Memory cards with WiFi

Hyderabad: Not all of us have abandoned our trusted digital cameras, for a camera-ready smartphone. Professionals still swear by their digital SLR cameras and unless they have the very latest model, it will be “unconnected”. So, they  are forced to transfer photos the old fashioned way — with a cable that links to a PC, a laptop or a USB flash drive.

But help is at hand — from the unlikeliest  quarters — the memory card which stores the photos on the camera.  At least three makers of what are also known as compact flash cards, have put a tiny transmitter into the  memory and turned them into WiFi hotspots!

Each maker provides a small app that you need to download and install on your phone or tablet. When the camera is switched on the  memory card, it creates a WiFi network that connects to the app on your mobile device, anywhere you go.

The three WiFi SD cards  most easily available in India are: Toshiba’s ‘FlashAir’, Transcend’s WiFi SD card and EyeFi’s EyeFi Mobi or EyeFi ProX2 cards. All three offer the cards in  8GB, 16GB and 32GB sizes and you will be able to get an 8B card for around Rs 2,000, a 16 GB for Rs 4,000 to 6000 and the 32 GB  for Rs 6000 to Rs 8000.

There are small functional differences, so check specs and decide what models you require: they may not all come with the lowest priced card for a given capacity.  
Transcend tends to be cheapest, but you have to log on through a browser to get your pictures in some situations. Some brands work only with a mobile OS and not with a desktop PC for transfer. Some will allow the wireless transfer to go on even as you are shooting, others won’t.

Also, all of them transfer files in all the popular still and movie formats, but not all handle the RAW format used for uncompressed photo storage that professionals prefer. The ProX2 is much costlier than what I have suggested and is targeted at professional shooters who demand fast transfers of photos in RAW format.
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