Camera companies need to find a way to get people to take pictures on more than just their phones, and so Nikon’s latest approach is actually kind of novel: make sure every camera talks to a phone.
From April this year, the “majority of newly released Nikon cameras” will play nicely with phones and tablets thanks to an app Nikon has been working on called “SnapBridge” which will allow the two devices — phone and camera — to talk, handshake, and send photos from one to the other.
Nikon hasn’t said much about the app, outside of that it will use Bluetooth LE (Low Energy) to talk to its cameras, providing a constant link for devices that only transfers when the device needs to, rather than keeping the wireless link open until the battery runs out on either or one is switched off.
The app won’t come with the camera, though, so you’ll need to grab it yourself, and Nikon plans to make it available via the Apple App Store and Google Play Store within the next few months.
What Nikon hasn’t said, however, is what cameras specifically the app will support, showing in the picture a P610, but not necessarily citing any specific units.
There’s a hope this includes the D500 and D5, and an expectation that it will likely include the advanced compacts recently announced by the company in the DL series, but Nikon isn’t saying anything about specific units.
Likewise, the company hasn’t said if existing Nikon models will qualify, specifically those with wireless already built in.
We suspect that this won’t be the case, and if these models work on WiFi rather than Bluetooth, you can almost already bet the fate is sealed for the SnapBridge app compatibility, but we’ll keep bugging Nikon all the same.
