I Pad for Photo`s ??

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buster321c

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Name
Craig
Edit My Images
Yes
My laptop has seen better days so im going to get a basic i pad . I had lightroom on the laptop but its gone breasts up and ive lost loads of stuff . I want to know if i can get a decent programme for the i pad to do my pictures with , and any other tips and tricks you have . Many thanks Craig
 
Theres so many to choose from, but a few that I've got on well with are Snapseed, Photoforge and PSExpress for the simple adjustments.

iPads are good, but I'd say for "quick" edits at most, unfortunately they arn't anywhere near as good as comp software. With the above programs they are editing ones, but don't have the inbuilt gallery management etc like lightroom has. You might need to find a few different apps to run your photos through to do what you previously did with one.

Hardrest thing I've found with the iPad is getting the photos onto it at high res! Apple love horribly compressing photos when you sync.

I'd recommend a camera connection kit, but make sure you get the official apple one. I got a cheap one and it broke on me in less than a week, its worth paying the extra £10/£15 and getting one that wont let you down.

and enjoy it! Your going to find the iPad addictive, my most used app is the TP Forum one, its brilliant!
 
Why not just spend the same amount of money for a laptop? You get full versions of programs, and it's just as portable, and more useable and powerful than a tablet..
 
AllFallD0wn said:
Why not just spend the same amount of money for a laptop? You get full versions of programs, and it's just as portable, and more useable and powerful than a tablet..
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Seconded. I absolutely love my iPad, but I'd never chose it instead of a PC/Mac/Laptop. It's an additional rather than a replacement bit of kit.
 
I do have a spare laptop , i know ide never replace it completley . I just want to move into apple a bit . Both the kids have ipods , the lad has a mac book , and i fancy the pad to see how i go . I just want something i can use and do most of my stuff on . If i can do my pics thats great , if not , i`ll format the spare laptop and use it soley for photo`s .
 
buster321c said:
I do have a spare laptop , i know ide never replace it completley . I just want to move into apple a bit . Both the kids have ipods , the lad has a mac book , and i fancy the pad to see how i go . I just want something i can use and do most of my stuff on . If i can do my pics thats great , if not , i`ll format the spare laptop and use it soley for photo`s .
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What I find with iPads, and tablets in general, is that they have many uses, but do them all poorly. Apps are like having a lite, or watered-down version of a program. Like said above, you can edit photos on them, but only up to a point, and nowhere near as well as you can with the real tools.

I also find there's nothing special with apple like is made out, apart from the price ;)
 
AllFallD0wn said:
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/hp-pavilion-g6-1241sa-15-6-laptop-red-11361456-pdt.html - Same price as an iPad2, but 5 inches bigger screen, much faster processor, 5GB More RAM, and 734GB more storage for your photos :) PLUS it can run full versions of Photoshop and Lightroom no problem.
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I was looking at that laptop last week - my current laptop is about 5 yo and struggling and I thought that seemed a reasonable price for what it was - what do you think of it? I'd be running LR mostly but poss CS5 too.
 
ShoeQueen said:
I was looking at that laptop last week - my current laptop is about 5 yo and struggling and I thought that seemed a reasonable price for what it was - what do you think of it? I'd be running LR mostly but poss CS5 too.
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Well it's got the intel i5, which is designed specifically for fast graphics performance, with a great GPU built on the board. (i5 is also 2 cores running at 2.4GHz, which is pretty good. Also allows for 4 threads, which is the great thing about intel ix processors - they double the amount of cores, so a 2 core virtualises a quad core, a quad core virtualises an octo-core, etc.)

6GB of RAM is pretty standard, but needed for photoshop and LR, which like to eat up memory.

I'd say it could definitely run CS5 and LR extremely comfortably :)
 
OK, let's start with your current laptop.
If it's an old spec, you might find that putting a clean install of windows onto a new hard drive (especially a hybrid one - something like a momentus XT) with some extra memory will pay dividends and breathe new life into it.
However - with the current cost of hard drives you need to look at the cost against a new laptop. I think the 500Gb momentus XT's are now £140ish, where they were around £90 a couple of months back.
Yopu could then put your old drive into an external usb caddy to get the data off.

Lightroom - what messed up? You shouldn't be able to lose stuff as it keeps the raw files and the metadata separate and prompts you to backup regularly.

However if you want a new laptop then there's plenty of deals around currently.

Ipad as a sole replacement for a PC? It's slow, even working on small raw. It'll be ok for a few files but I wouldn't like to do much on it. File transfer to/from is an issue too.
 
I'm continually impressed with how much you can actually do with the iPad, don't find it slow at all (possibly cause I'm using an iPad2 or because I don't batch process my shots) and have no problems transferring files either. To get the files on just use the connection kit and import, to get the files off just attach to a pc and you can copy them off as if it was a memory card. To make importing even easier you could try using one of the eyefi(?) cards but I've not done that myself.

Personally I love 'playing' with photo's on the iPad. You can quickly try out adjustments, generate panoramas or HDR's etc. If your happy with the results you're done but if you want to do much more, you're going to need a 'proper' computer :) IPads are a great editing tool IMO, but only as an addition to something that can run full versions of program's not as a replacement.
 
AllFallD0wn said:
Well it's got the intel i5, which is designed specifically for fast graphics performance, with a great GPU built on the board. (i5 is also 2 cores running at 2.4GHz, which is pretty good. Also allows for 4 threads, which is the great thing about intel ix processors - they double the amount of cores, so a 2 core virtualises a quad core, a quad core virtualises an octo-core, etc.)

6GB of RAM is pretty standard, but needed for photoshop and LR, which like to eat up memory.

I'd say it could definitely run CS5 and LR extremely comfortably :)
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Thanks, sounds like it would do the job and not be too expensive, (allowing a bit more budget to buy a better screen).
 
AlfyB said:
I'm continually impressed with how much you can actually do with the iPad, don't find it slow at all (possibly cause I'm using an iPad2 or because I don't batch process my shots)...
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Speaking from an entirely hardware point of view, the iPad2 uses the A5 processor, which is clocked at 1GHz, dual core. This means that the iPad2 is approx. 5 times slower than the laptop I posted yesterday.

Try putting a traditional desktop OS (OSX, W7, Linux) on and running LR/CS5, and it'll grind to a halt.
 
Love my iPad but wouldn't want to replace my macbook with one.

They work a lot better for consuming media (Internet, Video, Books, Etc) than for actually being creative with one.

I occasionally take one with me for games but thats only for if ever I needed to quickly edit and send from pitch side unexpectedly... If I was planning on doing that I'd certainly take a laptop instead.

As neil_g says above filterstorm is a pretty good app for photo editing on the iPad... that said I wouldn't want to have to edit a whole batch of photos with it
 
AllFallD0wn said:
Speaking from an entirely hardware point of view, the iPad2 uses the A5 processor, which is clocked at 1GHz, dual core. This means that the iPad2 is approx. 5 times slower than the laptop I posted yesterday.

Try putting a traditional desktop OS (OSX, W7, Linux) on and running LR/CS5, and it'll grind to a halt.
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I'm fully aware that the hardware of the iPad doesn't have the same processing power but LR/CS5 aren't the only applications capable of editing images.

Apps like Filterstorm, Photogene, and photoforge can do an impressive amount for just a few pounds.
 
buster321c said:
My laptop has seen better days so im going to get a basic i pad . I had lightroom on the laptop but its gone breasts up and ive lost loads of stuff . I want to know if i can get a decent programme for the i pad to do my pictures with , and any other tips and tricks you have . Many thanks Craig
Click to expand...

IMO i think you should stay with a laptop than a Ipad like "AllFallD0wn" said the new laptops are better now I have a i5 cpu 6gb of ram and 750gb hard drive for all my Raw pictures and video, i also use photoshop CS5 on my PC because i like a bigger widescreen 24" to work with than a 15.5 but if you like Jpeg images get an ipad.;)
 
AlfyB said:
I'm fully aware that the hardware of the iPad doesn't have the same processing power but LR/CS5 aren't the only applications capable of editing images.

Apps like Filterstorm, Photogene, and photoforge can do an impressive amount for just a few pounds.
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I agree to a certain extent, but just saying that technically paying the same price for a much slower machine seems a bit bonkers to me.
 
AllFallD0wn said:
Speaking from an entirely hardware point of view, the iPad2 uses the A5 processor, which is clocked at 1GHz, dual core. This means that the iPad2 is approx. 5 times slower than the laptop I posted yesterday.

Try putting a traditional desktop OS (OSX, W7, Linux) on and running LR/CS5, and it'll grind to a halt.
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You're kidding me right? They are completely different tools for completely differnt jobs. How long does it take said laptop to boot up after 4 weeks of loading utter crap on it? How quickly does it take to refresh thumbnails? How expensive is the software/O/S? etc etc. I wouldn't want to edit a 25mb raw file on an iPad 2 but I was bloody sick of showing images to clients on my laptop and all the issues that came with it.
 
Nigey said:
You're kidding me right? They are completely different tools for completely differnt jobs. How long does it take said laptop to boot up after 4 weeks of loading utter crap on it? How quickly does it take to refresh thumbnails? How expensive is the software/O/S? etc etc. I wouldn't want to edit a 25mb raw file on an iPad 2 but I was bloody sick of showing images to clients on my laptop and all the issues that came with it.
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My laptop takes 30 seconds from power button to logged in, and thumbnails load no problem..OP said he already had lightroom, so he has obviously invested the money and would not need to buy another copy. Operating System comes pre-installed on just about every machine (remember, you pay for the OS on an iPad, too)

The OP asked if there was any programs on iOS that could replace his laptop. No, there's not at the moment. I was simply giving him the facts, and trying to save him money and time in buying a product which will not replace the one he currently has.
 
No, you were making a comparison between the hardware of a laptop and the hardware of an iPad 2, " Speaking from an entirely hardware point of view, the iPad2 uses the A5 processor, which is clocked at 1GHz, dual core." you cannot make a comparison as they are both completely different tools.
 
Nigey said:
No, you were making a comparison between the hardware of a laptop and the hardware of an iPad 2, " Speaking from an entirely hardware point of view, the iPad2 uses the A5 processor, which is clocked at 1GHz, dual core." you cannot make a comparison as they are both completely different tools.
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Sorry, I merely addressed the points you raised, and you can compare the hardware, when the OP is talking about replacing one with the other. With the details OP has given us, he has forced us to do that. If he'd have said he's looking to buy an iPad for alongside his laptop, it would be a different barrel of fish
 
Nigey said:
How long does it take said laptop to boot up after 4 weeks of loading utter crap on it? How quickly does it take to refresh thumbnails? How expensive is the software/O/S? etc etc.
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Which rather shows that you shouldn't load your PC with crap.
My Windows 7 pc boots in under 15 secs, handles my 20-25Mb raw files fine and I have around 70K files referenced under lightroom. There's an argument that says you should spec your machine accordingly. There's SSD's, hybrid drives and multiple drives for hosting files/caches etc.

The iPad is a great tool but you have to work within it's limitations. I have to shoot small jpeg and Raw and import the small jpegs onto it. You just wouldn't be able to process an event's worth otherwise. If you're just shooting a small number (say under 10) then you could use raw files and as said, filterstorm is a great app.

AlfyB said:
I'm continually impressed with how much you can actually do with the iPad, don't find it slow at all (possibly cause I'm using an iPad2 or because I don't batch process my shots) and have no problems transferring files either. To get the files on just use the connection kit and import, to get the files off just attach to a pc and you can copy them off as if it was a memory card. To make importing even easier you could try using one of the eyefi(?) cards but I've not done that myself.
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Try multiple Raw image files. My camera produces 20-25mb files, never mind what the latest ones do. And what PC to attach to? The OP was talking about replacing his laptop with an iPad. How many raw files do you think you can get onto an iPad? Enough for taking it away on a holiday/event etc? Then if you want to transfer off, we run into Apples refusal to support file transfer through anything other than itunes (or the one camera folder that's presented vis explorer)

Now, don't get me wrong. As a tool an iPad has it's many uses. Small, light, long battery life, instant on, can connect to the camera and edit photos, great for displaying them but realistically has to be seen as an addition to a decent PC (be that laptop or desktop) rather than a replacement.

There is an argument for getting a desktop PC and iPad for the price of a well spec'd laptop.
 
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neil_1980 said:
Love my iPad but wouldn't want to replace my macbook with one.

They work a lot better for consuming media (Internet, Video, Books, Etc) than for actually being creative with one.

I occasionally take one with me for games but thats only for if ever I needed to quickly edit and send from pitch side unexpectedly... If I was planning on doing that I'd certainly take a laptop instead.

As neil_g says above filterstorm is a pretty good app for photo editing on the iPad... that said I wouldn't want to have to edit a whole batch of photos with it
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+1

I'm using the iPad now to browse this forum, using Flickr etc, but I couldn't back up or edit all my photos on it - it just doesn't have the connections eg for a USB backup hard drive...
 
I've recently got an iPad to replace my MacBook, but that is only because my MacBook was a secondary computer, the bulk of my editing is done with Lightroom on my iMac.

The iPad makes a great portable device and a great device for consuming media, but as a photographer I would not have an iPad as my only machine (my Mum does for general Internet stuff and loves it).
 
Byker28i said:
Which rather shows that you shouldn't load your PC with crap.
My Windows 7 pc boots in under 15 secs, handles my 20-25Mb raw files fine and I have around 70K files referenced under lightroom. There's an argument that says you should spec your machine accordingly. There's SSD's, hybrid drives and multiple drives for hosting files/caches etc.

The iPad is a great tool but you have to work within it's limitations. I have to shoot small jpeg and Raw and import the small jpegs onto it. You just wouldn't be able to process an event's worth otherwise. If you're just shooting a small number (say under 10) then you could use raw files and as said, filterstorm is a great app.
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Exactly what I Was trying to say, but I don't think Nigey read the bit about replacing a computer with an iPad :lol:

For my editing (and gaming) rig, I have: 200GB SSD (Installed OS, LR, CS5, few games and Visual studio on there), AMD x4 (Quad core @ 2.4GHz (Want to replace that with an Intel i, but it'd mean a new motherboard)), AMD Radeon HD GPU, 4GB DDR3 Memory. Oh, and a 700GB SATA and a 1TB External SATA for storage. I don't write files to the SSD unless it's a permanent install, as they have a finite set of writes
 
Actually, if you've windows 7 then ssd's work really well. With Trim they are fast and most of the new ones are dram based and don't suffer from the limited write issues

Another good tip to speed up slow PC's is to use Readyboost with windows 7 and Vista (there's a XP version around as well). Use a decent 16Gb usb memory stick, plug it in and rightclick, properties, readyboost.
Speeds up a slower pC enormously.
 
Well i got it today and it seems good , but its only been used as a browser ATM . Screen is very clear and some HD pics are good quality . Even got the TP App lol
 
Byker28i said:
Actually, if you've windows 7 then ssd's work really well. With Trim they are fast and most of the new ones are dram based and don't suffer from the limited write issues
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Ah. I wasn't aware the finite write cycle issues were being worked upon. I don't think I'd use mine to store documents and photos on, though :lol: Like I said, I only use mine for the OS and a few programs, but just doing that has sped things up so much
 
Well, finish the story Buster - what did you get in the end? An iPad2?
 
AllFallD0wn said:
Exactly what I Was trying to say, but I don't think Nigey read the bit about replacing a computer with an iPad :lol:
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Actually if you read the OP first post he never states replacing the laptop. He just states its stopped working. He says he is thinking about getting an iPad 2 and was there any apps that he could "Do" his photo's with. Again, it cannot be seen as a like for like replacement.

What I took issue with was your statement about comparing the hardware. It is impossible to do so. again, they both do different jobs. It's a bit like saying "my car packed up and I am thinking about getting a van". It's not a replacement, its a different thing altogether. At the end of all this, he got his iPad, I hope he is happy. ..... :) (A smiley to keep the mods happy)
 
Nigey said:
Actually if you read the OP first post he never states replacing the laptop. He just states its stopped working. He says he is thinking about getting an iPad 2 and was there any apps that he could "Do" his photo's with. Again, it cannot be seen as a like for like replacement.

What I took issue with was your statement about comparing the hardware. It is impossible to do so. again, they both do different jobs. It's a bit like saying "my car packed up and I am thinking about getting a van". It's not a replacement, its a different thing altogether. At the end of all this, he got his iPad, I hope he is happy. ..... :) (A smiley to keep the mods happy)
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In my mind (and I'm sure everyone else who commented saying "get a laptop instead"), laptop not working, looking at buying an iPad instead = replacement. When you're assuming replacement, comparing hardware is fair, just like people compare PS3's and wii's. :shrug:

Ah well, story over now.
 
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