How long it really takes a photo to get from the camera to your phone — measured on 748 real photos from 20 camera models tethered with CloudTether over the last 30 days. Not lab numbers.
| Camera | Files | Median size | Median time | 90% under | Median MB/s | Photos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canon EOS R7 | JPEG | 0.8 MB | 0.03 s | 0.15 s | 22.7 | 185 |
| Canon EOS R5 Mark II | JPEG | 1.1 MB | 0.06 s | 0.10 s | 16.8 | 108 |
| Nikon D850 | JPEG / NEF | 19.0 MB | 0.35 s | 1.20 s | 86.5 | 75 |
| Fujifilm X-S20 | JPEG | 16.9 MB | 0.39 s | 0.41 s | 42.9 | 25 |
| Canon EOS R1 | CR3 (RAW) | 33.4 MB | 1.46 s | 1.99 s | 22.8 | 23 |
| Nikon Z 8 | JPEG / NEF | 12.9 MB | 0.34 s | 0.70 s | 41.5 | 22 |
| Panasonic Lumix S5 II | JPEG | 9.9 MB | 0.40 s | 0.49 s | 25.0 | 14 |
| Canon EOS Rebel T5i | JPEG | 2.2 MB | 0.12 s | 0.28 s | 14.6 | 12 |
| Nikon D5000 | NEF (RAW) | 10.4 MB | 0.86 s | 0.99 s | 12.2 | 11 |
| Camera | Files | Median size | Median time | 90% under | Median MB/s | Photos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canon EOS R5 Mark II | JPEG | 1.1 MB | 0.20 s | 0.26 s | 5.0 | 10 |
Every number comes from CloudTether's anonymised app logs. For each photo we take the time from the app starting the download to the full file being verified on the phone, using sub-second timestamps. When a camera fires a burst, each file's clock starts when the previous one finished, so queueing isn't counted twice.
Only camera and link combinations with at least 10 photos are shown, and each row reflects the phones, cables and settings those photographers used — so treat them as real-world typical, not a lab benchmark. Sony bodies don't appear yet: too few Sony photos were logged in this window to publish a reliable median.
The time to upload to the cloud is separate: it depends on your mobile data or Wi-Fi and happens in the background while you keep shooting.
USB. On the same Canon EOS R5 Mark II, the median JPEG reached the phone in 0.06 s over USB versus 0.20 s over the camera's Wi-Fi — roughly three times faster — with less variation shot to shot.
It scales with file size. A 33 MB Canon EOS R1 CR3 took a median 1.46 s over USB; a 10 MB Nikon D5000 NEF took 0.86 s. JPEGs of 1–3 MB typically land in well under a quarter of a second.
Yes — these figures stop when the full file is verified on the phone. The upload to Dropbox, Google Drive or a gallery then depends on your mobile data or Wi-Fi, and runs in the background while you keep shooting.
From CloudTether's anonymised app logs: for each photo, the time from the app starting the download to the full file being verified on the phone, with sub-second timestamps. Only camera and link combinations with at least 10 photos are shown.