M (240) & Wireless tethering

[Realphotos]

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Today I checked on the potential of using the Wireless enabled Eye-Fi SD card in the M240.

I find its quite helpful when shooting certain subjects an objects to have a jpeg file appear on my iPad (with a Retina screen)

First of all it lets note straight away it works seamlessly.

Secondly it seemed relatively quick in its transfer.

I generally only shoot RAW but for the use of this feature of broadcasting to the iPad I have Raw on and Jpeg on (at a selected size) and the Wireless card turned on to only transfer the jpeg to the iPad.

Then there is your anticipated question of how fast is the transfer?

Undoubtedly the overarching variable here is the speed of ones Internet connection.

Using my iPhone 5 for a quick measure of its upload and download the details were. Download 14.79 Mbps and upload .87Mbps.

Given this constraint take the following figures as a guide to the timed speed of jpeg file transfer depending on the size.

 

M 240 Jpegs @ size set to

1.7mb 5 sec to appear on the iPad

6 mb 7 sec

12 mb 7.5 sec

24 mb 10 sec

 

I also checked the M9 with the same card

M9

1 mb 12.7 sec

2 mb. 13.5

4.5 mb 14

10 mb 22

18 mb 21.5

 

Some of you tech members may like to explain why the M9 files move relatively slower than the M files. I am assuming once the photo file is on the Eye-Fi card the camera is not involved.

 

Note

I formatted the card in each camera before starting

I had DNG and Jpeg fine turned on

 

I think it would be useful if this whole process could happen with a bluetooth connection so that when I am remote from wireless I could use it.

Any comments here could be informative.

 

Imagine traveling and with your iPad or iPhone being able to view your SD card in your camera and lift the jpeg photos you choose and be able to email to friends family or office.

 

Important question

If any of you can confirm there is no danger using these WiFi enabled cards in our Leica cameras it would also be very helpful.

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M 240 Jpegs @ size set to

1.7mb 5 sec to appear on the iPad

6 mb 7 sec

12 mb 7.5 sec

24 mb 10 sec

 

I also checked the M9 with the same card

M9

1 mb 12.7 sec

2 mb. 13.5

4.5 mb 14

10 mb 22

18 mb 21.5

 

Some of you tech members may like to explain why the M9 files move relatively slower than the M files. I am assuming once the photo file is on the Eye-Fi card the camera is not involved.

 

I would assume the slower performance of the M9 is because of:

- In general the internal I/O performance / thru put of the M9 is (due to older and slower CPU power/ layout/ board) should be much slower, like "normal" writing of files/ pictures to an SD card

- the Wifi signal might have much more errors and need more error correction because the body of the M9 and the metal base plate heavily limits/ interference the Wifi Signal. There more "re-sendig" of errors/ signal drops, the slower it takes.

 

Just my 2 cents

[algrove]

I do not foresee any problems with this as the bottom plate of the M 240 already has provision for use Eye-Fi due to the oval plastic area just over the SD card slot.

[wlaidlaw]

We seem to be out of luck in the UK for the up to date Eye-Fi cards. These are marketed by San Disk in the UK. The only cards on sale are class 4 and would slow down normal use of the M240 considerably. I believe in the USA, one can buy a 16GB Class 10 Eye-Fi "Pro" card. These are available via Fleabay but there are so many fake cards around there, I would be reluctant to buy. Even class 10 is not really fast enough for the M240, a minimum write speed of 30 MB/s is recommended by Leica, whereas class 10 is only 10 MB/s.

 

Wilson

[mjh]

Even class 10 is not really fast enough for the M240, a minimum write speed of 30 MB/s is recommended by Leica, whereas class 10 is only 10 MB/s.

A card may support speeds of 30, 45, or 95 MB/s and would still be a class 10 card – there is no higher class. ‘Class 10’ means that the card supports a sustained throughput of 10 MB/s (or more!) when writing to the card, something that is only really relevant for video. Of course a card with a higher class rating will also be faster in general, but there are vast differences in the writing speed of cards that are all classified as ‘class 10’.

[01af]

A card may support speeds of 30, 45, or 95 MB/s and would still be a class 10 card—there is no higher class.

Well ... my Pretec SDHC 433× 32 GB card is marked "Class 16"

 

Anyway—we should keep different things separate. The speed given either as a factor of the classic audio CD data rate or in MB/s is the maximum short-term burst rate for reading, as claimed by the manufacturer. The "Class XX" designation is the minimum sustained data rate in MB/s for writing, as measured by a standardised method. Hence two entirely different things.

[mjh]

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Well ... my Pretec SDHC 433× 32 GB card is marked "Class 16"

The class ratings defined by the SDA don’t include a class 16 so that would be an unofficial designation. (There is the UHS-I class but an UHS-I card would still be ‘class 10’, officially anyway.)

[wlaidlaw]

Neither Eye-Fi nor SanDisk UK, who market it, disclose the speed of the Eye-Fi pro card other than class 10. As SanDisk always label their own cards with the maximum speed it is really very difficult to compare to the class. I know I am very impressed with the buffer clear speed of the M with SanDisk Extreme 45 MB/s cards. As I can't get the Pro Eye-Fi card in the UK anyway, its speed is a slightly moot point.

 

Wilson

[thighslapper]

Neither Eye-Fi nor SanDisk UK, who market it, disclose the speed of the Eye-Fi pro card other than class 10. As SanDisk always label their own cards with the maximum speed it is really very difficult to compare to the class. I know I am very impressed with the buffer clear speed of the M with SanDisk Extreme 45 MB/s cards. As I can't get the Pro Eye-Fi card in the UK anyway, its speed is a slightly moot point.

 

Wilson

 

Eye Fi Pro 16 clocks in at 12mb/sec (Sustained) from some tests I have seen .... and it is the fastest of all my cards in the M240 for start up and resume from standby by a small but noticeable margin (including the Extremes). As usual the quoted figure bears no resemblance to reality.... class 10 is 10mb/sec...... and thats it as far as I can see..... most of the real world tests come in in the low teens for write speeds irrespective of the headline figure....

 

I got 2 on ebay from a seller in Scotland and they are the real deal .... maybe not as cheap as elsewhere on the net though....

 

BRAND NEW* EYE-FI 16GB SDHC Memory Card Pro X2 Wireless Class 10 *IN SCOTLAND | eBay

 

The only problems are:

 

you need to leave the camera off standby to download all the images .... as if there are a good few DNG's it can take a while....

 

I just want to download to a folder on my imac automatically and be bone idle ...... and not have to keep taking the card out etc... the network in the house picks it up almost anywhere ..... but the supplied software is a bit limited.....

 

You either have to upload all images wirelessly ..... or none ..... because the card will not ignore images previously transferred manually and just keeps uploading and over-writing the ones you have .....

 

I am not keen on deleting card images until I absolutely have to ..... as accidents do happen and the best laid back-up plans can go amiss.... so for me this is a problem. I really want it to upload automatically to a catalogue folder which is then watched by LR and the images auto-imported. No such luck.....

 

There is a nifty setting to make it 'endless' where it releases space as you upload so the card never fills ....but again my faith in technology is quite not that firm to trust irreplaceable images to it....

 

Great card, great idea, just the implementation isn't quite what I particularly wanted......

[vikasmg]

I've given up on the Eye-Fi card. The transfer speeds are just too slow to be useful - either to my Mac or to an iPad

 

 

- Vikas

[LinkerX]

I will never buy an Eye-fi card again. I lost almost all of the pictures from my daughters first trip to meet her great grandparents. There was literally nothing I could have done to save the pictures because the bug that corrupted them occurred with their software. I spent thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours trying to recover them, with little luck. Eye-fi wasnt even the slightest bit helpful about my issue either.

[algrove]

thighslapper- Did you try getting images to register on an iPad for example? Or how about to an Air?

 

Or could you only get to work on a desk top machine?

[thighslapper]

I only shoot DNG so sending them to an iPad is a bit pointless, but you can upload files to any mobile device and the software is easy to configure.

 

I just wanted to be able to put my camera down in the house when I came home and find my photos sitting waiting for me in LR on my iMac when I got round to looking at them ..... with no human intervention.......

 

I'll find a workaround eventually, but till then its being used as a conventional card....

[Trilogy]

I used an Eye-Fi in my M9, but found it horrible. With the new Pro X2 16GB (class 10) and my new Leica M 240, things are different. Works perfectly, and quite fast. Since the M has no USB port, and I don't want a handgrip (because of size, not because of price), the Eye-Fi also makes perfect sense in this camera.

 

Because it works so well, I also bought one for my D-Lux 6. The Eye-Fi website still does not list the new M (not as compatible, not as incompatible), but fact is, it works just fine.