[Carl Estes]

Thanks for the full review.

One question: How much does this card and its operation affect the camera battery? It has to hasten the discharge?

I shoot with a battery grip and twin batterys, and I haven't noticed anything that makes me start to look at that aspect.

But with any digicam: Bring a spare battery!!!!!!!

C

[FF22]

Great thread and replies.

Thanks, all.

[Herve5]

Thanks for the full review.

One question: How much does this card and its operation affect the camera battery? It has to hasten the discharge?

Well, I am doing only jpegs on a D5000 for now, and dealt only with some dozen photos since I bought it. But in these conditions, I just saw no battery discharge at all.
I'll try later to also load raws, and within one week I'll have the extra experience of a 4-days trip with lots of imaging, but for now and with the use depicted above, no apparent battery impact. (again, with just jpegs)

[FF22]

Well, my eye-fi card arrived in today's mail but I'm pooped from my hike so Have not opened its box. I gather there will some setup so that it can talk with my pb? I did install the android app on my pb yesterday in anticipation...

so expect the questions to come pouring in!!!!



PS: I may be FI-ed out today. Besides my eye-fi card, My mifi device also arrived but that will require some other stuff as I don't know if I can use/test it here in the States and will be not required till next January in Europe.

[axllebeer]

I remember Bla1ze saying at some point that it's a pretty decent possibility that USB host is likely going to be included in the OS 2.1 update that's coming out, well, who knows lol. But all the same, sooner or later it will be here. And this is something that I absolutely am crossing my fingers for!

[FF22]

Well, I believe I got the wifi mode working. Just took three photos and they are now on my pb.

Have not tried direct mode where there is no wifi present - that is a direct connection between the camera (using the card) and the pb when in the middle of nowhere!

I'm not sure how fast it may do these transfers - it seemed slow but it was a quick test.

[Herve5]

I continue on my previous post: 120 photos transmitted, jpeg only, over 4 days: no sign of battery discharge on the D5000. As this battery holds for much more photos in general, that says nothing on the actual power consumption, which may even be doubled, but indeed, on what is for me a normal day, and even four normal days, there is just no difference.

[FF22]

What kind of transfer speed are you seeing? I don't mean exact numbers, but just an idea. The other day I took about 60 photos while hiking. When I got home I started up the Android app on my pb. It stalled out eventually but I think it had been going for 1/2 hour or more. Also, I got about 5 or 6 duplicates transferred to the pb. They had a "-1" attached so it knew it was the same filename.

Also, I got a bit lost in the Android app. I accidentally tapped on a photo and it opened some photo-viewer app but I could not get back into the Android eye-fi app. Or I was not sure how to "switch" back to it (OS2 so all android run in the one window).

Also, another question: when I was taking pictures (no pb, no wifi), the camera would flash the wifi-symbol. I gather there is no way to turn off the wifi "search" routine when away from the computer or adapter? I also got one "memory card" error message on the camera. Turned it off and back on and it was fine and all my pictures were there when I got home.

I guess I need to practice more....

Using it with a Canon S95.

[Herve5]

What kind of transfer speed are you seeing? (...)

some seconds at least per photo, it's clearly longer than just the (almost instant) writing to the memory. And yes indeed if you are off base when taking 50 pics, then when back the download is, I'd say, at least as long as via USB on a PC and probably longer.
But for me, comparing with say the need to connect USB to the PC, launching the image app, confirming I want to download only the new photos, and considering in addition that all these transfers (DSLR-> tablet, -> macintosh, and -> ftp server) are fully automated without me doing anything, I'm really satisfied. But yes again, I was a bit surprised by the download length when with 50 photos.

Also, I got a bit lost in the Android app. I accidentally tapped on a photo and it opened some photo-viewer app but I could not get back into the Android eye-fi app. Or I was not sure how to "switch" back to it (OS2 so all android run in the one window).

You have to swipe down, having the topmenu appear, and then select the "home" button (or whatever its name), leftmost. Yes that's not obvious...

Also, another question: when I was taking pictures (no pb, no wifi), the camera would flash the wifi-symbol. I gather there is no way to turn off the wifi "search" routine when away from the computer or adapter?

I'm not sure; in my case I did ask for the card deploying its own wifi network when none available, so that my tablet can connect to it and get the images in any circumstances; maybe if you don't ask for this the wifi activity will be less obsessive...

[FF22]

Herve:

Thanks for your answers. I guess I will play today and see if I can get out of the "photo viewer" once it comes up. I'm not sure if that was what led to the stall. Once it stalled, it did not finish transferring all the photos. But I'm not sure if the "photo viewer" stopped the eye-fi process or something else happened.

It is also time for me to try Direct Mode using this away from my wifi (or any wifi), so I will take a longer walk or maybe even a bike ride.

[Herve5]

Herve:

Thanks for your answers. I guess I will play today and see if I can get out of the "photo viewer" once it comes up. I'm not sure if that was what led to the stall. Once it stalled, it did not finish transferring all the photos. But I'm not sure if the "photo viewer" stopped the eye-fi process or something else happened.

Well this actually depends on your setup : in my case for instance, when at home the DSLR just connects to the home wifi and sends pics straight to the eye-fi servers, which in turn resend to the macintosh and ftp-upload to my site -- the Playbook is not in the loop. It is only when I am out, in which case the "direct mode" transfers images from the DSLR to the PB first.

It is also time for me to try Direct Mode using this away from my wifi (or any wifi), so I will take a longer walk or maybe even a bike ride.

If you never tried direct mode, remember the initial setup is a bit long: you must unplug the mem card from the DSLR, insert it in the usb card holder and then onto the PC, then launch the PC's eye-fi utility, ask for the card to deploy its wifi (which also gives you the associated password), launch the wifi setup on the PB and ask it to connect to that card wifi, with the said password. Then on the PC ask for direct mode with this specific PB.
Only after that, you can take back the mem card into the DSLR and go...
On the positive side of things, you need do this only once, and afterwards it still is almost miraculous for me: I do nothing, and the images appear everywhere by themselves...

[FF22]

Well this actually depends on your setup : in my case for instance, when at home the DSLR just connects to the home wifi and sends pics straight to the eye-fi servers, which in turn resend to the macintosh and ftp-upload to my site -- the Playbook is not in the loop. It is only when I am out, in which case the "direct mode" transfers images from the DSLR to the PB first.

If you never tried direct mode, remember the initial setup is a bit long: you must unplug the mem card from the DSLR, insert it in the usb card holder and then onto the PC, then launch the PC's eye-fi utility, ask for the card to deploy its wifi (which also gives you the associated password), launch the wifi setup on the PB and ask it to connect to that card wifi, with the said password. Then on the PC ask for direct mode with this specific PB.
Only after that, you can take back the mem card into the DSLR and go...
On the positive side of things, you need do this only once, and afterwards it still is almost miraculous for me: I do nothing, and the images appear everywhere by themselves...

I will have to try again but this past weekend I was without wifi and thought I had set up the card for Direct. But when I opened the Android app and turned on my camera, NOTHING happened. So, you have gotten the transfer to work when there was not external (home, cafe, etc) wifi around. Say a row boat in the middle of the Atlantic ()?

Thanks.

[B3hindBlueEyes]

To add some words of encouragement I've got this working on my PB (card is a Sandisk-branded 4gb eye-fi x2).

It did seem to take a while to connect from my camera (just a little Sony TX5) in direct mode. I even tried putting the eye-fi card into a USB card reader and plugging the card reader into a USB charger from my iPhone. This worked perfectly, but the camera proved a little flaky. In the end I changed the wifi settings on the PB from 'dual band' to 2.4Ghz and that seemed to work. It's now very reliable.

[74prof]

Goodereader provides a good android sideload system I used them to install the Eye-Fi app. It works between camera and Playbook automatically. But then I have to manually move each picture to the laptop with the Windows/R key combination. i lose the automatic date related sub folder feature of eye-fi when I do this. Older slr cameras will require an adapter to use the sd cards, work most easily with the older Classic cards.

I thought of using Ghost Commander. Installed it, but not sure how to implement Bluetooth with it. My thought was to in the field shoot with a micro-sd card in camera, transfer card to older unused cell phone and bluetooth to the Play book with GC.

Is the GC bluetooth just for BB tethering, or will it work with any other bluetooth capable device?

[Herve5]

I will have to try again but this past weekend I was without wifi and thought I had set up the card for Direct. But when I opened the Android app and turned on my camera, NOTHING happened. So, you have gotten the transfer to work when there was not external (home, cafe, etc) wifi around. Say a row boat in the middle of the Atlantic ()?

Thanks.

you need to manually connect the playbook with the eye-fi network at least once (and of course to have set it as I said, by inputting the card password in the playbook to start with)
H.

[amitabh nanda]

Hi
Any updates on the USB host function which was reputed to be bundled with 2.1?
Trying to get my PB to act as a live monitor for my DSLR when I shoot video.
Thanks
Amitabh

[blueberrymerry]

USB Host/On-the-go support is partially present in the current PB OS but it's not enabled. You have to be running older versions to root and enable it, quite a pain to get it working.

It was supposed to be enabled in BB10 but it's not there either. I really hope Blackberry enables it soon... it's a great feature on Android tablets/phones and Symbian phones. I also hope they don't give some stupid excuse about "security" for disabling it.

[FF22]

An update on MY eye-fi experience.

I had let the whole issue drop until the other day. I did tweak some stuff and finally got it working. I did not realize (even with Herve's info) that I had to establish or setup the WIFI on the pb as you would if you visited a hotel (or starbucks). You have to go into the pb's WIFI options/settings, locate the eye-fi card's wifi, connect and enter the password (UPPER case mattered). I tested with a quick 3 photos on my canon S95. So I don't know how effective it would be for a long day of shooting. For instance, I was just in Italy and took about 50 jpg's/day. I don't know how long it would take (resolution size would matter) and how it would affect the battery (charge and ultimate capacity over time). I may give that a try.

[Playbook Newby]

Has anyone ever got direct mode to really work from Eye-Fi to Playbook?

Be honest! I mean when out of range of wi-fi/home broadband/mobile network/Blackberry Bridge and in the middle of nowhere? I thought I was being stupid but now I think it just doesn't work. Photos upload to my PC and to the Playbook no problem, but only when within range of my wi-fi. And I don't think it's the Eye-Fi card's fault because when out of range the PB shows it as an available network but just won't connect to it, even manually with SSID and WPA2 password.

Just for reference, I'm using the Pro X2 8GB+Wi-Fi and the sideloaded Eye-Fi app from GoodEReader, and Direct Mode is enabled.

I think this question is mainly addressed to Herve5, since you seem to know more about this than anyone, Herve, and you do say "It is only when I am out, in which case the "direct mode" transfers images from the DSLR to the PB first". I wish I could get it to do that, because that was the only reason for getting what is quite an expensive little piece of equipment.

I've spent days on this and it's driving me bananas!

[FF22]

I got Direct Mode to work without access to any wifi network other than the pb and the card in my Canon S95.

I walked away from my house watching the wifi symbol on the pb. After it was gone, I walked another block away. I then took some photos and saw the wifi symbol on the camera "sending" and the pictures appeared on the pb. But it was definitely slow.

As I noted in Message 43 above, I had to create or add the wifi card to the pb's list of Saved Wifi connections. I was pretty frustrated trying to get it to work. Coming back to the computer, checking the various wifi features on the card. I have not pushed it with further testing since then.

Herve may be able to provide more points.

[Herve5]

Has anyone ever got direct mode to really work from Eye-Fi to Playbook?

- you need to be actually out of range from anything known for it to perform. May seem ridiculous, but if trying at home, do unplug any wifi transmitter from your internet network
- you must have activated the direct mode, from your PC or mac, with the EF card inserted in its small adapter, running EF software, see EF doc
- when doing the above there is a setting that allows you to test, it's called "deploy card network" or something like that: do it
- on the PB then going to wifi networks you'll SEE the EF wifi, named eyefi whatsoever: connect to it using the password given on the PC or mac, alongside the deploy button I think. This'll memorize the network pass on the PB
- get the EF card back in your DSLR
- launch the EF software on the PB
- take a photo, allow for a couple of seconds, if this is supported the EF logo on the DSLR screen will start to blink, meaning the network is deployed (again this will NOT happen at home unless you kill your own wifi)
- with the logo blinking, go the the PB, get to wifi setting, ASK to connect to the EF network -this generally doesn't happen spontaneously
- switch back to the the PB EF software and check. If you waited too much before connecting the PB to the EF network, and/or if the EF software wasn't running on the PB, then the EF card will stop deploying the network (seeing nothing) and you have to restart.
Remember transmitting many / large pics takes a while, it's by no ways an "instant miracle in the field"

[Playbook Newby]

Dear F2 and Herve
Thanks so much for taking the trouble to reply in such detail and so quickly. It is REALLY appreciated.
I've got things do do and daren't start on this at the moment but will work on your suggestions (when I've got some hours to spare!) and get back to you.
Thanks again.
Oh, and by the way I don't care how long it takes to transmit the pics so long as it does it in the end!

[FF22]

Dear F2 and Herve
Thanks so much for taking the trouble to reply in such detail and so quickly. It is REALLY appreciated.
I've got things do do and daren't start on this at the moment but will work on your suggestions (when I've got some hours to spare!) and get back to you.
Thanks again.
Oh, and by the way I don't care how long it takes to transmit the pics so long as it does it in the end!

That's kind of what I did. Not that I was that busy but it did not seem to be working and so I left it alone for a bit. When I returned to it, I was able to get it running.

[Playbook Newby]

Dear Herve and F2

I have tried, REALLY tried.

The problem is, I just can’t get past this stage (Herve’s 4th paragraph in post #46):

“on the PB then going to wifi networks you'll SEE the EF wifi, named eyefi whatsoever: connect to it using the password given on the PC or mac, alongside the deploy button I think. This'll memorize the network pass on the PB”

The EF network shows in grey “Eye-Fi Card xxxxx” and below that “WPA2 Personal”. When clicked there is a screen to enter the password and I enter the WPA2 password shown in the PC EF software and click “Connect”. It then tries to connect and after about 10-15 seconds a message comes up “Authentication timed out. Please check your password and try again.”

I’ve also tried connecting manually, entering the SSID (“Eye-Fi Card xxxxx”) manually, then the WPA2 password and there are a few other options there that I haven’t a clue about, but basically the same thing happens.

I did all this today, with my home wi-fi switched off, the EF card in its holder in the PC USB, the PB attached to the PC via USB - but I’ve been here many times before!

Before asking for help here at Crackberry I’d had the same problem on several attempts at Direct Mode. Definitely out of range of wi-fi with the EF card in the camera: camera eye-fi symbol flashes, EF network appears in the PB network screen greyed out, PB refuses all attempts to connect (and PB EF software remains resolutely unmoved).

Incidentally, I put this problem to Eye-Fi and their response was:

"I am sorry but that device is not supported and will most likely never work in Direct Mode. We currently we do not make an app for Blackberry. I am sorry about this and I have forwarded another suggestion for Blackberry support to our product team."

If you can think of anything else to try, I'd appreciate it.

Many thanks

[FF22]

The eye-fi card is in the camera. (oh, your camera is a supported model??)

You are using the Password created for the card and not the one for your router/network?

And the Password is CASE-sensitive - upper/lower must be observed.