How to use SnapBridge to share photos

How to connect the SnapBridge app to your smartphone or tablet

First off, download the SnapBridge app to your device. Make sure your device has Bluetooth turned on and fully charge the batteries on your camera and device before getting started.

Once that’s done, you’re ready to connect. On your camera menu, navigate to the Setup Menu (the spanner icon), then select ‘Connect to Smart Device’. You can choose either Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to connect. I use Wi-Fi on my Z6II but use whichever works best with your camera.

Select ‘Start Pairing’. You should see the name of your device come up. When you see it, go to your smart device (phone or tablet) and open the SnapBridge app. Choose the type of camera you’re pairing with.

Note: SnapBridge lets you pair up to five compatible cameras at once.

When you see your camera’s name and serial number come up in SnapBridge, select it. You’ll get on-screen instructions on how to connect your specific camera. Tap ‘Understood’. Your device will search for cameras to pair with. You will see a ‘Connecting to camera’ icon in SnapBridge. Wait for it to connect (this could take a little while).

Once connected, the prompt to ‘Select an accessory’ will come up on your smart device. Select your camera to confirm pairing. You will get a Bluetooth pairing request on your smart device with a code. Select ‘Pair’ when you see it, then immediately press the ‘OK’ button on your camera. Waiting too long to press it could mess up the pairing, so be sure to do it quickly.

You should see a confirmation in SnapBridge saying your camera is paired. Press ‘OK’ in SnapBridge, and you should be set. The camera you’re paired with will appear in the box at the bottom of your screen.

Basic SnapBridge controls

There are three icons at the top of the menu in SnapBridge: the camera icon, the phone icon and the cloud icon. The camera icon lets you access the photography menu, where you can see what camera you’re paired with, set it to download pictures to your smart device and engage remote photography.

The phone icon lets you see which images have been transferred to your smart device. I have the app set to save JPEG copies automatically to my phone, so you can see thumbnails of all the most recent images I’ve taken and transferred to my device. Here you can see some images I took on a walk at the park.

The cloud icon lets you manage Nikon Image Space, Nikon’s cloud service that automatically backs up your photos to the cloud. You can set it to just save two-megapixel backups or upload full image files for a fee.

Using remote photography

The reason I downloaded SnapBridge in the first place was so I could use this feature for self-portraits. It turns your smart device (in my case, an iPhone) into a remote for your camera, letting you see what it sees and control the settings so you can set up a photo and fire the shutter from wherever.

To activate remote photography mode, select ‘Remote Photography’ at the bottom of the camera menu in SnapBridge. Your smart device will use Wi-Fi to connect to your camera.

Your phone screen will display similarly to your camera’s live view mode – you will see what it sees. You’ll also notice icons to switch between stills and video, plus a round shutter button you can tap to take your photo or start recording.

This mode allows control of just about all the important settings from your phone, including White Balance, shutter speed, aperture and ISO. There’s also a timer mode you can set to various lengths (three seconds, five seconds or ten seconds), a must-have for self-portraits.

Updating your camera firmware

When a new version of your camera’s firmware is available, you will see a message at the top of the app under the menu bar. Tap ‘OK’, and follow the directions to download the newest firmware version.

First, you’ll download the new firmware to your device. Then, you’ll transfer it wirelessly to your camera’s memory card. Lastly, you’ll access the camera menu, go to ‘Firmware version’ in the set-up menu (spanner icon) and select update. Your camera will do the rest.

Transferring media via SnapBridge 

It’s easy to set SnapBridge to send JPEGs of your photos to your smart device automatically. Click the ‘Download pictures’ option in the camera menu, then follow the steps to connect to your camera via Wi-Fi, and you’re all set. Each image you take will be automatically backed up to your smart device. Keep in mind that these are JPEG images, not RAW files. You won’t have as much editing latitude, but it’s handy for quick Instagram posts.

And there you have it! Your starter’s guide to using Nikon’s SnapBridge app. Let’s hope it makes your job as a photographer a little easier.