Remember the dark ages of snapping family photos? Buying film, taking it to be developed and cringing at all the shots of you with your eyes closed. Bet you thought when you got a digital camera things couldn't get much easier than that. So did we. Until we discovered the Eye-fi wireless camera card.
This 4 gig card instantly, wirelessly transfers all your pictures from your camera to your computer, social networks, and photo sharing sites, making it easier than ever to store and share all your shots. No more finding the correct wires and that pesky little card reader, not to mention setting aside the time you need to transfer them. In fact, we love this clever device so much it’s become one of our top picks for best gift ever. Watch the video to find out what little known “condition” drove Carley to dig up this amazing discovery.
42 Comments
Nicole says:
This is really cool! A must buy! Thanks Carley.
CKnobloch says:
Thanks Nicole. I am so in love with this thing, it's not even funny.
James says:
Worth mentioning are the different levels of the Eyefi cards. I use the Eyefi Pro myself and find it very helpful in my digital workflow. Many times after a long day of hiking and capturing great images I have a long drive home. The cool part is having my laptop with me and while I'm headed home my images are loading up in the PC so when I get home they're ready for me to share or start editing on.
CKnobloch says:
Isn't that amazing?! Thanks for sharing that... it's pretty incredible what the eye-fi can do.
Richard Mullen says:
Huge time saver. I have the 8GB and use it on shoots with the laptop nearby. Geotag your pictures and if your camera is ever stolen, the images will give away the location. Nice little extra feature!
CKnobloch says:
Well aren't you a smartypants!? Thanks for sharing.
Tiffany says:
I LOVE MY PRO EYE-FI CARD! one more yummy bit of info is that you can stop at any starbucks or mcdonalds and the card will upload to the server or to flickr or any place else you tell it too. Great feature when your traveling, My son and I used it on our trip home from New Mexico to California. I used it in my PS camera and when we stopped I made sure we went to Mcdonalds or Starbucks. It would txt my phone when it was done uploading and then my hubby could see where we were at with the built in GPS info and see what we took pics of he loved it. Made him secure in knowing we were ok on our travels...
CKnobloch says:
GREAT tip, Tiffany. Thank you!
LISA DUVA says:
awesome made my life so much easier I wouldnthave even bothered with a dtgital camera if not for eyefi!!!!!!
CKnobloch says:
Woot! We think so too!
Kevin T says:
A big thumbs-up for Eye-Fi...I love their products and ease of use. It makes it so much easier to manage and transfer your photos.
I'm also the author of an app called MoPhotos that allows you transfer photos from your Eye-Fi card directly to your Android phone/tablet. It's very much like Shuttersnitch (another great app) that does this for iOS users. I wanted to be able to share photos taken with my DSLR camera while I was away from home.
CKnobloch says:
That sounds fantastic, Kevin— definitely going to check it out. Thanks for sharing it with our readers!
Lyssa says:
I just heard about Eye-fi last week, now I keep running into it. Q: So, after connecting the Eye-fi to your laptop, do you then take the SD card and put it in your camera? Or are there two SD cards? ! that remains in the computer and the other in the camera?
CKnobloch says:
Good question. You only put the card into your computer (via the reader) to set it up. Once you're done, it goes into your camera like a regular card.
Ziv says:
Wow. AWSOME comments. Carley, I keep watching the video, because it's just so amazing.
OK, so here are a few more tidbits:
The Eye-Fi Cards work in most SD/SDHC cameras. But the most popular cameras, from the top 9 camera companies are even Eye-Fi Connected. This means that the cameras show you fun little icons, while the card is uploading, and when the card is done uploading, the camera, camcorder or DSLR will turn off. Here is a complete list of Eye-Fi Connected cameras:
http://www.eye.fi/how-it-works/camera-compatibility?postTabs=1
At CES, we announced Eye-Fi Direct. What it means is that you won't even need to wait until you get back home, or near an open hotspot, to share your photos, or to back them up on your home computer. Say you're at the park, with your kids, and you're snapping photos. With Eye-Fi Direct, your card will upload the photos to your iOS device (iPad, iPhone, iPod) or Android device, in real-time, and from the device, your photos and videos will upload to your favorite sharing site, and to your computer, back home. So you'll have instant sharing, instant backups, and your friends and family will be able to see your family photos, as you're taking them. Of course, you could also be selective, by either using Selective Share, as Carley mentioned, or choose only the best ones to share, in your phone. Totally up to you. I can't tell you when Eye-Fi Direct will be out, but all I can say is -- stay tuned via our twitter feed, Facebook, or email newsletter.
ciao --
Ziv.
CKnobloch says:
Such great info, Ziv. Thanks for jumping into the comments. If anyone has questions for Mr. Eye-Fi, now's your chance!
Zen says:
The main reason I got the card is because it take me forgever to post photos. Ability to select specifc photos in-camera and then post on-line was a big plus. Originally had the 4GB card and lated bought the 8GB Pro. Had to update both the camera firmware for my Pentax DSLR (worked fine in the Sony pocket pocket) and the Eye-Fi latest version before the Pro model worked. Really like the endless memory feature too. Only downsides are that it takes a lot longer to wirelessly transfer (not uncommon for me to shoot 6 or GB in an afternoon ...when I would only shoot 1 or 2 GB with the pocket camera it didn't bother me ...but I shoot RAW in my DSLR) and the only other downside is that I generally tend to delete the bad photos before transfering them to the PC ...and the card often has them already transfered.
CKnobloch says:
Great points. Yes, it's a pain to download the pictures you haven't edited yet. Seems like a good thing to do overnight, and when you're up in the AM, you can see your photos LARGE on your monitor and have an easier time editing your collection there.
Thoughts?
Dan says:
Great video!
Are all the photos stored on the cloud server somewhere? Or is there a way to download them to your laptop? It would be nice if you had the option to have them automatically download into your hard drive (or into iPhoto) as well.
CKnobloch says:
Yes! All the photos go onto your hard drive, in iPhoto, or just to the Eye-fi software. You also have the option of uploading them to a "cloud", like Picasa or flickr, but that's the icing on the cake.
Your Photos from Camera to Computer – Effortlessly | Let's Get Digital says:
[...] convenience and well – it’s just cool! Check out this video review of Eye-Fi from Digitwirl, a weekly web show of all things digital. It sums it up perfectly! To purchase, visit Eye-Fi [...]
Mark says:
I cannot figure out the Selective Share function. Directions say to use the Protect mode to share photos in Selective Share. I have scrolled to a photo I wanted to send to Flickr, pressed the Protect button on my Nikon D7000 and nothing has happened. Am I leaving out a step? Any ideas? Everything else is working great.
CKnobloch says:
Stand by, Mark. We're going to get the Eye-Fi heavyweights to answer this one.
Randhir (Eye-Fi) says:
Mark, you first have to set your Eye-Fi Card to Selective Share mode using the Eye-Fi Center software. After that, when you "protect" your photos in the camera, they will be marked for transfer.
We have a short video tutorial on this. It is based on the older Eye-Fi web-based app, but you will get the idea: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt3OCRt34Vg
We have more video tutorials here: http://welcome.eye.fi/video-tutorial-center/
Aristocracy» Blog Archive » get pictures from flash says:
[...] Transfer your digital pictures in a flash with Eye-Fi | Digitwirl … Wait a minute— how old are these pictures anyway?! [UPLOAD PHOTOS IN A FLASH]. Hello, my name is Carley, … [...]
Stacey says:
I want this,,,gotta find out where to buy!
CKnobloch says:
Stacey— here ya go! http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=eye-fi&x=0&y=0
Nick Beats says:
I have one question that i need an answer please. You buy your eye-fi, then subscribe and you have to pay a montly/yearly fee to use the card to transfer pictures from your camera to your pc? Thank you
CKnobloch says:
Nick— Nope! Just buy the card and you're good to go. Transfer pictures anywhere... no monthly fee required.
Cyndy says:
I have 2 old 16MB xD picture cards (from an old digital camera that I don't have). They seem to be about the same size at the camera card for this card reader. Would the EyeFi read these cards??!!!
CKnobloch says:
Hey Cyndy! The Eye-Fi is not a card reader... it's a card itself, so that won't work. There are REALLY inexpensive card readers you can get that would read those cards, though (here's one: http://www.amazon.com/Kodak-A250-Card-Reader-83037/dp/B002P5KOXG). Hope that's helpful!
Don Stewart says:
I have heard of Eye-Fi by seeing it in Facebook Ads and did look up into it. It is really useful and downloading much easier than using the USB. I know most are in SD format but I am wondering because I have Canon EOS Digital Camera which uses CF (Compact Flash). Do they have Eye-Fi coming out in CF format?
CKnobloch says:
Don— That's a great question. Not that I know of, but maybe I'll get an Eye-Fi rep to weigh in.
I do find it incredibly useful: It means that I don't even have to THINK about downloading photos, which can sometimes stack up and then give you an "insufficient memory" message when you need your camera most! It really is a great idea.
Randhir (Eye-Fi) says:
Eye-Fi cards are SDHC cards so they won't work with CF cameras. For a full list of cameras Eye-Fi works with, please visit http://support.eye.fi/cameras
Your Photos from Camera to Computer – Effortlessly | Digital Zen says:
[...] convenience, and well – it’s just cool! Check out this video review of Eye-Fi from Digitwirl, a weekly web show of all things digital. It sums it up perfectly! To purchase, visit Eye-Fi [...]
4 Ways the Eye-Fi Card has Revolutionized my Family Blog | Family Blog Tips says:
[...] more information about Eye-Fi, check out this video about Eye-Fi from Digitwirl. I just love Carley’s [...]
Jane Horning says:
HUGE Caution using Eye-Fi cards. The card has, according to Best Buy, destroyed my daughter's camera. Check CAREFULLY to insure that the camera is compatible with the card. If it is not compatible, you risk having to buy a new camera. I'm hoping the Eye-Fi customer service can give me a work around for this - otherwise my daughter won't trust any of my future Christmas gifts! And the eye-fi just became quite expensive!!
Joe D says:
Jane,
Please contact us by emailing support@eye.fi and detailing the issues you've been having with your camera and Eye-Fi card. Please include your camera's make and model in the email.
In general, Eye-Fi cards do not cause physical damage to cameras. Incompatible cameras will usually give a card error message, or cause the Eye-Fi card to not function properly, but the camera itself will not be left in an unusable state afterward.
Our Customer Care team will get everything squared away for you, and will be able to provide more comprehensive support than the retailer where you purchased the Eye-Fi card.
Thanks, and have a great day!
4 Ways the Eye-Fi Card has Revolutionized my Family Blog | Family Blog Tips says:
[...] more information about Eye-Fi, check out this video about Eye-Fi from Digitwirl. I just love Carley’s [...]
Sally Florence says:
I received an Eye.Fi card as a Christmas gift and it was working great! It just quit working. The last album it transferred to the computer was June 5. I have pictures on the camera, and they will not transfer. Please advise. Thank you.
CKnobloch says:
Sally-- bummer! Usually the EyeFi peeps are listening to our Digitwirl conversations, so they might chime in, but I'd not wait and call their helpful customer service team.
Eye-Fi Support says:
Sally, please contact us via email, chat or phone and we will be happy to assist you.
http://support.eye.fi/contact-support/
- Eye-Fi Support