Eye-Film
on 11.01.06, 11:37am in gadgets • Comments (5)
Looks like Eye-Film has finally gone "beta". Not familar with Eye-Film? Check this out:
Eye-Fi is a combination device and services solution that allows digital cameras to wirelessly connect to your computer, or directly to select on-line photo destinations. A PC running Windows XP or Mac OS X 10.4 is required to initially configure the device and service. At Beta, you will be able to connect to private wireless networks (such as home or office networks), both open and secure.
Basically, it’s a 512mb (and eventually 1gb) SD or CF card that you stick in your digital camera. It has 802.11b/g built in. When you snap a photo, it transfers the JPEG to either a PC/Mac in your house or to an online service. For $99 to get on the beta, it could be a very cool toy to experiment with.
Cool.
gdkzen (November 2, 2006 @ 8:26 am)
I prefer to be in specific control of posting photos to the net. The camera is just the first step in the workflow towards getting a finished image.
This does have some really intriguing possibilities (especially for photojournalists who could basically have their photos sent to their editors as they shoot in real time), but I don’t see a consumer market for this.
Steve (November 2, 2006 @ 12:41 pm)
I have a portable HDD (Asus WL-HDD) that has both FTP and HTTP servers on it. I could have 100gb sitting in the car, and push photos right to that.
gdkzen (November 2, 2006 @ 4:09 pm)
That’s an interesting way of utilizing the technology - using it as a way to extend the capacity of the camera by saving to a larger storage device located externally.
The ability to record image data remotely would definitely be a plus for people using medium format digitals. Usually those cameras need to be plugged directly into a portable hard drive or laptop (35 mp sensors use a lot of memory). With something like this, more detailed photography might become less cumbersome (although I tend to think that DSLRs are going to put medium format out of business as the feature set and resolution catches up - it’s simply a more friendly platform)
I still think its most immediate impact will be on photojournalism. I’d look for Nikon (the camera of choice for photojournalists) to partner up with this manufacturer.
Steve (November 2, 2006 @ 8:36 pm)
Or just buy Nikon’s wifi add-on:
http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/09/nikon-scores-fcc-approval-for-d200-dslr-wifi-transmitter/
gdkzen (November 3, 2006 @ 7:38 am)
Looks like I’ve got another excuse to upgrade to a D200….
I’m surprised Nikon is working on this for their consumer and pro/am models and not their pro line (although according to that link, they’ve been having FCC problems). I think this would be a major advantage for pro-photojournalists, and they’d probably be using the D2X or D2H.