I am using this card in SONY NEX-5N camera and I tested it with iPad Mini, Samsung Galaxy 7.7 tablet, and Galaxy Nexus Phone. The functionality of the card works, but the documentation is somewhat lacking. I had to figure out several configuration issues. The two main issues was finding the mobile app and resetting passwords back to default. In addition it turned out that my Galaxy Tablet 7.7 is not compatible with the ezShare app.
To use this card you need to perform the following steps
1. Verify that you mobile device is compatible with the mobile app prior to purchasing the card by downloading the app. You don't need to install it at this step, the app store notifies you if it is not compatible on the first screen as shown in my video.
Once you have the card....
2. Install the card into your camera.
3. Download ezShare app to your mobile device and install it
4. Make sure the camera is turned on
5. Connect to a Wi Hi hot spot created by the sd card
6. Run the app to change the passwords (Wi Fi password and admin password). You can also change the hot spot name (also referred to as SSID).
HOW TO RESET PASSWORD BACK TO DEFAULT
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If you forget the password or what to change it after the initial change, you need to be able to set the card settings back to the defaults. The official procedure (option #1) did not work for me, I contacted the manufacture and he suggested option #2, which did work:
OPTION #1:
1. Insert the ezShare WIFI sd card into SD slot of the computer(Use USB to SD converter if no slot in the computer).
2. Delete the file named "ezshare.cfg" in the root directory.
3. Eject the ezShare sd card and re-insert back into the
4. Hotspot name(SSID), WiFi password and admin password should be result back to defaults.
OPTION #2:
1. Reformat SD card either in the camera or in the SD slot of the computer
When I used procedure #1 neither the SSID nor the password was changed, even though the file was deleted from the SD (I tried deleting on both Windows and Linux operating systems and verified that the file was gone). The second procedure (I reformatted SD using the camera) worked like a charm. Note that if you reformat your card to clean it from old photos after moving them to your computer, you will lose your SD settings every time you do it.
Obtaining the app
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I tested the card on iPad Mini, Samsung Galaxy 7.7 tablet (running Android ICS 4.0.4), and Galaxy Nexus Phone (running Android Jelly Bean 4.21). The name of the Apple app is "ez Share WI-FO SD". The name of the Android app is "ezShare Android" (note no space between ez and Share).
When I got the Android app page it told me that the app is not compatible with my Galaxy 7.7 tablet. I visited the ezShare web site, where it it shows that this app requires Android 2.2 or higher. So there is something about Galaxy Tablets that the app cannot handle. Based on this experience my recommendation that you try to download the app before buying the card to make sure you will be able to use it.
Note that later I installed this app on my husband's Samsung Nexus Phone and it installed fine.
Configuring the mobile device
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The rest of my testing I completed with iPad Mini which worked without problems.
In my video I show the set up steps, as well as some useful screen shots (e.g. Android store page for ezShare, how App store looks for a mobile device that is not compatible, iTunes page for ezShare, ezShare official tutorial, ezShare home page)
1. The video starts by locating and installing the ezShare app
2. Then you will see me starting the app for the first time and getting an error 'card is not connected', this happened to me quite often because my camera automatically turns itself off in about 1 minute of inactivity. To fix the problem you need to turn the camera back on
3. When you get an error, the ezShare hot spot turns itself off, and you need to turn it back on. Default password for the hot spot is '88888888'.
4. Then restart ezShare app, the default admin password is 'admin'
5. When the app starts you will have a chance to change the hot spot name (SSID)
6. Next I show how to see the card video (i.e. videos on the card that are in my camera). Card Album shows the photos that are on the card in the camera.
7. From the Card album page I have an option to select individual photos and add them to the download queue.
8. Next I look at the download queue and see the photo being transferred. When the download is finished, the entry moves to the history column.
9. The final segment shares useful screen shots
Using SD card without WI FI
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WI FI hot spot capability of the card takes a lot of extra power from the camera. The card has a switch which allows it to turn of HI FI and function as a regular card. The switch on the edge which is visible when you insert the card.
I am attaching a collage of two photos showing the card and switch. Sharing mode is when the switch is towards the short edge of the card (photo #2).
The SD card can me used a normal SD card. You can access files on it by connecting the camera with USB cable to your computer, or removing the card from the camera and inserting it into the computer's SD reader. I tested being able delete and change files on the SD card as I do normally with SD cards that do not have HI FI functionality. As mentioned earlier if you reformat SD hard you will reset the passwords and SSID name back to defaults.
WI FI vs USB
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What is this card best suited for? Sending small files or videos to your mobile devices for sharing. In my video you might have noticed that downloading an image takes a bit of time. This is because my camera is set to shoot photos in FINE format, and the size of the files is around 3.5 MB. If you want to transfer large files to your computer it will be much faster using a USB connection (more than 3 times faster). If you are interested in the numerical comparison and charts, there is an interesting article "Exploring Time Capsule: theoretical speed vs practical throughput" by Prince McLean which includes comparison of USB 2.0 and WI FI networks.
Wish List
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I would have liked if the mobile app had direct integration with Dropbox
I would have liked that reset to default worked another way - switch on the card or via a pin push on the edge of the card (i.e. I want to be able to reformat the card without resetting passwords)
I received this card from the manufacture with a request for a video review that will help other people configure and use the card. I hope my video helps you get started.
You can find it on Amazon by following this link.
Ali Julia review ★★★★★
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