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TITLE :Canon WFT E5A Canon WFT E5A Wireless File Transmitter for Canon 7D Digital SLR Camera BRAND : Canon PRICE: $699.00 If not sure !!!!!! Check !!!!! Check Prices>> |

Most helpful customer reviews
35 of 37 people found the following review helpful.
Great Product, LOW VALUE
By B. Dub
I had a chance to test this out for a week and the general conclusion is that it is NOT a buy at this price. The product is geared toward studio environments which is their first mistake. The 7D is a great camera, but studio photographers that are willing to pay $700 for a mere convenience accessory aren't using a $1,500 camera. If this was for the 1Ds then the price would makes sense. Now after that rant lets get to the review. The grip transmitter is solidly constructed (though not sure if it is weather sealed like 7D) and weights about the same as the regular battery grip. It was easy to setup and use. Transferred files with no problems whatsoever. Since I have a DLNA TV that is compatible with the TV display feature it was cool to see shots displayed on my tv when they were taken. However, it is worth saying that the transmitter only transmits at 802.11a,b,g speeds and is not 802.11n compliant.
Overview:
PROS
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Easy Setup
Relatively
Quick Transfers
TV Display Feature for compliant TVs
Does Exactly What You'd Expect
CONS
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Price!
BOTTOM LINE
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If you're a studio photographer that somehow is using the 7D and is willing to spend $700 for the convenience of wireless transfer then what you expect is what you will get. However for everyone else I can't recommend spending half of the camera's price on this accessory. If you're willing to spend that on wireless transfer then you should be upgrading to one of the Canon 1D bodies anyway and will have no need for this accessory.
Also, I only had 1 grip to test so I wasn't able to try out the linked shooting master/slave feature that is probably the only real application where this accessory could make sense, i.e. parallel photography from different angles. This feature would allow sports photographers to trigger multiple cameras to capture "the shot" from multiple angles at the same time. Given
the 7D amazing auto-focus and 8fps this about the only reason I could think of to purchase this accessory.
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful.
Difficult to configure. Image transfer unreliable at times.
By Ryuji Suzuki
This device can be very frustrating to configure, especially in the ad-hoc wireless mode. There is nothing worse than having to spend 30 minutes to make it work on a location shoot when everyone else is around me... and the thing may lose connection after a while of shooting and having to start over the configuration.
If you are using ad-hoc network, my experience is that, I have to set up the ad-hoc network on my computer first, and then connect to it from the camera grip, not reverse. If I try to connect to the ad-hoc device from the computer, it appears to connect, but the FTP connection can't be established somehow.
Also, this device sometimes causes hiccups. I don't know why, but the grip stops sending pictures to the computer for no good reasons. I don't know if there's an elegant solution, but turning the power off for 10 seconds seem to work (at least when I use FTP mode).
For the configuration purpose, I would rather connect this thing
to a host computer via USB, or store preset configuration data into the CF card, rather than going through the menu and turning dials to enter IP addresses, hostname, user name, password, etc.
This device requires an extra battery for itself. You still need a battery in the camera. The power source is not being shared/pooled, so you NEED TWO SEPARATE BATTERIES (same model as the one that goes into the 7D body). This part is very different from battery grip BG-Ex series. Then, as you may realize, you have to take this wifi grip off to take the battery from the camera itself for charging. It's quite cumbersome. I want a better design, or at least an external charger that I can plug into this whole setup and charge both batteries simultaneously.
The image transfer is quite slow over wifi. I have to save RAW in CF and transfer the smallest (small and low quality) JPEG over wifi when shooting. Transfer may be faster via ethernet, but I haven't tested.
Other than the problems mentioned above, this product works, and when it works, it works well, within limitations. I use it as an FTP client and push small JPEG into my Mac while shooting, and save RAW in CF. After the session but before post-production work, I transfer over the RAW from CF and keep them together. Frankly, this is probably all this product is good for, given practical limitations of transfer speed and usability. This makes me think once again, if this product was simpler, for this simple purpose, with easier configuration tools, and perhaps lower price.
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful.
GPS function works well.
By OC Hiker
I've used the WFT's for a 40d & now a 7d--with equally good results. GPS is the only reason for my purchases. The type of gps units usable with the WFT's are limited--Garmin eTrex & Magellan eXplorist. Check usa.canon's site and enter "WFT" in the search field in the upper right corner. GPS information is on page 91 of the manual pdf.
Both of my units have Garmin eTrex's connected with usb 2 cables to the usb connection in the WFT. Yes, the WFT requires a separate battery, but it also powers the Garmin when connected via the camera's menu. Yes, the WFT has to be removed to replace the camera's battery, but one should always start a shoot with fresh batteries.
After physically connecting the two items, be SURE to turn on the GPS unit PRIOR to starting the connection procedure in the camera's menu. If you forget, however, just disconnect the usb from the WFT, turn the gps on, reconnect to the WFT & start the menu's connect process. After finishing your
shooting, follow the the camera's menu-driven disconnect procedure (important), and the Garmin will automatically turn off after 15-20 seconds.
The easiest method to secure the gps unit is with a cell phone type of pouch which can be secured to the camera's strap. Incidentally, the best strap I've found is from UPstrap dot com. They're USA-made and their rubber fingers grip even ripstop nylon jackets. Plus, the strap doesn't advertise "Steal Me".
I've shot 40d photos all day without having to replace either battery. Of course, video on the 7d uses more power, but changing batteries doesn't take that long. In a pinch, I've exchanged the two unit's batteries, since the WFT/gps' power drain in much less than the 7d's requirements.
NOTE: This is after setting the camera's "Auto power off" to "Off". This keeps the Garmin continuously powered, so gps data is available at a moment's notice.
The WFT takes the GPS data and automatically
inserts it into each image's metadata. If I'm shooting video, and take a still shot in the middle of the video, the still shot's metadata has the gps data. NOTE: The data is in metric form, even if the settings are not. I've not been able to get a response from Canon.
Accessing the gps information has been easy in both Lightroom 3 & 4.
IMPORTANT: Outstanding NEW FIRMWARE 2.0 from Canon for BOTH the 7d & the WFT E5A was available last month. The WFT E5A's firmware *MUST* be updated if the 7d's is updated.