lookingforcats
Level 1 (4 points)
iPad

Q: Is it possible to import pictures from a camera without Photos?

We use an iPad Air for photo backup and viewing/selecting. For the latter it's really great, the problem is with the backup functionality. We shoot camera RAW, so file size is significant. Each day we connect the cameras to the iPad using the camera connection kit. Photos automatically starts up and starts downloading the previews. This is where things go wrong, or not really wrong, just not the way I like. First of all, the downloading is slow. For about say a hundred pictures each day that is. That's not the real problem however. Issue is that it starts downloading everything on the camera SD card, even if I use separate folders in the camera. Even that would not be too bad if it would recognize that it already had downloaded earlier pictures. For some it does, but for a lot of pictures, it doesn't. Each day a new copy of the same earlier downloaded picture is added to the camera roll. At the end of the holiday we sit around for what feels like an hour waiting for everything to download and after that deleting every picture that is imported from previous days.

 

I've searched the internet for hours, but to my great surprise can't find anything. I know a lot of photographers use iPads for the same reason as I do, so it seems to me I'm overlooking the obvious. What would work for me is either Photos recognizes all previously imported pictures (shouldn't be difficult, unique filenames, EXIF data and such) and only imports the new ones, or I tell Photos (or another app) to import from specific camera folders. Somehow I can't make this work.

 

Some details:

- iPad Air 128 Gb using Apple's camera connection kit to directly connect the camera to the iPad

- iPad on version 9.2, just about to update to 9.3

- Nikon D600 and D700 camera's set to RAW only (get set to RAW+JPEG if that makes any difference)

 

Any suggestions greatly appreciated!

iPad Air, iOS 9.2

Posted on Mar 31, 2016 2:14 AM

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lookingforcats

Q: Is it possible to import pictures from a camera without Photos?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by jeffd55,

    jeffd55 jeffd55 Apr 1, 2016 1:58 PM in response to lookingforcats
    Community Specialists
    Apr 1, 2016 1:58 PM in response to lookingforcats

    Hello lookingforcats,

     

    Thank you for using Apple Support Communities. 

     

    I see that you are having issues with importing photos to your iPad. The following article provides information on importing photos using the camera adapter. 

    Import photos using Apple camera adapters

    I am looking at the following section on importing photos:

    Import photos and videos

    To import from your SD card or digital camera, follow these steps:

    1. Connect the adapter to your iOS device.
    2. Connect your digital camera to the adapter by USB or insert an SD card.
    3. Photos should automatically open to the Import tab. If it doesn't, open Photos and tap Import.
    4. Tap Import All to import your content, or tap specific items, then tap Import.
    5. When the import is complete, you might be asked to Keep or Delete the media on the camera or SD card.

     

    To prevent duplication of imported photos, at step 4 you can select only the new photos to import and not duplicate the ones imported earlier. 

     

    Best regards. 

  • by elcpu,

    elcpu elcpu Apr 1, 2016 3:16 PM in response to lookingforcats
    Level 6 (16,186 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Apr 1, 2016 3:16 PM in response to lookingforcats

    As you have discovered, an iPad is no substitute for a laptop for the usage you want. Are your cameras Wi-Fi enabled? If so you may have better luck importing the photos with Nikon's WMU App. I use it and it works reasonably well. Regardless, importing 100+ RAW photos would take a while.

  • by lookingforcats,

    lookingforcats lookingforcats Apr 3, 2016 11:15 PM in response to lookingforcats
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPad
    Apr 3, 2016 11:15 PM in response to lookingforcats

    Thanks for the answers. Looks like I'm out of luck. Using 64Gb SD cards, so up to a thousand RAWs on a card. The way it's handled on the iPad sounds great, but first you have to wait until it downloads the previews, which takes ages, and than you have to select everything that's double by hand. That just doesn't work. And that while it would have been (read those words before) so easy to allow e.g. download by camera folder. Or even just to check picture file names and only download new ones.

     

    No in-camera WiFi with these cameras. I have an EyeFi card for the D600. But that's slow. It would work if you do it real time, but that means the iPad has to be on all the time.