Which it is :slight_smile: Gphoto is gphoto-2.5.28p0, Camera firmware is 2.50, digicam is 8.1.0.