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diane143

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 25, 2008
717
66
I'm taking a trip soon and would like to avoid bringing my laptop. I'm hoping to bring enough camera cards for the entire trip.

When you download pix to the iPad with the connection kit, do they go over at full size? And how to transfer them back? I usually just email them to myself if I want to see them, knowing I can put the card in the computer at any time.

I'm worried that if for some reason I need to empty a card, I'll lose some quality in the pix.

I remember thinking this would be the ultimate tool while away but I didn't have an iPad last time I went away.

Thanks!
 

Bending Pixels

macrumors 65816
Jul 22, 2010
1,307
365
Are you shooting RAW or JPEG? What type of camera? - knowing the type of camera will answer how big each file is. And....what size iPad do you have? i.e. 16GB, 32GB, etc.
 

diane143

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 25, 2008
717
66
Sorry about that!

64gb iPad
Just JPG for now
I have 4gb cards but will probably get at least 3 new 8gb cards (unless I can find some faster 4gb ones)

I think I can put at least 500 pix on each 4gb card. My other camera does about 700 and this one seems to have roughly the same file sizes.

My main question is, if I put them on the iPad will they come off at the same quality, and how?
 

kevinfulton.ca

macrumors 6502
Aug 29, 2011
284
1
Sorry about that!

64gb iPad
Just JPG for now
I have 4gb cards but will probably get at least 3 new 8gb cards (unless I can find some faster 4gb ones)

I think I can put at least 500 pix on each 4gb card. My other camera does about 700 and this one seems to have roughly the same file sizes.

My main question is, if I put them on the iPad will they come off at the same quality, and how?

Hi Diane

I use my iPad for this all the time and image quality is not an issue. Just pick up a Camera Connector kit and you'll be fine. To get them onto your Mac there's a couple of options.

1) Use the USB connector that came with you iPad to download them onto your Mac.

2) Activate Photostream on your iPad and Mac and let them sync automatically back to your Mac. Keep in mind that if you're planning to shoot RAW, then avoid using RAW+JPEG. Photostream will only grab the JPEG file to sync. If you shoot RAW only it will work just fine. This is also handy as another backup while traveling. I will leave my Mac at home on with Aperture open and let it automatically sync with Photostream so that my photos are already there once I get home. Be sure to experiment with this BEFORE the trip. It's not for everybody.

The only time you'll run into issues with photos on your iPad is editing. Many apps have a megapixel cap, which varies depending on which generation of iPad you have (be sure to check the developers website). Also, if you're shooting RAW files Apps will only grab the lower-res JPEG preview embedded in the RAW file.

Hope this helps!
 

diane143

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 25, 2008
717
66
Hi Kevin,

Thanks! I hadn't considered photostream and I have it turned off. I was planning on shutting down my machines while I was gone - we've been having a ton of power blips with the weather lately. I could have it turned on every day or so for the backup though. It still only does 1000 photos max, right?

Can I turn it on for the iPad only and not on the phone? Or is it attached to my icloud id?

I'll play around with it this week. I ordered (4) 8gb cards so I'm hoping I'll be ok. I've taken almost 900 pix with the camera so far and they occupy 3.95gb on my laptop. I know I get over 700 on 4gb on my other camera.
 

Bear

macrumors G3
Jul 23, 2002
8,088
5
Sol III - Terra
Hi Kevin,

Thanks! I hadn't considered photostream and I have it turned off.
...
Photostream isn't a backup mechanism and you won't know if all your pictures for the day will get recorded on your system at home correctly. Also, you would probably want(need) to find WiFi to use to upload photos to photostream. I wouldn't erase any camera memory cards until you were at home to verify you have everything on your computer.
 

diane143

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 25, 2008
717
66
Photostream isn't a backup mechanism and you won't know if all your pictures for the day will get recorded on your system at home correctly. Also, you would probably want(need) to find WiFi to use to upload photos to photostream. I wouldn't erase any camera memory cards until you were at home to verify you have everything on your computer.

I wouldn't erase anything till I was home anyway. Forgot photo stream has a 1000 pic limit and that it syncs across devices. I don't want that, I just want to offload them somewhere.

How many cloud storage places are there these days? Amazon, Picassa, Dropbox, doesn't Microsoft have one too?
 

kevinfulton.ca

macrumors 6502
Aug 29, 2011
284
1
Photostream isn't a backup mechanism and you won't know if all your pictures for the day will get recorded on your system at home correctly. Also, you would probably want(need) to find WiFi to use to upload photos to photostream. I wouldn't erase any camera memory cards until you were at home to verify you have everything on your computer.

I would never suggest that somebody use this (or any other cloud service) as there only form of back up. Just as another redundancy on top of keeping the memory cards and the iPad backup. Of course there would need to be Wifi availability and I'd use Log Me In to remotely check your Mac to make sure they've synced with Aperture or iPhoto. Plus, it's free.

Forgot photo stream has a 1000 pic limit

Yes, but if it's synced back to your Mac you won't need to worry about that.

How many cloud storage places are there these days? Amazon, Picassa, Dropbox, doesn't Microsoft have one too?

Haven't used Amazon or Picassa, but Dropbox probably has the deepest integration with many of the photo apps available. Skydrive (Microsoft) has the most free storage of the bunch. Definitely experiment with how RAW files (if you're shooting RAW that is) work with these apps before your trip. Some may only extract the embedded JPEG preview.

Also, if you use Lightroom for your editing you might want to check out Photosmith for your iPad. You'll be able to review, rate, change metadata, organize, and share your photos while traveling then sync them over Wifi to Lightroom when you get home. It's pretty slick, but it might be overkill for what you want to do.
 

diane143

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 25, 2008
717
66
I just figured out I have 15gb in my Google Drive account (7 in Skydrive) so I think between that and the iPad (and my cards).... I should be good to go!
 
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