Originally posted by JPT Here is a link to a first impression of the FLUcard on the K-3. It’s from a batch of test units that have arrived in Hamburg. I don’t have time to translate the whole thing, but here are the key points about how it works.
Erste Erfahrungen mit der FLUCard für die PENTAX K-3 | Wolli's Gedankenspiele
- No application installation necessary - it works in a browser. He tested Chrome, Safari and Firefox.
- When you enter “remote capture”, you can see the shooting parameters on the screen.
- You can change all normal parameters, including the AF point.
- Pressing the virtual shutter button creates a thumbnail of the shot. By clicking that thumbnail, you bring up the photo directly.
- The EXIF data is shown and can be recorded.
- Data transfer takes 5 seconds for a file at full resolution and 3 seconds for the lowest resolution.
- A “LV” button in the browser deactivates the remote control and another click will reestablish the connection.
Basically he was really impressed and he can’t understand where all the negativity about the FLUcard has come from, especially since hardly anyone has had the chance to try the card out.
I reply to OP poster JP's last sentence, wondering just WHY there's so much negativity floating around about the Flu Card, well, I haven't read much since it finally came out (been a bit busy the past few days). But MY TAKE on the matter is that Ricoh/Pentax EXTREMELY DRAGGED ITS HEELS in getting this product to the market almost FIVE MONTHS after the original camera was ready, essentially leaving ALL OF US "up in the air" as to whether it will work with ONLY a smart phone (and, if so, with ONLY an iPhone, or will it work with Android, etc., as well), or will it also work with Tablets laptops and even stand-alone desktop PCs. From what you posted, it appears they STILL HAVE NOT supplied sufficient documentation to address most of those questions, so they still appear to be either "hedging bets" or just DON'T KNOW how it's going to work with what until folks actually use it "in the real world."
If this is so, it means Ricoh/Pentax is letting PAID CUSTOMERS act as UNCOMPENSATED Beta Testers, who may end up MISSING important shots because their Flu Car doesn't function like they THOUGHT it would, and they have NO documentation to tell them, either way.
To me, that's a VERY POOR WAY to do business, and I thought both Ricoh AND Pentax were ABOVE such things. I believe they need to supply a much more comprehensive manual for this Flu Card or else drop it and/or replace it with something else. It's already pretty certain the "Flu Card Idea" was some absent-minded engineer's last-minute workaround for his team forgetting to include WiFi and/or NFC in the camera, to start with, like ALL it's current competitors have -- even those on a lower tier, such as the Nikon D5300.. Take away the lack of wi-fi communication and the K-3 is, by FAR, the best APS-C camera on the market, and possibly better than quite a few of the FF cameras. It'll be a shame, however, if all MOST FOLKS think of when they think about the K-3 years from now is how it was this "great camera" the manufacturer FORGOT to put wii-fi on and then came out with a half-assed fix, instead.
Jeff