CamFi Pro Wireless Camera Controller Is Almost As Fast As Cable

Digital cameras still have an edge over smartphone when it comes to quality, but they can be slow when it comes to workflow. Sharing or printing a picture requires sending it to another computer and while built-in Wi-Fi or Bluetooth try to alleviate that, these features are often painfully slow. That is why a group of digital photography enthusiasts have come together to build the CamFi Pro, a wireless camera controller that's so fast, you might think you're transferring data over a USB cable instead.

Most digital cameras above the point-and-shoot grade usually come with one wireless connectivity option. But even those tend to be slower, around 2 to 3 MB/s speeds. And when you need almost "live" data transfer, a USB cable is obviously not an option.

Instead of the usual 802.11 b/n Wi-Fi used by many cameras, the CamFi Pro uses 802.11 ac. In theory, this bumps up the transfer rates to 10 MB/s. And that's on average. It could go even higher, depending on certain factors. This means that the camera's connection to a computer or a mobile device is no longer the bottleneck and that you can transfer photos near instantly. The bottleneck will instead be your computer's or phone's connection to the Internet.

The CamFi Pro attaches to the top of the camera, so you're basically giving up a flash. In professional settings, however, you would have your own standalone light source anyway. The module does connect to the camera's micros USB port, so you'll be missing out on that while the CamFi Pro is in use. As for compatibility, CamFi promises that it will with a wide range of Canon, Nikon, and even Sony cameras.

The catch? The CamFi Pro is currently on Indiegogo, but it is nearly funded at the time of this writing, with 2 months to spare. Being funded, of course, isn't a guarantee that they'll be able to deliver, but this hardly the small company's first rodeo.

VIA: Indiegogo