Eye-fi card and 5D3 experiences

[PeterJ]

Hope this isn't a dupe but all threads I found regarding the 5D3 and Eye-fi were when the Mk 3 was either speculation or had just been released. I wondered a few months out how users found the combination?

The Canon WFT is a bit expensive for my amateur use but I'm considering one of these. Use would be just to transfer RAW images from a another room to save carting the camera back and fowards for food and product types shots. Transfer and burst speed isn't much of an issue, anyone found any other issues? I assume when out and about if I disable writing to the Eye-fi it wouldn't affect writing to the CF card speed wise?

 

[MARKOE PHOTOE]

I have used Eye-Fi cards on a regular basis and they work as designed in my experience.
I only use the Eye-Fi cards with ShutterSnitch to create an adhoc network. This allows me to connect to my Ipad without a network connection. Let me further clarify: with my 5D3, I shoot RAW and small JPG. I only transfer the JPG to my Ipad during a shoot to show clients/models as the shoot progresses. Shuttersnitch is used to create the adhoc network. The RAW images remain on my CF card in the camera and I transfer those later to my computer for post processing. The JPG's are automatically transferred to my Ipad during the shoot via Eye-Fi card + ShutterSnitch. I've yet to find a CF adapter that will accept and work with an Eye-Fi SD card. I've bought two or three adapters and none have worked.
Hope this helps.

 

[Joes Dad]

I use cards on both my 5D Mark III and 1D Mark IV. I shoot in RAW on the CF card and simultaneously shoot in small JPG to the Eye-Fi SD card. The JPGs are then transferred to my iPad for immediate review of how the shooting is going. In my experience these things work great for this purpose. I would not use it for file transfer of the files intended for future use.

 

[marekjoz]

Does anybody use eye-fi with cf adapter?

 

[allanc]

I've been using an EyeFi card in my 5D3 for the past few weeks. I've found the EyeFi to be... flaky. But in its defense, it's a refurb I got from woot.com.

The way I've been doing that is to do RAW only in the simultaneously-record-to-both cards mode. When I have a shot I want to transfer, I run it through the in-camera JPEG processing, and it transfers to my iPhone using the built-into-the-card ad-hoc network. Works reasonably well most of the time, and I have a 32G CompactFlash for more stable storage.

You can't use an EyeFi in a Canon with a CF adapter. I tried it with all of my Canon bodies that use CF (XTi, 40D, 5D Classic) and it just flat out refused to recognize the card as a viable storage medium. Worked in my Nikon D70, more or less, but no go with the Canon. Googling it reveals that everyone else who's tried it agrees. Just don't bother--either get a Canon that supports SD, or give up on the dream of EyeFi.

 

[justsomedude]

I use my Eye-Fi the same as many others have reported... RAW to CF, small JPG to Eye-Fi which transmits to my ASUS tablet for client preview. Even then, the experience can be glitchy. The range is really limited to 15'-20'... and don't even think about transmitting through walls. And even then, the xfer rate is slow... so I would caution against transmitting RAW files.

To get the best response/load times for previews, you have to limit the file-size to small JPGs, and keep the preview device no more than 10' away from the camera.

I hope this helps.

 

[VirtualRain]

Is anyone getting an occasional Error 80? I have been having the odd Error every few hundred shots. There were a number of folks reporting this when the 5D3 first launched, and one thing we all had in common was an Eye-Fi card.

 

[PeterJ]

Thanks all, given the price I've just ordered one to see how it goes. I'd wondered what range would be like with a tiny antenna inside the camera going to a phone or tablet that normally have fairly small antennas themselves. In my case I'll be connecting to a pretty decent WAP (my phone works over a block away) so hopefully shouldn't have any problems in that regard.

I'll have to post back in a few weeks how it's going, it might be an interesting comparison to speed and reliability when using it with a good always-on WiFi connection.

 

[allanc]

Is anyone getting an occasional Error 80? I have been having the odd Error every few hundred shots. There were a number of folks reporting this when the 5D3 first launched, and one thing we all had in common was an Eye-Fi card.

Yep; I've been getting this too. And it has gone away when I've stopped using the EyeFi. This was a big part of the flakiness I mentioned in my previous post.

 

[PeterJ]

Just thought I'd post back that the Eye-Fi hasn't missed a beat and I'm very happy with it for my use. With a strong WiFi connection it seems to take about 45 seconds to transfer a RAWso it normally means when I'm finished there's a few minutes to download the last few images but probably just as fast and a lot more convenient that taking the camera off the tripod and putting it back later.

For anyone else that's in a similar situation I'm using a Senao 600mW WAP and using a standard small whip antenna it runs at full speed in another room about 5 meters and through two walls. It works in my backyard about 15 meters away but at a greatly reduced speed, several minutes per RAW image. Using a large 15dB antenna though it still runs at full speed about 30 meters away in my backyard which is as far as I've tried it.

No sign of the error 80 yet but I leave it disabled when out and about so I'm not really using it with high burst rates or when in patchy coverage.

 

[sam1947]

Does anybody use eye-fi with cf adapter?

I use the eye-fi with my 5d MK ii, works fine..just one caveat, ONLY ONE BRAND will work with the Canon, it's the 'Delock' adapter only available out of the UK or Germany. Google 'Delock' CF card adapter for a list of dealers and ordering instructions