photo by Flyinace2000I love to take pictures. I love to take pictures of my kids even more. But the number of pictures on my camera at any given time is sometimes overwhelming. I admit it's my own fault. I procrastinate transferring my photos from the camera to my computer and then onto my photo sharing sites. Technically, it's not hard, but it is just one more step before I can have fun editing and sharing my photos.

Well, I found the solution..the Eye-Fi memory card - the Share version. I have seen it advertised for awhile and thought I would give it a try before I no longer recognized those adorable faces captured with my camera.

It works just as any other 2 GB memory card with one huge, huge advantage...it has Wi-Fi built right into the card. The result...you can automatically transfer photos from your camera directly to your computer and to 20+ photo processing or sharing sites (Kodak, Smugmug, Flickr, Facebook, and many more) with all the effort it takes just to turn on your camera!

Set up is easy. All you need is a wireless network and a usb port. Plug in the receiver to the usb port and it automatically detects your wireless network and configures your memory card. You specify where the pictures should go on your computer and how you want them organized (i.e. which folder, what name) and which sites you want your photos to be uploaded to.

Now, after you take some pictures, all you have to do is turn your camera on and presto the downloads begin (no cables, no card readers, nothing). If your computer isn't turned on, no problem. Eye-Fi will send your pictures to the web-based Eye-Fi service and then on to your specified photo services. Once your computer is back on it will download those photos to your computer.

As I mentioned, I have the share version, but there are fancier ones available that let you connect from any hot spot Wi-fi network and let you geotag. There is also a more basic one that just uploads to your computer (not to photo web sites).

A couple disadvantages worth mentioning:

1) Doesn't help get pictures off any existing memory card in your camera.
2) Doesn't transfer video that you may film with your camera.

I have been using this for about 6 months and I love this thing! I walk in the door, turn on my camera, and forget about the photos until I am in the mood to sit down and edit, print, or share them.

They run from about $80 - $130. Like about 90% of the things I own, I bought mine at Costco for about $10 cheaper. If you are looking for something to put on your Christmas list or something for the photographer in your life, I highly recommend this!

Check it out: eye.fi

Update on Thursday, January 29, 2009 at 9:48PM by MidLifeMom

Looks like Eye-Fi is coming out with video upload as described here.