[pentaxmz]

Hello all,

I received the Flucard about five months ago and 'played' with it for about one hour. Saying that I was underwhelmed would be an understatement. As I recall... I was not happy that:
- With the constant spontaneous disconnections
- Very slow response (at times) to often to make this a usable tool
(no, absolutely no WiFi interference during testing),
- I was also very annoyed that the shamefully primitive web-only interface
- Annoyed that using the product meant giving up your network interface / Internet connection because it didn't include bridging cabability

I meant to post a review about it but other projects got in the way and I just plain put it aside, until today.

I have a paying gig coming up next week and I thought it would be cool to 'tether' to my iPad.

So I plug the toy back into my SD2 slot, power up the camera and NOW I see an error, "Memory Card Error". If I go to the menu selection, "Wireless Memory Card" I see the error message, "No wireless memory card inserted in SD2..."



Did I just waste over a $100? Has anyone else encountered this problem?

Thanks all,
Shawn

P.S. Sorry for my long absence! But I do still love my K3 (best camera I've even owned - and I had or have Canons/Nikons).

[Adam]

Insert the card into SD1 and format it. That should fix the error. Happened to me too...

[rawr]

I received the Flucard

Which model? There are several - the 'fancy' official Pentax one (16GB O-FC1), and the 'normal' EyeFi clone Flucards. I've tried the latter, and was also underwhelmed.

[stevebrot]

- Annoyed that using the product meant giving up your network interface / Internet connection because it didn't include bridging cabability

Dang, I like a good rant...they are so entertaining and informative!!!


Steve

(...but mostly entertaining...)

[RobA_Oz]

I have both the standard FLUcard and the one tailored for the K-3. It's hard to know what any individual's expectations are from a piece of technology whose strengths and weaknesses have been fairly well documented, other than what they've gleaned from others' experiences. While I couldn't recommend the standard FLUcard as value for money, because of its slow transfer rates, I imagine there may be situations where it is useful, and it did come with my K-3, so value for money wasn't a consideration, in my case.

As for the Pentax version for the K-3, I've found its real usefulness for me has been in setting up photos of close subjects that are in awkward positions, and it doesn't take much imagination to think of other situations (like candid photos) where it might also be useful. Notwithstanding that, it isn't anywhere near a universal replacement for the optical viewfinder or Live View. I paid a lot more for a refconverter, and I've probably used it more, so to me it's good value for money.

I wouldn't dream of using it for paid work until I'd had time to get used to its limitations, let alone learned to appreciate its strengths.

[Edchristenson]

It's been a waste of $$ for me so far too. Temperamental, complicated, etc.

[tabl10s]

I guess it's back to wishing for articulated screen.

[Steve.Ledger]

I got a freebie FLU card with my K-50, not the PENTAX Flu though. Never taken it out of the packing, I had an EyeFi card once before which caused more grey hairs and strange looks from neighbors than anything computer related has in my life so far. I suppose I should offer it for sale, I'll never use it.

WiFi should be built-in to a 2013/2014 flagship DLSR body, good grief - why isn't it??

[G and T]

There's a reason its called a Flucard, everytime I put mine in my in my K3 it gets the Flu.
Glenn

[awaldram]

Hello all,

I received the Flucard about five months ago and 'played' with it for about one hour. Saying that I was underwhelmed would be an understatement. As I recall... I was not happy that:
- With the constant spontaneous disconnections
- Very slow response (at times) to often to make this a usable tool
(no, absolutely no WiFi interference during testing),
- I was also very annoyed that the shamefully primitive web-only interface
- Annoyed that using the product meant giving up your network interface / Internet connection because it didn't include bridging cabability

I meant to post a review about it but other projects got in the way and I just plain put it aside, until today.

I have a paying gig coming up next week and I thought it would be cool to 'tether' to my iPad.

So I plug the toy back into my SD2 slot, power up the camera and NOW I see an error, "Memory Card Error". If I go to the menu selection, "Wireless Memory Card" I see the error message, "No wireless memory card inserted in SD2..."



Did I just waste over a $100? Has anyone else encountered this problem?

Thanks all,
Shawn

P.S. Sorry for my long absence! But I do still love my K3 (best camera I've even owned - and I had or have Canons/Nikons).

Well it does everything is said it would on the tin and more.
Its limits a technology related so required a decent understanding of WiFi and congestion it is a full blown computer when alls said and done running Linux and a web server as such it very good value for money.

There are many apps from flu that will happily work with th OFc-1 so your accusation of 'web only' is baseless.

Pentax/Trek could put some effort into documenting app use so those who want it on a plate don't have to put any effort in but its difficult to see how the product could be any better within its technology constraints except enabling client mode.

[pentaxmz]

Insert the card into SD1 and format it. That should fix the error. Happened to me too...

Thank you for your reply Adam, I just tried that and I am really disheartened to find that it didn't work. Selecting format immediately displays, "Memory Card Error".

FYI, I no longer hear the faint beep sound of the Flucard initializing. I guess I got no more than an hour of use out of this card.

[awaldram]

FYI, I no longer hear the faint beep sound of the Flucard initializing. I guess I got no more than an hour of use out of this card.

Sounds like it isn't booting anymore time to claim warranty repair.
The system boots and then enables the SD connection to the memmory area.

Probably faulty from new.

Just as well you didn't write a review based on an hours experience of a faulty card !!

[pentaxmz]

Which model? There are several - the 'fancy' official Pentax one (16GB O-FC1), and the 'normal' EyeFi clone Flucards. I've tried the latter, and was also underwhelmed.

I have the long awaited 'fancy' official Pentax one.



---------- Post added 07-19-2014 at 02:44 AM ----------

Dang, I like a good rant...they are so entertaining and informative!!!


Steve

(...but mostly entertaining...)

Well, I suspect this forum would not exist if Pentax cameras were as underwhelming and unreliable as this Flucard.

I wouldn't consider my post a rant, rather, it is a call for help... or at least an inquiry if others have experienced similar troubles.

A rant, IMO is more like, "Why I won't buy a K3" or "The K3 is stupid because ...."



---------- Post added 07-19-2014 at 02:52 AM ----------

I guess it's back to wishing for articulated screen.

Not even in the same league of posts. Articulated screen would be nice, sure! But Pentax got us excited about the Flucard but made a huge mistake by allowing their name to be attached to a poorly implemented, temperamental, product.

BTW, not requiring software (or dedicated mobile app) and working within a browser is NOT a feature, IMO... it is a development shortcut.

Anyway, for me... unless I can find a way to get a refund, I'm out a $120.00 for a 100% non-working product. This is a worse let-down than my old *ist camera... I mean, at least it worked.

---------- Post added 07-19-2014 at 02:59 AM ----------

There are many apps from flu that will happily work with th OFc-1 so your accusation of 'web only' is baseless.

Besides the rather poor effort of Trek2000, I am curious... please name one or more decent apps that work with the Flucard.

When I said, "web only", I was mainly referring to Pentax/Ricoh's effort.

Anyhow, I'll refrain from criticizing the product any further because frankly, I can't even remember how good or bad the product was... it's dead for me.

[awaldram]

Besides the rather poor effort of Trek2000, I am curious... please name one or more decent apps that work with the Flucard.

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/172-pentax-k-3/253672-flucard-impressions...ml#post2736887

[pentaxmz]

UPDATE

I cleaned the Flucard contacts with IPA and I was able to format the card, like Adam recommended.

The memory card error is gone and but it's not all good, yet. When I power-on the camera, there is no beep sound coming from the Flucard but I see the WiFi signal flash for about 15 seconds and then disappear.
Even though I can now access the Flucard menu, the Communication Info and Firmware Info/Options menus are unpopulated. I also tried reseting 'transfer settings" to default values but that didn't help.

Any ideas?

Any suggestions about how I can go about initiating a warranty repair?