Fuji X-system wireless apps: Anyone ever get any of these working?

<p>I just wasted a couple of hours yesterday trying to get Fuji's wireless apps working between my X-A1 and PC or Kindle Fire HD (Android under the skin, side-loading the apps). No go.</p>

<p>I'm hoping to avoid getting a decent smartphone with good camera, only because I'm not comfortable with the soapbar ergonomics of the various phones I've tried. But so far I'm not seeing much encouraging reports about connecting a good P&S or mirrorless compact camera wirelessly with mobile devices.</p>

<p>I read dozens of threads on the same problem on various websites, tried everything recommended. Some folks say they've gotten their Fuji wireless apps working, including those who own the same specific bits of gear I have. I tried all their recommendations, but no luck.</p>

<p>The dozens of negative reviews from dissatisfied Fuji owners regarding Fuji's wireless apps indicates the problem is with the apps, not the users. But I thought I'd give it one more try by asking here before I delete the apps. Maybe someone else has found one specific trick or sequence of steps that works.</p>

<p>Here's what I have, and have tried using:</p>

<ul>

<li>Fuji X-A1, most current firmware update.</li>

<li>Kindle Fire HD, most recent 7" version, which is compatible with all non-Amazon Android-compatible apps I've side-loaded, so the device shouldn't be the problem.</li>

<li>Fuji's "Camera Application" and "Photo Receiver" apps, both the most currently available versions.</li>

</ul>

<p>Using these apps and devices bypasses the home WiFi, setting up their own little network, so my DSL modem should be irrelevant. I can see the Fuji camera establishing a connection with the Kindle tablet. But the apps never connect. Both fail after a few minutes. I've tried varying the sequence of steps too - no luck. The handful of owners of the same equipment who say they've successfully connected the camera and tablet say the sequence wasn't critical anyway.</p>

<p>And FWIW I also tried the Fuji "PC AutoSave" software, which does use the home (or other) WiFi between the PC and Fuji X-camera. Again, no luck. And it's a huge resource hog so I deleted it after trying for a day to get it working. But this wasn't as important to me as getting wireless connectivity between the camera and mobile device.</p>

I haven't used Android but on iPhone the app you need is called Fujifilm Camera Remote. I believe the same app is on

the Google app thingy.

<p>Fujifilm Camera Remote app isn't compatible with my X-A1, and users report the same inconsistent performance with the compatible cameras.</p>

<p>Ah. Well I have seen other people writing in Fuji fora (yeah, I'm a pretty big nerd for Fuji) about issues with Fire tablets. The versions that are downloadable from Amazon didn't do any better?</p>

<p>Hello,<br>

Using an Xt-1 with an Apple iPod I've had success with the connection. Tell the camera to start broadcasting, tell the device (iPod) to connect to the wireless network the camera is sending out then click/touch to open the application. I can see what the camera sees and adjust exposure and focus, among other things. As a test I left the camera in a room and then left the room (just around the corner) and was able to manipulate the camera and take photos at will. The people in the room were aware of what I was up to and were amazed each time the camera fired, there were some interesting "poses" because they wanted to see if I was paying attention. You can also wirelessly move the images from the camera to the device controlling it, jpegs only I believe.</p>

<p>Pretty cool function but it probably drains the batteries in the camera and the wireless device controlling it. Hopefully there will be updates to increase the functionality of the system on both cameras and wireless devices. It would be extremely beneficial for macro shooting, wildlife shooting and shooting from weird angles where it's not possible to see the viewfinder or back of the camera.<br>

Good luck!<br>

Bob</p>

Thanks, Bob. Apple users seem to report fewer problems than Android users with Fuji apps.

<p>Okay, finally got it figured out. I was overlooking the most basic first step: <em>setting the camera to <strong>playback mode</strong></em>. D'oh!</p>

<p>Seems like it should be obvious, but after trying everything else -- including jumping through hoops to rename the network, etc. -- I had to navigate to the <a href="http://app.fujifilm-dsc.com/app/camera_app/pc/en/">app.fujifilm</a> site via the app to find that basic bit of info. And my first efforts to connect to that page were thwarted by an error message caused by the fact that the tablet was still connected to the Fuji camera network, rather than my home wifi.</p>

<p>IOW, user error was making it more complicated that necessary.</p>

<p>Fuji apps are very limited with the X-A1. It's read-only, no camera control, no editing within the app. But it appears to do basically what I wanted - transferring auto-resized JPEGs to mobile devices. And the camera itself offers plenty of editing features.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>It's not perfect, but I can usually get it working on my XT1 iPhone combo. </p>

<p>Even with the Fuji app working it's still a bit glitchy. It will transfer video too, within limits, but it's difficult to locate the video later. I had to use the VLC app on my tablet to find the video, after everything else failed. And there were four copies because I'd tried multiple times to transfer it, without any confirmation or logical location on the tablet.</p>

<p>I'd like to see Fuji port a version of its in-camera raw converter over to a mobile app, along with the option to wirelessly transfer RAFs (yeah, it'd be slow, but still occasionally useful). But not the version of Silkypix bundled with the camera - that raw converter is only slightly better than dreadful, and still not a good as Fuji's own in-camera raw converter.</p>

<p>I've got it set up to transfer to my computer, but pushing RAW files across wifi is WAY too slow when I can just plug the card into the iMac. I got the Camera Remote to work too. It is more useful, because it scales the image down to about Facebook dimensions.<br>

Documentation on the Fuji camera I just bought and the software is pretty bare bones. I've gotten more info online.</p>

<p>By the way, force a restart. That is what got the app on my comp to work.</p>