Eye-Fi cards....are they any good?

Zaki, ,

You also need to ensure that you set your camera not to auto turn off. I must admit to have not seeing anything in the eye-fi software setting, but that might be due to the age of my cards as the oldest is now three years old and the others are two years old. Iused to be a registered UK supplier of the directs and take tech help calls from eye-fi usa for UK customers

I have been using them regularly to shoot events and I guess on average each card has had several thousand images through it.

They are great for what they do in my opnion

Sev said

Is there any preference on make? I usually use Sandisk Extreme cards, and see Sandisk do an Eye-fi card. I vaguely recall Sandisk partnering up with Eye-Fi, so are they the same product now?

I went with a Sandisk.  Been using them for over 10 years, so when I heard they made an Eye-Fi card, and saw the price (£28 for the 8GB card), it was a no brainer for me.  For that kinda money, I thought it was at least worth having a go. :)

If you are relying on it to use whilst shooting, you will be disappointed - the transfer rate is too slow for models or you to use to adjust a pose or a quick change of lighting. Its real use comes during a break, or at the end of the shoot when you might like to go through the images over a coffee etc.

I guess its real value is location shooting - no worrying about getting a laptop wet/damp and no worrying about cables - just set it to run, put it in youre camera bag and get on with the shoot. At the end of the shoot, go for coffee, review all images :)

Simples .......

Thanks Kaouthia, and everyone who's posted here, it's been helpful. Have a great day all!

BryanAllman said

- the transfer rate is too slow for models or you to use to adjust a pose or a quick change of lighting.

I totally disagree, when I use mine transferring medium jpegs (approx 2.5mb) it takes only 4 seconds before the image is available to view on screen and if you use the right software it can automatically pop onto screen

I guess if you are "rapid  fire " shooter who takes 500 frames per hour then yes it is too slow, but as somebody who likes to compose the image whilst working with the model, and possibly only shooting 200 images in a two hour shoot, I have no problems.

Rob M said

I guess if you are "rapid  fire " shooter who takes 500 frames per hour then yes it is too slow

Kinda makes you wonder how photographers ever managed to survive with polaroids doesn't it? ;)

Interesting...... I use mine in 1dMkIV bodies set at the lowest size jpg transfer - and it can take up to 20 seconds for an image to load into the iPad - sometimes longer. Strangely it seems quicker when not trying to piggyback on an existing network, but using its own self generated network. I also suspect that the iPad Mk1 might not be the quickest at receiving and processing the image using the Eyefi software - but thats my experience. If you are getting faster rates, then I'm jealous

As said, I find it better to set it off and leave it to do its thing till the end.

And no, rapid fire is not me. Three to four hour shoot typically is about 200/250 images

BryanAllman said

Interesting...... I use mine in 1dMkIV bodies set at the lowest size jpg transfer - and it can take up to 20 seconds for an image to load into the iPad - sometimes longer.

I think there's definitely something up with that.  I use mine with an iPad3, but I don't notice much of a speed difference regardless of whether I'm in direct mode or going over a WiFi network.  Not sure if your slower issues are because of the iPad1 or if there's something else going on, but it doesn't seem right to me.

BryanAllman said

Interesting...... I use mine in 1dMkIV bodies set at the lowest size jpg transfer - and it can take up to 20 seconds for an image to load into the iPad - sometimes longer.  

 

 

The speed will slow down if using it in point to point direct to a computer. If using a pro card in this mode, they are rated at 6mb/s which is slower than usb 1. If you put a router into the system, then on the old style cards you can get 54mb/s or the new X2 cards a speed of 135mb/s

I use a normal clunky laptop connected to a router when shooting studio style and the speed quoted is based on that. I could increase the transfer speed by reducing to small jpeg, but I am happy with the setup

BryanAllman said

And no, rapid fire is not me. Three to four hour shoot typically is about 200/250 images

Last weekend with model Eve Watson we did eight outdoor locations with total of fifty pictures over the two days

Fleeting Image said

Last weekend with model Eve Watson we did eight outdoor locations with total of fifty pictures over the two days

I guess it depends on how long you spend shooting Alex ;-)

Fleeting Image said

BryanAllman said

And no, rapid fire is not me. Three to four hour shoot typically is about 200/250 images

Last weekend with model Eve Watson we did eight outdoor locations with total of fifty pictures over the two days

**YAWN**  Not exactly something to be smug about is it?

Shooting landscapes with a tripod at high f-numbers is hardly going to produce many duff images.

To be honest when using the Eye-Fi card with an iPad I just want it to be faster :( I really want to use it more but due to finding mine just a bit slow with RAW files (understandably) I haven't used it that much. Maybe now I'm shooting a lot more Jpegs it might suit my work flow a lot better.

RedChecker said

**YAWN**  Not exactly something to be smug about is it?

Shooting landscapes with a tripod at high f-numbers is hardly going to produce many duff images.

Thank you for highlighting your ignorance of photography, most appreciated !

Off topic a bit but the new Canon 6D with WIFI transfers medium resolution JPGs in about a 1-2 seconds to my iPad 3.