bro February 8, 2012 at 19:00

We use Eye-fi or photo over the air

• Lumber room *

USB wires, flash drives, card readers - I’m very tired of them, I want something light and airy. In one of the online reviews, I came across a device called eye-fi - a mixture of an SD card and wifi transmitter. The gadget is capable of transmitting photos in jpeg and raw format over a secure channel, works with wi-fi 802.11b/g/n networks with secure Static channels WEP 64/128, WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK.

I bought it from the online store bhphotovideo.com. When purchasing, a nuance arose - as always, marketers put their hands on the device and made several types of cards: eye-fi, eye-fi pro, the differences may be in the amount of stored information (4-8 GB) and eye-fi pro can connect directly to wi-fi map, bypassing the router. An adapter for compact flash cards can be purchased as a separate option. I bought the most inexpensive model in order to test the operation of the card and possible use in the studio for shooting on the monitor.

After 10 days I received this box:

And then the first disadvantage of the cheaper one surfaced wi-fi models cards. This model works only with a Wi-Fi access point (the connection diagram is shown in the second picture above). That is, in order to connect a computer or laptop with an eye-fi card, you need to switch the laptop or computer to operating mode as an access point. For this we need small program like connectify or virtual router.

So, to make your computer an access point, install connectify, the icon will appear in the tray. The program interface is simple; to create an access point, we will use the Easy Setup Wizard.

Set the name the network being created, through which we will connect the camera to the computer:

In the last window, select the network through which the connection to the Internet will occur (the Internet is needed during the first connection, registration and configuration of the card).

The network is ready, now we’re setting up our miracle map. To do this, install the eye-fi helper and eye-fi center applications (included). After installation, you may need to update to new version, update. The program interface is simple, nothing superfluous:

Through the adapter we connect the card to the computer, and create new account(Internet required):

After successful registration, the card will appear in the left Devices panel. If a new version of the card firmware is found, update it:

The card is recognized and updated, all that remains is to make friends with our created network, to do this, go to the card settings (Eye-fi Settings) and in the Networks - Private Networks tabs select the network we created (in in this case connectify) and connect with a predefined login and password:

All. The settings are saved on the card. We insert the configured eye-fi into the camera, you can shoot. Having used the map, I made clear conclusions for myself: convenient, but slow. I use it in studios as follows: Canon 1D Mark III with two cards: the original frames are recorded on a compact flash. On an eye-fi card – a jpeg copy with minimal resolution and high compression to speed up the transfer process. Downloadable by wifi photo The graphics are placed in the folder specified in the Eye-fi settings and sorted by creation date. You can also configure Adobe Lightroom so that it monitors updates in this folder and thus displays captured images directly to the monitor via wi-fi. You can also upload images to various photo storage services and galleries.

Tags: wi-fi, photo, memory cards

USB wires, flash drives, card readers - I’m very tired of them, I want something light and airy. In one of the online reviews, I came across a device called eye-fi - a mixture of an SD card and a wifi transmitter. The gadget is capable of transmitting photos in jpeg and raw format over a secure channel, works with wi-fi 802.11b/g/n networks with secure Static channels WEP 64/128, WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK.

I bought it from the online store bhphotovideo.com. When purchasing, a nuance arose - as always, marketers put their hands on the device and made several types of cards: eye-fi, eye-fi pro, the differences may be in the amount of stored information (4-8 GB) and eye-fi pro can connect directly to wi-fi map, bypassing the router. An adapter for compact flash cards can be purchased as a separate option. I bought the most inexpensive model in order to test the operation of the card and possible use in the studio for shooting on a monitor.

After 10 days I received this box:

And then the first disadvantage of the cheaper wi-fi card model surfaced. This model only works with a Wi-Fi access point (the connection diagram is shown in the second picture above). That is, in order to connect a computer or laptop with an eye-fi card, you need to switch the laptop or computer to operating mode as an access point. To do this we need a small program like connectify or virtual router.

So, to make your computer an access point, install connectify, the icon will appear in the tray. The program interface is simple; to create an access point, we will use the Easy Setup Wizard.

We set the name of the network being created through which we will connect the camera to the computer:

In the last window, select the network through which the connection to the Internet will occur (the Internet is needed during the first connection, registration and configuration of the card).

The network is ready, now we’re setting up our miracle map. To do this, install the eye-fi helper and eye-fi center applications (included). After installation, it may require updating to a new version, please update. The program interface is simple, nothing superfluous:

Using an adapter, we connect the card to the computer and create a new account (you need internet):

After successful registration, the card will appear in the left Devices panel. If a new version of the card firmware is found, update it:

The card is recognized and updated, all that remains is to make friends with our created network, to do this, go to the card settings (Eye-fi Settings) and in the Networks - Private Networks tabs, select the network we created (in this case connectify) and connect with a predefined login and password:

All. The settings are saved on the card. We insert the configured eye-fi into the camera, you can shoot. Having used the map, I made clear conclusions for myself: convenient, but slow. I use it in studios as follows: Canon 1D Mark III with two cards: the original frames are recorded on a compact flash. On an eye-fi card – a jpeg copy with minimal resolution and high compression to speed up the transfer process. Photos uploaded via Wi-Fi are placed in the folder specified in the Eye-fi settings and sorted by creation date. You can also configure Adobe Lightroom so that it monitors updates in this folder and thus displays captured images directly to the monitor via wi-fi. You can also upload images to various photo storage services and galleries.

Tags: wi-fi, photo, memory cards

Most cameras today use the standard SD memory card format, and corresponding readers are installed in many laptops, but not all users like to remove the memory card from the camera to read photos. If you shoot every day, this process can be tiring. In the professional segment, cameras use a wired connection to a computer or expensive wireless adapters. But there is also a less expensive solution that performs two functions: an SD card with Wi-Fi support. Just such an Eye-Fi Mobi card arrived in our test laboratory.

Eye-Fi offers two different solutions that are the same basic principle work, but are aimed at different categories of users. Eye-Fi Mobi cards with capacities of 8, 16 and 32 GB are class 10. They work with own cloud Eye-Fi Cloud and transmit photos in a specially created Wi-Fi networks between camera, smartphone/tablet and desktop computer. Eye-Fi Pro X2 16GB memory cards can also transfer RAW files and integrate into home network. In this case, an Ad-Hoc connection is no longer required; the card can connect directly to the Internet. In the case of Pro X2, it takes a little more effort configuration, while the Eye-Fi Mobi card can be easily connected via a 10-digit code.

We tested the 8GB Eye-Fi Mobi, which costs around 40 euros in Europe. For a 16 GB model you will have to pay about 60 euros. The Eye-Fi Pro X2 card is currently available in retail only in 8 GB at a price of 90 euros. In Russia, cards have not yet appeared in retail sales. In our review we will look at the Eye-Fi Mobi card. We plan to publish a Pro X2 test in the future.

The Eye-Fi Mobi card looks no different from any other SD memory card, as it must be suitable for any camera, meaning it must meet strict standards. If you're curious about whether a wireless SD card will work with your camera, we recommend checking the compatibility list on the Eye-Fi website. We tested the card in some cameras, the only difficulties encountered were establishing a connection. Sometimes the memory card's Wi-Fi network was not visible from our iPhone, iPad and MacBook. But the problem was not repeatable; after turning the camera on/off, the Wi-Fi network was displayed. The manufacturer has added a “piece of intelligence” to the memory card; it creates a WLAN network only if new photos appear on the camera.

The Eye-Fi Mobi memory card was installed in our Canon EOS 1D Mark II, thanks to the latest firmware the camera supports such memory cards. No specialized support is required, but in addition to speed and volume, you should consider the current and voltage that are required for Eye-Fi Mobi to operate.

The Eye-Fi Mobi card requires significantly more hardware than standard card SD. Inside there is an ARM processor (number 1), which ensures that the Wi-Fi network is activated only after new photos appear on the camera. In addition, the chip provides wireless network security. The second number is a Wi-Fi chip, which includes an 802.11 b/g/n hotspot, to which they can then connect different devices. In our tests, the transfer speed was 1.5-3 MB/s, depending on the distance between the two devices. Of course, transfer via Wi-Fi can hardly compete with a direct connection, so if you need to transfer gigabytes of photos, it is better to use a card reader for this purpose. The third item is the flash memory in which the data is stored.

The fourth point symbolically marks Eye-Fi Connect technology. Some manufacturers include direct support for Eye-Fi memory cards in their cameras. And the camera can monitor the wireless transfer of photos, start the transfer and prioritize photos. For all other Eye-Fi cameras, Mobi will be visible as a regular memory card. Any feedback when wireless transmission they won't get it.

Software

Let's move on to the camera software, as well as setting up the camera, memory card and hardware from the receiver side. Eye-Fi has developed an application (iTunes link) in the new iOS 7 design. There is also a version in the Google Play Store. If you plan to work with the map from a desktop PC, then an appropriate application is available.

After launch software On an iPhone, you must first select a series of options. You can disable sleep mode so that long transmissions are not interrupted. Also set Account Eye-Fi Cloud, you can use the cloud for free for the first 90 days, the Eye-Fi card will transfer images to the server. This also means that uploading to Eye-Fi Cloud will only happen when the iPhone is in WLAN networks. You can also upload photos from your smartphone to the Eye-Fi app, and they can also be saved to the cloud.

Eye-Fi Mobi establishes a secure connection. To simplify this step, the user does not need to connect to the WLAN and enter a password, just enter the activation code that comes with each card. Thanks to this code, the smartphone/tablet and PC are connected via secure connection. The code is activated in the WLAN settings if necessary.

Once the connection is successfully established, the photos are transferred and displayed. They can be divided into different categories and sorted into different folders. Photos can be transferred to the smartphone’s photo database or uploaded to the Eye-Fi Cloud.

Eye-Fi app version on German still uses the old iOS 6 design and has a different interface from the new version.

Instead of transferring photos to mobile devices, you can upload them to your desktop PC. There are corresponding applications for Windows and Mac; we have already provided links just above. Again, Eye-Fi Mobi is linked to the software with an activation code, and new photos can be automatically uploaded if needed. The user can specify in which folders photos and videos are sorted.

We found shortcomings only in the interaction of hardware and software. Eye-Fi Mobi cannot simultaneously transfer new photos to both mobile devices and desktop computer. Priority will be given to the device that connects first. But photos can be transferred using iOS apps to a computer folder - but in this case the user will not be able to choose which photos to transfer to him; first you need to upload all the pictures to your smartphone/tablet.

Unfortunately, only the Pro X2 has the ability to integrate a memory card into your home Wi-Fi network. In the case of Eye-Fi Mobi, this means that if you connect to a memory card, you will not be able to connect to the rest of the network. On iOS 7 operating system, according to at least, allows you to go to cellular connection. Additionally, Eye-Fi Mobi does not have the ability to transfer RAW photos.

Compact cameras with built-in Wi-Fi modules are no longer uncommon, including in the professional segment. But working with them is not always easy and simple. Eye-Fi targets Mobi cards for users who are too lazy to move the memory card out of the camera to transfer several pictures to the computer. And from this point of view, Eye-Fi is useful, albeit with some rough edges.

A few words about connection reliability: the SD card did not always reliably create a Wi-Fi hotspot, that is, it was not always visible from iPhone devices, iPad or MacBook. It is unlikely that all three devices could not find the WLAN, but to solve the problem, it was enough to simply turn the camera on/off. The transfer speed is also low. A modern MacBook and the short distance between the laptop and the Eye-Fi card should not be an obstacle high speed transfers - but we only received about 3 MB/s. For us, Eye-Fi Mobi provided additional comfort in everyday work. Of course, Eye-Fi cards are more expensive than “regular” memory cards, but in the case of Mobi from Eye-Fi, the extra payment seems quite reasonable to us.

The preparation of any of the reviews on our website includes a photo shoot of the product in question, during which an impressive number of photographs are taken, only a part of which is selected, processed and “goes to print.” Before selecting the necessary photos, you always have to connect the camera to the PC or remove the memory card from the camera and load data from it using a card reader. This procedure does not add much convenience, and sometimes it takes a lot of time, given that you have to “merge” heavy images in RAW format. A few years ago, an interesting product appeared on the market that helps simplify this operation— Eye-Fi SD cards, capable of transmitting images to a remote source via a wireless Wi-Fi network. Even then there was an irresistible desire to try this technology. After all, judge for yourself, everything seems very convenient, at least in theory - you take pictures that are automatically transferred to HDD your computer and are available almost in real time or immediately after the end of the photo shoot. And no wires, card readers or anything else!

Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to find Eye-Fi cards on the Ukrainian market, and their cost from the manufacturer even now ranges from $50 for an 8 GB version with extremely disabilities, and years earlier it completely exceeded all expectations. But a holiday has come on our street - not so long ago, an agreement was concluded between SanDisk, a well-known manufacturer of flash drives whose products can be found here without problems, and Eye-Fi, allowing the first to produce Eye-Fi cards under its own brand. Of course, other manufacturers also did not stand aside and, in a hurry, released their solutions for “wireless” memory cards.

Actually, we received a couple of products - an 8 GB SanDisk Eye-Fi and a 32 GB version of the Wi-Fi SD card from Transcend. In this material we will look at what each of the products is.

As mentioned above, SanDisk Wi-Fi SD cards use Eye-Fi developments and are essentially clones of the above-mentioned cards.

The product comes in a small box containing:

• SD card of appropriate capacity;
• USB card reader;
• brief operating instructions.

The card itself looks like a familiar SD card and differs from conventional solutions only by the inscription on the sticker.

The cost of the drive at the time of publication is about $80.

Before first use, you must carry out the initial setup by first installing the Eye-Fi Center software on your PC. After installation is complete, an icon will be available in the notification area for quick launch applications.

When you start Eye-Fi Center for the first time, you need to register in the Eye-Fi online service, which will allow you to use a number of functions, such as Eye-Fi View, with which you can access your photos via the Internet. True, it is worth mentioning that in free package Photos taken only in the last 7 days will be available for viewing. For full access, you will have to subscribe to a Premium subscription costing $4.99 per month or $50 per year.

The disadvantages of the software include complete absence Russian language.

The initial setup is carried out when installed card into the card reader via the File-Settings menu in Eye-Fi Centrer or by clicking on the corresponding gear-shaped icon.

SanDisk Eye-Fi can either connect to an existing wireless network as a client or act as an access point itself. Up to 32 different networks can be stored in memory.

Actually, after setting network parameters You can remove the card from the PC card reader and install it in a camera or other device. All other settings affect only the Eye-Fi Center itself.

You will now need to connect the card again to the PC only when adding new network, setting data transfer parameters, as well as in one more exceptional case - updating the firmware. If there is a new version of it, that in offline mode is checked via the Internet, Eye-Fi Center will persistently inform you about this by displaying an exclamation mark next to the SD card image. The update process is incredibly simple, you just need to press one button.

On the Photos tab, you can activate this PC to upload images to it, if necessary, selecting a specific directory where the files will be stored. In addition, it is possible to use a function with which the received files will be sorted into subdirectories depending on the date of their creation.

Finally, it is possible to upload your photos directly to one of the network photo storage sites, such as flickr.

Similar settings are available for video files.

In the Transfer Mode section, let's pay attention to two functions. The first of them is Relayed Transfer, which will help if at the time of shooting the SD card and the computer are not within the same network, in which case the transfer will be carried out as soon as they are in sight again. Another function is Endless Memory, with which, when a specified threshold is reached, files already transferred to the PC will be automatically deleted from the card, thus freeing up some space.

The very procedure for transferring pictures “over the air” is trivial - you take a photo, and after a few seconds it begins transferring to a remote PC. Of course, Eye-Fi Center must be running on the receiving computer. During the transfer, a small window appears in the lower right corner of the screen, above the notification area, showing the transfer status of each photo - clearly and conveniently.

Already transferred files are displayed in the main program window, where they can be viewed, deleted, etc. Of course, these files are also accessible using regular Explorer or any other file manager.

Software for mobile devices extremely simple, allows you to transfer pictures to a smartphone or tablet.

In conclusion, it is worth noting a number of nuances. First, to use Eye-Fi cards, the camera or any other device must support the corresponding function. However, it seems that this is already commonplace, even the Canon SX210, the first one that came to hand, met these requirements. In the camera menu, you can turn Eye-Fi support on or off, as well as view the current operating status: availability of a network connection, file transfer process, etc. You can check whether your existing camera supports Eye-Fi on a special page. It is important to note that the card remains operational only when power is applied to it. And it is the camera’s support for Eye-Fi technology that allows, among other things, not to go into sleep mode, continuing to supply power to the card until the file transfer is complete. By the way, if you turn off the camera’s power yourself, then after it resumes, the download will continue from the point where it was interrupted, without transferring parts of the file that have already been received.

SanDisk Eye-Fi can only work with one PC or mobile device at a time. For example, it is impossible to organize a transfer to two computers at once. After installing Eye-Fi Center on the next PC, the checkbox that activates “fill” on this computer, is disabled by default, and when you enable it, it will automatically reset for all other “clients”. Moreover, when you connect a new computer, only new photos will be loaded onto it. Those that were previously synchronized with another PC or mobile device will not be transferred.

Continuing to talk about important features, we also need to mention that not all files are transferred, but only certain types of them. For example, you won’t be able to transfer an mp3 file or a picture in PNG format to your computer. There is support for photos only in JPEG format, and for video the list of supported file types looks like this: mpg, mov, flv, wmv, avi, mp4, mts, m4v, 3gp. Maximum size transferred file limited to two gigabytes. Much to our disappointment, it does not support transferring images in RAW format, which is extremely necessary for professional purposes. The SanDisk Eye-Fi that came to us for testing is an example of one of the most simple cards Eye-Fi. It corresponds to class 4 read/write speed, the Wi-Fi part provides support for the 802.11g standard. For more professional tasks you can pay attention to the cards of the Pro X2 series, which have a number of additional functions, such as geo-tagging images, and having the ability to transmit, incl. and RAW files. Unfortunately, it was not possible to find such cards among SanDisk products and the only option remains only the original Eye-Fi, which are still unavailable on our market, and their price on the official website starts at $100 for 16 GB.

I would like to say a few words about the speed of data transfer over a wireless network. It is not possible to measure exact indicators, because... the necessary tools for this are not included in the software, so you have to rely only on subjective impressions. To evaluate the speed, we measured the transfer time of a video file in MOV format with a volume of about 1 GB. The data was transferred to a computer connected via a wired connection to the same network as the SD card via Wi-Fi. average speed data transfer was about 1.4-1.5 MB/s, which corresponds to 10-12 Mbit/s. Thus, transferring regular JPEG photos does not take more than 3-5 seconds, which is more than acceptable. Even if we consider the theoretical possibility of transferring pictures in RAW, then at this speed the transfer of each photo should be within 10 seconds, which is also quite acceptable. But if we talk about video, then in many cases it will be faster to remove the card from the camera and “drain” the data through the card reader, especially since the size of videos often exceeds the 2 GB mark.

In addition to measuring the data transfer speed over Wi-Fi, the usual measurements of speed characteristics were also carried out. The memory card was installed in a card reader connected via USB interface 3.0. The CrystalDiskMark utility was used to measure read and write speeds.

Despite the fact that SanDisk Eye-Fi formally corresponds to class 4, the drive shows good speed characteristics - the write speed reaches 12 MB/sec.

Regarding the operating range in wireless mode, then, according to the manufacturer, it is about 25 meters with line of sight and half as much if there are obstacles to the signal. In practice, we are quite close to these numbers - the card remains accessible even in the next room. But still we must admit that for more or less normal operation It is necessary to be with the signal receiver within the same room in the absence of serious obstacles such as concrete walls.

It's time to consider the second SD card announced at the beginning of the material. This drive — own development Transcend has nothing to do with Eye-Fi. For this reason alone, it is interesting to look at it as an alternative implementation and its capabilities.

The drive comes in a package of similar sizes to SanDisk, and the equipment is similar:

• 32 GB SD card;
• card reader;
• instructions describing the main use cases.

The cost of a card from Transcend is about $20 less than a SanDisk device, despite the fact that the volume is 4 times larger. The 16 GB version will cost $45.

Looking at the instructions for using the Transcend memory card, one gets the impression that this product is primarily aimed at working with mobile devices, and not, say, workstation, to which you need to transfer photos “over the air”. Too much attention is paid to working with smartphones and tablets.

Of course, you need to do the initial setup of the memory card before using it. Looking ahead, it’s worth saying right away that the Transcend drive can operate in two modes: either as a wireless network client, or as an access point, waiting for client connections. By default, the card operates in access point mode; no additional software is provided for managing the card from a PC, and all settings are regulated through the web interface, similar to, for example, routers. Thus, to configure the card, you need to connect to the wireless network created by the card (WIFISD). This can be done either from a laptop or PC, or from a mobile device running operating systems Android versions 2.3 and higher or iOS 5.0 and higher. There is also support for Kindle Fire tablets. If you try to perform the initial setup from a PC that does not have network Wi-Fi card, then it won’t be possible to do this in principle. Of course, this situation is quite specific, but it is quite possible if we want, for example, to use a computer connected by a wired connection to Wi-Fi router. Thus, for initial setup cards, you will definitely need some device equipped with a Wi-Fi module. In the future, by switching the card to “client” operating mode, you won’t have to remember this feature.

Let's look at the setup using the web interface as an example. After connecting to the WIFISD network and going to the address in the browser http://192.168.11.254, we get to the web interface by specifying the login and password provided in the instructions. On the left there is a small menu, among the items there is Settings. By the way, the Russian language is also absent in the web interface.

In the settings section, it is possible to set the mode of operation of the memory card as a Wi-Fi network client or as an access point, specifying the necessary encryption options and other module settings wireless communication. Settings for up to three networks can be stored in memory.

Of course, it is possible to change the access parameters to the web interface.

The Transcend Wi-Fi SD card is a self-contained independent device, so there is no need for it to be supported by cameras, as was the case with the SanDisk Eye-Fi. However, the list of supported devices is still available on the manufacturer's website. This may be due to the need for the camera to provide the required level of current to power such a drive.

As far as we have been able to find out, the card is a kind of mini-computer running on an ARM processor running one of the special Linux builds for low-power systems.

To view the contents of the map, absolutely all of it is available file system, including directories and all types of files. But if Eye-Fi cards independently initiate the transfer of newly taken photos, then the Transcend product implies remote access to the drive, from where you can independently “download” photos or any other data.

This approach has both its pros and cons. If when using a SanDisk card we get something like synchronization, then this is not possible here, but you can remotely access absolutely all the data on the card. However, the existing web interface is extremely simple and does not allow you to conveniently work with this data; for example, you cannot download a hundred photos in one click; you will have to either download each one separately, or use special plug-ins for browsers. Most likely, such a drawback could easily be solved by some specialized software for a client PC. Considering that the card is, in fact, a regular Linux system, developers have almost unlimited possibilities. For example, there is no problem running an FTP server on the card in addition to the web server, by connecting to which you can easily manage all files with any file manager. I would like to believe that the Transcend developers will go further and implement additional features all the way down to Eye-Fi-like synchronization.

Although such theoretically broad opportunities have to be paid for with a number of disadvantages. Firstly, like any system, a Linux-like OS running “inside” the drive needs some time to boot after power is applied. For our SD card instance, this time is about 30-40 seconds. Additionally, unlike Eye-Fi cards, where proper management The power supply is provided by the camera supporting the corresponding standard; here you will have to deactivate the auto-shutdown of the camera and similar energy-saving functions, or enable a mode like LiveView in which the camera does not go to sleep. Otherwise, even during data transfer, the device may turn off safely and data via Wi-Fi will no longer be available, since for the camera such an SD card is absolutely ordinary, no different from others. And then - switching on again and loading for half a minute... Naturally, in active state The camera battery will drain faster. It is also worth mentioning that the card itself heats up quite well during the process. active work with her.

Updating the drive firmware is possible in two ways. The easiest one is to download from the manufacturer’s website special utility Firmware Update Tool, which will independently check the availability of a new firmware version via the Internet, download it and guide you through several stages of the update process. Of course, the card must be connected to the PC using a card reader. The second, less obvious method is to download it yourself. current version from the website, transfer the firmware files to the root directory of the memory card, and then “reboot” it by removing and reinserting the drive into the camera or card reader. When starting the internal OS, the files of the new software version will be detected and the firmware will be updated within 5 minutes. Do not forget that when updating in this way and using the camera, power management in its settings should be disabled, since in the event of an unexpected power failure, the results can be unpredictable, even causing the card to fail.

Applications for mobile devices have slightly broader functionality than Eye-Fi cards. Except easy viewing and file transfer, a settings menu is also available. The “Shoot and Look” section allows you to view the last photo you took, which is immediately displayed on the screen after shooting. In fact, all the functions available through the web interface are also available in the mobile application. As mentioned above, attention to software for mobile systems clearly higher, even the Russian language is present here.

Data transfer speed measurements were also carried out for Transcend Wi-Fi SD. First of all, it must be said that the signal level is worse compared to the SanDisk card. Being 30 cm from a laptop that was connected to the card via Wi-Fi, the wireless network level indicator in Windows 7 filled the scale only halfway. The browser downloaded a file in MOV format measuring about 1 gigabyte. The average data transfer speed was about 5 Mbit/s (600 KB/s), which is approximately one and a half times slower cards SanDisk. Although when transferring the same photos in JPEG format, you are unlikely to notice the difference in a split second. As noted above, the miniature radio transmitter of the card has rather weak power, however, within a not too large room, problems should not arise, but even after leaving the door, interruptions in communication are already beginning to be observed.

Of course, the read/write speed was assessed in CrystalDiskMark, the results of which are presented below.

The drive from Transcend, which meets Class 10, demonstrates good performance; one can only complain about the extremely low speed when randomly writing small 4-kilobyte blocks.

Results

SanDisk Eye-Fi uses the long-known Eye-Fi technology, and is an analogue of cards from the developer itself. The drive, together with the available software, creates the impression of a logically complete product that is extremely easy to use and does everything you expect from it. The main disadvantage, for our case in particular, is the lack RAW support. This is implemented in higher-level Eye-Fi cards - Pro X2, but the availability of these solutions in our market is questionable, and the price is not at all affordable.

The Transcend card left behind two impressions. On the one hand, this is a rather interesting device, which is, by and large, a mini-computer, which means it potentially has a huge range of capabilities. However, the implementation of the software part let us down. The capabilities of the web interface are extremely meager and it is not without errors, not to mention trivial typos. Working with native mobile applications seems simpler, but it’s not entirely clear what the point is, say, in transferring photos from a camera to a smartphone... Well, don’t forget that such an SD card requires special attention to the continuity of the power supply, which means that, in essence, you will have to put the camera into manual shutdown mode so that this does not happen automatically. Users with sufficient experience, if desired, will not have any difficulty finding information on the Internet on hacking such cards, which will allow them to gain root access to the “internal” OS and configure the device almost any way they want. However, this topic is already beyond the scope of this material. Well, I would like the manufacturer to maximize the functionality, given that all the possibilities for this are available.

You won't surprise anyone with ordinary memory cards. It’s another matter if inside the card there is Wi-Fi module. On the one hand, this is what progress has come to, and on the other, why is it needed?

Needed to transfer data from a photo or video camera directly to a computer or social media or online storage. Someone will ask: “Why can’t you take a regular SD card out of the camera and insert it into the corresponding slot on a laptop or into a card reader?” Can. But, for example, there is no suitable slot on smartphones, and you won’t find one on every tablet. But these are minor things. The global meaning of Eye-Fi is completely different.

It's all in the box

Professional photographers shooting in the studio will be the first to appreciate this technology. Even the displays of top cameras are far from ideal and are too small to appreciate the resulting image. It is much more convenient to see the image on a large, high-quality monitor. And with Eye-Fi it's easy to organize. We clicked a series of frames with a sexy blonde and immediately saw them on the monitor! Even RAW of 10-30 megabytes will fly away quickly.

I photographed the model, and her picture is already on the computer!

The second convenience created by a wifi card is automatic transfer data to the computer. You returned from vacation and started sorting out backpacks and bags with souvenirs. And the camera sends the footage to a computer, laptop, tablet - wherever you choose! Just don’t forget to uncheck “Online” in the program, otherwise your vacation will become the property of the entire Internet party! Therefore, if you want to buy, buy not only a good one, but also this card.

The card reader is only needed for the first connection to install the software

In the Eye-fi series, the maximum card capacity is 8 gigabytes. Not much by today's standards. But! The inverted figure eight is the symbol of infinity. And the Eye-Fi Pro X2 truly has endless megabytes! In Endless memory mode, the card deletes those photos that have already been copied. That is, again, if you are shooting in a studio, then the images are immediately sent to the computer, and you don’t have to worry: how many pictures are there left? Plus, there is no need to change memory cards. And if the video camera records the footage in chunks (and this usually happens), then video shooting turns into a calm process, and not a relay race with replacing full memory cards. And now they take laptops and tablets into nature, where they can send their works of art.

All settings go through Eye-fi center

As for the price. At first glance, the price of almost 6,000 rubles is insanely, unrealistically expensive for an eight-gigabit card. But taking into account the endless memory and wireless automatic transfer of photos and videos to any of the available devices - from a computer to a smartphone, the cost of Eye-Fi Pro X2 is almost zero! Plus in included card reader. Let's take 64 gigabyte cards. The cheapest costs from 2500 thousand. At the same time, shooting Full-HD video or taking pictures in RAW format on a modern DSLR with a matrix of 15, 20, or even 40 megapixels, you will fill up this memory instantly! And in the case of Eye-Fi, all material will be transferred to a large hard drive or even to the unlimited space of servers of the Eye-fi manufacturing company. They are stored there for a week, meaning even after returning from vacation you can download them in time. Perfect solution to combat the lack of space for photos and films. Plus the possibility of remote shooting.

The copying process is displayed on the computer screen

The only downside: the card reader does not recognize regular cards memory.. By the way, a big omission on the part of the developer. Where were marketers looking? And what’s missing is the self-sufficiency of the device itself! Maybe not cards, but the same card reader. So that he could work on his own, without a laptop. Well, something like a mobile media center