Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Digital Cameras & Shooting Techniques => Topic started by: ErikKaffehr on July 16, 2013, 02:21:31 am
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Hi,
Eye-Fi Pro cards are not longer available in Europe. Can still be bought on Amazon. My question is if it is still an up to date product, or if there are viable alternatives like the Transcend cards?
I bought one of the standard Eye-Fi Cards and it was not a nice experience, did not work RAW files and was oriented at teenagers sharing jpegs over the internet. What I need is that hooks into my WiFi network and works, including raw images.
Best regards
Erik
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Hi,
Eye-Fi Pro cards are not longer available in Europe. Can still be bought on Amazon. My question is if it is still an up to date product, or if there are viable alternatives like the Transcend cards?
Hi Erik,
I have no personal experience with the WiFi versions, but Sandisk has never failed me before:
http://www.sandisk.com/products/memory-cards/sd/eye-fi/?capacity=8GB
Maybe an alternative to consider.
I don't know if other files than JPEG and Video are supported, or even if they are locally available in your neck of the woods...
Cheers,
Bart
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Erik:
I've been using an EyeFi Pro, 8GB card for a year and a half. Works great. My current work flow is to download small jpegs to my Nexus7 pad, and keep RAW files on the card, which I download later via card reader to my work station computer. Trying to download RAW files via wifi is way too slow.
I use the pad for previewing, checking focus, and showing clients their pictures. They are always amazed how the images show up on the pad!
I did initially use the card to download images directly over my wifi network, to either my laptop or workstation, but found that to be clumsy, especially on location. When I got the pad a year ago, things just clicked much better.
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Hi,
Eye-Fi Pro cards are not longer available in Europe. Can still be bought on Amazon. My question is if it is still an up to date product, or if there are viable alternatives like the Transcend cards?
I bought one of the standard Eye-Fi Cards and it was not a nice experience, did not work RAW files and was oriented at teenagers sharing jpegs over the internet. What I need is that hooks into my WiFi network and works, including raw images.
Best regards
Erik
I am using EyeFi Pro X2 8Gb (that is the prev. generation vs current ones)... works w/o any issues (just works... one thing you need for even a smoother ride is camera's support - some cameras/firmware do detect EyeFi cards inserted and do not go to sleep while EyeFi is working on transfer - no matter how long it is) to bring raws from camera to my PC/Win7 (I prefer it over my camera's OEM wifi capabilities) - but I 'd assume you are talking about 36-40+ mp raw files ? that shall be slow for you... my raws just 16mp.
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Erik:
I've been using an EyeFi Pro, 8GB card for a year and a half. Works great. My current work flow is to download small jpegs to my Nexus7 pad, and keep RAW files on the card, which I download later via card reader to my work station computer. Trying to download RAW files via wifi is way too slow.
I use the pad for previewing, checking focus, and showing clients their pictures. They are always amazed how the images show up on the pad!
I did initially use the card to download images directly over my wifi network, to either my laptop or workstation, but found that to be clumsy, especially on location. When I got the pad a year ago, things just clicked much better.
This workflow is exactly why I'm glad that Phase One implemented wireless capture review the way they did on the Phase One IQ2 (https://digitaltransitions.com/blog/dt-blog/phase-one-iq260-and-iq280-what-you-need-to-know).
In any workflow where you shoot JPGs to one location and raw files to another you have a reconciliation issue. If they say they like an image (or rate it within whatever app you use) that must be later reconciled to the raw files.
And in any workflow where you shoot small JPGs to the review system you can't zoom into 100% of the full image.
And in any workflow where you send a full sized JPG or raw file the speed is poor-to-awful.
And in any workflow where wireless is "added" via some accessory, rather than built into the core of the camera there are hardware limitations like the antenna gain/range on an EyeFi card within a metal chassis.
In the P1 workflow you can rate the images on your iPad/iPhone/iPodTouch, and what you are rating is the raw file. No need to sync anything; you're only dealing with the master file. You can view the image at 100% since it renders the viewed section of the image on demand. And it's fast and has excellent range.
I've yet to find any other wireless tethering/review system I thought highly of.
In another few years I suspect all the pro cameras will have good wireless tethering/review options for commercial/ad shooting*. But right now Phase One is the only one that seems to have it really figured out.
Naturally I'm biased.
*Canon/Nikon both have wireless-pull options that editors in a media booth can use at a major sporting event (or similar) to pull files from their shooter(s) in near-real-time to get images posted online literally seconds after they happen. But this style wireless is at best mediocre when used in a fashion/portrait/product/landscape/architectural shoot.
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Hi Doug,
IQ2 series is beyond my budget, but thanks anyway. I have no doubt they are excellent designs.
Best regards
Erik
This workflow is exactly why I'm glad that Phase One implemented wireless capture review the way they did on the Phase One IQ2 (https://digitaltransitions.com/blog/dt-blog/phase-one-iq260-and-iq280-what-you-need-to-know).
In any workflow where you shoot JPGs to one location and raw files to another you have a reconciliation issue. If they say they like an image (or rate it within whatever app you use) that must be later reconciled to the raw files.
And in any workflow where you shoot small JPGs to the review system you can't zoom into 100% of the full image.
And in any workflow where you send a full sized JPG or raw file the speed is poor-to-awful.
And in any workflow where wireless is "added" via some accessory, rather than built into the core of the camera there are hardware limitations like the antenna gain/range on an EyeFi card within a metal chassis.
In the P1 workflow you can rate the images on your iPad/iPhone/iPodTouch, and what you are rating is the raw file. No need to sync anything; you're only dealing with the master file. You can view the image at 100% since it renders the viewed section of the image on demand. And it's fast and has excellent range.
I've yet to find any other wireless tethering/review system I thought highly of.
In another few years I suspect all the pro cameras will have good wireless tethering/review options for commercial/ad shooting*. But right now Phase One is the only one that seems to have it really figured out.
Naturally I'm biased.
*Canon/Nikon both have wireless-pull options that editors in a media booth can use at a major sporting event (or similar) to pull files from their shooter(s) in near-real-time to get images posted online literally seconds after they happen. But this style wireless is at best mediocre when used in a fashion/portrait/product/landscape/architectural shoot.
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I have a couple fo the X2 8GB cards. IMO, they're crap. You are just as well not to use them. As someone pointed out, more geared to Flickr, Facebook and other amateur users than pros. All the configuration and enabling features make it more complex than necessary. I bought two card speciically because, as a location shooter, I refuse to shoot tethered. I thought send small, lo-res JPEGs to my iPad would solve the issue with the client. In the end it was so cludgy and cumbersome, I abandoned the idea.
As to your inability to find the cards in Europe, it's probably because they are transitioning to a new version called a mobi -- specifically designed to send to iPhones and iPads.
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I have a couple fo the X2 8GB cards. IMO, they're crap. You are just as well not to use them. As someone pointed out, more geared to Flickr, Facebook and other amateur users than pros. All the configuration and enabling features make it more complex than necessary. I bought two card speciically because, as a location shooter, I refuse to shoot tethered. I thought send small, lo-res JPEGs to my iPad would solve the issue with the client. In the end it was so cludgy and cumbersome, I abandoned the idea.
As to your inability to find the cards in Europe, it's probably because they are transitioning to a new version called a mobi -- specifically designed to send to iPhones and iPads.
Erik:
For about $45 US, it's pretty cheap to try out and see if it works for you. Don't know if the newer cards connect up any better than the older X2Pros. I find that if I'm doing continuous shooting, they work well. If you stop for 5-10 minutes, then you have to wait for the card and pad to get hooked up again. That's sometimes a pain. The difference between the "mobi" and the X2Pro, is the ability to send RAW files. Like I said earlier, RAW files take an eternity to wifi, and I see no reason to do that. Jpegs show up quite quickly. What works best is to shoot a scene, then stop and sit with the client to look at the shots to make sure they satisfy him/her. Then move on to the next setup, or reshoot. The "small" jpeg on at D800 is plenty big enough to judge exposure and focus when you "zoom" in on the image on the pad. Sure beats waiting for 2-3 minutes for a polaroid to process and using a loupe to view!!!!! ;-)
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I have an 8gb Eye-Fi and have never had trouble with it, save for the original configuration. I shot RAW files to my CF card, and JPGs to the eye-fi card. Ihad the camera set up so that any file that received a 'lock' (I'm talking about the JPGs on the Eye-Fi card here) would be then sent to my phone (iPhone). I think I used to use the JPG setting one down from largest, so still a decent file size. I then could edit, if need be, in Snapseed, and FTP to the desk. Worked great but stopped you from shooting for a few minutes...
Jon