images uploaded to iPad app are blank tiles

[Jesse Davis]

Usually with direct mode, but I think I've seen it with WLAN as well.

I have an Eye-fi Pro X2, iPad 1 with latest versions, Pentax k-5. I'm only uploading 6 or 10 MP JPEGs from the Eye-fi

It normally works well enough, but sometimes (frequently) after watching the progress bar and receiving the confirmation that the data was sent, the image in the app shows as all black or null. Eventually the thumbnail preview will show a gray tile with 'JPG' in the middle.

during the progress bar a small thumbnail of the correct image is shown to the left of the bottom drawer in the eye-fi app, however.

In the native Apple photo app, the files are shown as grey tiles, and cannot be viewed full screen.

Is this a common bug? Is there a way to 'refresh' the download and repair the file from the original data?

Regards,
Jesse

[berend]

I have an Eye-fi Pro X2, iPad 1 with latest versions, Pentax k-5... sometimes (frequently) after watching the progress bar and receiving the confirmation that the data was sent, the image in the app shows as all black or null. Eventually the thumbnail preview will show a gray tile with 'JPG' in the middle.

This is not an issue with the Eye-Fi Card or Direct Mode, but an interoperability problem between the iPad's JPEG decoding/viewing functionality and some JPEGs generated by Pentax K-series cameras. We have worked with Pentax engineers to isolate the issue and they've contacted Apple, but we are not aware of a solution yet.

The easy way to see that this is indeed the JPEGs and the iPad, and not the Eye-Fi Card, is to plug the card into the supplied reader and copy one of the "offending" files to the computer the "old fashioned way," confirm that it is indeed viewable and then send it to yourself as an e-mail attachment (make sure you attach it as the "original" without scaling down). Then, open that e-mail on the iPad and save the attachment to the camera roll by long-tapping it. You'll see that the iPad will have the exact same difficulty showing the JPEG despite it not being transferred wirelessly.

Berend

[Jesse Davis]

Thanks for the reply.

I was worried that it might be a pentax issue after seeing the note about "improving interoperability" in the firmware notes a couple of versions back.

I feel a bit miffed though. The camera kit imports from card never showed this problem. Coincidentally recent apple RAW libraries (on desktop) have had a problem with Pentax DNG but their native PEFs decode just fine.

Can you tell me why the problem is intermittent? Is there something I can do to minimize the occurrence?

When viewing JPEGs imported with the Eye-fi app in the apple photos app, I notice that they are a bit blurry immediately after opening in full screen, only to pop-in later. Also in Shuttersnitch. Is this Pentax specific too?

Also, are the long breaks between batches of file transfers another Pentax-specific "interoperability" issue?

Sorry for all the questions at once. Was hoping that this would let me set the ipad as a customer preview device on a shoot next week, but I may have to cancel that (and the cost of your device is wasted).

I (and probably some others) will dearly appreciate your continued efforts on this.

Kind regards,
Jesse

[berend]

I was worried that it might be a pentax issue after seeing the note about "improving interoperability" in the firmware notes a couple of versions back.

This issue really doesn't have anything to do with things we address as "improved interoperability" in firmware updates. Those are more for specific camera models not being support or presenting occasional card errors during low-level format operations, etc.

The camera kit imports from card never showed this problem. Coincidentally recent apple RAW libraries (on desktop) have had a problem with Pentax DNG but their native PEFs decode just fine.

Understood, but there's nothing we can do until Apple addresses the issue. The camera connectivity kit is a separate piece of software than the rest of the camera roll and the JPEG (and RAW) image decoding and display infrastructure in iOS. The bottom-line is that the JPEGs are perfectly fine (and viewable) until they are handed over to iOS, but iOS is unable to handle their structure and barfs. This is what you see on the iPad with these Pentax photos if you're connected to the console:

Code: Select all

...
Thu Jul  7 22:24:15 ipadeyefi MobileSlideShow[1943] <Error>: Corrupt JPEG data: 107 extraneous bytes before marker 0xe1
Thu Jul  7 22:24:15 ipadeyefi MobileSlideShow[1943] <Error>: Corrupt JPEG data: 107 extraneous bytes before marker 0xe1
Thu Jul  7 22:24:15 ipadeyefi MobileSlideShow[1943] <Error>: Quantization table 0x00 was not defined
Thu Jul  7 22:24:16 ipadeyefi kernel[0] <Debug>: AppleJPEGDriver::startDecoderGated() detcted X-Y dimension is 0x0 after header decoding, bailing
...

Can you tell me why the problem is intermittent? Is there something I can do to minimize the occurrence?

No, there's nothing I can say or nothing you can do. All indications are that the Pentax is recording perfectly compliant JPEGs, but iOS is unable to decode soem of them.

When viewing JPEGs imported with the Eye-fi app in the apple photos app, I notice that they are a bit blurry immediately after opening in full screen, only to pop-in later. Also in Shuttersnitch. Is this Pentax specific too?

No. In order to make the initial load of the photo fast regardless of it being a 6MP or a 20MP one, we load the very first 128KB of each photo and extract the 160x120 "preview image" that's recorded by the camera into the EXIF headers and scale it up to the screen size (which is why it's blurry), then take the time to load the full-resolution image.

Also, are the long breaks between batches of file transfers another Pentax-specific "interoperability" issue?

You'd have to be more specific about the exact circumstances, but no, there's nothing interoperability-related in that.

Berend

[Jesse Davis]

Thanks for the detailed info Berend.

By the way, I did a test run with shuttersnitch last night and saw no corrupted JPEGs. Perhaps because shuttersnitch doesn't use the camera roll?

You might consider internalizing the image library in future versions of the iOS eye-fi app. Not many people like that the imported images end up in the camera roll along with pictures from every other app on your device (myself included).

Thanks again!

[berend]

By the way, I did a test run with shuttersnitch last night and saw no corrupted JPEGs. Perhaps because shuttersnitch doesn't use the camera roll?

That's entirely possible and is further support that the issue is not with the wireless transfers of the photos out of the Eye-Fi Card.

You might consider internalizing the image library in future versions of the iOS eye-fi app. Not many people like that the imported images end up in the camera roll along with pictures from every other app on your device (myself included).

It's hard to satisfy all design considerations and everyone, and we certainly considered the idea of an "app private" photo library at the onset of the rewrite of the Eye-Fi iOS app, but in the end we believe we have hit a better design point than such an app private photo library. The convenience of depositing media into a system-wide media library in which all apps can partake without explicit "export" operations, especially with the emergence of synchronization services like iCloud and further possibilities of background (receiver) apps that you may never bring to the foreground for explicit gallery management are flexibilities that we chose to emphasize over an app like Shuttersnitch, but we're always listening to customers such as yourself for future directions.

Thanks and have a good night,

Berend

[mabou2]

I would like to add another voice to this opinion. Since we can make separate albums in the Photos application, sure seems like it wouldn't be too difficult to add a directory option to the setup of Eye-Fi. If no one chooses a different directory (such as a dedicated album) then the default landing location for Eye-Fi would be the "Camera Roll".

I want to use Eye-Fi for professional purposes to allow my clients to easily review images. I don't want to toss my personal images from the Camera Roll, I want my client to see a dedicated album. I don't think you need to add an image browsing library to the application, I just think you need to allow the images to be dropped into an existing album (other than Camera Roll) in the Photos app.