Those who make ends meet shooting weddings, sporting events and similar engagements are probably dipping into the D800 / D3S / D4 territory, which makes the decision to exclude every body except the D3200 from the WU-1a's compatibility list all the more baffling. But there's no denying that it's a novice-to-amateur rig. The camera itself is pretty stout for the price - plenty of megapixels, a compact frame and a reasonably outstanding 1080p movie mode. That DSLR is the D3200, a lower-end unit that's selling for around $700 with an 18-55mm kit lens. MacOS: Click the wireless LAN icon in the menu bar.Shop the best photography equipment, digital cameras, lenses, pro audio & video, professional gear & musical instruments from top brands - Canon, Nikon.Just so we're crystal clear, the WU-1a is only compatible with a single Nikon DSLR. The computer will initiate a connection to the camera.Make sure you carve out a special place for it in your camera bag - the only thing more painful than spending $60 on one, is spending another $60 for a replacement. We have to say, though, that the WU-1a is shockingly easy to lose. Sure, it'd be amazing if it were integrated directly into the D3200's body instead of being an optional, direct-connect apparatus, but perhaps that'll come to fruition in the D3200's successor. Speaking of which, you will have to open the left side panel to plug this guy in, and that door flap will just remain awkwardly propped open the entire time that you're using it. It's smaller than the diameter of a US quarter, and no thicker than the side panel to which it attaches.
If they aren't, there's a quick press-and-hold-and-pray scenario that's spelled out in the user guide. (For what it's worth, we tested the unit and the app on a Galaxy Nexus with Android 4.1, and it worked flawlessly even with Jelly Bean.) If you're lucky, you'll see a "Nikon" network show up in the list a simple tap will have the two talking to one another. Plug the module into the D3200, flip the camera on, and surf over to the WiFi section in the Settings menu of any Android 2.3+ device. Searching for "Wireless Mobile Adapter" will lead you to a poorly titled "WirelessMobileAdapterUtility" program from Nikon. Hoping to change ISO sensitivity, aperture or shutter speed via the app? Keep dreaming.You'll also need an app, of course. Simply holding the single button on the WU-1a for 10 seconds will achieve the reset. Otherwise, you may only see a "locked" network showing up in your WiFi settings. What we didn't know was precisely how limited that feature set is. App usabilityWe knew from the outset that the WU-1a has a pretty limited feature set. As far as multi-device setup goes, this was one of the easier ones that we've encountered. If your connection is solid, you'll see all four of the available options lit up if not, you'll be prompted to hop into WiFi settings and patch things up first. We'd call it spartan, in the effort of accuracy. The app itself is lightweight. From there, however, your Android device will automatically suck down the full resolution version of the photo. Compose a shot and take it. We'll walk through each one below.When you select the first, "Use the camera to take pictures," you'll simply continue to use the D3200 as you would. If you notice something that's not quite perfect, you can easily tweak your camera and reshoot. Wish that you could force it to send over resized versions instead of clogging up your Galaxy Nexus' internal storage? Too bad.Using this mode allows you to easily review the shots you're taking at a macro level, with the ability to pinch-and-zoom in tight on images to inspect minute details. The upside here is that there's no compression in the transfer the downside is that the app provides no customization options whatsoever in this department. Perhaps it's a bug that's only seen with Android 4.1, but there it is. In our experience, the slider didn't work. We'd actually recommend using an Android tablet to best take advantage of this being able to zoom into a full-res image on a TF700 or the like would be hugely valuable if you're trying to scrutinize details mid-shoot.The "Take pictures remotely" option is supposedly toggle-able by just sliding a switch while in the mode that we just spoke of. So, even on a pixel-packed Galaxy Nexus, you still can't get a "better look" at what's downrange until you shoot the image and then review the full-resolution result.Along with the live view look, you'll also see the shutter speed, aperture, available image space and battery level. We're guessing it's a pixel-for-pixel representation of what would appear on the D3200's own VGA-level display, and there's no scaling whatsoever. From here, our D3200 took around two seconds to send over a live view of what its lens was seeing, but annoyingly, you only get what amounts to a thumbnail view of the proposed shot. Nikon Wireless Mobile Utility Computer How To Direct YourIt'd be hugely valuable to have the entire bottom of the screen act as a trigger, so you can focus on what's downrange of the lens instead of how to direct your fingernail to land on the speck-of-a-button that'll trigger the shutter.Sadly, that's just the start of the bad news. If Nikon won't allow the live view look to be expanded, at least make the shutter button size customizable. Just look at the blank, unused space in that screenshot above, and then ask yourself: "Why?" We have no good answer. It's also stupefying just how bantam the on-screen shutter button is. Worse still, in our testing with the Galaxy Nexus, the app refused to work properly while the D3200 was in "Manual" mode. At this point, you're probably wondering what exactly the point of this app is given the severe limitations of control, and that's a fair thing to wonder. Hoping to change ISO sensitivity, aperture or shutter speed via the app? Keep dreaming. Wire h library downloadEven if you've selected one of those alternate modes, pressing the shutter button in the Android app fires off a single shot right away. Select continuous, or the famed 10-seconds-and-then-shoot, and the app just ignores it. Those folks aren't liars.It's also worth mentioning that the app outright ignores any shutter mode outside of a single shot. You may also notice a litany of poor reviews in Google Play. The idea was to pop the D3200 into manual mode, force the shutter to stay open for 30 to 60 seconds while on a tripod, and use the camera to trigger the shutter as to avoid camera shake from mashing the button on the body itself. Settings chosen in the other priority modes transferred properly.That's a shame, too, because one of the things we were hoping to accomplish here was to use an Android phone as a remote trigger for long-exposure shots at night. In our experience, it sucked down 35 full-resolution JPEGs without so much as a hiccup. Of course, you can bet your carrier will compress that 10MB JPEG before it ever hits your social network of choice, so if you're looking to actually retain some level of quality in your share, we'd still recommend doing it the old-fashioned way: by using a real computer with a legitimate broadband connection.The fourth and final menu option, "Download pictures from the camera," is useful when you've shot a gallery's worth just before connecting to your phone. Choose it, and you're able to sift through shots you've imported from the D3200 and share them via any number of services - Google+, Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Evernote, you name it. While our first day with the unit was largely trouble-free (from a connection standpoint), subsequent days weren't so kind. (Also, if you're looking for these snaps on a Mac or PC later, you'll find 'em within the newly created Nikon_WU folder -> Capture.)You may also notice a litany of poor reviews in Google Play, mostly concerning crashing or disconnect issues.
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