Is it possible to view/edit directly off a SSD drive with an iPad Air M2?

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Michael Bisset said:
I've done some more transfer speed tests with the iPad Air M2 256GB, using the native Files app to transfer a directory containing 106GB of files ( 2049 .NEF files (FX & DX) with 21 .MOV files) from a Delkin Devices 325 GB CF Express B card in an Angelbird USB C card reader to a Samsung T5 SSD drive through a USB C to USB A cable, using the Caldigit USB C SOHO dock. The dock was powered during the transfer.

I had previously used the FileBrowser Pro app but this has hung on me a couple of times during transfers and also seems much slower.

Using the USB C hub, the 106GB transfer took 4 min and 39 seconds. I did the same transfer using the USB C ports on the front of my Mac Studio M1 and this took 4 minutes 36 seconds. Would the transfers have been even faster if I had used a T7 SSD drive !

This test suggests that file transfer times using a M2 iPad Air are no different from those using a desktop computer. They would also suggest that a M2 iPad should be more that adequate to facilitate file backup while out in the field, if powered by a USB C PD supply.

These results almost seem too good to be true but I did the iPad transfer test twice and got the same result. Is there a flaw in my methodology?
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That is quick enough for me.
 
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Michael Bisset said:
I've done some more transfer speed tests with the iPad Air M2 256GB, using the native Files app to transfer a directory containing 106GB of files ( 2049 .NEF files (FX & DX) with 21 .MOV files) from a Delkin Devices 325 GB CF Express B card in an Angelbird USB C card reader to a Samsung T5 SSD drive through a USB C to USB A cable, using the Caldigit USB C SOHO dock. The dock was powered during the transfer.

I had previously used the FileBrowser Pro app but this has hung on me a couple of times during transfers and also seems much slower.

Using the USB C hub, the 106GB transfer took 4 min and 39 seconds. I did the same transfer using the USB C ports on the front of my Mac Studio M1 and this took 4 minutes 36 seconds. Would the transfers have been even faster if I had used a T7 SSD drive !

This test suggests that file transfer times using a M2 iPad Air are no different from those using a desktop computer. They would also suggest that a M2 iPad should be more that adequate to facilitate file backup while out in the field, if powered by a USB C PD supply.

These results almost seem too good to be true but I did the iPad transfer test twice and got the same result. Is there a flaw in my methodology?
Click to expand...
That is way faster than I recall mine working. Good report. That said I am still now inclined to update my MBA and take that since I can probably cull and edit a bunch of images on the flight home. In a way that's easier to carry if I use it for the backups too.
 
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wotan1 said:
I checked and this is apparently a brand-new device currently only available for preorder.

It would be nice if it proved to work well and it is nice that it has a built in CF Express B card reader.

I look forward to your report on how it works.
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Well I just received the Boxcase. It seems well built. Looks like the unit in the video above. I plugged it into my ipad and inserted a CF B card. The device instantly recognized the card. Displayed its name and capacity.
The Files app on the iPad immediately recognized the card. And I am transferring files from the card to the iPad. I then plugged in a portable ssd drive and am able to copy photos from the card to the ssd using the iPad files app. The dispayed (on the Boxcase) speeds jump around a lot from 85 mb/sec to 600 mb/sec, but seems to average 300 mb/sec. This is with the cables I had laying around. I will have to time it with a specific amount of data, but it seems like this can do the job. It also displays the temp of the CF B card as it heats up.
 
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I found my iPad Pro to to be adequate for viewing images on my card and for copying the images to an SSD using a hub. I find the editing capabilities of the iPad Pro to be very limited.

I ended up adding a MacBook Pro 16 for road trips and casual editing. internal hard drives on the MacBook Pro are prohibitively expensive so I stayed with the 500gb internal drive and use one or two 4 TB portable SSD's for photos. The annoyance is that I always have a drive dangling by a string when I am wanting to photo edit. That being said I would rather spend a couple hundred on a 4 tb external SSD than something like $1500 more to get a built in 4 tb drive.

The 16 inch screen on the MBP is a total joy to use. I tried the 14 inch model but it does not work as well for photo editing.
 
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I'm planning to use LR App for iPad Pro to transfer photos from CFE cards to LR to 2 Samsung T7 SSDs for an upcoming trip. I will not be culling; just getting them off the memory cards and onto the SSDs. It appears that the .xmp files get lost in that process. I'm concerned that I might be losing some important data in the .xmp file, such as GPS data from my Z9? My hardware for this process is limited to a CF Express card reader, a Belkin 4-port hub and the SSDs.
 
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I use the Files app on my iPad to move my RAW files from my CFE card reader to a SSD drive, You need a small USB C hub to facilitate this.
Your post suggest you want to use the Lightroom app as the intermediary for this transfer. Looking at the Share Menu, Export as file type, the only RAW option is DNG.
The original RAW file once in the Lightroom app, is synchronised with Adobe Cloud and the basic version of Adobe Lightroom on your Mac or PC. Your GPS data will be embedded in your RAW file and I suggest that you need to save this file to an SSD drive independent of the Lightroom app.
.xmp files store your editing setting and I presume this information is also transferred to Adobe Cloud and to Lightroom.
My workflow is to backup all RAW files on a SSD drive first and then use Lightroom to look at and edit the best few images. I suspect using Lightroom as your file transfer program might prove very cumbersome.
Interested to know what others think.
 
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Michael Bisset said:
I use the Files app on my iPad to move my RAW files from my CFE card reader to a SSD drive, You need a small USB C hub to facilitate this.
Your post suggest you want to use the Lightroom app as the intermediary for this transfer. Looking at the Share Menu, Export as file type, the only RAW option is DNG.
The original RAW file once in the Lightroom app, is synchronised with Adobe Cloud and the basic version of Adobe Lightroom on your Mac or PC. Your GPS data will be embedded in your RAW file and I suggest that you need to save this file to an SSD drive independent of the Lightroom app.
.xmp files store your editing setting and I presume this information is also transferred to Adobe Cloud and to Lightroom.
My workflow is to backup all RAW files on a SSD drive first and then use Lightroom to look at and edit the best few images. I suspect using Lightroom as you file transfer program might prove very cumbersome.
Interested to know what others think.
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Similar - although I use Affinity Photo on my iPad. But I too use the files app and a usb-c hub to move files from the CFE to the SSD.
 
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Thank you, Michael and Patrick. I will try the direct transfer you both recommend. Although I’ve been a Mac user for almost 40 years, the iPad IOS sometimes baffles me. I‘ll give it another shot. Your recommended workflow is what I’d prefer.
 
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I just watched a great YouTube video on how to use the Files app on iPad/iPad Pro. It was done by Rich Bowlin. Excellent info clearly presented. I learned what I should have picked up few months ago. But now I know how powerful the iPad Files app is and how easy it is to move photos from a card in a card reader to a spot on an iPad or directly to a remote drive connected to the iPad via a hub. I have a small Belkin 4-port USB-C Hub that lets me connect up to a 100-watt charger and three devices to my iPad Pro. Thanks again to Michael and Patrick, and of course, BCG!
 
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