In defense of WiFi...

[runnah]

The sad fact is.. it doesn't have to.

Can you state clearly what you think wifi on a camera can do and what you expect it to do?

 

[Devinhullphoto]

Or people who get it right in camera, and would prefer skipping the step of raw editing, in lieu of being able to share an experience as it's happening.

Now tell me, how often do you like a photo straight up with no editing? I always edit my photos slightly. Just preference.

 

[JacaRanda]

Yes, these are all practical applications.

But what if someone doesn't care about those applications or require them for their business? Why should they then care about wif-fi? Someone can still understand the practicality and use in a general sense but still not need it or want it for personal use. Why is that such a problem?

It's not.

The problem is the ridicule of a potentially useful feature. It's important to keep in min this site gets TONS of readers. The huge majority of those are un-registered users, researching, reading and learning. They are forming opinions. Long after people stop contributing to this thread, it will still show up in search results.

There's a heavy skew in this thread to the negative around this feature. Myself and a few others are representing the other, VALID side to this argument.

Understood. There was some ridicule of wi-fi. But there was also ridicule of those who didn't find it useful. And there have been a LOT of "I see that it's useful but just not for me" opinions being aired, which are just as valid as the Solidly For and Solidly Against crowds. At this point, it's feeling like a lot of browbeating (on BOTH sides - I'm not pointing fingers at anyone!) into getting others to agree 100% with their opinions, and not a lot of the educating you're trying to keep in mind.

I have never ever ever seen anyone being browbeaten here. It just does not happen. :er:

 

[Steve5D]

Why limit it at wifi? Why not add 4g to all nikons. Now my photos can go to my Facebook anywhere!

Dude, I know you're trying to be cute here. But you're basically making a joke about something that already exists. Most phones have 4G (or will have in the very near future). So DSLR Wi-fi + 4G is already a very real possibility in many areas. Which means you can back up your photos through your cell network at reasonably fast speeds, even with large files.

And just FYI, there are many people who would be delighted with the possibility of sharing a photo to Facebook or other places INSTANTLY. Not everyone requires the traditional Raw workflow for every image. Ask Imagemaker. I think he does this for a living, and shoots JPEG only, and sports.

I saw a video one time regarding a sport photographer (not sure if it was olympics or worldcup) that he needed to RUSH back to his laptop in the common room where everybody trying to dump the photos to their laptop and then upload them during break so that the company can publish them right away. And then RUSH back to the field to continue to take photos. During that time inside that room, which was designated for the sport photographers or photo journalists, were packed with people. Looks like everybody were trying to send their work ASAP. If technology allow them to do it easier, why not?

Absolutely, we've definitely established in the sports world in general this will be/already is a key features of DSLR. But DSLR wi-fi can be used in MANY other applications for the hobbyist/semi-pro/and pro, many of which I've listed.




We are a society about cutting the cords. We talk on cell phones (not wired rotary phones). Everything is transmitted wirelessly. Everything is moving to the cloud.

Maybe you need to read my first post... my point was "I get flamed (a lot ) for bashing manufactures lack of WiFi support in their products".. we are on page 8 of this thread.

Can you provide links to where you've been flamed for doing that? I may have missed that obviously large collection of posts...

Sure, Steve, I had to dig pretty deep to find a few examples, but I think you'll see what he's talking about here.

Idiotic.

Providing a link to this thread is stupid because, according to the OP, the flaming is what compelled him to start this thread in the first place.

Essentially, though, you've just taken the position that the replies to what he said in his initial post are what caused him to say what he did in his initial post, and that's beyond ridiculous. It might make sense in your world, but not in the real world.

Now, apparently, there was a good deal of flaming going on about wi-fi being gimmicky before the OP started this thread. If you can't find it, it's entirely okay to admit that you can't find it (which would support the probability that there was none)...

 

[Gavjenks]

Some people are talking about things that require a cell connection, others are talking about needing routers and cloud based storage on an established wireless network. If I am standing in a field taking photos my camera having wifi or not means squat if I am not on a net work or have a mobile hotspot with me. This is also disregarding all the back end functions. Is the camera just a push or are you expecting it to put out to social networking sites and cloud databases?.

Yes but in 15 years, there aren't going to BE very many fields that don't have mobile/wifi hotspots next to them. Or satellites. And you could simply use the camera as a device on an existing cell phone plan that you have set all up already, since virtually everybody has or certainly in the future WILL have that.

Or if you don't have a plan, then you simply have to wait until you're within range of normal free wifi. Which will also be much more ubiquitous in coming years, with a large number of cities already having wide ranging public wifi offered. Even if you're in a field somewhere with no wifi, you can probably just use your cell phone as an access point, even if the camera doesn't have cell-type capability built in. My cell phone ALREADY has that technology (I can serve internet to my laptop via 4G, for instance)

Also, there's no need for facebook functionality, for example, to be built into official camera firmware. All they have to do is make an app API and the ability to download firmware/software apps from a manufacturer repository, and users can take care of all the details like that.

 

[Steve5D]

Myself and a few others are representing the other, VALID side to this argument.

And this is why no one ever really takes you seriously.

Both sides of the discussion are valid. By saying that those who aren't fans of it are presenting an invalid argument is silly because, by default, it demands that you take the position that it's useful for everyone.

And it's not...

 

[Steve5D]

For the record... I'm 45...

Huh.

Honestly, I find that enormously surprising, simply because I don't often see such hissy-fits from adults.

All you're doing is whining. To your credit, though, you're doin' a damn fair job of it.

Some of us have said we don't have a use for it, and somehow you construed that to mean that we're "flaming" you. We've even said we understand the value of it for others; people like you, and you still want to whine about being flamed.

Amazing.

45 year old men who've been in the corporate world are usually more open and receptive to hearing differing ideas and opinions and, when they don't agree with them, they discuss them. They don't whine about being flamed.

Really, this would've all made sense if you said you were 17. The fact that you're 45 just makes this all infinitely funnier...

 

[Derrel]

Apparently, 4G phones account for only 30% of North American smartphone/cellular/mobile traffic in North America, so the idea that "most phones" have 4G access in North America is in fact wildly off-base. It seems that in reality, 70% of North American smart/cellular/mobile phones do NOT have 4G access...

4G Account for 30 Percent Of Mobile Traffic - Business Insider

As to the idea that 4G service will "soon be" coming to most customers--I remember back in Grade 1 in school we were introduced to the "metric system", because , "The Unites States will be fully metric by 1977." The powers that be had mandated it! GONE, gone I tell you...no more pounds and ounces, no more inches and feet and yards and miles...we would all bow down to the superiority of...the metric system of weights and measures.

Uh, yeah...

 

[Devinhullphoto]

Apparently, 4G phones account for only 30% of North American smartphone/cellular/mobile traffic in North America, so the idea that "most phones" have 4G access in North America is in fact wildly off-base. It seems that in reality, 70% of North american smart/cellular/mobile phones do NOT have 4G access... 4G Account for 30 Percent Of Mobile Traffic - Business Insider

I'm on 3G. Lol

 

[amolitor]

For the record... I'm 45...

45 year old men who've been in the corporate world are usually more open and receptive to hearing differing ideas and opinions and, when they don't agree with them, they discuss them. They don't whine about being flamed.

Your corporate world sure looks a lot different from mine..

 

[Majeed Badizadegan]

Myself and a few others are representing the other, VALID side to this argument.

Both sides of the discussion are valid. By saying that those who aren't fans of it are presenting an invalid argument is silly because, by default, it demands that you take the position that it's useful for everyone.

Sure, if my emphasis on "valid" as an implication that the other side of the argument is not valid. But your interpretation would be incorrect.

The emphasis placed on "valid" is there because the idea of DSLR wi-fi has been continuously invalidated in this thread.

 

[pixmedic]

 

[Majeed Badizadegan]

I find it interesting that Rotanimod JUST bought himself a Canon 6D, which is apparently one of the TWO d-slr models in the entire world that has built-in WiFi, and he's lobbying vociferously for its amazing "potential usefulness".

Meanwhile, Gavjenks, who also owns a Canon 6D which he's had for a few months, seems to be much less rambunctious and less-enthusiastic about the usefulness of WiFi.

Food for though...

Both are normally pretty smart fellows, and Rotanimod is a personal friend of mine, and Gavjenks is one of my favorite TPF forum members, but I find it interesting to see the opinions of two people, each of whom has spent money on a technology that is, for the most part, only sold as an afterthought in 98% of the d-slrs ever built and sold.

I'll be the first to admit that I don't use it for everything. I agree with TheLost that it's full potential has yet to be reached.

But I realize it's potential. RIGHT NOW. And in the future.

I'm not dumping on the tech with the rest of this forum. It's not fully developed and mainstream yet. But it's not hard to imagine it's many uses when it is.

 

[limr]

The emphasis placed on "valid" is there because the idea of DSLR wi-fi has been continuously invalidated in this thread.

I just don't think it has. Most people were saying the idea of wi-fi becoming a standard DSLR feature because it will useful to everyone has been invalidated. But somehow that point keeps getting lost in the shuffle.

 

[Majeed Badizadegan]

Apparently, 4G phones account for only 30% of North American smartphone/cellular/mobile traffic in North America, so the idea that "most phones" have 4G access in North America is in fact wildly off-base. It seems that in reality, 70% of North American smart/cellular/mobile phones do NOT have 4G access...

4G Account for 30 Percent Of Mobile Traffic - Business Insider

As to the idea that 4G service will "soon be" coming to most customers--I remember back in Grade 1 in school we were introduced to the "metric system", because , "The Unites States will be fully metric by 1977." The powers that be had mandated it! GONE, gone I tell you...no more pounds and ounces, no more inches and feet and yards and miles...we would all bow down to the superiority of...the metric system of weights and measures.

Uh, yeah...

Sprint plans to have 4G nationwide by the end of 2013.
Sprint Community: is sprint  going to have 4g lte  everywhere they have 3g at now

& per my conversation with a store employee last week.