NelsonARowe Loc: North Georgia USA

Hi All,
I have recently purchased an a6000 and would appreciate the groups help and opinions on what route I should take for my processing. I have a MacBook Pro (please don’t tell me to go the windows route) but it doesn’t have enough memory left on the hard drive so I could buy and install a larger ssd drive which would run ~ $500-$700 depending on what size I went with. Or I could buy an iPad Pro with enough memory and use that. I can download the raw files via wifi with the included Sony app ( does this cause any loss of data) or use an adapter that would load the files either directly from the camera or from the card. The new IPad would run $1000-$1200 again depending on memory size.
I haven’t decided yet on what software I would use but at this point I’m leaning towards either Lightroom or Photoshop. I have been reading a lot of the discussions on UHH about the various programs out there and their pros and cons and I’m welcome to further input on this but it is not really the original question.

Obviously it’s more expensive to buy the new IPad but I’m used to using one and with the new pencil it can do some pretty good detailed work. I have never used any post processing software that was more complicated than a few free apps I have tried that gives you a few basic overall adjustments like hue, saturation etc. For some reason I think with the IPad ‘s ability to easily zoom into a specific area and do touch ups or other things I think it would be easier to use. I might be entirely wrong about this so that’s why I’m asking. The money is not as important as getting the picture right. It’s like the question I read today asking about lens filters. You spent a lot of money on your lenses and your willing to sacrifice quality on filters by buying the cheap ones on eBay from China 😳. I just want to have the best and easiest to use setup for doing my post processing while I’m away from home. They both are equally portable and I can use a small 1 or 2 tb drive for storage of the images but which of the two options would give me the greater ease of work and outcome of results. Thanks in advance for your advice.

JohnFrim Loc: Somewhere in the Great White North.

I got an iPad Air 2 with the idea of downloading photos from my SD card while travelling. It does not work for me for several reasons.

First, images are downloaded into the Photos app but filenames are not visible. I guess Apple developers believe there are "better" ways of managing image files than using filenames; I disagree.

Second, I have had instances where every "X" images are missing from the download to the iPad. I don't recall the value of "X" exactly, but it was something every 105th file was missing.

Third, I don't think you can work on RAW/ARW files on the iPad.

Fourth, I don't know how many iPad apps there are for processing images, but since they are buried somewhere in Photos I don't know how you would even access them for processing with another app.

While iPad Pro might behave differently from my iPad Air, my feeling is that an iOS device does not work like a MacBook. My solution was to buy a MacBook Pro for use while travelling. Yes, it cost a bit more and it weighs a bit more, but it does a heck of a lot more than an iPad. I would suggest adding extra storage to your MacBook Pro.

If I am wrong in my assessments I would love to hear from folks who have found success with iPads as photo manipulation workstations.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

I would just add a couple of data points. First, you don’t need to spend that much to add SSD to the Mac. If you can live with an external drive, a 500GB Samsung external SSD is about $150 and a 1TB is about $250. Second, you can run Lightroom cc on an IPad. I prefer to edit on a larger machine, but LR cc does run on my IPad. Not sure if either of these observations affect your decision, but thought I’d throw them out...

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

On the road, I carry an old MacBook Pro with the RAM maxed out and a 160gb HDD with all unwanted software stripped out and PSE installed. The laptop also has a built-in disk drive (burner). I copy my cards to a disk and eject it. Next I import my raw files as dng files and after review and post processing (if any), I save the final files as Tiff's, which I then burn to two more disks (one for a safety backup). And yes, I check each desk before ejecting it. Thus, I have a copy of my raw files and two copies of till files I can continue to process. Of course, I have my RAID system at home, to which everything gets copied when I return. As to my jpeg files, they are saved at the same time as my raw files, but I may burn them to one disk or may just delete some (or most). I file by date (yyyymm or yyyymm) so I have minimal renaming and cataloging to do.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

If you are going to be doing photo editing on an iPad, you owe it to yourself to try Adobe Lightroom Mobile.

duane klipping Loc: Bristow iowa

You mean storage space correct and not memory? I would say backup old files and remove them to free up storage space.

picsman Loc: Scotland

I also use an iPad Pro on the road and an external hard disc to store my images. My software is capture one or DxO depending on circumstances. As I do a lot of batch processing of action pics for uploading to a sports website I need to be as fast as possible and capture one allows me to do that quickly. At home I transfer the images from the external hard disc to my iMac.

BJW

REPLY:

I just got an iPad Pro with key Board and Apple Pen and installed LR CC for an upcoming trip abroad. It fulfills my every need. I load images from my SD card with theApple card reader. The retina screen is very sharp. I select the images I want to import —the “keepers”. They get stored in Photos. Then i go to LR and import from Photos to “All Photos” in LR. Then I edit as needed.
The editing tools are very good and I am very pleased with the results. The Apple pencil is convenient but not essential. After editing on the iPad, I put the image in a file (“collection” on LR classic) and all those will sync with my LR classic back home.
When I get home, i plan to import all images on my SD cards onto my external HD connected to my MacBook Pro.
The iPad Pro is fast and light. No need to bring a MacBook on the road anymore. I find I’m making alot of use of the iPad.

BJW

Correction: I put the images in an “album” on LRCC which equals a “collection” in LR Classic which syncs into Classic

Blaster34 Loc: Florida Treasure Coast

Hard Drive Memory? Seagate, Passport and others make External Storage Devices up to 2 TB's for ~$100, probably more storage than you'll need and are great for backing up all your photos. I'm using Luminar on my computer as I travel for processing photos, inexpensive and powerful and internet not required. Good luck on whatever you choose Nelson...

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

I have a Windows Laptop (Windows 10) with 8gb of memory and a relatively small internal hard drive. I have a 4tb USB3 WD portable hard drive that is my "library" for uploading from my usb cards. I also have a WD Cloud at home. So, I have Lightroom (Adobe Cloud) which allows for 2 computers logged in at a time. I log out of my desktop at home prior to my trip, use Lightroom to import, view and make moderate adjustments to my raw files. I copy ALL of my images to my WD-Cloud drive using a local Wi-Fi at the hotel/motel or other location offering Wi-Fi. This gets me an (unprocessed) copy of my RAW files at home as a backup.. (these become my main images once I return home and can make final adjustments to them. But, by using the laptop, I can "preview" my shots and manipulate a few to see what they will provide. Everything gets processed at home, regardless of what I did to it on the laptop. Sometimes, I get a completely different view of the image. AND my home computer is much larger, has a larger screen, is faster and water cooled. Plus, it has ALL of my photos indexed into it.

Linckinn Loc: Okatie, SC and Edgartown, MA

Keep it simple to start. Use your McBook plus a $75 Seagate or WD hard drive (Seagate is fine. Never had one fail in 8 years and multiple drives.)

Then, with your Sony, you can get CaptureOne pro for only $50. Those of us without Sony have to pay $300 (and many, including myself) do.

Learn the iPad editing later. Try Affinity for that, which can do RAW.

blackest Loc: Ireland

[JohnFrim]I got an iPad Air 2 with the idea of downloading photos from my SD card while travelling. It does not work for me for several reasons.

First, images are downloaded into the Photos app but filenames are not visible. I guess Apple developers believe there are "better" ways of managing image files than using filenames; I disagree.

This is true, it takes some getting used to, I have to say its a very different way of working.

Second, I have had instances where every "X" images are missing from the download to the iPad. I don't recall the value of "X" exactly, but it was something every 105th file was missing.

This I can't comment on, other than it works for me.

Third, I don't think you can work on RAW/ARW files on the iPad.

You may think you can't but that is not true, there are several apps that can be used such as the free lightroom mobile (you can buy more functionality if you need it) Or Affinity Photo for the iPad. With affinity photo you start by importing from photos camera roll

Fourth, I don't know how many iPad apps there are for processing images, but since they are buried somewhere in Photos I don't know how you would even access them for processing with another app.

There are any number of Apps available, you just need to install them, with affinity photo you click on import and select your photos with raw photos each raw image has the word raw in the lefthand corner.

While iPad Pro might behave differently from my iPad Air, my feeling is that an iOS device does not work like a MacBook. My solution was to buy a MacBook Pro for use while travelling. Yes, it cost a bit more and it weighs a bit more, but it does a heck of a lot more than an iPad. I would suggest adding extra storage to your MacBook Pro.

It doesn't work the same as a macbook or any other os i'm familiar with, everything is sandboxed from everything else. In someways this is good since a rogue application can not just highjack your files but it is also designed to limit your access too, e.g if you download a movie you can't just rip it from the ipad, licensed content is protected from you.

If I am wrong in my assessments I would love to hear from folks who have found success with iPads as photo manipulation workstations.[/quote]

Yes i've had success with it, but i much prefer to work on my mac than my ipad to be honest, the apps themselves work pretty well but getting content on and off is a tad infuriating, the easy way is via icloud or dropbox or some other cloud service. the better way is via a network share on your lan. Fact is if you can upload to the net at 3GB per hour you are doing well and if you have 16GB of photo's thats going to take over 5 hours. I bought an app called iFiles and that is pretty decent I can upload via any number of protocols anywhere and for lan based file transfer its great.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I wouldn't even consider processing on the road. I bring everything home - multiple copies - and take my time using my desktop.

Jodevoy

Lightroom for iPad will process raw. I’m still trying to get good at using it, but it will definitely import RAW. I think the monthly subscription is $6.99 and includes Photoshop fix.