Eye-Fi wifi SDHC cards

[David_Loves_Ubonwan]

Does anyone here have any experience of using Eye-Fi wifi SHDC cards in their cameras? I would be particularly interested to know how well the Geo-tagging option works in Thailand.

For those that don't know about eye-Fi cards they are like a normal SHDC card for your camera and the current versions are 8GB. But when in range of your home wifi router, a wifi router that you have the security key for, or a truly open wifi connection (this means not having to enter details for access or having to click on 'I agree') then your photos will be automagically uploaded to your computer. There is also an option to upload (selectively if required) to sharing sites such as Facebook, Flikr, Youtube etc.

There are a number of different cards that offer different services such as geo-tagging and hotspot access but if you initially purchase a card without these options you can have them added for a fee (and even if you have a hotspot enabled card there is an annual fee each year after the initial 12 months.)

If you shoot RAW photos then only the most expensive 'Pro' card will transfer them wirelessly, but also if shooting RAW then geo-tagging won't work because the EXIF information is not standardised like jpgs. (The solution is to shoot RAW+JPG and copy the geo location information to the RAW version with an editor.) Also with the 'Pro' card you are able to transfer files to your computer via an 'adhoc' connection when no wifi connection is available.

Whilst I normally shoot highest quality jpgs I am very likely to be purchasing the 'Pro' version of the card next week as I have an offer of one for the same price as the next lower card normally retails. The 'Pro' normally retails for 120GBP but I can get 25% off next week.

After I get it I will update with my experiences of using it.

David

[Khun Don]

Look forward to reading about your experiences

[David_Loves_Ubonwan]

I placed an order and am now awaiting delivery.

David

[paul_au]

I didn't think David was into digital photography that much, as he only used a compact digital camera on his last trip to Thailand. Are you upgrading to a DSLR with GPS David.

[David_Loves_Ubonwan]

Are you upgrading to a DSLR with GPS David.

No. I bought a Nikon D60 dSLR a couple of months back and the memory card I ordered last night adds geo-tagging to it. It will add geo-tagging to any camera that uses SHDC memory cards, even my compact Nikon I bought in Bangkok last year.

But it's not true GPS (the wifi aerial and all software has to fit inside an SHDC card along with the memory storage like in a regular card) which is why I asked if anyone has experience of using it in thailand. The geo-tagging works by recording the MAC code of any wifi routers it sees in the vicinity of where you take the photo and when you wirelessly upload to your computer it then checks these MAC codes against a database held by a company called SkyHook and if in the database then writes the co-ordintes to the EXIF data of the photograph. Should it not detect any MAC codes whilst taking the photo it will remember any codes it has seen in the last 30 minutes or even the next 30 minutes and apply that as the locatio, but you can trasvel a long distance in 30 minutes so they could be well out. SkyHook's database apparently currently has 100 million wifi MAC codes mapped, mainly in North America and Western Europe and is growing all the time. I imagine in Thailand there is little mapped outside of Bangkok and other major cities, though anyone can add the location of any MAC code they know. I tried adding my router to the database but so far have been unsuccessful - now I've ordered a card I will try aqain.

Another aspect of the Eye-Fi cards not already mentioned is 'endless memory mode'. This is that when photos have been wirelessly uploaded to your computer the card can then automagically delete them from the memory card so that in theory it never becomes full. You can set a limit to how much space it frees up, for example if you set it to 25% it will keep the card 75% empty once photos have been uploaded.

David

eye-fi.jpg

[Betti]

I don't understand half of what you are saying David, but hope you will enjoy this new experience :-)

[David_Loves_Ubonwan]

I don't understand half of what you are saying David, but hope you will enjoy this new experience :-)

If you mean about the geo-tagging, basically when photos are viewed in certain software they can be automatically placed on a map showing exactly where they were taken.

David

[Betti]

yes, that was the half I DID understand :-) the details escape me. but don't worry, there are many things I don't even want to try keeping up with anymore :-) just funny that as a newcomer to digital you are already so deep into these things.
(I enjoy finding places on google maps - manually. the automatic tagging would take away all the fun for me anyway.)

btw for some reason I think I've seen automatically tagged photos from Richard (I think he was making a map that way somewhere in a remote little corner with lots of canals in his province??) but he doesn't seem to be reading the forums anymore, if it is a serious query of yours, I would suggest you contact him directly.

[David_Loves_Ubonwan]

yes, that was the half I DID understand :-) the details escape me. but don't worry, there are many things I don't even want to try keeping up with anymore :-) just funny that as a newcomer to digital you are already so deep into these things.
(I enjoy finding places on google maps - manually. the automatic tagging would take away all the fun for me anyway.)

I'm not strictly a newcomer to digital, I first had a digital camera 10 years ago but returned to film. My current Nikons are the 3rd and 4th digital cameras I have owned.

btw for some reason I think I've seen automatically tagged photos from Richard (I think he was making a map that way somewhere in a remote little corner with lots of canals in his province??) but he doesn't seem to be reading the forums anymore, if it is a serious query of yours, I would suggest you contact him directly.

Yes it is a serious query.

David

[David_Loves_Ubonwan]

I tried adding my router to the database but so far have been unsuccessful - now I've ordered a card I will try aqain.

Think I've got it now, the MAC code required is not the one printed on the router case but a different one which it broadcasts. Could be a week before the database is updated and I can be sure.

(I now have a programe on my computer that 'sees' the MAC codes being broadcast around it so I can go out with my laptop one day and add the location of any MACs I see so that my local area is well mapped.)

David