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Eye-Fi Goes Pro

eye-fi pro

Click to See Eye-Fi's Page

Continuing our “the editor was out last week, we’re behind, please forgive us” series of posts to this blog, next up we have the Eye-Fi Pro.

So, Eye-Fi, makers of the infamous line of wirelessly enabled SD cards, has finally addressed a few of the beefs levelled at them by pros. Namely, they’ve added:

  • RAW support
  • Ad-hoc wireless
  • Mystical voodoo that lets your photos exist in the ether until you turn your computer on at which point WHAM! they automatically download themselves.

It’s probably a reasonable bet we’ll end up stocking these. We have all the others afterall. Actually, I’m kinda surprised it hasn’t hit my “To Add” list yet. Keep your eyes peeled.



Memory’s cheap, kid

I have a steal for you – for $149.97 (plus shipping) you get a Hitachi Microdrive equipped with a cyclopean 2 gigabytes of storage. That’s a basement price $.074 a megabyte.

Shudder.

I’m not kidding about having Microdrives lurking in our warehouse (I think I’ll start referring to them as the Great Old Ones), gathering dust (or inspiring early twentieth century horror). My E-410 will take a Microdrive, but even my chimp-heavy shooting habits beg for better than 2mb/sec transfer rate. And how could I excuse that, what with our steal price of $39.97 for 4gb Ducati CF cards and persistent rebates on Sandisk extreme III and IV cards. And we’ve just added a new family of what I think I’ll have to call candy SDHC cards from easystore (no caps, really).

The easystore SDHC line consists of 2, 4, and 8gb cards for 6.97, 9.97, and 19.97 respectively. That makes for a wallet-busting $.0035 a megabyte on the 2 and $.0025 a megabyte on the 4 and 8 gigabyte units. Ouch.

I understand that they’re rated as SDA2.0 class 2 devices. I figure that means unless you’re the proud owner of a D5000, D90, or Rebel T1i and keen on using that video function or you really like continuous drive -these cards are A-OK for throwing in the bag as a back-up. Or at your 75 year old grandmother who owns an AE-1 and a Kodak Easyshare so old it’s got pictures of your last two ex-girlfriends on it…not that I know anyone like that.



Color My World

Music buffs may recognize the title of my post as a song from the rock band “Chicago”. It starts with a haunting piano intro and flourishes into a melancholy love song. Well I’m not here to talk about love and loss, I’m here to talk about color, technology and simplicity. In other words (and words are all I have) the new Cybershot offerings from Sony.

Sony W2** Family

Sony W-Series Family

Above is the family portrait of the latest W-Series cameras from Sony. Common features in the family are High 3200ISO sensitivity, 12.1 megapixel resolution, double anti-0blur technology with Optical Steady Shot, face detection, smile shutter and intelligent scene recognition modes.

The DSC-W220 (Back in Black) is the baby in the family and still features a 30mm (35mm “film” equivalent) Wide Angle lens with a 30 to 120mm zoom, and a 2.7 inch LCD screen. Other DSC-W220 colors on hand at Roberts Imaging-Magenta, Blue and Silver.

The camera that’s got you seeing Simply Red in the middle is the new W230. This one steps up to the plate with a bigger 3″ LCD Screen plus all the other features in it sibling n DSC-W220. Other DSC-W230 colors on hand at Roberts Imaging-Black and Silver.

Up front is Big Daddy, the DSC-W290, a little bigger a lot wiser, shown here with the the distinguished Platinum/brown visage. Still 12.1 megapixels, still 3″ LCD but with a host of bonus features. This one has a wider and longer 5x Optical zoom (28-140 equiv.) and HD movie capabilities (1280×720/30p MPEG 4, stereo) that’s right stereo audio and HD in a pocket sized camera. Other DSC-W290 colors on hand at Roberts Imaging-Black, Blue and Silver.

All three series use the Sony Memory Stick Duo Memory cards available in 1,2,4,8 and 16 gb sizes with AVCHD for advanced flash video and high speed transfers. Henry Ford would be shocked by the range of rainbow colors available., you can have almost any color you want, even black.



It’s in the Cards


Take it from me, a guy who plays a “little ” poker but doesn’t really like to gamble, there is nothing like having a sure thing.  It is reassuring know you are sitting pretty with the right cards.  When you have an almost unbeatable hand you can play without taking as many risks. It’s the same way when you are sure you have the right cards in your DSLR too.
Here at Roberts Imaging we carry a few different brands of Compact Flash Memory cards. Sony had their own line, so does Hoodman, then there’s
Kingston and Lexar Cards, add Sandisk and you have five players at the table. Let’s Play cards!

The straight flush in this deck is our close-out on Sandisk Extreme Ducati Edition Compact Flash 4 GB cards. These cards are UDMA enabled, come with a life-time warranty and a zippered card case, but the thing I like as much as any of that is the “full size” Rescue Pro CD that is included. As a lap-top computer user that only has a slot loading DVD/CD I could never use the mini-CD versions of Sandisk’s Rescue Pro software at home or on the road. Having that software on the laptop also adds peace of mind -like having 4 aces at the gaming table.  At only $39.97 while supplies last, I say no need to check, Ante up and double down!



Kingston 32GB CF Card

The size of compact flash cards has really become an amazing thing.  We just got in the new Kingston 32GB cards and they are fast and priced right.  Rated at a 133x write speed, these babies are less than $75!  I put one in my Sony A700, set the camera in RAW mode, and I am able to put over 1500 images on the flash memory card.  Truly amazing!  Memory has become so cheap, it’s really hard to believe.  You could really shoot an entire event and put the card away.  No need to put it on another drive unless you need the redundancy for peace of mind.  Come and get em’!



Universal Truth (pt. 1)

You got your toy for the holiday. Now you want extra stuff to make your toy more fun. The toy probably works to some extent just the way you got it, but that extra stuff, now that’s gonna make more useful. More fun. This is how it was with Hot Wheels, G.I.Joes, Barbies, you name it as we were growing up.

This is how it is with the toys we use as adults (I hesitate to say grown ups) too.  Let’s say you got a lens shutter (point and shoot) digital camera for the holiday. (I waited for you to say it, did you say it? Say it NOW or I won’t continue.) That was to easy, NOW buy every thing that I recommend in the post. NO? Can’t blame me for trying.

So you got your new point and shoot digital. Is that it, are we done? No so, a mini tripod from Trekpod, or one of those Bogen Manfroto tripods or a way cool Joby Gorilla pod will give you so many more opportunities to exorcise your inner Ansel. An accessory case or bag can add safety and protection to your memory maker, and piece of mind to you. Extra batteries will double your next urban safari time. A car battery charger can insure that when you arrive at Aunt Tilly’s Cotillion you can capture every terpsichorial treat. Lastly do I even have to mention memory cards? Stock up our SD memory cards, and Flash Memory cards are still at holiday prices. Since you will have extra memory, get a Memory card reader so you don’t have to tie up your camera for downloading.



363 down, 2 to Remember.

I’ve read the other recent blogs, and while I agree with them I noticed that nobody has wished even one of you out there a happy and prosperous 2009. Now not only do I wish nothing but the best for you in the coming terrestrial orbit, I hope that you get lots of great images and memories.

The best way to remember those ‘best of times’ is with a memory aid of some sort. Let’s see, you could carry a notebook and pen or carry a portable tape recording device (old analog solution #1 and 2) but I just have to think there’s a better way.

Oh yeah, I remember. Electronic devices. That’s the ticket. Get a big Micro SD card and jot notes on your new fangeled touchscreen phone or use an Olympus digital voice recorder, a digital camera or a camcorder. The newest video (moving pictures with SOUND!) Canon camcorders and Sony camcorder cameras use flash memory cards, or record to internal hard drives, saving a lot of equipment wear and tear and tape (old analog solution #3).

In still cameras most every camera out there uses a flash memory card of some kind. Well there are still a few film (old analog solution #4) shooters out there but the majority of cameras record to SD memory cards, Compact flash memory cards, Sony memory sticks or xD memory cards.  Which brings me to my point (you knew I had to have one right?).  With flash memory being so cheap, there no reason not to take all the movies and stills and in camera videos you can this new years holiday. Here at Roberts Imaging we still have plenty of the 2 GB SD cards for under $5.00 and 16 GB SDHC cards for your video for as low as $34.97 and 4GB 133x Compact Flash cards for under $15.00, we even have Micro SD 512 cards for only $3.99, so don’t miss out.  Who knows that next big You Tube sensation may come from your New Year’s Day celebration party.

Sorry there are no pictures in todays blog, I suppose I could take my film in to the lab guys, then mail them to you if you really need pictures (old analog solution #5).
Have a great 2009!   Chuck



Got Memory?

The question of the day is got memory, and I mean this in the punniest way. Eye-Fi, maker of wireless-enabled SD memory cards, has made a new partnership to help you with a different kind of memory, namely that grey matter between your ears. From their press release:

MOUNTAIN VIEW and SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Dec. 10, 2008 — Evernote and Eye-Fi today announced a partnership to transform the digital camera into an essential tool for combating information overload and helping people remember everyday details. Users of Eye-Fi’s wireless SD memory card can now automatically upload photos from their digital camera directly into their Evernote accounts, where images containing printed or handwritten text will be indexed and made searchable.

Evernote, a service designed to help individuals remember everything, adds the images to the user’s collection of notes and memories and makes them available on their desktop, the Web or a mobile phone, where they can be searched and organized.

Eye-Fi ExploreSo, there we have it. You’re walking around, you see a cool flier from local band X, or maybe a playbill, whatever. You snap a shot, it uploads it, and you can search at your convenience. All from any camera that’ll take SD memory cards, which is honestly most of them. Good call, Eye-Fi.

Full announcement here.



Consumer Guide: Card Readers

Digital cameras use memory cards, we all know this. CompactFlash memory cards, SD memory cards, xD, MemoryStick Pro– there are several popular formats, and different brands of cameras will use different ones. So, it’s entirely possible your household will have at least one, if not two or more types of cards sitting around.

So, if plugging and unplugging a variety of different cameras to your computer–dealing with the mess of USB cables and remembering how to set them all to talk to your computer–sounds just a bit inconvenient, then it’s probably time to get a memory card reader.

Memory card readers can be found that read several different cards at once, up to and including all of them currently used by the newest cameras (such as the Digital Foci Memory Gate). Plug one into your computer, and then simply plug any and all cards you have into it directly, no more hooking the camera up to the computer directly.

In the past, and especially among pros, firewire readers have been preferred, but these days your average USB card reader will perform just as speedily. Plus, USB can be used on far more computers than firewire (even for you Mac users, since Apple has decided not to include firewire on the new Macbooks).

They may seem like just another of the many digital camera accessories out there, but USB card readers are a wise purchase, and will make your shooting experience far more pleasant than you’d imagine.



Understanding SD Memory Speeds


So, if you’ve used a camera in the last, oh, five or so years, I’m sure you’ve dealt with the joy of memory cards. I’m here today to help you understand the fairly cryptic and confusing ways popular cards, such as Sandisk cards like the Ultra II pictured to the left, tell you how fast they are. This time around we’ll look at SD memory cards (this also applies to SDHC, which is just the High Capacity version of SD).

So, let’s take a look to our left again. See the 15 mb/s printed on the label. It’s really nice when manufacturers give us this, this tells us the fastest the card can write information. If you see the little partial circle with a number in it, in this case “4″, this indicates the SD card’s “class.” The Class tells us the absolute slowest the card will ever write our data, and it’s a pretty easy system. Class 2 SD memory cards will write no slower than 2 MB per second. Class 4′s no slower than 4 MB per second, and of course Class 6 no slower than 6 MB per second.

Now, there’s one other way people will tell you the speed of their cards, and that’s X speed. I’m sure you’ve all seen cards marked like “60x”, “100x”, or “133x” (this system is used for compact flash, as well). In this case one “x” means “1.5 KB per second maximum write speed.” These days, KB are yesterday’s news and we’re on to MBs, so this isn’t the most useful number ever. If you’re confused by x-speeds, just take it times .15 to get the MB per second, which is way more useful. 100x = 15 MB/s, 133x = 20 MB/s, etc.




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