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Any working alternatives to Snapbridge?


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9 replies to this topic

#1
dragon49

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I love my P1000, but Snapbridge is awful.  I just had to reinstall it and re-pair the camera, as it stopped sending photos to the phone.  Since I started using it, the app has intermittently stopped sending photos the phone which sometimes is resolved by power cycling the camera and or phone.  This time, I had to completely reinstall the app though.

I have an iPhone 7 Plus, running the latest 15.7.2 IOS.  I don't need to control the camera or upload photos to the cloud; I just need something to reliably auto-transfer photos from the camera to the phone.

 

I know how to use Google but thought some folks here may be able to save me time trying stuff that will not work, or will not work well.



#2
Merco_61

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What version of SnapBridge are you running?



#3
dragon49

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What version of SnapBridge are you running?

2.91.1 now.  This must be the latest version, as I just got it from the Apple App Store Cloud.  Working for now, since I just reinstalled it a few hours ago.  



#4
Merco_61

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SnapBridge on BT 4.2 devices never was *that* stable. This is probably the cause of it not working reliably. BT 5 works much better for some reason.

 

Earlier SnapBridge versions had problems with dropped connection during transfer under iOS 15. The latest version shouldn't have this problem. What version were you running before you reinstalled the app?

 

It is unfortunate that qDslrDashboard doesn't support the Coolpixes as that was the best way to get reliable connection to Nikons back in the iPhone 6 and 7 days.

 

I don't know if WMU works with the P1000. It might be worth trying. Sometimes WMU works with some cameras that aren't officially supported.



#5
dragon49

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SnapBridge on BT 4.2 devices never was *that* stable. This is probably the cause of it not working reliably. BT 5 works much better for some reason.

 

Earlier SnapBridge versions had problems with dropped connection during transfer under iOS 15. The latest version shouldn't have this problem. What version were you running before you reinstalled the app?

 

It is unfortunate that qDslrDashboard doesn't support the Coolpixes as that was the best way to get reliable connection to Nikons back in the iPhone 6 and 7 days.

 

I don't know if WMU works with the P1000. It might be worth trying. Sometimes WMU works with some cameras that aren't officially supported.

I have no idea what Snapbridge version I was earlier running.  I had originally installed it when I received the camera on August 29th.  I later reinstalled it in the field on September 10th, so I would have gotten the latest versions at the times of the installs.  Hopefully, the current version is different, and will work 100% for auto-transfer to iPhone via Bluetooth.

Appreciate the suggestion, but WMU does not work the P1000.  It can't find the camera.  The help menu specifically states it isn't compatible with Snapbridge cameras, and the P1000 "connect to smart device" menu, only mentions Snapbridge, and, when invoked, does not make it available via WMU.

I tried to connect my phone to the alleged P1000 WIFI network, but it can't find it.  Nobody on the internet seems to have had any success with it.  Before I figured out how to transfer pictures with the Bluetooth auto-link future, I had success a few times using the "download pictures" option which tries to switch on the camera's WIFI.  The problem is that this fails to switch on the WIFI almost every time.

 

This isn't too hard to achieve. With my old GoPro Hero Sessions 4 from 2014, I can transfer videos and photos easily to my phone after joining the GoPro's WIFI network from the iPhone's settings - WIFI menu.  I just went into the Snapbridge setting and tried to connect to the camera via WIFI, but, of course, the camera wasn't found.  So, I'm agreeing with other internet posters that instead of just being able to turn on WIFI like normal devices, the P1000 disables it, and instead, relies on an unreliable, proprietary method, which involves turning it on via a smart device's software, once connected to Bluetooth. 

Again, hopefully the current Snapbridge version will auto-transfer over Bluetooth all the time.

Being a new birder, new to cameras, and budget conscious, the P1000 with the longest zoom on the market, was the best purchase decision I've ever made, and overall, I'm very happy with it.  I wanted to make that clear before concluding by reiterating my key points:

I've had awful experiences with Snapbridge, and the P1000 purported WIFI network almost never works.  WIFI would also auto-transfer much faster than Bluetooth, but the connection almost never works.  I'll either continue with this thread, or start another one, once I time the very slow Bluetooth transfers.



#6
Merco_61

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Have you thought about getting a lightning- connected card reader? There are both the (expensive) Apple one and cheaper third-party alternatives out there. An extra memory card and swapping between the card reader and the camera has a good chance of working really well once you get used to the workflow.



#7
dragon49

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Have you thought about getting a lightning- connected card reader? There are both the (expensive) Apple one and cheaper third-party alternatives out there. An extra memory card and swapping between the card reader and the camera has a good chance of working really well once you get used to the workflow.

Ty - I didn't know that was an option. 



#8
dragon49

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The problems persist, but they are always fixed by me going into the camera settings and "forgetting" the P1000 Bluetooth device, then deleting it from Snapbridge, then re-adding.



#9
Ron

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I can second the lightning card reader suggestion. I've been using it with my 9th generation iPad and it works great. 

 

I don't think Nikon's Bluetooth implementation has ever been particularly good.  

 

--Ron



#10
fallout666

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you need what ron said or Tethering to lightroom or capture one or other video editing to laptop. Snapbridge works but can only do 1 or 2 photo's at a time. so do what ron said or what i said about Tethering or Snapbridge 1 photo at time