Why is the CL does not connect with "Leica FOTOS“

[yst]

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Could someone help to explain why a CL is not able to connect with the Leica FOTOS app?  After multiple trial, each time it comes to show on my iPhone 6 as: "Could not connect, Check camera WI-FI is turned on and try again", but the CL WLAN is turned on, and in the "Connection type Create WLAN"...  Do I need to go find a dedicated Leica app for connecting with a CL only app?   

Also noticed that on a D-Lux 7, when the Wi-Fi is on, there is a blue light to indicated the Wi-Fi on, but seems not seeing any light on the CL when the WLAN is turned on, is it normal? 

 

Edited October 5, 2019 by yst

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica L-Mount

[ramarren]

Connects fine for me. 
Try exiting all apps on your iPhone, restarting, then try connecting. 
 

And no: When the CL is connected, the LCD is black and nonfunctional. When data is being transferred, I believe the IO indicator light flashes to indicate activity. 

Edited October 5, 2019 by ramarren

[yst]

2 hours ago, ramarren said:

Connects fine for me. 
Try exiting all apps on your iPhone, restarting, then try connecting. 
 

And no: When the CL is connected, the LCD is black and nonfunctional. When data is being transferred, I believe the IO indicator light flashes to indicate activity. 

Thank you, all tried but not working.  Some people told me the same camera works on certain phones, but not some other ones...   Looks like Leica does have a very very bad quality PHOTOS app, look forward to Leica update it to a better working condition!   

[tommonego@gmail.com]

Fotos works for me on an LG, the camera has to be on WiFi, otherwise it disconnects or won't connect. Works very well for me especially with the phone on horizontal where the image will fill the screen.

[Jeffry Abt]

54 minutes ago, yst said:

Looks like Leica does have a very very bad quality PHOTOS app, look forward to Leica update it to a better working condition!   

I of course always appreciate updates, but IMO the PHOTOS app. works well and  is a good product. 

[ramarren]

1 hour ago, yst said:

Thank you, all tried but not working.  Some people told me the same camera works on certain phones, but not some other ones...   Looks like Leica does have a very very bad quality PHOTOS app, look forward to Leica update it to a better working condition!   

What revision of iOS are you running? 

I used Leica FOTOs very reliably on my iPhone 6 with up to iOS 11, and use it now on my iPhone 8 Plus with iOS 13.

The kinds of issue you're reporting are almost always a specific issue in your iPhone configuration that's getting in the way. Did you actually force quit the apps before you rebooted the phone? (Force quit: double click on the home button, slide each app up off the screen. Then hold the power button until you get the slider to turn the phone off ... don't turn the phone off, press and hold the Home button until the phone displays the normal home screen. That action clears RAM.)

Saying Leica has a "very very bad quality app" is silly ... it's obvious that some people have no problems with it, and it certainly works fine for me. Can't be a "very very bad app" if even two people have no problem with it. You have to figure out what the problem with your configuration is and fix that. 

G

[cirke]

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On my iPhone 8plus or iPad Pro the app works perfectly 

Edited October 6, 2019 by cirke

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica L-Mount

[tommonego@gmail.com]

Not a bad app at all just have to do what it wants.

1) Camera is on WiFi.

2) To connect open Fotos, take a snap of the bar code on the camera. I had to redo this when I upgraded thew CL firmware last time.

3) I always restart Fotos when I do this, tap the camera choice and it should go to a screen of the photos on your memory card.

4) To operate the camera click remote, you are now controlling the camera from your phone, the EVF and LCD are off. 

5) You can make adjustments to how you want the camera to work, it defaults to A but you can choose Manual and with TL lenses any other mode. The adjustments are made by a slider on the app.

A funny story, I was taking pictures on a bridge watching for the right sunset time, the CL was on a tripod I was using Fotos. A friend drives by and the next day she asks "I saw you taking pictures on the bridge but why were you staring at you phone?"

 

[jaapv]

iPhone7, IOS 12.4.1, works flawlessly. A bit slow, that is the only negative I can find.

[yst]

On 10/5/2019 at 10:09 PM, ramarren said:

What revision of iOS are you running? 

I used Leica FOTOs very reliably on my iPhone 6 with up to iOS 11, and use it now on my iPhone 8 Plus with iOS 13.

The kinds of issue you're reporting are almost always a specific issue in your iPhone configuration that's getting in the way. Did you actually force quit the apps before you rebooted the phone? (Force quit: double click on the home button, slide each app up off the screen. Then hold the power button until you get the slider to turn the phone off ... don't turn the phone off, press and hold the Home button until the phone displays the normal home screen. That action clears RAM.)

Saying Leica has a "very very bad quality app" is silly ... it's obvious that some people have no problems with it, and it certainly works fine for me. Can't be a "very very bad app" if even two people have no problem with it. You have to figure out what the problem with your configuration is and fix that. 

G

My iPhone 6 is on 12.4.2, tried all those above but not working... (however works with the old "Image Shuttle" for D-Lux 7, also on "Leica CL" for CL, but both cameras NOT working with "Leica POTOS"...).   Saying it is a very bad app, is not because it is not working after much trial, after having several "professionals" helped in photo equipment stores & Camera repair centre...   And on the App Store you can see the ratings for "Leica PHOTOS" is only 1.7 or 2 out of 5-star on both phone systems.... if it is not a "bad" product, it should have a higher rating than 1.7 ~ 2 stars I think 😆  

[ramarren]

Try deleting the app and re-downloading it. 

The fact that you and quote-unquote "professionals" haven't gotten it to work doesn't say anything. You just haven't figured out what's wrong yet. And it's something specific to your phone's configuration, since it works on so many other people's phones. 

I don't give a hoot what the ratings are. I never look at the ratings.

[LocalHero1953]

Well, it doesn't work well for me with the CL (or TL2 or SL) for image management. Aside from connection issues, the rate of transfer of files from camera to phone is painfully slow (at least 15 secs per image). Once connected it is OK for taking pictures, but it is a bit sluggish even for that - roughly 1 in 5 shots misfires - though I hardly ever use it for that purpose. I guess it's OK for that if you're not after the decisive moment.

And yes, I often have the connection problems described by the OP. One thing that sometimes works is to use the phone's wifi tools to connect to the camera rather than Fotos. Otherwise I suspect the phone is looking at all the wifi options in the neighbourhood and getting confused. Once I can see that my phone has connected to the camera's wifi, I can then use Fotos to operate the camera or manage files. This only works because I have previously connected the Fotos app to the camera, so my phone already knows the connection password etc.

All of the above is obviously all my experience and opinion. The ratings in the app store ARE relevant because they indicate the experience of others in using the app: even though there are a fair number of people here with good experiences of the app, the ratings suggest there are plenty who have given up and don't bother.

A big problem for software developers is getting their stuff to run on different systems. Getting websites to run on different devices (phone, tablet, desktop, touch, pen, mouse) and in different browsers (Chrome, Edge, IE, Safari, Firefox) is one example. Getting apps to run on different phone flavours must be another, and amount of effort put in to test each phone costs money. It is not surprising that a small developer like Leica has not got this sorted out for all devices.

[jaapv]

Yes, but many ratings date from before the  updates which ironed out most of the bugs. Connecting is without problems now. It IS very slow, though. As for image transfer, I will only use it for uploading one or two JPGs for social media.

I think that the problems of the OP must be in his phone. My old iPhone6 struggles with WiFi as well. When there is a "loud" network around it refuses to find others.

[nicci78]

If you have an iPhone buy the SD card to Lightning from Apple. It works flawlessly, every time you need it. And it is way faster and more reliable than any WiFi connection. 
 

No need to fiddle with badly designed and poorly programmed App. 

 

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Edited October 7, 2019 by nicci78

[jaapv]

Yes I have it and it works well. However not as a remote and you have to remove the handgrip. 

I would like to have FOTOS for OSX, though. 

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica L-Mount

[ramarren]

It would be great to have a macOS version of Fotos too.

I use Leica FOTOs extensively. Last job I did with it was tethered capture of 600 Polaroid prints on a copy setup. Worked flawlessly from end to end, not a single hitch.

Yes, transferring raw files with it is painfully slow. Not a problem: I use a card reader for that unless I just want one or two files moved. I don't use it for image management at all. 

G

[LocalHero1953]

5 hours ago, jaapv said:

Yes, but many ratings date from before the  updates which ironed out most of the bugs. Connecting is without problems now. It IS very slow, though. As for image transfer, I will only use it for uploading one or two JPGs for social media.

I think that the problems of the OP must be in his phone. My old iPhone6 struggles with WiFi as well. When there is a "loud" network around it refuses to find others.

Reading a couple of other threads.....not quite true! Clearly it works seamlessly for some, but not for others. Others also have found switching off cellphone data helps. But that is not a sign of a perfect system.

Edited October 7, 2019 by LocalHero1953

[jaapv]

If it works for some but not for all it is an issue but not a bug. Unclear where the cause lies.

[LocalHero1953]

10 minutes ago, jaapv said:

If it works for some but not for all it is an issue but not a bug. Unclear where the cause lies.

Well, we won't get anywhere by arguing about the definition of a bug. As I wrote in my earlier post, all software designed to work on the internet faces an immensely complex minefield of devices, operating systems and browsers. I have just been through a similar development process with a new website which took a lot of rewriting to make it work with mice, trackballs, pens, fingers and touch pads, and with different browsers. And whatever the developer did, it would not work properly with Internet Explorer (which is no longer supported by MS).

This bears all the hallmarks of something similar. The OP is using a well known device and OS, but just about every android manufacturer puts their own skin on the device OS. Any app developer, especially those that utilise the phone hardware and connectivity, has to do a lot of work to make it work consistently on all devices. I am using a Huawei P10, so it is difficult to understand why Fotos does not work well on the one device that Leica should have good access to.

[jaapv]

The iPhone6 won't take the latest updates any more. In that sense it is an obsolete device. I agree about the complexity you describe.