By David Gewirtz
What happens when you pair up WiFi networking with photography? Is it like oil and water or chocolate and peanut butter? Is anything really like chocolate and peanut butter? I mean, really?
We recently received a letter from tOM Trottier. Yes, tOM actually capitalizes his name that way; he says to "distinguish myself from other Toms on lists." In any case, tOM writes:
Good articles, but I was expecting some info on how to have cameras use WiFi to send pix live to my laptop, collaborative editing over the net, and more.
Such great expectations. As Mr. Jaggers once said, "Take nothing on its looks; take everything on evidence. There's no better rule." This is especially true of WiFi cameras.
There are very few consumer-level WiFi cameras. That should tell you something.
Two that come to mind are the Nikon Coolpix P1 and P2. The P2 is a five megapixel camera while the P1 is an eight megapixel beast. Another WiFi camera is the Canon SD430. It's got a five megapixel CCD and 3x optical zoom.
While the SD430 attempts to do something called "auto-transfer" (sending your pics straight to your PC), it's really just a gimic.
Take your protein pills and put your helmet on. Commencing countdown. WiFi isn't the best use of your camera's silicon. While there are, perhaps, a very few instances where WiFi could be valuable in a camera (lab work, surveilance, and so forth), we at Connected Photographer consider WiFi cameras, especially at the consumer level, to be something you should avoid, like Miss Havisham on a bad day. Here's why:
- Networking always has hidden gotchas. You might want to network your camera to your laptop, but why bother? Simply popping out the SD card and dropping it into your laptop will transfer your data as quickly, and you won't have any network interconnect issues.
- WiFi sucks batteries like nobody's business. If you could shoot 100 pictures on a battery charge, expect to shoot and transfer only 25 with WiFi enabled.
- Don't expect to transfer your pictures home through WiFi hotspots. Since these cameras don't have browsers, there's no way to sign into public hotspots and do your business. Sure, you could WiFi your pictures to your laptop and then use your laptop to connect to the hotspot, but if you're doing that, just drop the card into the laptop. It's faster anyway.
- WiFi also adds a considerable amount to your cost. For example, the best price we found on Froogle for the SD430 was $449. By contrast, the SD450, which is basically the same camera without the WiFi, priced in at just about $200.
Ground control to mAJOR tOM
Reader tOM says, "WiFi allows having an assistant doing editing and transmitting and avoids running out of room."
Your circuit's dead, there's something wrong.
First, if you're a pro and you're working with an assistant, pop out the card and hand it to him. If you think you're saving time because ol' Wemmick doesn't have to run back and forth between the camera and the laptop, think again, dear boy. The time it takes to transfer the images will more than exceed the time for sneaker net (networking by running back and forth in sneakers) to do its job.
Pip, dear old chap, life is made of ever so many partings welded together. In this case, your great expecations of WiFi cameras are among such must come, and must be met as they come.
Can you hear me, mAJOR tOM? WiFi camera make us blue and there's nothing we can do.