5d mark II eye-fi Wireless Tethering with iPad (how to)

[adam75south]

PLEASE READ THIS WHOLE POST BEFORE ASKING QUESTIONS...ESPECIALLY THE UPDATES AT THE BOTTOM
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Hey guys, I haven't posted much lately, but thought I'd post a quick, little thread that can probably be of use to some of you.

Lately I've been shooting tethered wirelessly to my iPad and it's been absolutely awesome. It makes it quick to check focus, exposure, gives a better perspective for planning composition/shooting for a crop, and best of all, it's a way for clients to see the pictures as you take them instead of looking over your shoulder at the viewfinder.



This doesn't just help 5d mark II shooters either, there are other Compact Flash cameras that also benefit from this. Here's a very specific list of cameras it'll work with: (if your camera isn't listed, then don't waste your money)

Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EOS 50D
Canon EOS 7D
Nikon D3X
Sony Alpha DSLR-A900
Sony Alpha DSLR-A850
Sony Alpha DSLR-A350
List is from forum users at this link: http://forums.eye.fi/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1352


It requires 3 things to make happen:
1. eye-fi card($80-100, I use the x2 pro, but the mobile will work as well)
http://www.amazon.com/Eye-Fi-Class-W.../dp/B002UT42UI
http://www.amazon.com/Eye-Fi-Mobile-.../dp/B004U5QR62

2. sd-cf adapter($15, very specific brands)
(U.S.) http://www.amazon.com/SDHC-High-Spee.../dp/B0048W4RV4
(Ger) http://www.amazon.de/Speicherkarten-.../dp/B0046EQOM4
(UK) http://www.amazon.co.uk/DeLOCK-adapt.../dp/B004AFJZUW
otherwise google delock 61796 and try to find one available in your area

3. shuttersnitch iPad/iPhone app in the app store($15)
http://www.shuttersnitch.com
or use the eye-fi app that's free but not as useful for photographers (according to reviews)


Once you get the eye-fi sd card, plug it in to the computer and go through the setup. Update the software on the computer and on the card(which it walks you through), then run the "eye-fi center" to set it up. Find "direct mode" and check the box that says "when no known wifi networks are in range, start the direct mode network". What this does is turns the eye-fi card into a wireless network. Note the password to the network. Click to start the direct mode network and join it with your iPhone or iPad.
If you have any trouble, go to step II in this link. If you don't know what you're doing, leave all other settings as default. Do not turn on relayed transfers(according to some, this messes up direct mode shooting). I'd recommend changing the wait time to 4 minutes or forever as your camera will control it with the auto-off feature anyway. I'd also change the auto off feature on the camera to about 4-8 minutes.
http://support.eye.fi/mobile-applica...os-eye-fi-app/





(optional and no longer recommended because I believe this makes the card overheat faster)Once you've set up direct mode, you'll need to remove the metal plate on the front of your sd-cf card adapter, as it weakens the signal. I couldn't find a precision screwdriver, so i used a box knife to pry the metal part up, once you get under it, it's easy to pull the plate off. I took the front at back metal plate off just in case. pictures will be posted below of what it looks like.




Install "shuttersnitch" from the app store.
Open ShutterSnitch go through the initial setup. Then go to the collection overview and tap the "Options" button in the top left-hand corner and pick "Set up Eye-Fi Access". Sign into your Eye-Fi account and make sure that the cards you want to receive from are turned on (the toggle on the right). Press Done!

Attachment 57174

Insert the eye-fi card + adapter to your camera. Format the card with your camera. Take a shot with the camera so that the card will start the direct mode network. Verify on your iPad or iPhone that it's connected to the eye-fi network. Once connected, start a collection in ShutterSnitch and start shooting. When the card finishes buffering, they will begin to transfer. You'll see in ShutterSnitch "receiving IMG_XXXX.jpg" and they will begin to show up.



I recommend shooting RAW+small JPEG. ShutterSnitch automatically takes jpegs only by default so that the pictures come through fast rather than the 30secs it would take to accept a RAW file.






Expected times for the transfer...I get anywhere from 9sec to 15sec for the first to show up, then one every 2 seconds or so. They don't transfer as the camera is writing them, so if you've shot 9 photos, you'll first have to wait for the buffer to finish, then expect the 9-15 second delay with one showing up every couple of seconds after. The better the wireless signal, the faster they show up, so keep the iPad close to you.

My clients think it's the coolest thing ever. Maybe some of you wouldn't have a use for it. I tend to always have someone there wanting/waiting to see the pics, which can be annoying.


Hope this helps.

-Adam


UPDATE 6-8-11
A few things I've ran into while using this.

1. Sometimes it will stop transferring. Usually I'll just go to networks on the iPad, turn the wireless off and back on and rejoin the card. Sometimes I have to totally turn the camera off and rejoin the card before it'll start back up.

2. Twice now I've gotten an Err 02, card not formatted error. When this happens, turn the camera off(wait for the images to finish writing), pull out the card, put it back in, turn the camera back on and it's back to normal. I believe this happens mostly when you've shot a lot of pictures at once and have filled up the buffer.

3. I've decided this tool is best for reviewing pictures AFTER you're done with a set. It's too slow to try and review pictures as you're taking them(for what I do anyway) and it will slow you down significantly. So now I just open shuttersnitch when I'm done with a small set and am about to move to another and let them transfer.

UPDATE 8-20-11

VERY IMPORTANT!!!! 4. DO NOT USE THE SD CARD + CARD READER TO TRANSFER RAWs to the computer. I'VE LOST WHOLE CARDS on my lexar card reader. If you use a card reader to transfer, make sure you insert the CF adapter with SD card inserted. I've also noticed the card likes to overheat and turn off while transferring. I've since bought a second adapter and have been switching back and forth between the two while transferring the RAWs to the computer.

5. I've noticed that it's common to have one or two damaged raw files when shooting this way. It isn't a big deal because I always have the jpeg as backup and it is usually only 1 out of 300 or so.

[Switchblade906]

That is very cool, they need to add some more cameras to that list. Hopefully the A77 will be able to do that when it comes out

[adam75south]

if it uses an SD card, then more than likely it works. you'd just follow the steps minus the adapter part.


I believe the adapter method will work for any camera that uses a UDMA CF card. I think there are other adapters that will work for other cameras that use regular CF cards, but I don't know.

[BBPhoto]

Cool, thanks. Now all I need is an iPad!!

[faisal]

And I was thinking the only way to do that was the Canon wireless grip. Thank you!!

[adam75south]

Yea. I didn't know it was possible at all until I started searching to see if the camera accessory would work with the 5dII and came across a YouTube video of a guy using his 5dII with the eye-fi. Then I spent a few hours researching and bought what I needed. So far it works great. And from what I understand, it's quite a bit faster than the wireless grip since the eye-fi has wireless N and the grip only has G. I do wish they had a 16GB version and really wish they had a CF version. But for now, I'm pretty happy with it.

And the funny thing is...you can buy an iPad, eye-fi card, the app and adapter and still save $270 over what you'd spend on just the wireless grip for the 5d2.

Another awesome feature of shutter snitch is you can let them set star ratings for the pictures. I use it to let them pick the ones they like so I don't waste my time editing all pics later.

[faisal]

I just need to figure out how to get hold of it in Dubai. This is good for me especially for product shoots. Btw it transfer RAW and JPEG or only JPEG??

[adam75south]

you can have it transfer both if you want. or just RAW. it'll just take longer because of the larger file size. i use it just as a preview during the shoot and upload the raws later.

[Nickcanada]

Good stuff! can you zoom in and really look at images on the ipad? or is it a simple viewer?

[adam75south]

you can zoom in. i shoot small jpeg, but it's still a big picture and you can zoom in to(i'm guessing) 1x1 pixel level. i wouldn't use this as a tool to see each picture as you take it though, it's too slow. what i do is shoot one scene, i don't know, maybe 10-15 pictures and then start up the app and let them download as i'm getting ready to move on to the next scene.