New iPad - Amateur photographry and other uses - Advice please!

Will James

Will James

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Hi all,

Been thinking about getting the new iPad for ages. I'm very much an amateur photographer - I've recently done a couple of my first two event shoots (they are my first paid shoots too) and I can't help but think it that, in additional to all the uses I would get out of it anyway, it would be an awesome sales tool when I go and see the clients on the weekend.

I've got a couple of questions regarding this:

Is there an app I can use that would enable me to take notes in some way (even by adding keywords) whilst showing the clients the photos? I.e. if they say "oh can you edit that out and make the background black?", is there an easy way for me to record this against the photo? Would also be useful if these can be easily transferred into my lightroom library.

The sales tool would be a bonus though, as I don't have many clients and am starting my accounting graduate job in September so won't have too much time for seeing clients etc then. I'll mainly use it to browse through my photos and make small edits, browsing the web, emails, playing movies, etc. I guess I'm also asking if the new iPad is worth the money? To be honest the screen BLEW me away when I used it, so now I don't want anything less than a retina display :bang::lol:

Also I'm going on a few holidays this summer including some travelling so I was wondering if a good thing to do would be to transfer my photos from DSLR to iPad via SD card adapter and then upload to Dropbox for backup? I understand it will be a hell of a lot of data but hopefully there will be enough public places with free wifi when I'm travelling, plus losing my photos on my trip would be a disaster. I know the iPad isn't the most ideal backing up device compared with say a netbook but considering I want one anyway I can only see Dropbox as being just as useful!

Any advice regarding the above will be very much appreciated.

Will.

p.s. regarding 32GB vs 64GB version, I can't justify the 64GB since I'm getting Wifi+3G - is 32GB likely to be enough?
 
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Will James said:
Hi all,

Been thinking about getting the new iPad for ages. I'm very much an amateur photographer - I've recently done a couple of my first two event shoots (they are my first paid shoots too) and I can't help but think it that, in additional to all the uses I would get out of it anyway, it would be an awesome sales tool when I go and see the clients on the weekend.

I've got a couple of questions regarding this:

Is there an app I can use that would enable me to take notes in some way (even by adding keywords) whilst showing the clients the photos? I.e. if they say "oh can you edit that out and make the background black?", is there an easy way for me to record this against the photo? Would also be useful if these can be easily transferred into my lightroom library.

The sales tool would be a bonus though, as I don't have many clients and am starting my accounting graduate job in September so won't have too much time for seeing clients etc then. I'll mainly use it to browse through my photos and make small edits, browsing the web, emails, playing movies, etc. I guess I'm also asking if the new iPad is worth the money? To be honest the screen BLEW me away when I used it, so now I don't want anything less than a retina display :bang::lol:

Also I'm going on a few holidays this summer including some travelling so I was wondering if a good thing to do would be to transfer my photos from DSLR to iPad via SD card adapter and then upload to Dropbox for backup? I understand it will be a hell of a lot of data but hopefully there will be enough public places with free wifi when I'm travelling, plus losing my photos on my trip would be a disaster. I know the iPad isn't the most ideal backing up device compared with say a netbook but considering I want one anyway I can only see Dropbox as being just as useful!

Any advice regarding the above will be very much appreciated.

Will.

p.s. regarding 32GB vs 64GB version, I can't justify the 64GB since I'm getting Wifi+3G - is 32GB likely to be enough?
Click to expand...


Does your phone not allow you to create a personal hotspot, negating the need for the 3g and 2 data tarrifs?
 
The new ipad screen for High res photographs is unbelievable. i recently bought one and couldnt be happier with it

We sell the ipad in our work since the first gen model and its only until I actually bought one that I realised how amazing it is. The retina panel was the main reason I bought it.

I would suggest minimum of 32GB!
 
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Regarding using your phone as a hotspot, some carriers do not allow this, so be careful as you could be in breach of your contract.

That said, pdanet is a useful app :)
 
Re the app. You can use Photosmith to pre process photos for lightroom, including metadata and ratings etc. This then syncs directly into your library via a plug in for LR. Really good. You can also use Eyefi cards to send images directly to the app with the latest version which is really useful if you're on site. This will drain camera and ipad batteries a bit quicker though.

Re the upload side of things. I've always found it easier to carry a small SD card reader and just upload from internet cafe/hotel machines etc. I also carry spare USB sticks or SD cards to back up to as well. Small, relatively cheap and don't need an internet connection. You will need a computer to use them though.

I would recommend getting the 64GB. If you are using large RAW files your ipad will fill up quickly. It's also a great travel companion with a few videos for slower moments (watching Jeeves and Wooster in a tent at Campo Britanico in the Torres Del Paine in Chile was a highlight).

Hope that helps.
 
Re the app, Portfolio is set up to do exactly that; ie display to clients, rate and make notes.

Re the 3G- don't. It's a waste of £100. You'd be much better off buying a MiFi unit for sub £70, which you can then use with your other devices as and when needed.
 
Soda Farl said:
Does your phone not allow you to create a personal hotspot, negating the need for the 3g and 2 data tarrifs?
Click to expand...

Yes it does, that's a good point, I'll have to check if T-mobile allow me to do that. However one thing I am concerned about with that is the battery life of my phone - it's bad enough as it is (Samsung GS2)

TonyNI said:
The new ipad screen for High res photographs is unbelievable. i recently bought one and couldnt be happier with it

We sell the ipad in our work since the first gen model and its only until I actually bought one that I realised how amazing it is. The retina panel was the main reason I bought it.

I would suggest minimum of 32GB!
Click to expand...

Hi, yeah the retina display is incredible! Really looking forward to getting one. Thanks for the tip

johnnypanic said:
Regarding using your phone as a hotspot, some carriers do not allow this, so be careful as you could be in breach of your contract.

That said, pdanet is a useful app :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice, I'll have to check with T-mobile to see if they allow it, but as above I'm concerned about the battery life of my phone if I'm using it as a modem for a long period of time in the day.

vchaney said:
Re the app. You can use Photosmith to pre process photos for lightroom, including metadata and ratings etc. This then syncs directly into your library via a plug in for LR. Really good. You can also use Eyefi cards to send images directly to the app with the latest version which is really useful if you're on site. This will drain camera and ipad batteries a bit quicker though.

Re the upload side of things. I've always found it easier to carry a small SD card reader and just upload from internet cafe/hotel machines etc. I also carry spare USB sticks or SD cards to back up to as well. Small, relatively cheap and don't need an internet connection. You will need a computer to use them though.

I would recommend getting the 64GB. If you are using large RAW files your ipad will fill up quickly. It's also a great travel companion with a few videos for slower moments (watching Jeeves and Wooster in a tent at Campo Britanico in the Torres Del Paine in Chile was a highlight).

Hope that helps.
Click to expand...

Hi, that's good advice, thank you. So in that case I might not need to go with 3G...I'll have to have a think about when I might need to use an internet connection where there won't be wifi.

DemiLion said:
Re the app, Portfolio is set up to do exactly that; ie display to clients, rate and make notes.

Re the 3G- don't. It's a waste of £100. You'd be much better off buying a MiFi unit for sub £70, which you can then use with your other devices as and when needed.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice, I'll have to have a look into MiFi. I just read though that it will last up to a max of 3.5 hours when used constantly like streaming, which is less than an iPad 3g would last isn't it? Also I don't have any other devices that I would need to use it with - only other thing I use is a smartphone and my PC obviously uses WiFi at home. It does seem steep though at an extra £100 to have 3G capability, so I'm going to have a hard think about this!

Thank you all for the advice, it is very much appreciated! :thumbs: I am now a bit stuck on what to do, so I'm going to explore all the options further.

Will.
 
While I don't have the new iPad, I have iPad2 with 32gb of memory. So far the memory is more than enough, only time when I could have used more is traveling (loaded full of TV shows).
 
johnnypanic said:
Regarding using your phone as a hotspot, some carriers do not allow this, so be careful as you could be in breach of your contract.

That said, pdanet is a useful app :)
Click to expand...

How are they going to know? iPad and iPhone isn't easy to tell appart for the carriers. Well maybe if you do something excessive... I've done that a few times and no issues so far, or else I will tell them :wave:
 
kokakaste2 said:
While I don't have the new iPad, I have iPad2 with 32gb of memory. So far the memory is more than enough, only time when I could have used more is traveling (loaded full of TV shows).
Click to expand...

That's useful to know. Do you shoot RAW too? It's just that my music collection is around 12GB and I know my RAW files take up a hell of a lot of space

daugirdas said:
How are they going to know? iPad and iPhone isn't easy to tell appart for the carriers. Well maybe if you do something excessive... I've done that a few times and no issues so far, or else I will tell them :wave:
Click to expand...

Agreed, not too worried about that, but it's the battery life of my phone (Galaxy S2) I'm worried about. It uses loads as it is and if I'm travelling around I'd like it to last as long as possible given I might not be able to recharge it everyday.
 
My 532gb Ipad 2 Rocks, I don't think I could live without it now. Mine is the 3G but tbh you dont need it, as stated above either use your phone as a wifi hotspot or invest in a MiFi as both work really well.

At least then in places where 3g is poor you can stick the mifi/phone in the window or even slung up a tree whilst camping :) and it works great.
 
Just to throw a spanner in the works, I have a 3G iPad and wouldn't be without it. Yes you can connect other ways, but with 3G it's completely seamless and instant. I've also found that 3, who I have the 3G with on my iPad, have massively better data coverage than O2 who I have on my phone. Huge amounts of data (can't remember how much, but way more than I can use and I'm a heavy user), for £15 per month.

Depends what you use it for though. I live my life connected, so can't be doing with other devices to enable a connection. I also don't use a laptop since I got the iPad (why would you?), so a Mifi would be a bit silly to connect just one device.

Re storage space, again it depends how you'll use it. I only have the 16GB one, which is way more than I need, but that's because I play music on my phone not my iPad, and because I use it as a cloud device not a storage device; I have access to ALL my data, just not actually stored on the iPad. I guess that's another reason why I like the 3G :)
 
Southdowns said:
I've also found that 3, who I have the 3G with on my iPad, have massively better data coverage than O2 who I have on my phone. Huge amounts of data (can't remember how much, but way more than I can use and I'm a heavy user), for £15 per month.
Click to expand...

Agreed O2 is very poor both my iPad and iPhone are on O2 and suffer in a lot of places.

btw:
Splashtop is a great app for connecting and streaming movies from your home PC and the Seagate 500gb Wifi drive I have is great for on the go docs and videos etc :)
 
Will James said:
That's useful to know. Do you shoot RAW too? It's just that my music collection is around 12GB and I know my RAW files take up a hell of a lot of space
Click to expand...

I should have said that I don't upload raw files from 5D2 on the iPad. I just have pile of CF cards. :lol: I have the camera connection kit to quickly upload few images and share them if necessary. :)

My iPad only have TV shows/Apps/processed and resized images to show others. :)
 
I'm posting from my "new iPad" now. Personally it's great for me although I don't do photo shoots or anything as its purely a hobby for me. However, I bought a cheap camera kit from fleebay, it does the same as the apple one and since then I've never looked back.

I used to get my photos off my camera and onto my pc and have a tinker in photoshop but now I don't bother. I put them straight onto the iPad and I edit them with snapseed ( fantastic app). After that I transfer them to my pc or a memory stick for development. But as I say, it's just a hobby for me so I don't edit loads of photos. I'm sure a pc is the best way for someone who does it regular at weddings ect.. Also, I'd go for the 32gb or 64gb wifi. If you have an iPhone 4s you can create a hotspot for on the move.

Side note.. An iPad will be more of a tool than you think. Not just for photos but for almost everything. My pc never gets a look in now. I even controll it remotely with the iPad lol
 
Will James said:
Thanks for the advice, I'll have to have a look into MiFi. I just read though that it will last up to a max of 3.5 hours when used constantly like streaming, which is less than an iPad 3g would last isn't it? Also I don't have any other devices that I would need to use it with - only other thing I use is a smartphone and my PC obviously uses WiFi at home. It does seem steep though at an extra £100 to have 3G capability, so I'm going to have a hard think about this!
Click to expand...

The MiFi (newest Three version) has a battery life of 3-6 hours depending on upload/download ratio and volume of use. A £20 Duracell battery booster pack doubles that. Remember that the same applies to the iPad as it does the MiFi; ie it soaks up more power when using the 3G connection versus the Wifi one.

Secondly the data rates on a MiFi are much faster (on Three anyway) because it's HSDPA enabled; ie 21Mbps downstream and upto 2 Mbps upstream where available. If you are planning to upload files it makes a massive difference.

Another thing to bear in mind is that if you develop an on location event business, you will end up with a laptop at some stage!
 
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Andyvalver said:
I'm sure a pc is the best way for someone who does it regular at weddings ect..
Click to expand...

No, a Mac is ;)

Andyvalver said:
Side note.. An iPad will be more of a tool than you think. Not just for photos but for almost everything. My pc never gets a look in now. I even controll it remotely with the iPad lol
Click to expand...

Absolutely correct. It really is a game changer unless you're a technophobe. You'll start off thinking you have one or two specific uses for it, but will find it can help you with just about everything once you have it.

The fact is, even though technically it can do less than a laptop because it's less powerful, it will in fact do more, because it's just so much nicer to use. Only a few things remain the domain of laptops as far as I can see; one is serious photo editing (even then, some things I transfer off my Mac to my iPad to do because they're easier that way), another is coding or anything else that needs serious processing power more than it needs an intuitive UI.
 
Southdowns said:
No, a Mac is ;)
Click to expand...

neil_g said:
a mac is a pc ;)
Click to expand...

oh, that old chestnut..... :bonk:


im with Andyvalver, since getting my iPad 2 many months ago, my PC hasn't gotten a lot of use, now i only use my PC for gaming and Lightroom. the ipad is like a massive toy.

however for on-location shoot (not that i do any paid shoots), i won't use an ipad at all. i tried using it over a weekend away and it complicated things. it's nice to review photos using it, but that is it. post processing on it is just pointless. you want to permanently backup your RAW files from SD card, not the edited JPEG file.


i've not invested in Photosmith, but being a cheapskate, i doubt i'll ever spend so much on a closed platform. have it on my watchlist hoping for £0.69 deals. :lol:
 
DemiLion said:
The MiFi (newest Three version) has a battery life of 3-6 hours depending on upload/download ratio and volume of use. A £20 Duracell battery booster pack doubles that. Remember that the same applies to the iPad as it does the MiFi; ie it soaks up more power when using the 3G connection versus the Wifi one.

Secondly the data rates on a MiFi are much faster (on Three anyway) because it's HSDPA enabled; ie 21Mbps downstream and upto 2 Mbps upstream where available. If you are planning to upload files it makes a massive difference.

Another thing to bear in mind is that if you develop an on location event business, you will end up with a laptop at some stage!
Click to expand...

This is all true, but I have to say that in real life use, data speeds on Three's 3G are all you'll need, unless you're streaming films or similar. I constantly download 3 or 4Mb files from dropbox, and send e-mails with similar size attachments, and there's no noticeable delay compared to broadband wifi. I'm sure there would be if I measured it, but the one certainly doesn't feel any different to the other.

And, if you're using a MacDonalds free wifi hotspot, you'll end up turning wifi off and wanting 3G; it's a LOT quicker!

Battery life; I get a full day's use easily out of my iPad on a full charge when out and about on 3G. I don't use it constantly, but it is on constantly, and I do use it a LOT. 3G does use more battery than wifi, but HSDPA uses more still.
 
neil_g said:
a mac is a pc ;)
Click to expand...

Yep, a much better one than any Windows PC too; even when the Mac is running Windows :)

In reality I think the Mac vs Windows argument is a bit old now that MS has been scared out of complacency by Apple's advances into their territory (and Linux', and Google's). Windows 7 is an extremely good OS. Different, and I wouldn't switch back for love nor money because I just like OS X better, but equally good overall I'm sure.
 
TonyNI said:
The new ipad screen for High res photographs is unbelievable. i recently bought one and couldnt be happier with it

We sell the ipad in our work since the first gen model and its only until I actually bought one that I realised how amazing it is. The retina panel was the main reason I bought it.

I would suggest minimum of 32GB!
Click to expand...

Don't worry about the storage on the iPad, just use cloud storage.

Buy the 16gb one, it'll be all you need!
 
Will James said:
Also I'm going on a few holidays this summer including some travelling so I was wondering if a good thing to do would be to transfer my photos from DSLR to iPad via SD card adapter and then upload to Dropbox for backup? I understand it will be a hell of a lot of data but hopefully there will be enough public places with free wifi when I'm travelling, plus losing my photos on my trip would be a disaster. I know the iPad isn't the most ideal backing up device compared with say a netbook but considering I want one anyway I can only see Dropbox as being just as useful!
Click to expand...

I asked exactly the same thing elsewhere on here for a holiday I'm going on later in the year. Most people advised using more memory cards, but that puts all your eggs in one basket as far as I can see. I'll be uploading to my iPad, deleting any obvious disasters, then uploading to Dropbox. My pictures will then be backed up on Dropbox, on two Macs back at home that sync with Dropbox, and twice to an external hard drive that those Macs in turn back up to, all within minutes of the original upload. And I'll still have them on my CF card and/or iPad so long as I don't run out of space.

If I manage to lose any shots after that, I don't deserve to have them!

Only thing is this is one thing you would NOT want to do over 3G, because of the horrendous data roaming charges, so you need to be sure you'll find wifi.

Of course you need enough room on Dropbox to make it work.

Note that although the iPad won't directly read the raw files you transfer to it (it'll just show you the embedded jpeg's or tiffs), it WILL upload them untouched.
 
I have the iPad 3 and its great for photo display and so many other uses,wouldn't be with out it and of course it makes a great partner to my Imac27,
definitely recommend one, Aperture is a nice app for editing photos.
 
Southdowns said:
No, my Mac runs Windows faster than any Windows PC I've ever tried, at any price.
Click to expand...

Lol okay. Anyway going off topic and this subject normally gets locked.

For reference there is currently a mbp on my desk next to my desktop so I'm not a hater..
 
Yeah I was trying to avoid the temptation, but you sucked me in! I did even try to be fair minded (see above), even though deep down I don't feel it!!!!!!!

Anyway, I think we can all agree; JUST BUY THE IPAD; YOU'LL NOT REGRET IT!!!!!!!!
 
Slightly off topic but I've found some of the screen protectors for the iPad to be rather poor.

The last one I had was an "anti glare" one (don't see glare being a bit issue!) but it was nigh on impossible to clean and when you did it scratched and looked awful!

I'm now back to a naked screen and much prefer it (though I do have a screen cover and padded case for my baby!).
 
I have the 3G versions and wouldn't be without it...Sure you can carry around other stuff, I actually have a solwise proper battery operated wifi router as well for specific demos as it can have several 8 separated ssids and wifi forwarding blah blah...But I like my tools nice and need and integrated...Much nicer to just have the iPad ready to go without further dependency on other items...

If you are on a budget though, then yes there are several cheaper options through compromises but hey ho if you can afford it then definitely go for it...

As a bonus, it also has a proper GPS and I've been using it on my powerboat as much better alternative compared to some 'pro' marine solutions...
 
Southdowns said:
Anyway, I think we can all agree; JUST BUY THE IPAD; YOU'LL NOT REGRET IT!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

I do REGRET it, but that's because apple made iOS a very closed system.
ipad is great for consuming media (including presenting your portfolio to the clients) but very poor when it comes to creating anything.
Give me a linux tablet with full terminal and multi-account (incl root) and full RAW support on that hardware and we are talking.
The new 13" macbook pro could be it.
 
daugirdas said:
I do REGRET it, but that's because apple made iOS a very closed system.
ipad is great for consuming media (including presenting your portfolio to the clients) but very poor when it comes to creating anything.
Give me a linux tablet with full terminal and multi-account (incl root) and full RAW support on that hardware and we are talking.
The new 13" macbook pro could be it.
Click to expand...

Depends on what you want to create...Lots of apps available for creating great products...Not least iPhoto and iMovie, iWork...and one of my favourites on a daily basis are Omnigraffle (think Visio and binary compatible) and Merlin (think MS Project again file compatible)...Or snap seed for photos blah blah blah....

But a laptop/desktop replacement it is not, has never been and not marketed as such either...
 
daugirdas said:
I do REGRET it, but that's because apple made iOS a very closed system.
ipad is great for consuming media (including presenting your portfolio to the clients) but very poor when it comes to creating anything.
Give me a linux tablet with full terminal and multi-account (incl root) and full RAW support on that hardware and we are talking.
The new 13" macbook pro could be it.
Click to expand...

The closed OS for Apple devices has always been a plus for me.

One, I prefer the experts to do the work for me, and it's far more secure.
 
not sure what is this forum's stance on this, but hay.

if you don't like iOS's closed nature, jailbreak it! i'll be honest, if i can't jailbreak my ipad, iphone and apple TV, i wouldn't have bought them! it's that simple, there are tweaks that are supposed to be in the iOS from the beginning.

(im still with iOS because when i got into smart phones, only alternative was the brick known as N95. changing ecosystem is tough)
 
Hi everyone, thanks so much for your replies, I took all your advice on board. I went with a 32GB New iPad in the end because I decided that a lot of my stuff will be uploaded to cloud whenever I have wifi access, or via 3G for smaller files. Got it on a 3G contract with Three. Using it now and loving it already!

Will.
 
Andyvalver said:
I'm posting from my "new iPad" now. Personally it's great for me although I don't do photo shoots or anything as its purely a hobby for me. However, I bought a cheap camera kit from fleebay, it does the same as the apple one and since then I've never looked back.

I used to get my photos off my camera and onto my pc and have a tinker in photoshop but now I don't bother. I put them straight onto the iPad and I edit them with snapseed ( fantastic app). After that I transfer them to my pc or a memory stick for development. But as I say, it's just a hobby for me so I don't edit loads of photos. I'm sure a pc is the best way for someone who does it regular at weddings ect.. Also, I'd go for the 32gb or 64gb wifi. If you have an iPhone 4s you can create a hotspot for on the move.

Side note.. An iPad will be more of a tool than you think. Not just for photos but for almost everything. My pc never gets a look in now. I even controll it remotely with the iPad lol
Click to expand...

Any idea what type memory stick do you use or do you take the photos to pc then to memory stick.Ive got an iPad I can't get them onto a stick without the pc
 
Was going to throw another spanner in the works then realised that Will had already worked out what I was going to suggest and that is getting it on a contract with Three.

This has many advantages:

1. It reduces the purchase price (64GB version for me) from £659 to £299, much more palatable

2. The £25pm for 15GB data works out at only £10pm for 15GB data as the rest goes into the purchase of your iPad. Whichever way you look at it this is probably the cheapest 3G data option available.

3. An all in one device is easier to use than a MiFi option, it also has GPS.

4. If used as a wifi hotspot Anandtech.com found out it can run for 24 hours. As I take the MacBook out occassionaly this is cheaper than my phone tethering and saves phone battery which is more important. Will also reduce my phone tariff cost too (£5 for 500MB to tether is not cheap!)

Have only had my iPad for less than a month and it is already indespensible, can only advise that if you are thinking of one for your photography just go for it. Do bear in mind though that the 3 has 4 times as many pixels as the 2 so more memory is quite important (think full size JPEGS for anything you want to show to take full advantage of the retina display).

If using it as a backup device whilst onsite it is quick to fill up when you are shooting 20-25mb RAW files. Whilst Dropbox will come in handy do ask your self if you will really be uploading several GBs of files as you may not get the time, all the better to have more memory just in case.

Anyways you already have one so you probably know most of this already but thought it would be good info to add to the thread, enjoy!
 
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