Review iPad 3rd Party Lightning Camera Connection Kit

[DpM]

I took the plunge and ordered one from the bay for £7.99 , I was not keen to pay Apple prices for a cable. I know, buy cheap but twice, but experience with the charge cables tells me even Apple leads are not that rugged.

There seem two be two main types on sale at the moment the one I chose was because it was a UK seller and I liked the idea that I could plug in a keyboard to use on the iPad if need be.

I have tested it out connecting my DSLR via USB and uploading some RAW files. It loaded the preview screen on the iPad within about 30 seconds. Good as there were around 250 shots on the card. Importing 6 photos took about 20 ish seconds, not too bad as the RAW files are around 15mb each.
It works well and will be great for me to use when shooting portraits to give the clients a preview of the photos. Below are a list of pros and cons.

Pros

1. Does what it should.
2. Value for money compared to official kit.
3. Takes lots of card types as well as cameras, USB memory sticks and Keyboard use (via USB port).
4. Fairly fast transfer speed and quick to preview photos prior to transfer.
5. RAW compatible, great for photographers that don't want to shoot JPG also.

Cons

1. The connection would not take any real weight. What I mean by this is if your plugging in something by USB I wold not wave the iPad around. I think this is due to the nature of the lightning connection it's just so small! The same item using the old 30 pin connector might take a bit more weight.
2. You get what you pay for, what I mean is the plastic used is cheap.

Overall if you don't want to pay Apple accessory money and want more connectivity options then go for it.

Here are a few pics transferred to the iPad using the kit, cropped in photoshop and uploaded to photo bucket all on my iPad, handy!

 

[DpM]

---------- Points to remember when using the kit -- Added 27th Jan 2013--------------

• You must have a DCIM folder on the media you are using. The media files have to be inside this folder.
• The files names must be 8 characters long. No longer and no shorter.
• Switching between media could cause a "device not compatible message". If this happens you will need to switch the iPad off and back on for the kit to work again.
• If you remove the kit with the the iPads photo app closed (still running in the background) and update files on the same media or switch media and then reopen the photo app the view will still show the last lot of files.
  To get around this out either need to kill the photo app (the usual double press of the home key and hold the photo app icon till it wobbles and close it) or take the camera connection kit out of the iPad with the photo app open.
  

I expect the same will be true of the official kits as it is the iPad software that is involved with my findings.

 

[AR-Graphics]

Interesting review. I use the official apple old connector connection set which I find very useful.

I would like to add to your review the idea of jail breaking your iPad (or iPhone). Doing so removes the restrictions that apple put on the operating system and allow you to run a apps written for jail broken iPads. It has totally revolutionised the ease of use of my pad.

It also allows almost any USB device to be connected via the connection kit such as hard drives data sticks etc, and transfer files to and from with no limitations on naming etc. For example I now keep all my music on a 32gb micro sd card freeing up memory on the iPad and allowing me to also use the card in my home hifi, or even phone. I also have another sd card with videos on.

For more info on jail breaking you can search on line or if you have a specific question please feel free to contact me.

 

[creativegeek]

Thanks for posting this. I was thinking of jail breaking my own Apple product earlier and I realised it could do more harm than good.

 

[AR-Graphics]

I must admit I was nervous about jail breaking my iPad (a first generation one) and did a lot of research into it. I'm happy to report I have had no problems at all. I have several friends who have done the same to a range of iPads and iPhones also without problems. Although I've never had to use it, I understand you can do a complete factory reset via iTunes. it's certainly something you have look at very carefully as it may depend on device and operating system versions. I would just say that in my experiance it can be done without any problems, but if you are at all worried probably best not to do it.

 

[Matt_C]

I bought something like this from Ebay - was dead as a dodo on arrival. Is this common in these things or had I done something completely wrong?

 

[gopz]

Matt_C - sometimes it takes more than a few seconds for it to be recognised by the iPad after you plug it in