Can the Ipad dowload photos to an external harddrive (the portable Lacie drive)

Question

Can the Ipad dowload photos to an external harddrive (the portable Lacie drive)

Can the Ipad (2nd or 3rd generation) download photos to an external harddrive ? I have a Canon DSLR 50D and usually fill up a 4 GB card with Raw photos. I would like to download these from the card or camera to the IPad and then download to the portable Lacie. (to use when I travel). I am assuming that the photos from one card can be bundled together and exported as a single unit (as I presently do with my MacBook to my Lacie portable harddrive).

I am contemplating buying the IPad but I need some way to download the photos (in lots of about 4GB) from the IPad to a portable drive.

I will not have a desktop when I travel and I cannot store all of my travel photos on the IPad itself (insufficient space).

If I cannot download to a portable drive, then I need to perhaps buy the Mac Air, which has a USB port.

Looking forward to hearing about any solutions. Thanks ...

Posted on Mar 22, 2012 10:12 PM

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Answer 1

Skydiver119

Level 9

53,399 points

Mar 23, 2012 4:32 AM in response to Mr. Seek Help

You can't. The ipad doesn't support the transfer of files off of it.

Now if you have a way to plug the drive into the internet somehow you can use Dropbox or some other data transfer programs to upload the photos to dropbox or like service (although I wouldn't do it in 4 gig batches that'll take hours)

There are some wifi harddrives out there that have their own wifi transmitter, the Seagate GoFlex is one, but its reviews are mixed.

honestly, rather than frankensteining something your most user friendly way to do it is with a regular comptuer and card reader. A macAir, card reader and usb port can do what you want in minutes while the iPad will be at the mercy of wifi transfer feed and the use of some other device to store the photos.

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Answer 2

Mar 23, 2012 6:54 AM in response to Mr. Seek Help

With the iPad's Camera Connection Kit, you can plug the SD card into CCK & view thumbnail pics on the iPad without importing the pics onto the iPad. If you see a particular good pic, just import it for full size viewing.

Seems like your most inexpensive solution is to buy some additional and/or larger SD cards and transfer the pics after you return home.

 Cheers, Tom 😉

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Answer 3

Mar 23, 2012 10:08 AM in response to Mr. Seek Help

I think maybe the best way to get photos (4 GB batches from a single card) is something called

the Sanho Hyperdrive which I saw advertized on the internet. It is a portable drive that accepts many types of

photo-cards. For capicity it comes in more than one model, starting at 250 GB, I recall, which is fine for my travel needs. It ain't cheap at about $300 but this may be the only way to solve the problem when I am traveling, apart from schlepping around my heavy old MacBook (older model) or buying a MacAir book. I really want the Ipad for traveling now, since I can load photos onto it, edit them, and use Pages and Keynote (at least in theory).

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