Canon WFT-E8A Specifications

I find it amusing how some people get bent out of shape about the price of an accessory to a camera.

Canon prices it at what they do because...wait for it...they have determined that the people who "need" such a thing, will pay this price. If no one buys it, the price will drop. I have a feeling the pricing reflects how specialized and niche the thing is, so comparing it to mass-produced wi-fi products is a bit...naive.

If you don't like the price, don't buy it. Simple. It's not exactly a basic human need, to own a wireless dongle for the flagship Canon camera. Besides, think of how many toys and consumer routers you could buy instead! ::)

I suppose the whining has therapeutic value, but other than that I can't see if really influencing much of much. ;D
 
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emailfortom

Full time sports shooter
CR Pro
Mar 17, 2014
30
15
East Coast US
I have a pre order in for the 1Dx MII and also for the transmitter. Can anyone tell me how the transmitter bolts onto the side of the camera? I shoot sports and wonder if I've got two camera's strapped to each side of my body....would the transmitter be prone to disconnecting if the camera gets brushed against my side?
 
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the reality is that the current implementation of the built in WiFi is a Mickey Mouse solution at best. It times out, has issues connecting will not work properly with flash on and so on . . . (this is on the 6D). As they upgrade the software it's getting better but there are still issues. It is a solution where you get what you pay for. A professional solution (no quirks present) costs more money to produce (think QC and RnD) and has to be distributed across a significantly smaller number of users. Thus the $600 price tag.

As an example to those touting the cheap WiFi solutions, think network switches rather than WiFi. You can buy a desktop version for $20 or you can buy a Cisco for $2K. They are both doing the same job, right? I sure would not trust my professional work to a $20 device!

pierre
 
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Jul 21, 2010
31,099
12,863
emailfortom said:
I have a pre order in for the 1Dx MII and also for the transmitter. Can anyone tell me how the transmitter bolts onto the side of the camera? I shoot sports and wonder if I've got two camera's strapped to each side of my body....would the transmitter be prone to disconnecting if the camera gets brushed against my side?

The port is threaded and the WFT locks on via a knurled knob. There's an antitwist pin on the WFT that goes in the hole above the port.
 
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CSD

Photographer, WP Developer, and IT Geek.
Sep 3, 2015
54
4
Scotland
Something that's not been addressed, the Canon 1Dx II is sold worldwide. This means it has to negotiate a minefield when it comes to dealing with regulations concerning radio signals and gaining certification. For the amount people who need this it's simpler and more cost effective to do a external adaptor that can be easily changed for each frequency/market.

In addition this will likely have had a lot of testing in noisy environments such as sports stadiums which has a lot of WiFi traffic something that the 6D was never designed to do. This will be used by sports photographers to transmit images to the teams for instant publication, with cards being carried by runners as back up. Most likely this is why an external adaptor makes more sense to give it breathing room to receive/transmit data out-with the solid metal chassis.

Yes the cost is high, but so is the cost of a 1Dx that's the price of having a professional and reliable bit of gear. It also uses a proprietary connector so again with all this the cost reductions you get from mass production won't be realised. Simple business economics.

If you want to see what can happen to a signal with an earthed antenna just look at what happened to Apple with antennagate issue.
 
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Isurus

CR Pro
Jul 21, 2010
76
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Wisconsin
neuroanatomist said:
Opinions are certainly welcome. As you say, it's a forum. If contrary opinions bother you, perhaps this isn't the right place for you.

Contrary opinions don't bother me. Delivery of them, at times, leave something to be desired though.

At some point I just have to come to terms with the fact that neither Canon nor Nikon seem to have a desire to use their top pro bodies to test revolutionary or innovative ideas (as I would define them). They take a more conservative approach, probably in part to meet the reliability demands of pros. I hope at some a competitor enters to shake things up a bit, like Sony has with other body types (well, to an extent).

That being said, I still think a wireless dongle is lame as hell. To each their own.
 
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Canons WiFi implementation in previous cameras is ok for casual use, getting some jpegs on your phone to send along and that sort of thing. This device looks to be on a whole different level of speed, range and functionality. I could see a team of shooters at a pro sporting event streaming images to an onsite editors computer who is sending them off to a publisher. No breaks in the action.

You have to keep in mind who the 1dxii is intended for, same as this device.
 
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