If you have a tendency to get confused by the very latest developments in digital electronics and have to sit down until the sparkly lights stop, you have my sympathy. Older users often run the gauntlet of newer applications, programs, equipment, sales personnel, and promotional material. We do not always have our children and grandchildren handy to get things going or reset them and in any case it is rather a fraught business - what with all the eye-rolling and muttering. It is often a pleasure to be able to do it yourself...
That's why we have welcomed the newer cameras from the various manufacturer that feature Wifi or Bluetooth circuits in them - with an inevitable bit of junior-teching and a secret printed crib sheet, we can send pictures from our cameras into our phones and tablets without having to look out cables or adapters. It's one of the things that means we are not tied to the phones for the actual picture-taking and can use bigger cameras.
But what do we do if we have a well-loved camera that is getting along very nicely - one that we are comfortable with and can manage - but does not have any of the Wifi or Bluetooth ability. Are we doomed to trade it in and start the learning curve all over from the bottom?
No. There is a solution for some of the older cameras. The wireless LAN SD card. Here is a useful one from Trek that might just be what you need.
It pumps out a very low-level signal with your pictures on it that your Phone or Pad can pick up. You'll still have to buy an app through one of the on-line services for the mobile device - and you'll still need one of your offspring to help you set it up in the first place - but after that is should be straightforward.
Be warned - it is nowhere near as fast sending those pictures from the camera to the phone as a brand-new dedicated camera would be. You'll have to wait as it transfers files. But if you are not going to be sending massive amounts of data, it may be just the thing you need.
Note: If the kids refuse to help you, the Camera Electronic staff are still here to assist. The younger ones can help you set it up and the older ones can whack
your kids and tell them to stop being obstructive. Either way, CE staff respond well to home-made cakes and biscuits.
Note 2: There have been a number of these devices from different makers sold over the past few years but they may have gone out of fashion with the faster transmission of the new cameras. This is an interim tech solution.
