EYE-FI, WIFI convenience

Whom am I kidding, I love my A99V.

Yet nothing is perfect. I could have loved if it came with build in WIFI. Having to plug your camera to a computer with a cable is so uncool. Wireless is what your need, especially when you are shooting studio photos, for that fast snap to your computer or IPAD convenience, EYE-FI really is the enabler.

The SD card is available in storage capacities of 8 GB and 16 GB. The specifications says that it is a Class 10 type but it seems too slow to hold that promise. The Eye-Fi Pro X2 offer support to geo-tagging and online sharing to services such as Facebook, Twitter, Picasa and YouTube, not that I find that especially useful.

For me is the main feature that it send images to a computer, tablet or smartphone wirelessly, and even automate this process. It does not only send the JPG files, but RAW as well. The integrated 802.11b/g/n module has a range of 25 metres, operates on the 2.4 GHz band and supports WEP, WPA and WPA2-PSK encryption.

The downsides

However, nothing comes without a price, and with EYE-FI. The price comes in form of

• Battery. We all know that A99V is a battery hawk, and EYE-FI really do not help here.
  
• Speed is not your EYE-FI’s friend either. It is slow transferring huge RAW files to your computer, and it is slow when writing bursts of shoots to the card. I configured my camera in such a way, that the JPG is written to the EYE-FI card, but that the RAW file is written to the memory card in SLOT 2.
  
• Nor is the software coming with EYE-FI wonderful, I mean it works but it does not blow you away.
  
• I would have wished that the card also allowed tethering between the camera and the computer over the WIFI, but hey it does what is says.
  
• The A99V and EYE-FI does not support the Eye-Fi “Endless Memory Mode.” Make sure that Eye-Fi cards that you insert into this product have “Endless Memory Mode” turned off.
  
• My biggest complain about this card is that GPS information is made available for third party. This is just not ok! Disabling GPS is NOT the solution, keep your prying eyes away EYE-FI!
  

Installation

The upload function card appears when an Eye-Fi card inserted in a memory card slot 1 of the camera. (Page 185)

Configure the EYE-FI connection by inserting the card in an SD reader in the computer, enabling you to configure which network it connects, and which services that is used.