Eye-Fi Pro X2 WiFi SD Card...

[Remorhaz]

I recently purchased the 8GB Eye-Fi Pro X2 SD Card from Amazon US (about $100 delivered).

Basically the idea of the Eye-Fi card is that it is both a standard SD memory card but that it also has WiFi capabilities which allow it to do a number of other things including uploading images via WiFi.

One of the new features of the new models of cards (and with firmware updates to some older cards) is something they call "Direct Mode" and basically what this allows is that instead of the Eye-Fi card only acting as a client which can join other existing WiFi networks it can now act as a WiFi hotspot so that other devices (like an iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Android) can connect to it and have images (and videos) transfered directly to them.

There is a free Eye-Fi App in the App store which assists with the Eye-Fi card working with an IOS device. The app is however fairly basic however it is free - there is a paid for app in the App store called Shuttersnitch which works with an Eye-Fi and is apparently very good however it's an AUD$19 app which is reasonably pricy (for an IOS app).

There are a few steps for setting up your card and app on your IOS device however once done you can put the card in your camera and start shooting. The images will transfer wirelessly and directly to your mobile device. You can choose to transfer photos or movies or both from the camera.

The practical upshot of this is that I can effectively shoot like I'm tethered (with no actual cables tethering me) with my iPad (or iPhone, or computer) and the images appear on the iPad screen a few seconds after I've taken them.

It works with your other images too - If you've transfered images to your Mobile Device from the built-in camera or perhaps the camera connection kit or even email, the Eye-Fi will see al of the images on your Camera Roll. This is good for people that wish to transfer or backup their images to the Eye-Fi Servers.

Tip: Turn on Full Screen Mode - there is a "Full Screen" mode in the Eye-Fi App Preferences. Once you turn this on, your images will come in and not only display full screen, but automatically advance to the next shot as you take them.

Tip: If you don't care about seeing the movies you shot on your mobile device, definitely turn those off in the Card settings. Otherwise things will be moving along nicely and then you see a long pause as it transfers over a large movie.

The Eye-Fi App only allows you to share your images to your desktop/laptop computer or up to the Eye-Fi service (which i don't use). However, the good news is that the shots automatically go to your device's Camera Roll. Since they are in the native camera roll you can use them anyway you like and in any app you like on your device.

As I have a Nikon D7000 with two SD card slots I have my normal 32GB card in Slot 1 and the Eye-Fi 8GB in Slot 2. I've now set my camera to shoot RAW+JPEG and I have the RAW's go to my 32GB card and the JPEGs go to the Eye-Fi card and if I'm running the Eye-Fi App on my iPad or iPhone the JPEGs get transferred there. You can also enable an Endless Memory Mode where your Eye-Fi card will automatically free up space once your photos and videos have been safely delivered (so the card never fills). Personally I don't mind having a couple backups of my files (even JPEGs) in case my main card dies for whatever reason and I loose my RAWs before transferring them to my computer and backups.

Note that the Pro model of the Eye-Fi card I have also allows me to send RAW's to the card and have them transferred (to my iDevices, my Mac or to the cloud) however I havn't as yet used that feature - in which case I'd probably set my camera just to shoot RAW and send RAW's to both cards. I'm still planning on importing my RAW images directly into Lighroom via USB although the Eye-Fi does also support the ability for me to wirelessly Auto Import into Lightroom via the Eye-Fi Card if I wished - I may try this sometime as well.

Another feature which I havn't used which comes with the Pro card (an upgrade option with some of the other models) is Geotagging. Note however that this is done using Wi-Fi Positioning Service (WPS) technology to tag your photos with geolocation information so it's not true GPS, it's only as accurate as the WiFi positioning allows and it's only available where the WPS covers (mostly the US).

I'll post more when I've had more of a chance to use it for various situations.

[ATJ]

Thanks for being a guinea pig, oops I mean for reviewing this device. Sounds pretty cool.

When and if I get a housing for my D7000 it could mean I could transfer images from the card while the camera is still in its housing. Great for dive trips where we do dives that are close together without a lot of time to open the housing to get the camera out.

[aim54x]

Good to see someone trying something new. I think you and Wendell should compare notes as I know he has at least one EyeFi card but has not had time to play with his

[surenj]

Thanks Rodney.

Can you give us an idea of the speed of the transfer in real-world situations?

[Remorhaz]

Can you give us an idea of the speed of the transfer in real-world situations?

I'll try to do some timing tests with various sized files (JPEG Small Basic up to JPEG Large Normal to RAW) and post the results. Maybe even Direct mode vs on an existing wireless network.

[ATJ]

I'll try to do some timing tests with various sized files (JPEG Small Basic up to JPEG Large Normal to RAW) and post the results. Maybe even Direct mode vs on an existing wireless network.

Thanks, Rodney. And also if you could give us some idea of the range - i.e. how far from the WAP or target device can you get and what impact does it have on transfer speed?

[Remorhaz]

Ok some quick results just so I can get something out there:

Using my D7000 (16MP) to my iPad 2 using Direct Mode (i.e. card acts as a WiFi hotspot) - timed from Shutter Press to when the image appears onscreen on the iPad in the free EyeFi App:

Small JPEG Basic (2464x1632) - averaged about 6 or 7 seconds (NB: even this res is fine for iPad (or iPhone) viewing)
Large JPEG Normal (4928x3264) - averaged about 12 seconds
RAW (4928x3264) - averaged about 13 seconds

So it's not quick by any means however I've also shot USB tethered into Lightroom (and other packages) and even with this it takes a few seconds (sometimes a handful) to transfer and come up in Lightroom.

[surenj]

Thanks Rodney. I wish I could have seen it in action in Little Bay!

I remember though, during our model shoot, Wendell's camera was pumping them out pretty quickly to be practical (via USB).

What sort of real world situation would you use this for? [apart from the obvious coolness factor]

[ATJ]

What sort of real world situation would you use this for?

For me, as above, for transferring images from my camera while it is still in the underwater housing.

[Remorhaz]

Thanks Rodney. I wish I could have seen it in action in Little Bay!
I remember though, during our model shoot, Wendell's camera was pumping them out pretty quickly to be practical (via USB).
What sort of real world situation would you use this for? [apart from the obvious coolness factor]

I figured out why that didn't work BTW. I had set the card up to transfer over my home wireless network but hadn't enabled the direct mode yet and joined my iPad & iPhone to the cards hotspot network.

When we did the model shoot with Wendell he was shooting JPEGs and it still took about two seconds to appear in Lightroom.

Coolness factor yes - however I was thinking:
- when shooting seascape/landscapes sometimes when you've got the camera in a funny position on a tripod I can review the results of a shot on a larger (iPhone) screen in comfort
- when I'm shooting lots of portraits/groups of people/children (e.g. a school event) people can see their and others shots as I'm taking them on the iPad

[surenj]

when I'm shooting lots of portraits/groups of people/children (e.g. a school event) people can see their and others shots as I'm taking them on the iPad

This is an interesting idea. I reckon you could improve the monetary value of your photos because you may get requests to capture this and that, which later may be purchased.

- when shooting seascape/landscapes sometimes when you've got the camera in a funny position on a tripod I can review the results of a shot on a larger (iPhone) screen in comfort

It might be a little clumsy though but not a bad idea. [That would reduce my liveview abuse as well] You have to find a lanyard and a waterproof bag for your iphone.

For me, as above, for transferring images from my camera while it is still in the underwater housing.

Sorry Andrew, I realised that your idea was legit. However I see two problems.
1. 100 photos for examples would take 20 minutes.
2. There is a risk of causing significant battery drain which may require you to open your housing?
What do you think?

[ATJ]

1. 100 photos for examples would take 20 minutes.

Not a problem at all. It would take me more than 20 minutes to wash and dry the housing, pull it apart get the card out, transfer the data (although I could just swap cards), put the rig back together. I would be busy doing that for the whole time.

On my last dive trip, I frequently did not have time between dives to do all the above and eat lunch. Even if the transfer took 20 minutes, the camera would just be sitting there and I could be doing other things.

2. There is a risk of causing significant battery drain which may require you to open your housing?

I'd have to defer to Rodney at this point as to whether the transfer drains the battery. I know I can easily do 4 or even more dives on a single battery charge with the D300 and from what I have seen of the D7000, I could get even more.

[ATJ]

Rodney, I have some more questions for you...

For the transfer to work, does the WiFi environment need to be connected to the Internet or does it transfer over the local WiFi only. Looking at the Eye-Fi site it appears that the images are actually uploaded to a cloud server first and then the PC or Mac downloads them from there but I could be reading it wrong.

Is it possible to have it transfer the images to 2 locations on the same computer at the same time? I do that now with Nikon Transfer (and would do it with Lightroom if they didn't force a stupid extra folder) and would not want to lose that capability. I can't find that documented on the Eye-Fi site.

[ATJ]

For the transfer to work, does the WiFi environment need to be connected to the Internet or does it transfer over the local WiFi only. Looking at the Eye-Fi site it appears that the images are actually uploaded to a cloud server first and then the PC or Mac downloads them from there but I could be reading it wrong.

I should have searched their forums: http://forums.eye.fi/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1740

[Remorhaz]

For the transfer to work, does the WiFi environment need to be connected to the Internet or does it transfer over the local WiFi only. Looking at the Eye-Fi site it appears that the images are actually uploaded to a cloud server first and then the PC or Mac downloads them from there but I could be reading it wrong.

With the new Direct Mode capabilities - no - it runs the hotspot in the card

Is it possible to have it transfer the images to 2 locations on the same computer at the same time? I do that now with Nikon Transfer (and would do it with Lightroom if they didn't force a stupid extra folder) and would not want to lose that capability. I can't find that documented on the Eye-Fi site.

I'm not sure but somehow I doubt it - (on a Mac) you could setup a simple job which automatically replicated files from a watched folder.

[Remorhaz]

when I'm shooting lots of portraits/groups of people/children (e.g. a school event) people can see their and others shots as I'm taking them on the iPad

This is an interesting idea. I reckon you could improve the monetary value of your photos because you may get requests to capture this and that, which later may be purchased.

I don't actually charge for any of my photos at school - however my thinking is more around breaking the ice with a group of kids and probably encouraging others to want to join in, etc.

[surenj]

however my thinking is more around breaking the ice with a group of kids and probably encouraging others to want to join in, etc.