I was looking for ways to breathe new life into my digital camera and while looking at some new lenses for it I realized one great thing I could add to the camera would be WiFi. Memory cards with WiFi built in have been around for some time now but I never saw a need for one until now. Although my iPhone takes some great photos, on more than one occasion I’ve struggled with it and in most cases its because I probably was indoors and the lighting was horrible. By having a digital camera with WiFi, I would be able to take shots with a more capable camera and then send it to my phone wirelessly on the spot so I could upload it onto Instagram.
I checked all the local online stores and found that Blink had two models, one was out of stock while the other available for KD19. It was for only 8GB but I decided to go for it anyway since I was picking up the Mercedes G63 to review that same day and wanted to try out the card while shooting it.
The way the card works is pretty straight forward. You download the Eye-Fi application from the Apple or Android store, and then run it and follow the onscreen instructions. The whole setup process takes a minute and when you’re done you just stick the memory card into the camera and take a photo. While the camera is still on, launch the Eye-Fi app and it will start downloading all the photos from the memory card onto your phone immediately. It works really well and I was able to capture the photo I wanted, send it to my phone, apply my filter and then upload it to Instagram without a hitch.
The memory card I got is an 8GB capacity with a Class 10 read and write speed. The only extra feature it has over regular memory cards is WiFi. It costs KD13 on Amazon without shipping but if you’re in a rush Blink have it for KD19.
17 replies on “Review: Eye-Fi, Wireless Memory Card”
At the cost of sounding nooby, does it need to be connected to a Wi-Fi newtork or does it somehow broadcast on its own so you can transfer pictures to your phone on the go?
It creates its own network. The phone connects to the memory cards wifi network basically.
Damn.. Thats pretty neat! Not that its a new technology.. but still pretty interesting, none the less.
I still can’t believe there is a wifi chip inside the memory card
The basic reason I may think the camera needs to be Eye-Fi capable is that my NIKON P510 actually has a setting to turn Eye-Fi transfer on or off. I have no other camera to experiment with. If I am incorrect, I’m sorry.
Can it work on the Samsung Galaxy Camera?
It will only work as a network device in cameras that are Eye-Fi capable. Check your camera’s settings, manual or go to the manufacturer’s website to check the specifications for your camera.
Doesn’t the Galaxy already have wifi ?
I have no idea. It needs to be an Eye-Fi setup from my own experience. If it is a device other than a camera, there may be an Eye-Fi app that can be installed on it. I installed Eye-Fi Center on my iPad Mini and Kindle Fire to allow field shoots.
Wi-Fi facilitates the use of Eye-Fi on a device. They are not the same function.
Yes it does https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_camera_gc100-4961.php
Reduces camera battery life by almost 20%. Also its not that fast because even if it’s class 10 its often reading and writing at the same time because of uploading. Burt shots suffer once you run out of the camera buffer.
Or you can use it the way I do which is take photos and then once done load them up to the camera. That way battery life stays relatively the same and so does the class 10 write/read speed.
Been using them for almost a year now and I’ve pretty much bought the 8GB, 16GB and on my last trip the 32GB Class 10 mobi Eye-Fi card was released so it’s now in my collection as well. It’s quite helpful and I’ve tried a few other brands like the Transcend Wifi Card which sucked because you would have to select 10 images to transfer at a time and it doesn’t save your spot. While the Eye-Fi might be annoying at times importing all images on your card it’s still a winner in my books and the best one out there.
Hey Mark.. I’ve been using it in every photo shoot for the past 3 months. and although the ipad app crashes a lot yet the ability to check the images directly while the photographer is taking them and make sure no out of focus and surprises after photo shoot is priceless. the nikon we use takes 2 cards so every image we take it saves a raw on the large card and a medium size jpg on the wifi card that is sent to the ipad.. each jpg takes between 7 to 10 seconds to load on the iPad.. and one last thing.. Ipad should be very close to the camera.. around 4 meters max.. or it will starts giving errors.. again it is far from perfect.. but still worth it.. I have the app on my macbook pro but never used it.. why to carry a huge device when you can check it on the ipad and zoom in for details while walking around the shoot set..
Ah smart idea, I could do that with my D800.
I’m a home inspector and have been using the same Eye-Fi card for the past 3 years. I’ve transferred over 30,000 pictures with it. Cameras do not need to be Eye-Fi compatible. The camera needs only to be turned on and the card works independently. Yes, you will see reduced battery life if you leave the camera on continuously. However, if you wait to upload 10-20 at a time you won’t even notice it. I currently use a Canon SX160IS and will get over 250 16mb pictures off a set of alkaline AA batteries. I’ve never experience any problems with the card.
The basic reason I may think the camera needs to be Eye-Fi capable is that my NIKON P510 actually has a setting to turn Eye-Fi transfer on or off. I have no other camera to experiment with. If I am incorrect, I’m sorry.