Camera now usually comes as a standard feature of smartphones. However, it is more for entertainment rather than serious photography, especially for a photo enthusiast like me. I like taking photos when I go out with friends, even just casual outings. I also like sharing the moments, just as timely as it could be. So it sometimes annoys me because my phone camera fails to do so. For example, when I was in a dim Karaoke room with friends and wanted to take a group shot. Phone camera only gives me some crappy result, either blurry or very high noise. If I bring a camera, the problem is solved, but another issue would be, how can I upload it to the Internet?
I have been looking for a solution to this problem. There are new models of cameras integrated with WiFi. But it could take some investment and it would be just for the sake of a small feature. The other I have tried is to use Apple's camera connection kit, which you can use to import photos from SD card to iPad (not iPhone, unfortunately). I used this for quite a while and it works well. The only complaint is that it's too tedious. I have to take out the memory card from the camera, connect it to the iPad through the camera connection kit, then use my iPhone's hotspot to tether the Internet so that I can upload it to Facebook, or somewhere else.
Then I found Eye-Fi card.
It has been out in the market for some time but not many of friends know about this technology. In short, it's an SD card integrated with WiFi component. Most of cameras support Eye-Fi card and as long as your camera has battery power, it functions.
It can connect to both iOS and Android devices and the Direct mode can transfer the photo from camera to the device without any WiFi router.
I got my Eye-Fi card from Amazon when I was in London, since there is no authorised retailer in Singapore. UK's Eye-Fi card is slightly different from the one in US. In UK, Eye-Fi is partnering with SanDisk. Therefore, even the packaging is using SanDisk classic red rather than orange. Other than that, the functionality is the same.
At its first time, it requires some configuration before the card can be properly used. You need to download the Eye-Fi Center software and follow the instructions. After the configuration, it is all good to use! Oh, don't forget to download the Eye-Fi app on your iOS/Android device as well. When the camera is switched on, the Eye-Fi card will have its own WiFi network called "Eye-Fi Card XXXX". Connect the mobile device to that network and open the Eye-Fi app. Photos will then automatically download to your device! Pretty magic, huh?
Below, I use my own one to give a simple demonstration, hope it's easy to understand.
First, take the photo using the camera with Eye-Fi card and leave the camera power on.
Second, get your mobile device. I am using an iPad mini here. In the Wi-Fi settings, find the Eye-Fi card network and connect to it.
Open the Eye-Fi app, if you have previously paired up the device and the card, now it will detect the card and start to download the picture automatically. It takes around 5-20 seconds to download a photo, depending on the photo size.
And there you go! The image just transferred from camera to iPad mini, delightful like a breeze!
The one I am using is actually not the highest specification of Eye-Fi line. It does not support geo-tagging or transfer of RAW files, which are included in the Eye-Fi Pro X2, the high end Eye-Fi card.
In summary, here are the things I like and dislike on this Eye-Fi card.
Like:
1. It simply solves my problem of wirelessly transferring photos from camera to mobile device without any other assistance. No more USB cable or camera connection kit is needed.
2. The transferring speed is not bad. And you get the original size of the photo (and RAW file if you have the budget to get the Eye-Fi Pro X2).
3. It will never run out of memory: you can always transfer the photos to iPad first or upload them to the Eye-Fi centre to store in the cloud.
Dislike:
1. It consumes the camera battery. Though I don't notice a major difference when camera is operating with and without the Eye-Fi card. But it certainly reduces the battery power as you need to leave the camera on when it's transferring.
2. You can't choose which photo you want to transfer. It simply detects the card and transfer whatever is not present in the device. It may be a bit troublesome if you just want the last photo you just snapped.
I just realized that the selective transfer can be set through Eye-Fi Centre. In the Eye-Fi Card Setting window shown below, the transferring mode could be chosen. Only photos that are marked protected will be transferred to devices.
3. Price tag. It is more expensive than a normal SD card, obviously. And you got to pay quite a premium to enjoy all the benefits like geo-tagging and RAW file support.
Having said this, I still recommend friends who got a camera and has a need to transfer the photos on the go to take a look at this Eye-Fi card, especially for those professional photographers who shoot the scene and want to show the photos to clients on the spot. Hope you have enjoyed this post and let me know if you have any question!
Technorati Tags: Camera, Photography, Eye-Fi, Hands-on
Good review
ReplyDeleteThank you! hope you find it useful :D
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