WI-Fi Phototransmission

Does anyone know a good solution to use the 20D (or any other EOS system for that matter) during an event, where I can transfer the pictures wirelessly to a PC, and have someone at the station print them out. I would like to cover a ange of about 500 meters.

I have seen the Wi-Pics, but I find it rather expensive, and quite honestly, I would think it would be quite easy for Canon to develop something similar for it's cameras, and work out a deal with a software house for event photographers.

Does such a thing exist?

I would be interested in:
Hardware for the Camera.
Software that works well with it.

I would like the possibility of using bar code, but it's not the most important for the moment.

Would the WFT-E1 do the job well, and if yes what would be a good software package to work with?

Thanks for your inputs.

Has anyone got an idea on this?

I am looking into the wft-E1a also and for the range you are looking for you would most likely have to setup a wireless repeater network to to get that range consistanly....search the internet for more information.

The range of Wi-Pics and the WFT-E1 is far too short ( 300' in good conditions) to transmit straight to your station.

To make it work well you'll need to transmit to a stationary 'receiver' within a couple of hundred feet and then retransmit to your station. For your purposes, it probably wouldn't be practical to run a wired connection between the 'receiver' and the station. Therefore you'd need to find a wireless solution.

The most cost effective solution would probably be using WiFi, but using can or parabolic antenna's that are aimed at each other in order to cover the distance.

I see that you've done dance photography (same here)...are you looking to do this indoors or outdoors?

hank you all for your responses. The distance issue, and the networking part is really not an issue for me. I come from a networking background.

I just really wnt to know if there is a system tha fits my needs that I may have absolutely no idea about. If one exists in the US, i think I'll pick one up on a vist soon.

Kalden, I shall be shooting both inside, and out. In April, I have two big events at a large football ground at night, inside. On the other hand, in July, I have the International Salsa festival in Cannes.

Thanks for your input.

I believe a setup such as I mentioned could work for your work on the football grounds. Distance is definitely your enemy on this one. Another option outdoors is to transmit the pictures from your receiving station via a cellular (3G-type) internet connection to your display station via ftp.

I shot a smaller dance event wirelessly. The pictures were transmitted to a wireless router that I attached to the wall of the ballroom. I ran ethernet between the wireless router and the computer network that was displaying the pictures.

With permission, you could attach the router to the video lighting rig and run your ethernet to the outerwall along with the other cables.

StephensonC said:

I just really wnt to know if there is a system tha fits my needs
that I may have absolutely no idea about. If one exists in the US,
i think I'll pick one up on a vist soon.

Click to expand...

My system I cobbled together with open source & shareware software.

You may wish to check this out ( http://www.pixagent.com/itp20/index.html ). I'm still testing it, but it might work well for your proposed workflow.