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In the July-September 2016 issue we looked at ways of viewing your EOS images on your TV at home – a nice way to share your photos with friends and family, or even as a quick way to review your day's shoot. Since the launch of the D30 back in 2000, every EOS camera has featured a video out or HDMI socket whcih can be connected directly to most TVs.

More recently, Canon has also introduced the Connect Station CS100 which offers additional features. Learn a little more about the CS100.

Canon's Connect Station CS100 is a photo-storage device that allows you to save, view and share your photos and movies, all from one single accessible location. First introduced in 2015 this novel device is poised to alter the way we handle and interact with our images at home.

Look, no computer

The Canon Connect Station CS100 is a solution if you want to by-pass a computer and just show your images on a television screen. At the heart of the unit is a 1TB drive – not large by today’s standards, but it will hold over 100,000 JPEG images with a file size of around 10MB each.

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Importing your images

There are three ways to import your images from your EOS camera.

NFC
nfcIf you have a camera with NFC (near field communication) – EOS 6D, 70D, 80D, 750D, 760D, M3 – switch the CS100 and the camera on and touch the N-mark symbol on the camera to the top of the CS100 unit. The unit will beep a couple of times and start downloading the images wirelessly. If you have already downloaded images from the card, only new images will be transferred.

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The easiest method, and the one we used, is to take the media card out of the camera and insert it into a slot on the front of the CS100, after removing the rubber cover. There are slots for CF and SD/SDHC/SDXC, which makes the CS100 compatible with every EOS digital camera. The transfer of images is automatic.

USB
You can also transfer images via a wired connection. Connect a USB cable to your camera and plug the other end into the USB port.

Take your time

What does the CS100 do that can’t be handled by the slide show feature of EOS cameras? Well, first of all, it takes the images off your media card and provides safe storage (you can backup the files to an external drive). Second, it allows you to create albums and slide shows from selected images without deleting the remaining images.

But that is just the start. Every time we use it we find new features. We started by thinking it was only suitable for photographers who did not like computers, but we were wrong. The CS100 is now part of our television entertainment centre.

Firmware update

Canon issues firmware updates from time to time. These can be installed automatically from the fourth tab. You will need an Ethernet cable plugged into the back of the unit or a Wi-Fi connection.

The release of version 2.0.4 (July 2016) has added extra functionality to the CS100, including batch uploads of up to 1,000 images from a computer to the CS100, batch copying of images from the CS100 to a hard disk drive and enhanced functionality via the new smartphone apps for iOS and Android.

Connect Station App

The Connect Station App is a free application from Canon for Apple iOS or Android smartphones and tablets that, when connected to a Connect Station CS100 via Wi-Fi, enables quick and easy browsing and sharing of your images.

The key features available when using the Connect Station App are as follows:

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Creating a slideshow

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1) Import your images
Import your images via your preferred method – NFC, wireless or via media card. Once the automatic process is complete, press the ‘Home’ button on the remote unit and then select ‘Image’ using the cross-key wheel, followed by ‘Set’. You will see an ever-changing display of all the images.

2) Create an album
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If you select ‘Album’ from the ‘Home’ page, the screen will change to show you albums grouped by date. This is a great way to browse through images taken at a particular event or outing. If you select ‘New album’, you can create a new selection of images, choosing the best images from, say, a wedding, to create a slide show. ‘Edit album’ allows you to choose multiple images to add to the album.

Once you have created an album, you can go back and remove one or more of the selected images. This does not delete the image altogether, it simply removes it from the album.

3) Choose your slideshow settings
Go to the 'Home’ screen and select ‘Preferences’. This is the control centre of the CS100, with six tabs offering a range of options. You can choose how the slide show runs.

4) Choose the album to view
Go back to the home page and select ‘Albums’, the ‘Choose album’. Select the album you want using the left or right arrows and press ‘Set’. The first image will fill the screen and a slide show will begin with the images changing according to your chosen settings.

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Canon Connect Station CS100

Meet this neat 1TB home hub storage device from Canon – an alternative way to store, share and enjoy your EOS images.

Camera compatibility: All EOS cameras.

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