Purpose / usefuleness of Wi-fi on consumer digital camera?

Several manufacturers have released or announced digicams with built-in wireless network

access. Is there a purpose for this other than having the convenience of untethered photo

downloads to your computer? Does anyone know of a camera that has more capable Wi-Fi

access (i.e. such as the ability to upload to an FTP server)?

 

Since wi-fi downloads would be much slower than USB2.0 or Firewire, aside from saving 12

ounces of weight when traveling, the whole wi-fi thing seems to me to be a non-feature,

unless I'm missing something fundamental here?

I suspect for most people Wi-Fi is an answer in search of a problem. However, for some studio situations, I suppose it could be nice to shoot, untethered, while your files are "beamed" to a PC. I suspect too that sports shooters may find it handy now and then. For the rest of us, probably not. And for consumer digital cameras, well for now at least, that's a real dead-end IMHO.

Actually I think wireless for the consumer is the future of digital imaging. It might not end up being WiFi, possibly being based on cellular data services, but it's time will come and it will dominate the consumer area. Imagine this. Brand A's new EasyEasy camera/service. You are on a vacation snapping away. You take a break and stop for a coffee at the local cafe with a WiFi hotspot. Your camera auto detects the hotspot, connects, then offloads all your photos into your online photo account (with server grade backups). This frees up space on your memory card, and allows your friends and family to browse the photos while you are on your trip. When you return home you go online and select the photos you want to print and they arrive at your doorstep with 2-3 business days. If you want hard copies you just download what you need. All you have to think about on your trip are batteries.

Useless gimmick; as you say, it is too slow (and cumbersome) to transfer full cards and the much touted "anywhere there is an access point" is a blatant lie as none of these cameras is able to log into a paid-for hotspot.

 

Wireless is the future, but it's not here yet and it certainly ain't going to be that clunky piece of crap technology that is WiFi.

Kodak already has a camera that will upload your photos to their server when you enter a free wireless hotspot. I don't know how well it works or how much battery it eats up. I know the Nikon WiFi cameras really eat the power while connected. The Nikons can't email photos but they will auto transfer as you shoot. A handy feature for eBayers. The new Canon allows a live view over a WiFi network and remote capture. That would be good for wild life watchers. I think WiFi is a feature with limited customer draw. Image stabilization is a better feature for the money (IMHO).

Most do-it-yourself printing kiosks in my area are Wi-Fi ready. These are mostly front ends for Fuji Frontier machines and Kodak dye-something printers.

 

Beats plugging in one's expensive media card. I've seen CF card slots with buggered up pins and chewing gum stuck inside media card slots in these machines at Wal-mart.

 

For event photography Wi-Fi could be useful for providing prints on the spot as long as you have an assistant manning the computer and printer. It could also give an edge to speculators at auctions who needed higher quality pix than a cell phone cam can provide.

I agree with Jamie W. Wireless (in all walks of mobile electronics) is the future, and including WiFi in digicams is the first baby step. It will quickly morph into something more useful. 5-10 years from now, tethered connections (USB x.0 or whatever) from digicams will not be common at all.

 

At this point, it does seem a bit pointless, since I don't find plugging my camera in (or taking my slides in for processing for that matter) to be a cumbersome exercise, but it will change.

 

Wireless power would be cool.

Americans are so lazy.

People named Danielle Rhymes are so ignorant.

Daniella.

 

Do you always walk.. or do you have a car, scooter, take public transportation, etc... Because the only reason someone would want to use Wi_fi is for convience. That is also the same reason you dont walk everywhere.

 

besides.. americans are slow to take up new technology .. it's the asian and european countries that will pick up on this first. That's why in the Louvre last year it was all the europeans using camera phones so they could wirelessly send photos to friends and reletvies.