What are my wireless options for transfering shots?

vigilante

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I have a D5100 and I know the WU-1A doesn't support it.

My research has only led me to the eyefi cards. I'm just wondering if there are any other options.

My situation is that at work I have to take a lot of product shots and they can be random through the day. I'm simply tired of moving the darn memory card over and over and over between camera and computer to transfer a half dozen shots here and there when needed.

The eyefi cards look promising but they don't mention connectivity with a normal PC computer, just mobiles and tablets.

I am looking for a method to have photos automatically transfer to my desktop PC with little fuss.

Is the eyefi my only choice? And do they even work directly with a desktop PC?

Thanks
 
Can you connect using a cable?
 
Not typically, the photo booth is in the next office over from mine. But sometimes I'm just outside or downstairs.
 
Given the constraints you're dealing with I'd say just get a handful of cards and swap them or perhaps look for another pc on your same network and work tethered to it with "Control My Nikon" software.
 
If Eyefi direct mode works, that's probably my only viable option then.
 
You can connect an Eye-Fi card to a regular computer.

I tried the Eye-Fi but gave up on it. The biggest issue for me was that transfers were painfully slow.

Although I used mine with a Canon (and the Nikon firmware support for it may behave differently), the firmware was designed so that while you're actively shooting photos or navigating menus, the card will not transfer photos. It leaves the radio off while you're using the camera. When you stop using the camera (just leave it alone for about 5-10 secs) it will switch on the radio and start transferring image. But if you touch anything on the camera it will immediately interrupt the transfer and switch off the radio again.

When it is transferring... it's slow. A JPEG was taking me probably about 30 seconds per single JPEG and a RAW was several minutes. It was really painful. I couldn't shoot and then review the shot unless I was willing to wait a few minutes after each single shot.

I ultimately picked up a CamRanger. This device is about the size of a mobile phone. It uses the USB cable to attach to the camera and basically makes the camera work as though it's tethered to a computer. It has software to support connection to either phone, tablet, or computer.

Unlike an Eye-Fi which can only transfer images, the CamRanger allows for full remote control.

Also... the transfer speeds are much faster AND it sends small preview thumbnail images (which take no time at all) so that you skim through and pull across only the images you want (you don't have to transfer a full image just to see what it is.) This works even if you shoot RAW.

The downside of the CamRanger is the price tag... about $300 last I looked.
 

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