anyone use a wireless SD camera cards (eye-fi)

12/22/2009 01:57:32 PM · #2

I have the Pro version, and it's definitely pretty cool. It's especially nice for event photography... I was able to take shots and wirelessly transfer the shots to my laptop so people could immediately see them.

I use it with a CF adapter in my D300. I just got a D300s (in fact, I haven't even turned it on yet!), and it has dual card slots, so I'll be able to shoot RAW on a CF card, and small JPG on the EyeFi... I'm looking forward to tinkering with it more.

Message edited by author 2009-12-22 13:58:20.

chromeydome

12/22/2009 02:04:30 PM · #3

Originally posted by alanfreed:

So they will connect to a wifi laptop directly, no need to take along a wireless network router? I thought they only connected to your network or authorized hotspots. Or is this a feature of the Pro version only? Pretty cool!

ETA: never mind: I see now the comparison chart: ad hoc transfers for the pro cards

Message edited by author 2009-12-22 14:05:55.

alanfreed

Nikon Z9

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

12/22/2009 02:14:11 PM · #4

Yup... that's one of the reasons I went with the pro version (that, and the ability to do RAW). You set up an ad hoc network on the laptop, and you don't need anything additional in the way of a router, etc.

Originally posted by chromeydome:

soup

Canon EOS-30D

12/22/2009 02:35:36 PM · #5

i think i will get one at some point.

be watching them on and off for awhile now.

sabphoto

Samsung Galaxy S8/S8+

01/04/2010 09:34:55 PM · #6

ok update...this card ROCKS!!! I got the basic version for my wifes little pocket camera and had a ball on New Year's eve leaving the computer open and snapping pictures then running back to see them popup on the computer. We set it up to also upload to a flickr page but only when we protect the image on the camera (wife wanted control over what gets put on web, even though it is a private profile). I am worried about the battery use, they seemed to drain very fast but it could be because they are very old NiMH batteries. I'll have to double check with new ones.

I have to research if they make something like this in XD or CF for my Oly, cause I want one for sure. Anyone on the fence about owning one...don't wait DO IT!!!

MelonMusketeer

Nikon MF 50mm f/1.4

01/04/2010 09:43:47 PM · #7

The current SD version might work in a CF slot with an adapter.

alanfreed

Nikon Z9

01/04/2010 10:24:39 PM · #8

You can get the eye-fi SD card, and use a CF adapter... it works just fine!

Originally posted by sabphoto:

I have to research if they make something like this in XD or CF for my Oly, cause I want one for sure. Anyone on the fence about owning one...don't wait DO IT!!!

chromeydome

01/04/2010 11:06:01 PM · #9

I am really interested in using it ad hoc with my mac: the pdf instructions online are interesting--15 pages of how to set up an ad hoc on a pc, 1 page for a mac (and I had already got it on the first try). So that part seems no problem, but before I buy one, I am primarily interested in having it behave just like a tethered shoot situation: the image popping up in Aperture as I shoot--has anyone done that with the eyefi pro ad hoc on a mac?

OKAY!! ETA:

This location describes how to do it, but the link to the automator download is dead. This is the automator download.

You create/select a folder in the automator application, and it will populate a Project in Aperture with whatever images appear in that folder. I don't have the eyefi yet, but just copying an image from one folder into the designated folder caused it to appear in Aperture--SUH WEET!

Scurries off to order EyeFi Pro.....

Message edited by author 2010-01-04 23:34:17.

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED

01/05/2010 03:37:56 AM · #10

Wow, I haven't checked out the Eye Fi products for a while -- I'm sold! Just ordeded a pro 4GB.

Pro 4GB on amazon for $120.
Pro 8GB on amazon for $150 (preorder).

johst582

Nikon D80

01/05/2010 04:28:27 AM · #11

Seems cool. How fast is it - can RAW files be transferred in a couple of seconds for "instant" viewing? And, for faster viewing - can the card be set up to only transfer JPEGs to the PC while keeping the RAW's on the card?

Art Roflmao

Canon EOS-6D Mark II

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

01/05/2010 05:52:19 AM · #12

Originally posted by johst582:

Details on the Pro version here...

one2one

Olympus E-5

Olympus 7-14mm f/4.0 Zuiko Digital Zoom

01/05/2010 07:23:34 AM · #13

I'm wondering why this doesn't exist in CF cards? Probably will be one day ... I hope.

The Eskimo

Nikon D3s

Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6D ED

01/05/2010 07:35:22 AM · #14

Originally posted by Jac:

I'm wondering why this doesn't exist in CF cards? Probably will be one day ... I hope.

You can purchase a CF card adapter here...

Message edited by author 2010-01-05 10:36:45.

01/06/2010 04:22:57 PM · #15

Got mine in the mail today and just got it set up and working! Very cool.

A couple of tech notes which were not obvious from the existing docs or web site:
- Eye-Fi uses 2.4GHz only (5GHz not supported)
- Only mode G is supported (not B or N)
- Only WEP security is supported (not WPA or others)
- Only Open System authentiation (not Shared Key) is supported
So you may need to do a little tweaking on your router if you have hardened security.

The setup process is a little kludgey if you want to first use/test an ad-hoc network. You can only complete the initial setup wizard with a wireless router connection (which makes it difficult to troubleshoot). You can abort the setup wizard and configure ad-hoc by hand, then later configure a connection to a router by hand as well.

I'm curious if anyone knows how secure the Eye-Fi upload process is, especially if using the store-and-forward service. I'm not referring to wireless security here, but the security of the intermediate data servers used to house your images. I can't find a lot of details about that service (other than how to turn it on), and I'm just curious if anyone has any details on it.

sabphoto

Samsung Galaxy S8/S8+

01/06/2010 04:28:54 PM · #16

Originally posted by cdrice:

I also noticed that if you want to change any of the options (I turned off the "automatically send to website" option) you have to reinsert the card into your computer. Not a BIG deal but could be a pain. I am wondering what security I have set on my network, it isn't the lowest (man you should see that password) or the highest, but the card took it and worked first time...I'll have to check that out. Which version did you buy?

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

01/06/2010 05:06:23 PM · #17

I have the Pro 4GB. From an update they just posted TODAY, the Pro 8GB will be shipping the end of this month, and includes some great security enhancements, class-6, as well as an "endless memory" mode, where the card deletes images as it transfers them. Should have held out for that version. ;) Oh, well -- maybe I'll pawn my 4GB card off to someone and pick up the 8GB in a few weeks.

I did just speak to tech support on the phone a few minutes ago and clarified a few things --

The Pro 4GB *does* support WPA keys, but you have to use a workaround -- add the network as "other network" (not select from the "found network" list), and select "network is out of range" to bypass the config test. Then you can select between Open, WEP, WPA and WPA2.

This workaround also helps if you are having issues with bogus "unable to connect to eye-fi servers" errors from the config test.

Still doesn't support Shared Key authentication -- hopefully the 8GB version will.

The store-and-forward servers (or "relay mode" as they call it) use https, with basic userid/password authentication, and remove the images from the eyefi.com servers after download. So, it's reasonably secure as long as you choose a reasonable password. The relay servers are only used for you have "relay mode" enabled -- otherwise, the eye-fi card makes a direct connection to the eye-fi manager on the local network to transfer files.

Overall, I'm quite pleased. It appears that the card will first search for configured wireless connections, then fall back to ad-hoc networks. So, I'll test the fall-back to ad-hoc some time later when I'm away from home and see how well it works -- in theory, it sounds nice -- I just wonder how long the timeout will be to attempt the ad-hoc connection.

ETA - Timing is pretty reasonable, but not blazing fast... In a quick series of not-entirely-scientific tests, I find it takes about 20 seconds from shutter release to LR auto-import. (Approx 17 seconds of that is actual data transfer time - about 1-2 seconds before transfer starts, then 1-2 seconds for LR to import image from watched directory). In my case, images are 12.3MP (approx. 10MB) Nikon NEF from a Nikon D90. I expect the 8GB version with class-6 data and N-mode network will shave the time down a bit.

Message edited by author 2010-01-06 17:24:12.

Derf

Canon EOS-7D

01/06/2010 05:24:38 PM · #18

So let me get this right, I can turn my Iphone into a wireless router for internet usage and have the Camera send the images right to my smugmug page with no laptop??? This sounds awesome!!!

Camera / iPhone = Upload realtime from my Canon 40D with the SD adapter???? WOW

one2one

Olympus E-5

Olympus 7-14mm f/4.0 Zuiko Digital Zoom

01/06/2010 07:46:54 PM · #19

Originally posted by cdrice:

The new 8GB card you mentioned will be a lot faster than the 4GB, according to Eye-Fi. Also, a CF version is in the works so I`m going to hold out for that one, hopefully in a few months from now. I like the idea that I won`t have to remove the card from my camera to view the dozen shots I just took. I do it tethered sometimes but the wire gets in the way all the time. grrr I hate wires and wiring.

01/06/2010 08:17:47 PM · #20

Originally posted by Jac:

I like the idea that I won`t have to remove the card from my camera to view the dozen shots I just took. I do it tethered sometimes but the wire gets in the way all the time. grrr I hate wires and wiring.

That's precisely what I wanted it for -- tethered shooting without the actual tether!

It's just-slow-enough to be annoying compared to a wired tether, but I really think the speed improvements with the 8GB pro card will put it "on par" with wired tether.

Another neat eye-fi trick... On the Nikon D90, as well as other recent Nikon bodies (as well as, I'm sure, many other manuf. bodies), you can turn on or off the actual "download" feature of the eye-fi directly from the Nikon custom settings menu.

Turning it off speeds up camera power-on time, reduces buffering time (since you're not competing to save data while it's uploading data), and saves power. You can turn off the upload feature and treat the eye-fi card like any other memory card -- including removing shots via the LCD, etc... then when you're ready to upload, instead of unplugging the card and putting it in a card reader, just flip the menu setting to "upload" and it automatically uploads anything taken since the last upload. Pretty slick.

Originally posted by Derf:

So let me get this right, I can turn my Iphone into a wireless router for internet usage and have the Camera send the images right to my smugmug page with no laptop??? This sounds awesome!!!

I haven't tried any of the upload-service features (nor was I really planning to), so I'll have to defer this to someone else. I'm not sure if the upload features require the host computer for actually massaging the images / logging in, etc. You'd have to shoot jpg, of course -- but perhaps this is an actual instance where shooting raw+jpg would make sense. :) You can select which types of files go where -- so you could assign raw files to go to your home computer, and jpg files to go to [whatever-service-you-want]. Smugmug is on the list, so they have some degree of integration there.

Wow, if it could just populate IPTC fields, just imagine what assignment-/wire-shooters could do with this thing! I can already imagine teams of people using it for quick-turn around assignment/photojournalism work.

Imagine one or more shooters in the field; uploading wirelessly as they shoot, and another person (or team) at a home/office downloading the images as they come in -- keywording, cataloging, and uploading back on the wire. Somebody's got to already have some great stories for using this thing out in the field...

05/05/2010 04:55:07 PM · #21

Originally posted by Jac:

The new 8GB card you mentioned will be a lot faster than the 4GB, according to Eye-Fi. . .

Just a little bump/resurrection of this thread to say they have *finally* released the 8GB cards, as of a couple weeks ago. Major resellers should have them in stock and available for shipping. I was hoping amazon might put them on sale here in the first few weeks, but no luck so far. I just put order in and should have it in hand by the 10th.

Anyone else pick up one of the new 8GB cards to experiment with yet?

Message edited by author 2010-05-05 16:56:08.