# Canon's Next ConnectStation to do 4K and Wireless Charging



## Meatcurry (Sep 13, 2015)

http://www.photographybay.com/2015/09/11/canons-next-generation-connect-station-does-wireless-charging-4k-video/?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=email_this&utm_source=email


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## Bennymiata (Sep 14, 2015)

I believe that wireless charging is the way to go.
Not only for cameras but phones and electric cars too.

While the charging is not as fast as a wired connection, it is very convenient.
A number of car makers will also soon offer a wireless charging pad on the centre console so when in your car, just put your phone on the console, and it will charge your phone on the move.


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## mkabi (Sep 14, 2015)

BS or Truth??? -> http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/10-shocking-facts-health-dangers-wifi/

I wonder how this will affect our health?


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## TW (Sep 14, 2015)

Pointless for any device with replaceable batteries. You'd have to leave your camera on the charger. Defeats the whole purpose.


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## Click (Sep 14, 2015)

TW said:


> Pointless for any device with replaceable batteries. You'd have to leave your camera on the charger. Defeats the whole purpose.



+1


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## AvTvM (Sep 14, 2015)

WOW ... a HUUUUGE 1 TB internal HDD ... most certainly soldered in, not user-upgradeable ... in 2015 ... how many minutes of 4k video will fit? How many 50+ MP RAW files? 

"This definitely looks to be a more useful device than the current model, and I would be interested in trying one out."

haha! My rating is: "complete waste, ignore it"! 

PS: looks a lot like those body-fat measuring bathroom scales ... just step hard on it and get your soles wirelessly charged. ;D


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## pj1974 (Sep 14, 2015)

This certainly looks like a much more useful model than the earlier CS100.

I am unsure whether I'll ever buy it... however I am interested in wireless charging (in general) - and I have no devices (yet) that have wireless charging.

So, can someone please explain to me their knowledge of wireless charging....
a) what range does it operate at, or is it via direct contact?
b) does it charge the battery the same rate as a wired Canon battery charger?
c) would it cause any interference (and/or potential danger) with other products - i.e. those with different batteries nearby - or other 'wireless' features?
d) does any other part of the charger or camera get warm / hot during charging?
e) anything else that comes to mind?

Thanks in advance, my CR friends / community.

Paul 8)


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## jolyonralph (Sep 14, 2015)

mkabi said:


> BS or Truth??? -> http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/10-shocking-facts-health-dangers-wifi/



BS  But if you want to wear a tin foil hat while charging your camera, that's entirely up to you.


Wireless charging is only going to be a Thing if manufacturers can agree on a 100% compatible standard between different devices. Do we want one wireless charger for our iPhone, one for our camera, one for our smart watch, etc. etc. Unfortunately given Apple's modus operandi it's likely their devices will not share chargers with anything else.


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## Click (Sep 14, 2015)

jolyonralph said:


> BS  But if you want to wear a tin foil hat while charging your camera, that's entirely up to you.




LOL ;D

Welcome to CR


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## Maximilian (Sep 14, 2015)

To me the most interesting part of this article is what (nameless) DSLR they are using there on the pics?

Is it a mockup? 
Is it a 760D/T6s - as the text says - and I don't recognize it? (But it looks bigger than that)
OR is it a 80D or 6D MkII? (with pop up flash rather no FF)


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## rfdesigner (Sep 14, 2015)

current tech battery chargers are generally effective, small, fast, efficient.. why would I want to change.

Wireless charging strikes me (as a radio R&D engineer) as the wrong way to go about things.. I fully predict they will become a source of interference for other things. Radio space is precious, it should be use for things of value not because people are too lazy to plug a cable into a socket.

One other bad tech that is now getting beaten back is power line communications. Authorities here in Blighty are starting to take a dim view of this as it can cause serious interference 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/telecoms/11325914/You-could-be-prosecuted-over-your-broadband-thanks-to-GCHQ.html

Quelle Surprise!!

As for automatically uploading images to the cloud.... Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

Might be fine for a snapshot camera, but I don't see it's relevance to professionals who don't want to just give their work away, or who need to share their images with their editors immediately rather than waiting until they've got home. 

(I don't trust that the Cloud is either secure or safe as a backup.. there are instances of cloud storage being deleted by natural disasters or third parties and of being hacked)


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## Twiseldorf (Sep 14, 2015)

How many photographers will actually purchase this? It seems like an irrelevant piece of equipment.


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## GmwDarkroom (Sep 14, 2015)

Wireless charging is a gimmick at the consumer level. It's less efficient, generates more heat/waste, and increases costs. As pointed out, in a device with removable batteries, it's as useless as wired charging would be. Do you charge your camera right now -- or would you if it were possible -- by plugging in a cord or do you charge the battery/batteries, possibly using another battery while that one is charging?

Wireless charging makes sense for medical devices and other sealed-environment batteries. It makes *some* sense for electric transportation in that you can keep a continuous trickle going if the vehicle is traveling over an inductive power source (e.g. embedded highways, monorails, etc). If the battery can be swapped or if connector life is not a huge concern, there's no other point to wireless charging other than laziness.

The power waste comes into play even more if -- as the gravitation towards wireless charging might suggest -- the user is lazy and doesn't disconnect the charger after each use (at which point, why not just plug in a regular charger?). Yes, you could have a trigger field that senses the camera to turn on full-power, but you're still trickling power out and complicating the design.


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## rrcphoto (Sep 14, 2015)

outside of the usual eeyores... I find this rather interesting.

it actually elevates the use of a "station" to one where you just set your camera down, and everything's taken care of - from battery charging to distributing the files up to the cloud or wherever. I could see this being popular with the rebel / EOS-M / Powershot crowd.


1TB is more than enough for files in transit, and certainly more than enough for jpgs in which you'd push out to other media elements such as tv,etc.

I kind of chuckle when people complain that canon doesn't innovate, and when they do - they still complain because they know the market and the potential of future ideas better than the manufacturer.


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## lw (Sep 14, 2015)

Maximilian said:


> To me the most interesting part of this article is what (nameless) DSLR they are using there on the pics?
> 
> Is it a mockup?
> Is it a 760D/T6s - as the text says - and I don't recognize it? (But it looks bigger than that)
> OR is it a 80D or 6D MkII? (with pop up flash rather no FF)



Looks pretty much like a 760D to me. Identical.
The only reason the name is blocked out is because it has a different name in each major territory.


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## lw (Sep 14, 2015)

AvTvM said:


> WOW ... a HUUUUGE 1 TB internal HDD ... most certainly soldered in, not user-upgradeable ... in 2015 ... how many minutes of 4k video will fit? How many 50+ MP RAW files?



The issue is not so much the size of the HDD but also the transfer speed of NFC (or the lack of it...) with such large files.

It will take as long to transfer your 4K files as it will to charge the camera.


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## grainier (Sep 14, 2015)

mkabi said:


> BS or Truth??? -> http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/10-shocking-facts-health-dangers-wifi/
> 
> I wonder how this will affect our health?



Whenever you have words "natural" and "health" in the same sentence it's BS. Also, the most reliable, evidence-based list of 10 facts on any given day is Letterman Top 10.


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## AcutancePhotography (Sep 14, 2015)

GmwDarkroom said:


> The power waste comes into play even more if -- as the gravitation towards wireless charging might suggest -- the user is lazy and doesn't disconnect the charger after each use



I did not know that. I just ass-umed that wireless chargers needed the charged device near it before turning on. 

My wife has one of these wireless charging toothbrushes that she never unplugs. I assume that is also eating power 24/7?


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## LonelyBoy (Sep 14, 2015)

rfdesigner said:


> current tech battery chargers are generally effective, small, fast, efficient.. why would I want to change.
> 
> Wireless charging strikes me (as a radio R&D engineer) as the wrong way to go about things.. I fully predict they will become a source of interference for other things. Radio space is precious, it should be use for things of value not because people are too lazy to plug a cable into a socket.



For the camera, I agree with you. For the phone... no, I love it on the phone. Ever had the welds on the power cord contact get iffy? It's happened to me, both on phones and laptops. It's not about "lazy"; it's about taking away a weak point. That's also part of the reason I like Bluetooth headphones: a few phones and iPods of mine died from the headphone jack weld breaking. Cords _suck_.


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## Chaitanya (Sep 14, 2015)

Bennymiata said:


> I believe that wireless charging is the way to go.
> Not only for cameras but phones and electric cars too.
> 
> While the charging is not as fast as a wired connection, it is very convenient.
> A number of car makers will also soon offer a wireless charging pad on the centre console so when in your car, just put your phone on the console, and it will charge your phone on the move.


I do agree the wireless charging is the way to go forwards, it reduces the cable clutter and also no worries about proprietary cables for charging(stupid apple to blame here). Although currently the wireless charging is just not worth the money. Wired chargers now a days have 90%< efficiency whereas for most of the wireless chargers the same energy transfer efficiency is merely 60%. that wasted energy is going to be turned into heat which is bad for electronics. Give it another 3-4 years of development and we will have wireless chargers that will be on par with current wired chargers.


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## GmwDarkroom (Sep 14, 2015)

AcutancePhotography said:


> My wife has one of these wireless charging toothbrushes that she never unplugs. I assume that is also eating power 24/7?


All chargers suck energy while plugged in. Not necessarily a ton of power, but just about all AC->DC conversion involves inductance and rectifiers that trickle juice constantly.

If the toothbrush really is wireless charging, it may have some kind of sensor to turn off when the brush isn't there. Depends on the design. If there's no visible switch or weight-based sensor, then the only thing that could sense the toothbrush would be some kind of electrical field (think like those security gates at a bookstore) that senses the introduction of the chargeable device. That field would be continuously using power.

Hook a kill-a-watt up to it and see what it's drawing. Then figure out whether it's worth it vs. the annoyance of plugging and unplugging.


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## fragilesi (Sep 14, 2015)

lw said:


> Looks pretty much like a 760D to me. Identical.
> The only reason the name is blocked out is because it has a different name in each major territory.



Perhaps also it's because it's a modified version so they don't want to give 760d owners the impression it will work with the new product?


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## cayenne (Sep 14, 2015)

rfdesigner said:


> current tech battery chargers are generally effective, small, fast, efficient.. why would I want to change.
> 
> Wireless charging strikes me (as a radio R&D engineer) as the wrong way to go about things.. I fully predict they will become a source of interference for other things. Radio space is precious, it should be use for things of value not because people are too lazy to plug a cable into a socket.
> 
> ...



Yeah, my first thoughts on this was, I"m guessing the wireless connections are NOT secure and encrypted. Hence, anyone wanting to get someone else's picture (magazines, news, paparazzi) would likely be fairly easily able to sit nearby, monitoring wifi and grab images straight off the camera. A little more sophisticated, you could put images ON the camera, potentially something illegal...its happened with computers before, who'd expect it to be put on their camera?

I know my tinfoil hat isn't as stylish as it used to be, but honestly, I really don't think I need more possessions hooked to the internet, running wifi....and given that many MEDICAL devices are not secured, and vulnerable, how much time do you think a camera company is going to take to carefully consider and plan for secure transmissions to/from their cameras?<P>
I'm not putting my money on Canon....


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## AcutancePhotography (Sep 14, 2015)

GmwDarkroom said:


> Hook a kill-a-watt up to it and see what it's drawing. Then figure out whether it's worth it vs. the annoyance of plugging and unplugging.



That's a good idea, but I might not want to know the answer. I am amazed at the number of "always on" pieces of electronics there are in my house.

I think kill switches on some of the stuff we don't use all the time would be a good idea


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## andrewflo (Sep 14, 2015)

I certainly like that it supports 4K. For video shooters this is good news because it might imply Canon's consideration of 4K in their next generation cameras (5DIV, 6DII, etc.)


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## rfdesigner (Sep 14, 2015)

AcutancePhotography said:


> GmwDarkroom said:
> 
> 
> > Hook a kill-a-watt up to it and see what it's drawing. Then figure out whether it's worth it vs. the annoyance of plugging and unplugging.
> ...



EU rules require "standby" power to be below 1 watt. (cheap chinese tat imported under the radar not included)

That's approx 9kWhr / year. on my electricity bill that's about £1.20p a year. For one device it's not bad, but if you have kids each with several plus a kitchen and garage with more in it could be a problem.

But there's the biggie... safety. Anything electrical left on all the time is potentially a fire hazzard, although it seems the biggest fire hazards are white goods, probably because they have 13A fuses so overcurrent situations can get seriously out of hand. Having seen the fire brigade stats we no longer run anything overnight other than the fridge/freezer.. and even they can catch fire spontaniously.


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## rrcphoto (Sep 14, 2015)

rfdesigner said:


> AcutancePhotography said:
> 
> 
> > GmwDarkroom said:
> ...



that seems pretty low considering that a ATX power supply is max 10W standby.


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## rrcphoto (Sep 14, 2015)

cayenne said:


> Yeah, my first thoughts on this was, I"m guessing the wireless connections are NOT secure and encrypted. Hence, anyone wanting to get someone else's picture (magazines, news, paparazzi) would likely be fairly easily able to sit nearby, monitoring wifi and grab images straight off the camera.



why would you think that - did you even look at connect station the first version? 
authentication happens via NFC - the device has to be paired within cm's of the device.

For other devices connecting into the station - it's standard wifi protocols and authentication.

your tin foil hat needs a technology upgrade.


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## Otara (Sep 15, 2015)

This is a device that takes care of onsite backup, offsite backup, charging, and downloading images off the camera all in one go. Thats the focus, not its power efficiency, which is probably similar to any PC device being used for it currently anyhow.

I think too many of you dont realise how much of a challenge this is for the average person to do consistently, when taking pictures is a more occasional activity. Forgetting to put the battery back in, remembering to recharge it before you need it again, same with memory card, did I download all the pictures or are there new ones, etc etc.

This automates things in a pretty convenient way for many. The main issues will be how practical it actually is in use, as a concept its great.


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## AvTvM (Sep 15, 2015)

Well, looking at Canons first attempt i am not going to hold my breath for 2nd down.

Rather than all the wireless crap (charging, nfc, wifi) i would prefer an "old-fashioned", high-speed and reliable "notebook-type dockingstation" with a wired connector into the bottom of the camera. ;-)


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## Bennymiata (Sep 16, 2015)

I've been thinking about this device and how it would be used.
Imagine coming home from a shoot and you're exhausted. 
Just drop the camera on the device while you clean up and make a cup of coffee (if you can call what you Americans drink as coffee) and when you've unwound a bit and had some coffee, your photos are dowloaded and the camera partially charged.

I reckon it would be pretty usefull and saves pulling cards in and out of the camera and fumbling for plugs and cables.


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## LDS (Sep 16, 2015)

The design is appaling... it looks a VCR from the 1970s... hope it's just a proof of concept.

It's just difficult to understand the target... it looks a consumer oriented device, but this kind of customer usually don't store the camera on a table/shelf, there are better chances it's usually stored in a drawer inside its bag, especially when there are children around, or there's not much space available. Wireless charging is useful for something you use often and put on the charger while not in use.
For a pro working in a studio maybe wireless charging may be useful, but probably not internal storage and "cloud" uploads - there are good chances images should be downloaded while shooting, and in a way supporting the photographer's workflow.
Probably, the most useful accessory Canon can introduce is a charger for more than one battery at a time (AFAIK only the 1D has charger for two batteries).


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## rfdesigner (Sep 16, 2015)

LDS said:


> The design is appaling... it looks a VCR from the 1970s... hope it's just a proof of concept.
> 
> It's just difficult to understand the target... it looks a consumer oriented device, but this kind of customer usually don't store the camera on a table/shelf, there are better chances it's usually stored in a drawer inside its bag, especially when there are children around, or there's not much space available. Wireless charging is useful for something you use often and put on the charger while not in use.
> For a pro working in a studio maybe wireless charging may be useful, but probably not internal storage and "cloud" uploads - there are good chances images should be downloaded while shooting, and in a way supporting the photographer's workflow.
> Probably, the most useful accessory Canon can introduce is a charger for more than one battery at a time (AFAIK only the 1D has charger for two batteries).



Do one of these that's burried in the bottom of a bag, has a 12V cigarette lighter connection as well as a mains input and a HDD in the bottom that does auto-backup whenever the camera's in the bag and you might have some interest... a wifi connection which means all your images become immediately avaialable on you home wifi network the moment you come in the door would be nice.


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## kanehi (Sep 21, 2015)

Wireless charging would be nice in addition to replaceable batteries. The battery can charge overnight and be ready the next day. If Samsung can do wireless charging with their Galaxy phones why can't Canon. Qi wireless chargers are affordable. I also like the idea of wireless functions and transfers and hopefully it'll have GPS.


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