russell Posted January 5, 2011 Share #21 Posted January 5, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) I bought the latest 8GB for my Canon S95. I wish I hadn't. It really drains the battery. And it lags in-between shots when you changes settings. I think it's seeking new wifi networks to join or to create "GPS" locations. Later when we tried to transfer pictures using the included USB dongle it had 11 pictures that were corrupt. It now sits unused. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted January 5, 2011 Posted January 5, 2011 Hi russell, Take a look here EyeFI on my M9. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
k-hawinkler Posted January 5, 2011 Share #22 Posted January 5, 2011 While waiting for a couple of Eye-Fi Pro X2s for trying out in a D3, D300 (with adapters of course), D40, and possibly the M9, I am wondering how to delete images or formatting the Eye-Fi Pro X2 without losing any functionality or software stored on it? Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, k-hawinkler Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Constable Posted January 6, 2011 Share #23 Posted January 6, 2011 Dear all Please look here http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m9-forum/130720-m9-faq-sticky-thread-2.html#post1568749 This would suggest that the Eye-Fi should at present never be used with the M9 caveat emptor! Ed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bo_Lorentzen Posted January 6, 2011 Author Share #24 Posted January 6, 2011 Before you start spending money please let me recap. 1. Technically speaking the EyeFI card will work in a M9 camera, provided the camera is snug and comfy with a WiFi spot, close enough for the weak signal which escapes through the heavy M metal body to be readable by but the hotspot. Basically it is NOT practical for the tasks one normally would purchase a EyeFI card for. 2. Using ShutterSnitch on the iPad, AND a battery powered repeater such as CradlePoint 300, there can be some functionality on a shoot, it is possible to let a client monitor images captured almost live on the iPad, for this to work, the CradlePoint must be carried in a chest pocket or strapped to the camera strap. this is because the cradlepoint facilitates the communications from the camera with weak signal to the iPad. 3. There is no particular gain using the EyeFI with a M8 M9 camera street shooting or travel shooting, simply because a Apple iPad connection kit accept a SD card and downloads your card in any cafe for review faster than the EyeFI combo. ( Unless you are keen on carrying the CradlePoint repeater and iPad durring a city walk-around shoot day, in which case the image could be ready by the time you sit down ) 4. the GPS geotagging is cool, but because it is always at least 10-30 sec behind it is not very accurate. for specific geotagging and travel days I prefer using gps4cam on my iPhone. Wrap up. I find meaningful utility when shooting for a client, or a job when somebody have a interest in seeing large files quickly, portraits, commercial jobs etc. Basically it permit a "wired" shooting experience with a M8 M9 camera, and I am always finding it very interesting to hear the client go "Ah this is the one" a lot of times you can finetune work based on client comments. I personally do not find a need to bring the EyeFI for a walk on Hollywood Blvd, too much stuff to make work. When you need a wired experience, or want a wired experience = YES. Walk about = NO M9 to iPad with CradlePoint = Battery portable hotspot usd 200 plus card usd 100 BTW... if you use a regular camera, m43, P&S, dlux5 etc.. you will find the card working much better because it is able to communicate directly. the latest Prox2 card should be able to connect directly to your iPad, however the metal blocking on the M9 will probably prevent this. Finally... I know constable just posted a link to the offical EyeFI (not Leica) warning about possible damage to the M9 with the use of a EyeFI card, I have very carefully examined my card for physical differences. personally it is my belief the EyeFI warning is a effective way to prevent M8 M9 users from buying and returning cards because 99% of these users will find the camera to be "malfunctioning" and return the card. The EyeFI card ONLY work with M8 M9 cameras in very specific conditions with very specific additional hardware, it do NOT enable the geotag and upload to EyeFI servers on the go durring the day no worries experience. (Naturally I assume no responsibility for any of your use of this card with your M camera, I can only say I use it right now and it works inside the described parameters / enviroment.) ONLY purchase if you clearly understand the limits of this card and setup with a Leica, if you are not clear chances are you will find it a waste of money.! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted January 6, 2011 Share #25 Posted January 6, 2011 Bo - are you seriously suggesting that the company selling the cards is using FUD as a marketing tool to stop one group of potential customers buying their product? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bo_Lorentzen Posted January 6, 2011 Author Share #26 Posted January 6, 2011 Jaap, You make it sound so bad. - But YES I am, unless you are a bit nuts (kind of like me) honestly the EyeFI card is NOT going to work with a M8 M9 camera, 9 out of 10 users would definitely return the card as "not working correctly" resulting in huge M camera user returns. I can not think of a better way to stop meaningless returns. It is very few users who practically will find a EyeFI card to be useful with a M camera. even fewer who will use it more than a month. The process to do this is at best almost a hack. one of those "if you don't get it - don't try it" things. . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
k-hawinkler Posted January 6, 2011 Share #27 Posted January 6, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) Bo, Thanks for your detailed reports. I understand your disclaimers. In the past I have occasionally used a tripod and mounted on it a camera and a laptop, connecting the 2 devices with an USB cable. My hope was that one day I could display the images from the camera wirelessly on a tablet like device with a much larger screen than the little one on the back of the camera. It appears that time has come, simplifying my original setup and extending the experience from some Nikon cameras to the M9. I certainly will take advantage of the trail you and others established. Thanks again, best, k-hawinkler Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Constable Posted January 6, 2011 Share #28 Posted January 6, 2011 Good evening Bo and Jaap I just posted the link as a warning. Basically I agree with Bo. Only do this if you want to play and spend time getting frustrated. I use an EyeFi card with my Nikons and S2 with no problem. With the M9 the only way it works wireless is with the bottom plate off and an insulating tape adaptation! But won't it be fun when it works properly! Ed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
k-hawinkler Posted January 6, 2011 Share #29 Posted January 6, 2011 Bo, In light of With the M9 the only way it works wireless is with the bottom plate off and an insulating tape adaptation!Ed could you please try out what improvement that would make? If it does help a lot, maybe Leica or a third party could have for sale a non-metallic bottom plate. As somebody remarked, maybe a Luigi half case would already do the trick. Best, k-hawinkler Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted January 6, 2011 Share #30 Posted January 6, 2011 Jaap, You make it sound so bad. - But YES I am, unless you are a bit nuts (kind of like me) honestly the EyeFI card is NOT going to work with a M8 M9 camera, 9 out of 10 users would definitely return the card as "not working correctly" resulting in huge M camera user returns. I can not think of a better way to stop meaningless returns. It is very few users who practically will find a EyeFI card to be useful with a M camera. even fewer who will use it more than a month. The process to do this is at best almost a hack. one of those "if you don't get it - don't try it" things. . Well, maybe I'm a bit less cynical than you are; a simple disclaimer that the thing doesn't work properly on the M8/9 would be enough imo, but I wouldn't bet a dollar that you are wrong Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
diogenis Posted January 7, 2011 Share #31 Posted January 7, 2011 Bo sounds right: if physically dimensions are the same as those of other normal SD cards, then how can this one damage the camera? That they should have never stated M8/9 cameras as compatible... would also made a better strategy too. In any case one can easily replace all these with the ready available and included miniusb cord and get done fast and quiet. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaques Posted January 8, 2011 Share #32 Posted January 8, 2011 Bo, As somebody remarked, maybe a Luigi half case would already do the trick. Best, k-hawinkler no one seems that interested in my post.... but it wasn't a half case I was referring to- it was Luigi's M-Mate baseplate. It is made of alloy (much lighter than the leica plate)- and the door for inserting the card through the baseplate should allow the eye-fi card work as designed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bo_Lorentzen Posted January 8, 2011 Author Share #33 Posted January 8, 2011 jaques, I think most of us are reluctant to use a modified base on the camera, I did read the link and am not entirely sure what the material is, however it say "anodized" so Im guessing alu which is a electrically conductive material, which would mean it would not help the radio signal. I have a 3D printer in the office and was thinking about printing a plastic base plate for the camera, but kind of feel "whats the point" Also remember, to a large degree radio signals are "line of sight" so with the base plate removed (or a plastic base plate) the improvement would only be as long as the bottom of the camera is facing the hotspot, if you turn the camera the transmission would again be interrupted. if I knew where to solder a inch of copper wire to the EyeFI card and let the wire hang out, that would probably do miracles, and it would work with the base you referred, but I don't. Besides, IF you use a cradlepoint 300 private hotspot, stick it in your front jeans pocket, in the front of your belt or even better, in the front jacket chest pocket or hang it on the camera strap close to the camera.. that WILL work, and the portable hotspot will establish the network to your laptop or iPad. This works quite well even with the base on, and the current EyeFI card require one or another hotspot to work, so you might as well have it on your belt. ;-) . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaques Posted January 8, 2011 Share #34 Posted January 8, 2011 The Luigi baseplate is anodized alloy. If the eye-fi is only 'line of sight' then I would have thought it would not work very well in any camera? It seems to me that the Luigi base would allow far greater transmission- especially given that the card slot has openings all the way around it - to let the signal get through? I wasn't thinking of it as amplifying the signal- merely not stopping it as much. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicoleica Posted January 8, 2011 Share #35 Posted January 8, 2011 Besides, IF you use a cradlepoint 300 private hotspot, stick it in your front jeans pocket, in the front of your belt or even better, in the front jacket chest pocket or hang it on the camera strap close to the camera.. that WILL work, and the portable hotspot will establish the network to your laptop or iPad. This works quite well even with the base on, and the current EyeFI card require one or another hotspot to work, so you might as well have it on your belt. ;-) Those of you of the male persuasion, may wish to be cautious in having a high frequency radio transmitter in your front jeans pocket, or attached to the front of your belt for long periods. Especially if your belt hangs low. Radio waves are a form of radiation, and you should be aware that this can fade your genes! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
k-hawinkler Posted January 8, 2011 Share #36 Posted January 8, 2011 Bo, Many thanks for your explanations. jaques, I didn't mean any disrespect and I had read your post mentioning the "Luigi M8/M9 M-Mate baseplate". I tried to refer to that very item that was also pointed out in Re: EyeFI on my M9: Leica Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review. BTW, today I received 2 Eye-Fi Pro X2 8 GB Class 6 SDHC Wireless Flash Memory Card EYE-FI-8PC. Both came with Eye-Fi version 3.0.20 software that didn't install correctly on my PowerBook Pro running Mac OS X 10.6.6 (10J567) in 64 bit mode. However, I was able to download version 3.2.2.0 from the Eye-Fi website that installed correctly as version 3.2.4. In this process I also updated the FirmWare of the Eye-Fi cards from version 4.2001 to 4.2139. I was able to take photos with the cards in an Nikon D40 and a Leica M9. With the Eye-Fi Center software on the laptop both JPG and raw images transferred wirelessly from the cameras to the laptop without any problems. Also, ShutterSnitch version 2.0.1 on the iPad had no problem transferring the JPG images to the iPad. I then wirelessly ftp'ed the JPG images from the iPad to my laptop. Of course, I was in close proximity to an Apple Airport Base Station. I tried to order an Aluratek 3G Portable Wireless USB Cellular Router, but they seem to be out of stock everywhere I looked. However, I managed to order an Microcom M2-HP Ubiquiti Picostation Outdoor Access Point that should arrive by the end of next week. Both these items are described in Rob Galbraith DPI: Wireless photography with an iPad and ShutterSnitch. Amazingly, both Eye-Fi cards could be inserted and extracted from the M9 without any noticeable resistance. However, both cards were somewhat harder to insert into the Nikon D40 and one of them is considerably more difficult to pull out. My conclusion is that there seems to be some variation in the thickness or smooth surfaces of these cards that potentially could lead to problems in some card slots. Obviously, the less expensive Nikon D40 will have to live with the somewhat difficult card and I don't intend to extract it very often - if at all. In the past I have preferred anyway to get the images from a camera to a computer via USB cable. At this point, I have no concern to insert or extract either card from the slot in my M9 if needed. It will be interesting to see how reliable this setup turns out to be and over which distances images can be transferred wirelessly with the help of a portable router. k-hawinkler Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomed Posted January 8, 2011 Share #37 Posted January 8, 2011 I've played around with this some more. My Netgear top end router (N3700 if I remember right? Purchased a couple weeks ago.) is upstairs and about 25ft away from the camera when using the X2 pro 8g. Transfers of medium jpg plus raw are quick, of course jpg much faster than the raw, but they are not arriving corrupted. you can watch the jpg download on the computer with the software installed on it, the raw image just shows an icon with no image detail. But, it does arrive whole. Really neat! But, this is with the base off, and a piece of masking tape with a plastic "pimple" on it to depress the "base present" button on the bottom of the camera. To make this look decent, and for protection, I just put the half case on the camera, and all is fine aesthetically. (I just have a cheap zao case, Luigi of course would be much nicer looking,haha.) I have now ordered the Netgear "repeater" after reading many reviews. It effectively repeats the router's data transfer, as a new node so to speak, and my goal is to make this work with the M9 baseplate on the camera, but having the camera near the repeater, which I'll hide somewhere in the main living area. 2 things (edit, 3 things) I can say for sure, at least for me: 1. I agree that there is no friction at all with the card fitting in and out of the sd slot. It moves easily and freely, and latches/unlatches just fine. Also, I 've had mine in and out several times over several days, and there are no mechanical or electronics problems that I can detect. All works fine with it and with a regular Sandisk sd card at all times. 2. The metal baseplate clearly blocks the signal. With it off, great transmiision speeds, with it on, poor or none, at least for me, 25 feet and one flight of steps from the powerful router I have. So, for travel use, using the "wi fi hotspots mode", I think one would have to leave baseplate off the camera. sigh.......... At home I'm hopeful that my repeater solution will allow use of the X2 with baseplate on. We'll see. I agree that it's too bad that we can't rig an external antenae to the card, outside the base plate, which would obviosuly solve the problem. Also, a plastic base plate would work, most likely. Don't know if the luigi plate, which is metal, but with a door in it, would help, and I'm not willing to spend the $200 or so to find out, especially when the ordering process is so lengthy as reported. I suspect it wouldn't help that much, due to the proximity of surrounding base plate metal that would still be there. An all plastic plate would be much preferable for this purpose. Our M9's are just built too well, ha! 3. My router has 2.4 ghz and 5 ghz "radios" in it, but the X2 card doesn't recognize the 5 ghz signal at all. (I don't think it's capable of this in this iteration.) My 5 ghz signal is my "n" signal, which one of my laptops flies on. I don't know if it's possible to configure my router for "n" over the 2.4 ghz band, if so, that would make this even faster, I think. I also have a d-lux 4, and D3, and will try the card in these some time. (Will order adapter recommended in other thread with removable metal covers for the D3.) Sorry about long-winded...... Thanks to all others for your experiments and incite! One speculation, is that one thread I read about damage with this led me to believe it was a mechanical problem, it made his latching mechanism fail? Maybe he got a bad card, his reader was defective, or, they changed the card or reader in manufacture so that they now fit properly? Or, if it was an electrical failure, is it possible that using the card with the baseplate attached, could cause a component failure due to the "trapped" radio signal bouncing around where it shouldn't inside the housing? Or is that way off base, someone with radio background could say? I know a frined of mine used to light a 110v light bulb a few feet away from his amateur transmitter..... I'll report back any further success/failure. Tom D. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
k-hawinkler Posted January 9, 2011 Share #38 Posted January 9, 2011 Tom, Thanks for your encouraging post. Following Rob Galbraith DPI: FAQ: Eye-Fi configuration tips so far I have verified that an Eye-Fi Pro X2 8 GB card can send JPG, NEF, and DNG images from a Leica M9 and Nikon D40, D3, D300 to a MacBook Pro either directly or via a router. They can also send these files via a router to an iPad. In principle, one could even now send images directly to the iPad in a laborious setup process according to the above reference. However, Eye-Fi has announced Great Images and Instant Gratification with Eye-Fi’s Direct Mode – THE Mobile Solution | Eye-Fi that a Direct Mode will be available as a free upgrade to all Eye-Fi X2 cards later in 2011. I think I'll wait for that. k-hawinkler Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
k-hawinkler Posted January 10, 2011 Share #39 Posted January 10, 2011 Apparently Eye-Fi Center version 3.1.9 is the last update for PPC Macs Eye-Fi Center Update fails on Apple Power PC Macs | Support Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
diogenis Posted January 11, 2011 Share #40 Posted January 11, 2011 You pay a lot for eye-fi and compatible routers to justify over the air transfer. And then this transfer is picky, the camera needs to be within very close range to the router, and transfer speed is real sloooow. As it is it's useless. You can better use that included USB cord for when you do tests (0 $) and like 10-100x better speed. And when you want to transfer a big batch of shots, just take that baseplate out and transfer them using a reader. Much faster, 0 costs Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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