The Canon WFT-E2A Wireless File Transmitter incorporates a number of significant features and improvements into a robust, camera-powered system to make wireless transfer directly from the Canon EOS-1D Mark III & EOS-1Ds Mark III Digital Cameras faster, simpler and less cumbersome than ever.
The WFT-E2A is smaller than it's predecessor, and attaches to the side of the EOS-1D/1Ds Mark III. It can transfer images wirelessly through either 802.11 B or G protocols, and has USB and Ethernet connections for situations where wireless access is limited, or impractical.
It is also equipped with a powerful antenna, capable of transmission up to 492' (150 m). The Wireless File Transmitter can connect to a third-party GPS device via the USB connection, providing the ability to attach GPS information directly into the image's EXIF data, or you can plug a compatible USB 2.0 hard drive into the transmitter's USB port, and actually shoot directly to a large portable hard drive. Dust-and water-resistance of the WFT-E2A are also matched with the EOS-1D/1Ds Mark III bodies.
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Comments about Canon WFT-E2A Wireless File Transmitter:
Excellent implementation of all the networking things, like wifi with wpa/psk/tkip/etc, ftp with switch to a specified directory/user login/etc. I was little sceptical whether all encyption settings and long network key of my wifi setup would be supported, it does simply everything. Different setups can be saved and recalled with a touch of a button. Uses CF/SD card as a buffer if the pic sequence is very fast. Very reliable, all images regardless of speed gets transferred. Has a special threaded slot for removed cover from the ronnd camera connector. Very stable and solid (you can hold the camera with lens on the WFT-E2A). GPS can be connected to the USB2 port (check out the Dawntech di-GPS), an external USB2 disk (like the 1.8" ipod drives) or any standard ethernet cable.
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Comments about Canon WFT-E2A Wireless File Transmitter:
i use this in the studio and outdoor ( it works when camera and laptop distance is about 50meters when i shot for soccer game. all the images go to the laptop, seamlessly. but the first set up, needs patience.
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Comments about Canon WFT-E2A Wireless File Transmitter:
So far I've been using this to geotag my images on the fly as well as transferring images across to a PC as I shoot. Both operations have worked flawlessly. Any problems have been operator-related.
It doesn't support writing directly to NTFS-drives, but a quick reformat to FAT32 on an external drive fixes the problem in no time.
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Comments about Canon WFT-E2A Wireless File Transmitter:
If this item worked perfectly, this item would be a great item. However, the setting is extremely difficult. In order to use this correctly, users need deep computer network knowledge such as FTP and LAN.
Moreover, when I transfer RAW file to computer with this, the transfer speed was very slow.
In conclusion, I think this product is not practical. I was used to use EOS 1Ds with firewire connection to the Mac. This was more practical speed to transfer files by realtime in the studio shooting.
Comments about Canon WFT-E2A Wireless File Transmitter:
Difficult to use and configuration in PTP mode is impossible !!!!
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Comments about Canon WFT-E2A Wireless File Transmitter:
I was badly waiting for this product for almost 6 months. When i first got it out of the box starving to install it and use the Live transmission directly from the field. Initially i faced a bit diffeculties in installating it with Ad-Hoc mode even though I'm a networking guy, But at the end it turned to be awesome (my gadget of 2008) for field live transmission.
Get it.. you won't regret.
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Comments about Canon WFT-E2A Wireless File Transmitter:
I bought this so that I wouldn't have to literally be tethered to the laptop with a cable. Used it in "PTP", Ad Hoc mode. Setup was difficult because of Canon's poorly written instructions (e.g WFT Pairing software is needed but it only shows up if you install EOS Utility from scratch [not via updates] or if you delete all your Canon preference files on a MAC).
Once over the hurdle of dealing with the software, creating the connection between the WFT and the computer is easy enough. Create an ad hoc network on the computer have the WFT pair with that. The process takes about five minutes.
The problem is if the WFT loses the signal or if EU crashes. If it does there is no easy way to get the pairing/wifi tethering back up and running. It's supposed to be able to re-pair from the computer but that does not work. You have to go back to the camera and start the process all over again (another five minutes - while your subject and your client are waiting) and I found that it doesn't always work unless you also re-boot the computer and or log out of your OS X user account and log back in... and even then it wouldn't always work.
On five different shoots it was problematic: on one shoot it caused an internal error in EU, crashed completely on another, and wouldn't complete the pairing on another after three tries. Twice on assignment it actually worked. So, 40% of the time it worked.
Tether via a cable, it works, it's reliable and it's far less stressful on a job.
Comments about Canon WFT-E2A Wireless File Transmitter:
Pricey for what you think you are getting, but it's abilityto transfer files to any number of environments (HTTP, FTP,P2P) on secure networks makes this perfect! Going to a wedding and having an assistant who can pull (orreceive) the files as you shoot them to be edited on the flyand displayed at the reception make this a great marketing tool.Firmware 1.0.0 needs some tweaking though. Misspelled menusand some features could use some definite tweaks, but all isworking great!
Expertise: Pro-sumer
Problems Encountered: Misspelled error messages.
Items I Recommend: RRS L-Mount fits with this attachment installed.
Comments about Canon WFT-E2A Wireless File Transmitter:
Pricey, considering what 802.11 B/G WAPs cost nowadays. But it really works very well.Battery usage appears minimal, the design is nice, and the functionality is great. You still have to be a bit of geek to get it to work, but it absolutely met my expectations. There was a few glitches, like trying to change folders when no computer was receiving the FTP attempts, but I can understand why certain features would be locked during transmission attempts. Even with these glitches, I'm leaving it on my camera all the time. I have not yet tried the other modes, like the HTTP server mode. That's potentially a whole new world! From the manual: Use a web browser to shoot remotely...images on a memory card can be viewed and downloaded Buying this was a wild expense for me, but now that I'm picking up a second 1Dm3, I'll be buying a second E2A as well. Count me as very pleased.
Expertise: Semi-pro
Previous Equivalent Item Owned: None, but very network savvy.
Items I Recommend: Canon 1Dmk required. Wireless FTP server
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