It depends on the camera. My Canon G6 can be controlled with the included ZOOMBROWSER software! You can change pretty much ALL the camera setting and also focus/zoom! The view of what the camera is seeing comes up on the monitor! Haven't had time to explore this functionality, but it would be great for studio, product type shots and macro work! A laptop would really be handy for this as you could use it "out in the field" in some situations! A mobile studio in a sense! L8r! Joe