OI Share (Remote Control) problems in the outdoors?

On Saturday, I had the opportunity to take by best photos of barn swallows so far. Long story short, I got many delightful photos of barn swallow fledglings, plus some sharp, detailed ground-level shots of adult swallows preparing nest-repair material at a mud puddle ... with my 300mm Pro + MC-20 (optional).

That is, before heat distortion made it impossible to get sharp photos from even 10 feet away. Since mud is in short supply in this sweltering heat, I decided to return the next day with a large trash bag, my 8mm fisheye lens, and the OI Share app on my phone.

I filled the trash bag with 20 liters of water, carried it a quarter of a mile under the merciless sun (ouch!), refilled the puddle (so that the swallows would have water to drink and mud for their nests) and set up my E-M1 Mark ii + 8mm f1.8 a couple of feet away. The swallows were so thankful that they were flitting all around me even as I was pouring the water out!

And then - disappointment. I tried operating my camera remotely from a shady spot 20 feet away, and the connection broke every few seconds. Then I sat out under the baking sun about 10 feet away - same problem. I tried restarting the camera, restarting the app, turning off Bluetooth, turning my phone WiFi on and off ... and yet the connection either failed completely, or broke a few seconds after succeeding. Even when the connection succeeded (for a few seconds), the app was painfully slow.

My guess is that either the wind or the heat waves affected the WiFi connection. But what's the point of having a remote control if it cannot be used from even 10 feet away? This is the first time I've been disappointed with the quality of anything made by Olympus.

Has anyone else had this problem? Do some cameras work better than others? I hadn't ever used this feature on my E-M1 Mark ii before, since I use it indoors on my E-PL9. The E-PL9 also has Bluetooth, and I wonder if it would have succeeded where the older E-M1 ii failed.

In hindsight, I should have had a backup plan. I've purchased a Pixel remote shutter release, but by the time it arrives, it might be too late to get these shots.

Does anyone have any workarounds or tips for troubleshooting? Does OI Share work better on some cameras than others? What's the farthest distance that you've used it from?

Totally beta app... even when previously properly set up it requires far too many clicks to connect.

And if you have more than one camera to connect you better buy another smartphone..

epozar wrote:

Totally beta app... even when previously properly set up it requires far too many clicks to connect.

And if you have more than one camera to connect you better buy another smartphone..

How is it a BETA app?  I have been using it for years ...

I would recommend deleting your camera from within the app and then recreating it. I was unable to download photos to my phone recently and had to do that to regain full functionality.

MNE wrote:

epozar wrote:

Totally beta app... even when previously properly set up it requires far too many clicks to connect.

And if you have more than one camera to connect you better buy another smartphone..

How is it a BETA app? I have been using it for years ...

Because it is "unfinished" in many respects

epozar wrote:

MNE wrote:

epozar wrote:

Totally beta app... even when previously properly set up it requires far too many clicks to connect.

And if you have more than one camera to connect you better buy another smartphone..

How is it a BETA app? I have been using it for years ...

Because it is "unfinished" in many respects

I can't describe the sinking feeling of having 7-8 swallows just a couple of feet in front of my camera, and no way to take pictures of them. Or what it was like to sit on the ground under the baking sun for an hour, trying to get that lousy app to work. Utterly disheartening.

Invest in a proper remote release.  There are many different makes available and they are quite inexpensive.  I got one for around $25.  The receiver plugs into the remote trigger port of your E-M1 and the little remote control trigger works to around 100ft max.

The problem you had with the cell phone app may have been the phone getting too hot or may have been Wi-Fi interference.

Jeff Wahaus wrote:

Invest in a proper remote release. There are many different makes available and they are quite inexpensive. I got one for around $25. The receiver plugs into the remote trigger port of your E-M1 and the little remote control trigger works to around 100ft max.

The problem you had with the cell phone app may have been the phone getting too hot or may have been Wi-Fi interference.

I purchased a remote release after getting home. Unfortunately, it won't arrive before Friday. Another option I'm considering is an extension cable for the wired shutter release, which would eliminate all problems associated with wireless (interference, batteries etc.).

It’s worked fine for me, as long as I remember to turn off Bluetooth on the phone

Jeff Wahaus wrote:

[...]

The problem you had with the cell phone app may have been the phone getting too hot or may have been Wi-Fi interference.

Imho this is the right answer. Userland software cannot influence the quality of a wireless connection.

If my notebook or smartphone starts overheating the Wi-Fi component is the first thing that stops working. Some smartphones have very pooly designed Wi-Fi units and awful antennas.

faunagraphy wrote:

Jeff Wahaus wrote:

Invest in a proper remote release. There are many different makes available and they are quite inexpensive. I got one for around $25. The receiver plugs into the remote trigger port of your E-M1 and the little remote control trigger works to around 100ft max.

The problem you had with the cell phone app may have been the phone getting too hot or may have been Wi-Fi interference.

I purchased a remote release after getting home. Unfortunately, it won't arrive before Friday. Another option I'm considering is an extension cable for the wired shutter release, which would eliminate all problems associated with wireless (interference, batteries etc.).

Since you have an E-m1 mark II, the remote shutter is the RM-CB2.  Many Canon cameras use an identical shutter release.  If you had the E-m1 mark I, the remote shutter would have been the RM-UC1, which uses a special USB cable.

The RM-CB2 uses a standard audio 3 pin 2.5mm cable, you should be able to use an audio extension cable, that has a male connection on one side, a female connection on the other, and 3 pole 2.5mm pin.

Michael Meissner wrote:

faunagraphy wrote:

Jeff Wahaus wrote:

Invest in a proper remote release. There are many different makes available and they are quite inexpensive. I got one for around $25. The receiver plugs into the remote trigger port of your E-M1 and the little remote control trigger works to around 100ft max.

The problem you had with the cell phone app may have been the phone getting too hot or may have been Wi-Fi interference.

I purchased a remote release after getting home. Unfortunately, it won't arrive before Friday. Another option I'm considering is an extension cable for the wired shutter release, which would eliminate all problems associated with wireless (interference, batteries etc.).

Since you have an E-m1 mark II, the remote shutter is the RM-CB2. Many Canon cameras use an identical shutter release. If you had the E-m1 mark I, the remote shutter would have been the RM-UC1, which uses a special USB cable.

The RM-CB2 uses a standard audio 3 pin 2.5mm cable, you should be able to use an audio extension cable, that has a male connection on one side, a female connection on the other, and 3 pole 2.5mm pin.

Thank you, Michael. I purchased a wireless trigger that comes with the USB cable used for E-M1 Mk 1, E-M5, E-PL series etc. Additionally, I also purchased a small 2.5mm-3.5mm cable (male-male) so that I may (hopefully) use the wireless trigger with my E-M1 Mark 2 when I need to. All my Olympus bodies except for the E-M1 ii use the special USB cable.

I hope that I'm able to use the wireless trigger with all my cameras simply by changing the connecting cable, but if I cannot, I'll simply use it with my E-PL6 or E-PL9.

acfo wrote:

Jeff Wahaus wrote:

[...]

The problem you had with the cell phone app may have been the phone getting too hot or may have been Wi-Fi interference.

Imho this is the right answer. Userland software cannot influence the quality of a wireless connection.

If my notebook or smartphone starts overheating the Wi-Fi component is the first thing that stops working. Some smartphones have very pooly designed Wi-Fi units and awful antennas.

Honestly, I expected better from Olympus. Weather sealing is more than just water-resistance, and I wish they had installed a heat sink to cool the camera when it starts overheating.

Reminds me of an event I shot some years back with the 50-200 SWD and E-M1 Mark 1. After 40 minutes of intense shooting, both the body and lens were warm, and I had to use another camera for a while, so as to not destroy the lens motor or camera circuitry.

I do not think my smartphone was the problem here because initially, I was sitting in a shady spot and the connection still failed because the camera was at the puddle. I only left the shade to minimize the distance between my phone and camera.