Eye-Fi Card SUCKS.... looking into wireless USB options. Can anyone help me out?

[Ardabus]

Hey!

Okay i'll get right to it... i saw someone on here mention a wireless USB option to have photos automatically upload to your computer, and i'm confused about the whole thing. So any help would be greatly appreciated!

I have a nikon D5100 with a Eye-Fi x2 8gb card. I'm having SO MANY problems with the eye-fi card that i'm just about ready to break something. Some of the problems:
-Card takes 10-20 minutes to start uploading pictures
-Card never uploads
-Pictures show up half gray sometimes, rendering them useless

-when i insert the eye-fi card into my computer, it freezes. last time it basically jumbled all the images and their names into files like D.2XXp%-6.JhZ, and i had to reformat the card.
-sometimes all my new photos disappear and the card is empty.

I'm done with it. At this point i can't even take pictures and insert the card into my computer and copy them manually.

So i've been looking up wireless USB and i'm confused about it a little. Do i need a wireless USB device for the camera AND for my computer? On the D5100, it has a mini-USB port. Do they make mini-usb wireless adapters? Can anyone suggest a device or product that would work for my camera?

Any help would ge greatly appreciated!

-ARDABUS

 

[digital ed]

I have an EyeFi in my D7000. Except for being a bit slower than the normal cards I use it works fine.
Suggest you contact EyeFi to see what they suggest.

 

[GlennW]

By the time you find a wireless card, it would be so much easier to use a regular SanDisk card & a card reader. Some computers have a card reader installed to fit the SD cards. Then you can use View NX or some other program to open & transfer your photo files.
--
I Shoot RAW

 

[Ardabus]

I've contacted their support 4 times now for the same issues, and they put me through the same steps and it never really uploads more than one or two at once. If i take 50 pics, it will take days and days to upload them all.

How long from when you snap a pic until it starts to upload on the computer?

If you take a bunch of pictures, do they continually transfer until they're all done, or does it upload one or two then stop and so on?

Are you doing direct transfer?

Now when i turn my camera it says the card is damaged and unreadable, so i'm definitely not buying another. I'd like to know about the wireless USB option, i've heard it's basically instantaneous with each picture you take.

Thanks!

 

[Graystar]

Wireless connectivity of the type you're looking for is not easy to get set up. It certainly won't be faster than just plugging a cable into the camera. It's worth doing if you're in a studio environment with camera on tripod, and you want to immediately review every shot on a large computer monitor without tripping over cables. Otherwise, there's no nice way to do it without having some equipment tethered to the camera.

First, there is a standard called "Certified Wireless USB" that has not been successful. There doesn't seem to be any WUSB products available, but I think you can still find the "Cables Unlimited Wireless USB Kit" on ebay. I would stay away from that product. Some people get it to work and say it's great...but the fact remains that no one is producing WUSB products anymore because the standard sucked and connectivity was terrible.

What you're looking for is something called a USB Device Server. Here's a post that I made on the subject back in April...
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1025&message=41300418

I just reviewed that post to see where things are. It looks like Silex is taking the lead on this and has produced a new version of their server, model SX-DS-3000WAN. It's smaller and lighter than the old SX-2000WG. Here it is...

http://www.silexamerica.com/products/usb_device_connectivity/sx-ds-3000wan.html

Otherwise, the other products and processes I described are the same. You power the server with one of those USB power supplies that have become popular now due to phones using them as chargers. You can use your existing cable and get a 90-degree adapter to tidy things up.

One mounting option that I didn't mention previously was to attach the battery and server to a hot shoe accessory plate...either with rubber bands or maybe velcro tape for a clean look. Here's one...

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/687517-REG/K_Tek_K_SPT_K_SPT_Shoe_Plate_Mount.html

That will keep you from having to be tethered to the camera.

This solution will work, but it's obviously much clunkier than an Eye-Fi card. I was going to buy an Eye-Fi, but after reading about all the problems people have with them I decided to not do it. I haven't tried the solution I suggest, but it should be reliable. Another issue, though, is that you have to see exactly how your camera behaves when it's connected via USB. Some functions may not work. For example, my Nikon D90 won't go into LiveView when the USB is connected.

.

 

[xmpp replaces sms]

how about




http://sethwisely.wordpress.com/2010/12/27/infinitec-ium-usb-for-boxee-box-instead-of-eyefi-sdhc/

 

[Graystar]

xmpp replaces sms wrote:

how about

http://sethwisely.wordpress.com/2010/12/27/infinitec-ium-usb-for-boxee-box-instead-of-eyefi-sdhc/

Didn't work well and doesn't appear to be available. See the review...

http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/25/infinitec-infinite-usb-memory-drive-review/

Also, that adapter depends on the device it's plugged into to provide power. The vast majority of cameras don't provide power through the USB port. The only ones that do are the newer cameras that already have wireless transmitters available, such as the Nikon D3200 and D5200.