Is it possible to transfer photos from a USB drive to ipad man in the apple shop says it can't be done

I have had some luck with the camera kit to transfer photos from a flash drive to the ipad but could only get it to see my 4GB flash drive nothing higher. but he is right the kit is designed for camera cards and cameras not really flash drives.

No problem. First connect the USB drive to your computer and transfer the photos to your computer. Then, sync to your iPad.

It CAN work, but there are some caveats.

First I've literally had a 50/50 success rate with drives. Kingston, Sandisk don't tend to work because they have bundled software. Also ones with big LED lights have problems. I've had the best luck with Generic drives. So be prepared to experiment. I experimented with everything from 256 megs to 8 gig and found no consistent brand or size that always worked.

Second, the photos have to follow a very strict naming convention. You need an upper level folder named DCIM. All the photos must have 8 character names. DSC_3455 for example. If your photos are straight from your camera, you should be good to go. If you've edited them, you need to edit the names as well. Put those photos in the DCIM folder and connect the drive.

If your Pad sees it, it'll open the photos all and thumbnails of the photos. You cannot view more than thumbnails off the drive. To see them bigger, you must import them.

Once you import, pay attention to the dialogue boxes because it'll offer to delete the photos for you.

So it can work, but you need to be ready to twiddle and tweak. If you have a memory card it'll work much easier.

The best and safest way to transfer the photos, in my opinion, would be to follow the advice given by Philly_Phan.

You are using a computer to backup and sync your iPad right? If not you should be. The computer is a much better place to store photos and files than either an iPad or a thumb drive. Copy the fles to the computer and then get them on you pad either via a regular sync or via iTunes sharing.

I do agree that the computer is the best place to keep photos. IMHO, iPads are good for showing photos, sharing, etc. but not good at all for any sort of keeping.

The biggest issue I have with syncing photos onto the iPad, is that they have to be sync'd off. And if something happens to your syncing computer you have photos that you then have to deal with and cannot delete from the iPad.

You can use a USB flash drive & the camera connection kit.

Plug the USB flash drive into your computer & create a new folder titled DCIM. Then put your movie/photo files into the folder. The files must have a filename with exactly 8 characters long (no spaces) plus the file extension (i.e., my-movie.mov; DSCN0164.jpg).

Now plug the flash drive into the iPad using the camera connection kit. Open the Photos app, the movie/photo files should appear & you can import. (You can not export using the camera connection kit.)

Secrets of the iPad Camera Connection Kit

http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-57401068-285/secrets-of-the-ipad-camera-conn ection-kit/

 Cheers, Tom 😉

Thank you so much for putting me out of my misery!!! I've been searching and searching for months on end to try and work out how to copy my images across to my mini iPad and after reading your post (and using different USBs until one finally worked with the "camera" cable, as well as creating the DCIM file etc etc) I have finally managed to transfer my photos! THANK YOU.

Glad it worked. When I wrote that we were on iOS7 and I'm sure you're on iOS8 now so it seems to be something that works across the updates.

Thanks for the help! The name change was key! Also, I used a USB hub to connect to my lightning connector then I plugged the USB into the hub. As long as the video is the right format with the 8 character name I was able to import it into my camera roll.

I've successfully transfered files from a USB to my iPad using a file hub.

http://www.amazon.com/Wireless-External-Charger--RAVPower-RP-WD02/dp/B00ICEWB58/ ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1445351721&sr=8-1…

If you copy the photos to a mac, then select the ones you want to send:

1. Right Click, Then press Share
2. Share Via AirDrop (Make sure devices are connected to the same Wi-Fi Network and Bluetooth is turned on)
3. Open AirDrop in the iOS Control Centre
4. On the Mac, Click on the iOS device

The iOS device will now import these photos and shortly after they will start to appear in the Photos Application. They will most likely be scattered throughout your collection of existing photos due to the time stamps on each photo.

Now I can transfer my photos and videos from ifalsh device storage to camera roll via i-USB key app...Just search in app store you will get it....