iOS 17 Breaks USB Camera Tethering

Update 12/6/2023: Although Apple informed us that: “There is no workaround Developer Technical Support can provide”, we found a solution that’s immune to the card contents enumeration bug described below. It is released in ShutterCount Mobile 6.5.1 and ShutterCount Pro Mobile 6.5.1.

It seems Apple will also fix it in iOS/iPadOS 17.2. Please update your software accordingly. The next update to Kuuvik Capture will also contain our solution – as well as many other exciting things.

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While most professional users know that you should NEVER EVER install a dot zero version of any operating system on production devices, and that you have to evaluate all your apps on a new operating system before moving to it, I’m going to save you save some time by discussing why you should avoid updating to iOS/iPadOS 17 in case you rely on Kuuvik Capture or ShutterCount – or any other USB tethering/remote control app.

There are two separate issues. There are also workarounds for them, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t a pain in the ass.

Card contents enumeration is stuck at 0% when there are no images on the card, or no card in the camera

Due to peculiarities of iOS USB tethering that Apple mandates, we must enumerate card contents before connecting to a Canon EOS camera. Otherwise the camera would almost certainly crash with an ERROR 70. But in iOS 17 that enumeration never completes when you have no card in the camera or have an empty card.

And you will be greeted with the stuck progress indicator that you see on the screen shot on the right, followed by an error message that the connection cannot be established.

The workaround is to have at least one image on the card, in which case iOS will be happy to go ahead with the connection.

Apple Lightning to USB Camera Adapter works only if you connect the USB cable to the adapter last

If you do not obey this rule, iOS 17 will not detect the camera at all. Not even in Photos, or in any other app.

That is, you must remember to do the follwing: 1) connect the adapter to your iPhone/iPad, 2) connect the USB cable to the camera, and lastly 3) connect the other end of the USB cable to the adapter.

Kuuvik Capture 6.1 Available Now

We’ve released a minor update to Kuuvik Capture earlier this week. It brings Canon EOS R7 support and mostly OS compatibility updates.

On the Mac the app follows the system-wide renaming of Preferences to Settings in macOS 13. Plus, you can now set the app’s appearance (that is, light or dark) independent of your Mac’s system setting.

The new Appearance setting in the Mac version

On iPadOS 16 this release restores the ability to use the actual device name during pairing.

In the new operating system Apple finally fixed the severe issues that plagued multi-touch in iPadOS 15, so we’ve updated our touch detection code to take advantage of the corrected behavior.

The iPadOS bug where the OS may fail to properly close the app before updating it, and subsequently, not knowing which one to run, greets users with a pitch black screen, affects Kuuvik Capture as well. The fix is quite easy: force quit and restart the app (both copies) to wipe corrupted state information. See our knowledge base article for detailed instructions.

The update is free for existing users, and is available on the respective App Store.

Improved Wi-Fi Pairing in ShutterCount and Kuuvik Capture

The recently released Kuuvik Capture 6 and ShutterCount 6 brings a very convenient feature for those who use both apps on the same Mac or iOS device with Wi-Fi connection to a Canon camera.

Previously only the Mac’s/iPhone’s/iPad’s name was programmed into the camera’s menu by default, and in case you used multiple wireless tethering apps with the same camera, you had to manually edit the names to be able to distinguish between the apps.

Now we prefix the device’s name with an app identifier. Kuuvik Capture is referred to as “KC”, ShutterCount as “SC” and ShutterCount Pro as “SCP”.

App and device names as programmed into the camera’s menu by our apps.

These names are generated and programmed into the camera’s menu during the pairing process, but as always, you can change them in the camera afterwards.

Kuuvik Capture 6 and ShutterCount 6 are available for your Mac and mobile device in the respective App Store. These updates are free for existing ShutterCount (all versions) and Kuuvik Capture (5.0 or later) customers.

Ultralight Tethering with Kuuvik Capture

With the release of Kuuvik Capture for iPad, a decade-old dream started to unfold: enjoying all the benefits of tethered shooting out in the field without the burden of carrying around a notebook.

Once the very first beta of the app was ready, a quest for the optimal iPad size and a lightweight mounting solution had begun. It took several weeks of research to arrive at a solution that I’m using for the last year.

My Cambo Actus digital view camera with the Canon EOS R5 acting as the recording medium controlled by Kuuvik Capture running on an iPad Air 4. The image shows one of the app’s unique features: multi-point simultaneous live view.

The iPad had to have a USB-C port and large enough screen while keeping the weight down. Quite early during the development we’ve realized that the sweet spot is the ~11″ size. At the end I chose the Air 4 as it weighs a little less than the Pro, costs less, and for a dedicated tethering controller the Pro doesn’t provide anything worthwhile over it.

Storage-wise 64GB is plenty for me, especially since I don’t have to shoot a myriad of images to compensate for possible errors. With Kuuvik Capture I only keep the perfect ones. 64GB also turned out to be more than enough for a 5-hour Perseid shooting session, where I shot a ton of long exposure images.

Mounting the iPad was a headache, though. Generally I’m not happy with buying stuff made by Chinese copycats, but it turned out that nobody else makes any competent iPad holder… So I ended up getting a Sunwayfoto PC-01 tablet bracket.

Attaching the iPad bracket to the tripod was an easier job to accomplish with products from reputable European and US manufacturers: my choices being the Manfrotto 386B-1 nano clamp and RRS’ BC-18 micro ball head.

You can see the completed mounting solution below.

The lightweight mounting solution.

The torque the whole iPad assembly exerts on the ball head’s screw is significant, and could easily loosen it from the Manfrotto clamp. So a drop of Vibra-Tite Blue 121 or Loctite Blue 242 removable threadlocker is highly recommended to avoid issues down the road.

You don’t want your iPad to land on a sharp rock after all…

Another possible source of inconvenient moments is the nano clamp itself. If you don’t tighten it enough. Or if it breaks… iPad meets a sharp rock situation again.

To mitigate this risk, I’m using a simple security tether between the tripod and the iPad bracket.

Security tether.

It is just a Think Tank Red Whip and a small carabiner.

Speaking of tethers, I have to talk about the cables that connect the iPad with my cameras. In plural, since I’m using a 5DS R and a R5 for tethered shooting, both having different USB connectors.

We learned through the years of supporting camera connectivity apps that you should avoid cheap Chinese junk cables and adapters. They are unreliable and most of the time do not work at all. We maintain a list of certified cables and adapters, and can’t stress enough the importance of high quality cabling.

With the R5 I’m using the cable that was included in the box, and with the 5DS R Cable Matter’s 1m long USB-C to Micro B 3.1 cable is my preferred choice.

Why not Wi-Fi? Well, Canon’s Wi-Fi connectivity implementation is a pain to use and is significantly slower than USB. Not to mention that I prefer not to be surrounded by Wi-Fi smog while enjoying nature.

The whole mount packs relatively flat, which I can slip into an outer pocket of my backpack or shooting vest. Even the iPad fits easily into a side pocket of my old Domke vest.

iPad holder and mount packed flat.

How light it is?

The holder and the mount (as shown above) plus the security tether weighs 357 grams. Add 458g for the iPad Air 4 and 83g for the two cables. 898g in total. Not bad for a pro-level tethering solution.

You may have noticed, but I’d like to mention it explicitly: with Kuuvik Capture you don’t need additional boxes, batteries, etc. Just the iPad and a USB cable. Or the camera’s built-in Wi-Fi in case wireless floats your boat.

I’m really happy with this solution, which perfectly augments the app’s ease of use.

Honestly, I feel like I’m cheating when shooting with this rig. It’s so easy to accomplish previously complex tasks, such as obtaining perfect focus with high-megapixel cameras or exposure evaluation. Not to mention the sheer joy of seeing just-captured images on a large screen.

  ☕ ☕ ☕

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