Importing photos from camera to iPad query?

[snerkler]

On holiday I'm wanting to backup my photos to my iPad (using an SD card reader plugged directly into the iPad) but am having an issue. If I shoot RAW and jpeg then the two images aren't separate when imported and I can only access the jpeg to then transfer to my MacBook. This is the case if I try airdrop, using the inbuilt image capture on the Mac, or even emailing the image. It does appear that the RAW is there somewhere because if I import the image into Lightroom Mobile on the iPad then it says that it's imported RAW.

How do I get the jpeg and RAW to show as different images on the iPad so that I can then transfer the RAW from the iPad to my MacBook?

Edit: ignore, if I use Photos on Mac to 'extract' the photos from the iPad I get both jpeg and RAW so that's fine.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

I don’t beleive this is possible, unless your camera somehow can name the files differently. You could just shoot RAW, as the iPad has no trouble handling the format, and any edits and exports you do on iPad will be converted to JPG.

 

[snerkler]

I don’t beleive this is possible, unless your camera somehow can name the files differently. You could just shoot RAW, as the iPad has no trouble handling the format, and any edits and exports you do on iPad will be converted to JPG.

Thanks. I do normally shoot RAW only but sometimes I want to shoot RAW and jpeg. However, since starting this thread I've discovered that if I import to the Mac from the iPad using Photos (on Mac) rather than image capture then it does import both the jpeg and RAW files so that's solved my issue

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Thanks. I do normally shoot RAW only but sometimes I want to shoot RAW and jpeg. However, since starting this thread I've discovered that if I import to the Mac from the iPad using Photos (on Mac) rather than image capture then it does import both the jpeg and RAW files so that's solved my issue

Yeah, I should have mentioned that, too. Once you sync to Mac, both images are there. I believe the iPad saves the RAW to iCloud and keeps the jpg native in order to save space.

 

[snerkler]

Yeah, I should have mentioned that, too. Once you sync to Mac, both images are there. I believe the iPad saves the RAW to iCloud and keeps the jpg native in order to save space.

I don’t use iCloud tbh as I’m not willing to pay for the storage. I’m sure both files are on the iPad as I can see the file size on import, however you just can’t access it in the iPad. Why image capture in Mac doesn’t recognise the RAW I don’t know. I wish it did as I don’t like importing using photos as you can’t select a folder outside of the photos app to import to AFAIK, and I use lightroom for editing so have my own folder structure.

 

[tizeye]

Basically, you can't. I think it is more an issue with IOS as affect both iPad and iPhone. Neither have the standard file conventions to tell one apart from another. I had that rude awakening when I switched from Nikon to Sony, The Nikon had 2 card slots so RAW + Jpg was assigned to separate cards, but Sony was one card slot and the first time did the SD card import, not only did it bring both and I couldn't tell which was which, it also maxed out my memory. NOT GOOD! Tried a 3rd party program but still couldn't read which was which and when resized, suddenly had a third copy. When home, hooked up to computer with USB which read the iPad as a drive, navigated through the well hidden structure and found the photos, but even then didn't show conventional file naming. Essentially had to guess based on file size and start deleting to clean it up.

Now? I typically spend 3 weeks in Europe and pack the MBP that I import the raw files to. For Facebook and other postings, assuming not taken with iPhone, will use the camera's file wifi transfer capability to iPhone or iPad which come over a jpg. Also, only do it with selected photos, but could do 100% of the photos. If doing 100% don't do it "as shot" as it can really jam up the buffer as you are trying to take another shot.

 

[snerkler]

Basically, you can't. I think it is more an issue with IOS as affect both iPad and iPhone. Neither have the standard file conventions to tell one apart from another. I had that rude awakening when I switched from Nikon to Sony, The Nikon had 2 card slots so RAW + Jpg was assigned to separate cards, but Sony was one card slot and the first time did the SD card import, not only did it bring both and I couldn't tell which was which, it also maxed out my memory. NOT GOOD! Tried a 3rd party program but still couldn't read which was which and when resized, suddenly had a third copy. When home, hooked up to computer with USB which read the iPad as a drive, navigated through the well hidden structure and found the photos, but even then didn't show conventional file naming. Essentially had to guess based on file size and start deleting to clean it up.

Now? I typically spend 3 weeks in Europe and pack the MBP that I import the raw files to. For Facebook and other postings, assuming not taken with iPhone, will use the camera's file wifi transfer capability to iPhone or iPad which come over a jpg. Also, only do it with selected photos, but could do 100% of the photos. If doing 100% don't do it "as shot" as it can really jam up the buffer as you are trying to take another shot.

Yeah, I don't use camera's wifi transfer as it's slloooooow

 

[Ray2]

I either don’t understand the question or, don’t understand the answers. I’ve been using an iPad for travel since the iPad I. I shoot r+j, over the years have imported files from Nikon, Fuji, Sony and LUMIX. I use Image Capture to move the raw and jpeg files to my Mac. Never been an issue seeing, in Image Capture, and importing raw files.

 

[snerkler]

I either don’t understand the question or, don’t understand the answers. I’ve been using an iPad for travel since the iPad I. I shoot r+j, over the years have imported files from Nikon, Fuji, Sony and LUMIX. I use Image Capture to move the raw and jpeg files to my Mac. Never been an issue seeing, in Image Capture, and importing raw files.

Interesting, maybe it's an Olympus thing then as I use that for travel. I'll try with my Nikon at some point to see if that's the same. What OS are you running?

 

[mofunk]

When I'm shooting an event and the client wants a quick pic to show/have....I will export from Nikon DSLR to my iPhone. It takes a few minutes to connect and download. When I get home, I will compare that image transfer to the Raw files. The image isn't that bad but it will contain the editing data from my iPhone. Plus its no longer a RAW file. So basically I will ditch those images that I downloaded to the iPhone because they have been reduced and compressed. I could make some adjustments however it's not the same as having the RAW file.

I would look into getting a portable hard drive so that you can store the RAW files. Then connect it to your Mac. Find something that easily connect to your Mac and iPad. I can't remember which brand is best but I've seen photogs say that they can still edit them on the iPad with the images still on the external drive.

 

[Ray2]

When I'm shooting an event and the client wants a quick pic to show/have....I will export from Nikon DSLR to my iPhone. It takes a few minutes to connect and download. When I get home, I will compare that image transfer to the Raw files. The image isn't that bad but it will contain the editing data from my iPhone. Plus its no longer a RAW file. So basically I will ditch those images that I downloaded to the iPhone because they have been reduced and compressed. I could make some adjustments however it's not the same as having the RAW file.

I would look into getting a portable hard drive so that you can store the RAW files. Then connect it to your Mac. Find something that easily connect to your Mac and iPad. I can't remember which brand is best but I've seen photogs say that they can still edit them on the iPad with the images still on the external drive.

You’re sending raw to the phone, editing it and the raw no longer exists. What software does this? Is it using the raw preview jpg file? Otherwise any compression must be a setting in your Nikon as the iPhone isn’t doing it.

If there’s sufficient space in the iOS device it’s the same as a hard drive and way easier to ingest, cull and distribute.

 

[mofunk]

You’re sending raw to the phone, editing it and the raw no longer exists. What software does this? Is it using the raw preview jpg file? Otherwise any compression must be a setting in your Nikon as the iPhone isn’t doing it.

If there’s sufficient space in the iOS device it’s the same as a hard drive and way easier to ingest, cull and distribute.

I'm using the Nikon WMU wireless app. I'm not editing anything on the phone. From what I can tell there isn't any settings in the app or on the iPhone that will allow me to keep the RAW file. When I download them from my phone to my Mac, it says its a jpeg.

I have to look at it again

 

[Ray2]

I'm using the Nikon WMU wireless app. I'm not editing anything on the phone. From what I can tell there isn't any settings in the app or on the iPhone that will allow me to keep the RAW file. When I download them from my phone to my Mac, it says its a jpeg.

I have to look at it again

They might be raw preview jpeg's.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

I'm using the Nikon WMU wireless app. I'm not editing anything on the phone. From what I can tell there isn't any settings in the app or on the iPhone that will allow me to keep the RAW file. When I download them from my phone to my Mac, it says its a jpeg.

I have to look at it again

The wireless transfer of the app very likely isn’t pulling the RAW file at all. In fact, my experience has been that the Nikon app copies a cut down jpg copy that might work for a text or a Facebook post, but not something you’d want to work with more seriously.

 

[tgara]

Several years ago, I gave up on coming up with an efficient method of backing up RAW and JPG files using my iPad. There was always some bottleneck, storage capacity issue, or something that made it a lot more work that it needs to be.

I shoot a Canon 5D Mark III that has separate CF and SD card slots. For each image, I have the camera recording full RAW images onto the CF card, and (using Canon PictureStyles) lightly adjusted JPS onto the SD card. At the end of the day, I import the JPGS to my iPad so I can view and share them. They are also uploaded to iCloud (2TB plan). The RAW images stay on the CF card until I get home (essentially using the CF RAWs as a backup).

For me, this method works great. The JPGs are transferred onto the iPad immediately using Apple's SD card reader, so I can share them with friends (iMessage or Shared Photoalbum), and the JPG files take up only a small amount of space on the iPad. The RAWs that remain on the CF card are safe, and if I find a nice JPG I can go back to the RAW for printing or further editing. Plus, by keeping the RAWs on the CF cards, I don't have to carry a laptop or other backup devices like a hard drive.

 

[Ray2]

For newbies to the iPad.

I shoot r&j and typically use my iPad for travel. Lots of shooting and lots of culling. When you cull the jpeg, the paired raw is not affected. As those raw files are not visible, it’s easy to forget to trash them. To the point they will begin consuming an inordinate amount of local storage (perhaps cloud, I don’t use it). My approach is to use Image Capture to clean out all the unpaired, and not visible in iOS, raws. After my last trip out west, I had accumulated 10 gig of raw files with no corresponding jpeg.

When you edit an image in Photos, Apple, in their infinite wisdom, change the image name. When you transfer to your computer, there’s no way to associate the edited jpegs with their originals. A very good reason, amongst so many others, to avoid iOS Photos.