eye-fi

I saw this on the Today show this morning. Anyone use this?

www.eye.fi/

Yes, but I am not impressed with the performance.

Sometimes it uploads pictures, sometimes not, I usually end up having to put the card in the built in reader in the computer.

Also, will only work with jpeg, not RAW or movie formats.

You can get a CF card adapter but they warn it impacts range, and since that already is sketchy, steer clear.

Maybe in a year or two, it will improve but at this time, I think I wasted my money.

Been talked about a few times on here since it first came out 2-3 years ago. They work, but they're intended more for P&S than for DSLR. If the occasion arises, I'll use mine, but mostly it just sits in reserve.

Just curious about it, thanks for the info.

Showed this to my daughter and she doesn't understand the idea. If a P&S camera is designed to be easily carried around, fitting into your pocket for ease of use. Then why use a Eye-Wi card that requires you to carry a laptop computer around with you all day?

If you're shooting a family event and have home WiFi the photos go right onto the computer, or to your online hosting service without you having to do anything. It's not really meant for taking to the beach, or the ball game, although it could be used as a "poor man's WFT-E#" if you did bring a laptop and access point (it won't do peer-to-peer) to a sports event; you could upload them instantly to the network and your agent could be taking orders while the event was still going on. SI works sort of like this at major events.

I'll buy one once they make a CF version

Ejicon, there's a SD-to-CF adapter available for $25. So you can plug it in right now. Some people are using it that way, though I don't know how well it works.

I'm intrigued by the geotagging feature on the $110 model. If it works well, it could be pretty handy for some people. Much more convenient than Canon's solution, which requires buying a grip that doesn't hold batteries and then attaching a separate GPS unit.

My question is about those of us who don't run Mac or PC. Is there a Linux solution for the "small" program that runs on your PC? Maybe it could be reverse-engineered? Has anybody sniffed the protocol?...

The $110 model's physically the same as all the others. You're paying for the first year of a geotagging service, based on the WiFi network location where you download the photos from. If you're not in range of a WiFi network when you shoot, your geotag won't reflect where the picture was taken. There isn't a GPS receiver in the card. They offered the upgrade to me:

Jon wrote in post #7331340
The $110 model's physically the same as all the others. You're paying for the first year of a geotagging service, based on the WiFi network location where you download the photos from. If you're not in range of a WiFi network when you shoot, your geotag won't reflect where the picture was taken. There isn't a GPS receiver in the card. They offered the upgrade to me:

Yep, I got the geotag "upgrade" for free when I took a Smugmug account, it is a joke unless you are in area where WiFi is common (I live and typically shoot in a rural area).

I use Merax PF software and receiver when I want geotags, the Eye-Fi offering is not viable.

Thanks, Jon & Bruce. I was wondering how they could get a GPS receiver into that small package and get a usable signal despite being shut behind the card compartment's door.

Oh, well. Back to dreaming of the perfect camera.

gkuenning wrote in post #7332118
Thanks, Jon & Bruce. I was wondering how they could get a GPS receiver into that small package and get a usable signal despite being shut behind the card compartment's door.

Oh, well. Back to dreaming of the perfect camera.

Today's technology tomorrow........

It is really a promising bit of kit and I intend to hang on to my card and watch how they progress with updates and new hardware, but it just does not deliver what it should....yet.

Mind you, I bought one of the first US Robotics Palm Pilots, so I should not talk.

There have been a lot of problems with these lately. I got one for Christmas and it was DOA. I searched around on their website and discovered that there have been a lot of them DOA. Mine works as a 2 GB memory card, but will not transmit a wireless signal.

salexande867 wrote in post #7339536
There have been a lot of problems with these lately. I got one for Christmas and it was DOA. I searched around on their website and discovered that there have been a lot of them DOA. Mine works as a 2 GB memory card, but will not transmit a wireless signal.

Just call Eye-fi. I hear that their customer service is great and that they've been replacing DOA cards with 4gb cards as an upgrade.

I have one of the original versions that I use in my P&S Canon A710 IS. It still works fine, but it seems like it was more reliable with the earlier software/firmware versions. Lately, it seems like it takes longer to upload to my laptop. As indicated, it's best used with a P&S taking snapshots at family events where there's a wireless network available. In this type of situation, you don't have to take the time to upload to a computer or an online service.

Even if you use it somewhere outside of your local wireless network, you just turn it on when you get home and it will automatically upload to a designated computer and online service. Pretty handy actually, and it makes sure that pictures don't get "stuck" in the camera and never backed up somewhere else.

BTW, they're available at costco.com, usually cheaper than you can find elsewhere.