Using the Eye-Fi Mobi

One of the things that makes smartphone photography so popular is the near instant way in which one can snap a photo to share with family, friends, the world. It has led to the appearance and the rise of services such as Instagram and Pressgram and smartphone accessories like the Olloclip and the Glif.

One of the things that makes smart phone photography so popular is the near instant way in which one can snap a photo to share with family, friends, the world. It has led to the appearance and the rise of services such as Instagram and Pressgram and smart phone accessories like the Olloclip and the Glif.

However, even though there are some great smartphone photographers, the lenses and sensors in the phones are quite limited. To overcome that limit some photographers have taken to using SD cards, such at the ones offered by Eye-Fi, to snap and share their DSLR images. With these Eye-Fi cards in my Nikon D5100, my cameras becomes a wireless access point that my iPhone can connect to. Then using the FREE Eye-Fi software on my iPhone every JPEG images I capture with my Nikon is instantly transferred to my iPhone. I can snap, apply a filter, and share my photos instantly to Pressgram.

Although, I've owned an Eye-Fi Connect X2 SD card for over a year but didn't start using heavily until recently. One reason it took me so long to warm up to the Eye-Fi is the difficulty of setting up the card. My Connect X2 card came with a special card reader. To setup the card I had to insert the SD and install the free Eye-FI Center software on my Mac. The software was used to configure the Connect X2 in Direct Mode. Only after enabling Eye-Fi Direct Mode was I then able to send photos and videos directly to my iPhone or iPad.

Setup for the Connect X2:

  • Install Eye-FI Center
  • Insert Connect X2 card reader and card into computer
  • Launch Eye-FI Center
  • Setup the Eye-Fi Connect X2 card for Direct Mode
  • Set up the Eye-Fi iOS App
  • Connect the iPhone/iPad to the Eye-Fi Connect X2

The Eye-Fi mobi does away with all that complicated setup. Eye-Fi sent me one of the 8GB units, free of charge, with no string attached. The first thing I noticed is the UHS speed class. My Connect X2 is a 6. It's not a fast card. My Nikon D5100 can quickly overwhelm the Connect X2 card. The mobi has a USH speed class of 10. Fast enough to keep up with family sports action shots and not slow down my Nikon. Capturing my kids breaking boards at Tae Kwon Do tournaments and doing jump kicks is now possible without switching out to my Lexar Professional card.

Eye-Fi did a great job with simplifying the setup of the mobi card. Each mobi card ships with an activation code. To set everything up for transferring images to my iPhone I simply entered the activation code into the Eye-Fi iPhone app, accepted the configuration profile, and connected my iPhone to the card via the Wi-Fi settings on the iPhone.

Setup for the Eye-Fi mobi:

  • Set up the Eye-Fi iOS App
  • Connect the iPhone/iPad to the Eye-Fi mobi

In less than a minute I had configured the Eye-Fi to capture and transfer images to my iPhone. I then setup my iPad in a another few seconds. The Eye-Fi mobi could be called the Eye-Fi "Easy". The 8GB cards holds enough photos for a photo walk (almost 300 on my Nikon shooting RAW+JPEG/fine, or 800 shooting JPEG/fine) or a family beach vacation. What am I doing with the old Connect X2 card? I'm donating it to a friend. We attended PhotoPlus Expo together and on our walk to and from the convention center he was impressed by the Eye-Fi's ability. He wants one. Maybe two. He's got two cameras.

Now, off to make some instant DSLR art.

Author: Khürt Williams

A human who works in information security and enjoys photography, Formula 1 and craft ale. #nobridge

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