Wi-Fi / *** on 5D MK IV - Patent

[Mt Spokane Photography]

And yet my EyeFi card in my Canon 5D3 works flawlessly.
Something doesn't add up.

You mean behind the plastic card door?

That's what the posts have been saying. Radio waves pass thru most plastics at 2.4 GHZ, but not thru metal. I use a eye-fi card on my 5D MK III. and its ok, but not at 300 ft.

 

[Etienne]

And yet my EyeFi card in my Canon 5D3 works flawlessly.
Something doesn't add up.

You mean behind the plastic card door?

That's what the posts have been saying. Radio waves pass thru most plastics at 2.4 GHZ, but not thru metal. I use a eye-fi card on my 5D MK III. and its ok, but not at 300 ft.

Exactly, but rfdesigner above has been carrying on that it's impossible in the all pro bodies. even claiming that you'd need 12 cm distance to make it work. If it can be done with an eye-fi card in the SD slot, then it can be incorporated into the camera body. And the range is just fine, nobody is expecting 300 ft range on wifi

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

And yet my EyeFi card in my Canon 5D3 works flawlessly.
Something doesn't add up.

You mean behind the plastic card door?

That's what the posts have been saying. Radio waves pass thru most plastics at 2.4 GHZ, but not thru metal. I use a eye-fi card on my 5D MK III. and its ok, but not at 300 ft.

Exactly, but rfdesigner above has been carrying on that it's impossible in the all pro bodies. even claiming that you'd need 12 cm distance to make it work. If it can be done with an eye-fi card in the SD slot, then it can be incorporated into the camera body. And the range is just fine, nobody is expecting 300 ft range on wifi

Since Canon specs their WFT 6A at 492 ft, I'd certainly expect 300 ft. My little IUSBPort Camera II specs say 300 ft.

Since Wi-Fi speeds slow way down with distance, to get reasonably fast speeds at 50-100 ft, a device needs to be capable of a much longer distance. The stronger the signal, the faster the speed, at least up to the maximum possible for the device.

My eye-fi does not have a distance spec, but at 100 ft it works slowly. I can find my AP at 300 ft, but files do not transfer. My G1X MK II has a longer range, but it does not have to deal with the card slot.

 

[unfocused]

... In the instant world of Facebook, Flickr, Snapchat etc. wi-if is the norm Canon must know this and has to move with the times regardless of what camera it is.

Yes! Someone else gets it! And, it's not just Canon by the way. Nikon and Sony are equally pathetic. There is no good reason why a camera should not be able to connect seamlessly to the internet. It should also allow the photographer to make a few simple edits from the back of the camera (or at a minimum, on a nearby tablet that is connected without wires and without a complicated interface.)

It's well past time for manufacturers to get into the 21st century with connectivity. Said it before and will say it again: it's absolutely ridiculous that the most expensive camera in the room is also the only one that doesn't allow uploading pictures direct from the device to the internet.

 

[Etienne]

And yet my EyeFi card in my Canon 5D3 works flawlessly.
Something doesn't add up.

You mean behind the plastic card door?

That's what the posts have been saying. Radio waves pass thru most plastics at 2.4 GHZ, but not thru metal. I use a eye-fi card on my 5D MK III. and its ok, but not at 300 ft.

Exactly, but rfdesigner above has been carrying on that it's impossible in the all pro bodies. even claiming that you'd need 12 cm distance to make it work. If it can be done with an eye-fi card in the SD slot, then it can be incorporated into the camera body. And the range is just fine, nobody is expecting 300 ft range on wifi

Since Canon specs their WFT 6A at 492 ft, I'd certainly expect 300 ft. My little IUSBPort Camera II specs say 300 ft.

Since Wi-Fi speeds slow way down with distance, to get reasonably fast speeds at 50-100 ft, a device needs to be capable of a much longer distance. The stronger the signal, the faster the speed, at least up to the maximum possible for the device.

My eye-fi does not have a distance spec, but at 100 ft it works slowly. I can find my AP at 300 ft, but files do not transfer. My G1X MK II has a longer range, but it does not have to deal with the card slot.

I only use my Eye-Fi card to send small or med JPEGS to my Note 3 phone, so I only need a meter or two range since the Note 3 is in my pocket or bag.
I save the JPGS to the Eye-Fi SD (so upload is quick), and RAW to the CF card for later use.
This gives me quick review on the Note 3 and the ability to upload or email any JPEG immediately, while having high res shots to edit later.

I would love the convenience of having the wifi built into the 5DIV when it comes. In fact I think WiFi should be standard on every camera.

 

[grainier]

Said it before and will say it again: it's absolutely ridiculous that the most expensive camera in the room is also the only one that doesn't allow uploading pictures direct from the device to the internet.

Canon tells you: buy this. Measly $900 with tax.

 

[grainier]

And yet my EyeFi card in my Canon 5D3 works flawlessly.
Something doesn't add up.

You mean behind the plastic card door?

That's what the posts have been saying. Radio waves pass thru most plastics at 2.4 GHZ, but not thru metal. I use a eye-fi card on my 5D MK III. and its ok, but not at 300 ft.

What stopped Canon from putting the antenna in the said plastic card door?

 

[rfdesigner]

And yet my EyeFi card in my Canon 5D3 works flawlessly.
Something doesn't add up.

You mean behind the plastic card door?

That's what the posts have been saying. Radio waves pass thru most plastics at 2.4 GHZ, but not thru metal. I use a eye-fi card on my 5D MK III. and its ok, but not at 300 ft.

What stopped Canon from putting the antenna in the said plastic card door?

my guess is eith heat, reliability or both.

I wouldn't want a RF cable going through a hinge.. longevity would be very low indeed. I'd want to put the wifi chip into the door as well then I only have to route power and low speed digital comms through the hinge, there's not a whole lot of space there so it's going to be quite cosy. I have a USB wiFi on my laptop after my on board one died, and that is small enough to get into a DSLR door, but it gets roasting hot.

Fundamentally though it introduces a point of weakness, Pro bodies are built for abuse and don't have flip out screens.. elsewhere here it's been reported/suggested the 60Ds biggest return fault is broken screens... I would expect canon have simply decided all electronics are to be on fixed boards, it's easiest to make it as robust as possilble

 

[kaihp]

What stopped Canon from putting the antenna in the said plastic card door?

my guess is eith heat, reliability or both.

I wouldn't want a RF cable going through a hinge.. longevity would be very low indeed. I'd want to put the wifi chip into the door as well then I only have to route power and low speed digital comms through the hinge, there's not a whole lot of space there so it's going to be quite cosy. I have a USB wiFi on my laptop after my on board one died, and that is small enough to get into a DSLR door, but it gets roasting hot.

Fundamentally though it introduces a point of weakness, Pro bodies are built for abuse and don't have flip out screens.. elsewhere here it's been reported/suggested the 60Ds biggest return fault is broken screens... I would expect canon have simply decided all electronics are to be on fixed boards, it's easiest to make it as robust as possilble

Agree, putting a flex through to the actual door is probably not a good idea, although laptops generally have a high-speed (0.5-1GHz) data cable that goes via the hinges to the LCD screen.

Maybe putting the antenna right at the inside surface of the memory card compartment would yield good enough transmission for users to be happy.

What about a slot antenna, when we have a metal body anyway? or two or more antennas underneath the rubber as a flexpcb?

There are plenty of possibilities, it all comes down to whether the mechanical sturdiness is acceptable and whether the RF radiation pattern good enough to get reliable transmission without "blind spots".

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

What stopped Canon from putting the antenna in the said plastic card door?

On my 5D MK III, my hand covers the card door. That severely limits the range of my eyefi card, but when I'm not holding it, its fine. It does download when I'm under my AP (ceiling mounted) while holding my camera. Apple has the same issue with antennas, people with their hand over the antenna. They locate the phone main antenna in 2 places to help with the issue. It greatly reduces the range of the phone when a hand covers both antennas.

So, picking a spot where we do not place our hand on the camera makes sense. The bottom is out due to tripods and camera plates, same for the left side, even the front has fingers wrapped around. The top is the place that seems best. Right up on top on the sloping surface of the pentaprism housing is clear territory in most cases, but I'm sure that something exists to block that as well.

 

[tpatana]

If I had to choose the location for the antenna based on what I know about antennas (and really not that much what's inside the camera), right behind the Canon-logo is the best spot (on non-flash bodies especially). That's solid piece of plastic, so you could have the antenna outside the metal frame. No worries about water sealing, almost no chance of placing hands or any other object to block the antenna. No hinges or anything. Perfect.

 

[AvTvM]

If I had to choose the location for the antenna based on what I know about antennas (and really not that much what's inside the camera), right behind the Canon-logo is the best spot (on non-flash bodies especially). That's solid piece of plastic, so you could have the antenna outside the metal frame. No worries about water sealing, almost no chance of placing hands or any other object to block the antenna. No hinges or anything. Perfect.

+100

you may want to quickly patent the idea, before "oh so innovative Canon" discovers this solution. ;D

 

[meywd]

If I had to choose the location for the antenna based on what I know about antennas (and really not that much what's inside the camera), right behind the Canon-logo is the best spot (on non-flash bodies especially). That's solid piece of plastic, so you could have the antenna outside the metal frame. No worries about water sealing, almost no chance of placing hands or any other object to block the antenna. No hinges or anything. Perfect.

+100

you may want to quickly patent the idea, before "oh so innovative Canon" discovers this solution. ;D

you mean like the exact description of the patent?