Canon WFT-E5A vs Eye-Fi Pro X2

January 7th, 2010

Can someone explain to me the difference in price tag between the Canon WFT-E5A and the Eye-Fi Pro X2? The Canon is $700 and the Eye-Fi Pro is $150. I know they are two different things with different formats but they both generally can accomplish the same thing.

The Canon WFT is an attachment for your camera (Canon 5D,7D, etc) while the Eye-Fi is a SD card (Nikon D40, D90, etc) that happens to have wireless connectivity built in.

Both are secure 802.11g compatible (Eye-Fi supports N as well). They both can be set up as a FTP site with access from anywhere in the world (a few tricks with the Eye-Fi) as well as real-time access to your camera’s photos from anywhere in the world. They both can be set up as a DLNA server (again a few steps and free software with the Eye-Fi). The Canon WFT allows you to shoot in “Utility Mode” from another computer as if you were right in front of it. I guess this is a plus for the Canon as before you had to do this with a USB wire. The Eye-Fi itself cannot do this but maybe your camera can. They both can do geo-tagging but the WFT allows the ability to attach GPS devices whilst the Eye-Fi depends on router information.

Now, a very nice feature that the Canon WFT provides is the ability to attach external hard drives to your camera as storage devices. The benefits and possibilities of this are obvious, however, I cannot justify the huge price tag.

Am I missing something here?

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