Tablet to Download Images - Weight reduction options

[KimM]

Happy Thanksgiving! I am in search of a way to reduce weight for travel and wondered if a tablet and it's power source would offer a lower weight option. Currently using an Asus and it's lethel weapon power brick. If you are using one I would love to know your experience on transfer speed. I would need to use a hub and I do have 320 GB cards so am transferring and then backing up some massive amounts of data some days. Thanks!

 

[Calson]

I worry only about the weight of my carry-on bags. I replaced a Lenovo X-250 that weighs 3.66 lbs with its extended run time battery (18+ hours) with a Lenovo X12 that weighs 2.4 lbs but had a runtime on its battery of 10 hours. I see no reason to go any further in trying to save weight.

I use a 18L backpack that is my "personal item" as it fits under the seat in front of me. It has a laptop pocket that will hold my X12 netbook. I also put my heavier items like extra batteries in this bag. My 32L backpack goes inside the overhead bin and before I added the small backpack it could weigh as much as 37 lbs which was hard on my body. Removing 15 lbs of weight from the large backpack made a great deal of difference.

 

[Patrick M]

I use an iPad pro and an external Sandisc SSD drive. Sadly, ipadOS doesn’t show raw images from my Z8…but was perfect for my Z6 and Hasselblad X2D

 

[Butlerkid]

Oh so familiar problem! Weight! Personally and gear wise!

I don't spend a lot of time viewing images when traveling...I just want to back 'em up! Currently I tote an HP Elite Dragonfly laptop (pc) @ 2.4 lb plus hub and 2 external SSD HD's. If you can get it lighter, I'm all ears!

 

[TonyB]

I’ve been using an iPad Pro for all photo needs when traveling since Apple opened up PadOS to USB storage devices. Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop for iPad are enough to do any edits for family or social media and using a hub allows me to connect memory cards and external SSD storage to backup memory cards during the trip. Weight of a few SSD’s, card readers, hub and cables is minimal. The iPad is a must (for me) when traveling for music, movies, catching up on things, pretty much anything I want to do.

I took this while on the train going to London from Paris, taking advantage of the down time to back up memory cards. If backing up a CF-Express card, I’d need a card reader and either A/C or battery power banks. Other than something like a photo workshop where editing is part of the course, I see no need to bring the MacBook Pro.

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[KimM]

I worry only about the weight of my carry-on bags. I replaced a Lenovo X-250 that weighs 3.66 lbs with its extended run time battery (18+ hours) with a Lenovo X12 that weighs 2.4 lbs but had a runtime on its battery of 10 hours. I see no reason to go any further in trying to save weight.

I use a 18L backpack that is my "personal item" as it fits under the seat in front of me. It has a laptop pocket that will hold my X12 netbook. I also put my heavier items like extra batteries in this bag. My 32L backpack goes inside the overhead bin and before I added the small backpack it could weigh as much as 37 lbs which was hard on my body. Removing 15 lbs of weight from the large backpack made a great deal of difference

Thanks Calson. The struggle with weight is real. As it is with my wildlife backpack I have 35#. Add a smaller under the seat bag with CPAP, bricks for that and the computer and it too is a bit to manage. I am thinking about going back to my Pelican Air. At least I can load it heavy (and not worry about overhead space if it runs out and they want to gate check it) and can stick the under the seat bag over the handle to pull through the airports. A field backpack goes in the suite case. This is my latest idea. I am not seeing that tablets have enough juice to download and then back up 10k of images - the dark side of 30 fps and penchant (ok, obsession) for birds.

 

[KimM]

I use an iPad pro and an external Sandisc SSD drive. Sadly, ipadOS doesn’t show raw images from my Z8…but was perfect for my Z6 and Hasselblad X2D

Patrick do you have any idea how the Ipad might handle a 320 gig card to an external SSD and then back it up time wise? I am not familiar with spec options for Apple OS.
Could you install something like Fast Raw Viewer to look at your images on the Ipad Pro? That's what I use on my laptop to cull images quickly.
Thanks for your input!

 

[KimM]

Oh so familiar problem! Weight! Personally and gear wise!

I don't spend a lot of time viewing images when traveling...I just want to back 'em up! Currently I tote an HP Elite Dragonfly laptop (pc) @ 2.4 lb plus hub and 2 external SSD HD's. If you can get it lighter, I'm all ears!

Yes indeed...weight. Ugh. And aging - bad combination.

My current travel weight (laptop plus brick) is 4#. I am hoping Patrick can shed some light on how the Ipad Pro he is using would handle a 320 gig card download to external SSD and then backup the same. Yes those birds and 30 fps are an issue. Could I do less? Yes but Steve says.......

 

[KimM]

I’ve been using an iPad Pro for all photo needs when traveling since Apple opened up PadOS to USB storage devices. Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop for iPad are enough to do any edits for family or social media and using a hub allows me to connect memory cards and external SSD storage to backup memory cards during the trip. Weight of a few SSD’s, card readers, hub and cables is minimal. The iPad is a must (for me) when traveling for music, movies, catching up on things, pretty much anything I want to do.

I took this while on the train going to London from Paris, taking advantage of the down time to back up memory cards. If backing up a CF-Express card, I’d need a card reader and either A/C or battery power banks. Other than something like a photo workshop where editing is part of the course, I see no need to bring the MacBook Pro.

View attachment 75032

Tony - thanks! That's a sweet setup! That Ipad Pro is looking better all the time. What does it's power source look like/weight? Since I mostly do wildlife (birds especially) I tend to end up on really good days with 320 gig card to download and backup. Any idea how it might handle that much data and time it would take to get that done?

 

[Ralph]

Tony - thanks! That's a sweet setup! That Ipad Pro is looking better all the time. What does it's power source look like/weight? Since I mostly do wildlife (birds especially) I tend to end up on really good days with 320 gig card to download and backup. Any idea how it might handle that much data and time it would take to get that done?

Kim, I use the iPad for 90% of my needs and always download to it first before I add files to the computer. I can quickly go through the files and make minor edits very quickly using Apples Photo app. That being said, you would have to get a lot of RAM to upload that many files and that would cost you a fortune. If you go for 256gig of RAM that iPad would cost you about $800. You could then remove the files from the card in batches. Beware that Apples photo app does not read Z8 files yet.

 

[Patrick M]

On my ipad I use affinity photo to view images..l have the same app on my Mac. I used the Photos app, but alas, it can’t view Z8 files! SnapBridge to the rescue! The Sandisc SSD is relatively cheap, and using tne Files app makes it easy to copy images to the card.

 

[jerrylwatson]

LG Gram 2.18 lbs. Hi Kim, I am just across town in Mission KS. I have the 17" LG Gram that is just under 3 lbs. with 32 Gb of ram, dedicated GPU, and 4Tb of SSD. I like post processing while traveling.

 

[Replytoken]

I love my iPads and have used them since they first were launched. And if you can get an iPad to fit into your workflow, then it is a good option. Having said that, if weight is a premium, and you may want access to software and ports for drives, then there are devices like the MS Surface that may also fill the bill. You can install software if that helps, and the file transfer from camera or card reader is direct and can easily be monitored. I do not know what they are using today for charging bricks or plugs, but many are getting smaller and lighter. Not saying that you should not look at iPads, but you should consider all options in case one is a better fit.

Good luck,

--Ken

 

[KimM]

I love my iPads and have used them since they first were launched. And if you can get an iPad to fit into your workflow, then it is a good option. Having said that, if weight is a premium, and you may want access to software and ports for drives, then there are devices like the MS Surface that may also fill the bill. You can install software if that helps, and the file transfer from camera or card reader is direct and can easily be monitored. I do not know what they are using today for charging bricks or plugs, but many are getting smaller and lighter. Not saying that you should not look at iPads, but you should consider all options in case one is a better fit.

Good luck,

--Ken

I agree Ken at looking at all options and thanks for the suggestion. I had hoped somebody had some experience with transfer speed on tablets. I am trying to push a lot of data. I don't have space on my current travel laptop to download an entire card to it first then send out to the external hd. So speed matters. I just don't have enough technical understanding to know what is needed and what effects transfer speed. Sigh.

 

[TonyB]

Tony - thanks! That's a sweet setup! That Ipad Pro is looking better all the time. What does it's power source look like/weight? Since I mostly do wildlife (birds especially) I tend to end up on really good days with 320 gig card to download and backup. Any idea how it might handle that much data and time it would take to get that done?

Hi Kim - I’m using a 4th generation iPad Pro (M2 chip) with 256GB of RAM, USB-C hub with USB-C connected SSD and card readers. I use the files app to backup from the card to the SSD. I don’t import into the Photos App. I browse with Apple’s Files app if I want to look through the shots, but I rarely do so while traveling. I prefer to just backup and do the cull and edits when I’m home. If there are shots I know I want, I locate them using the Files app and import to Lightroom. Speed wise, this setup is the fastest I’ve had for an iPad Pro. It’s in the ballpark with my MacBook Pro and Mac Studio. I zoomed in on that photo and 5.71GB took ~100 seconds to copy from SD card to SSD drive using the Files app.

For power, rarely do I not find an available A/C power outlet. I keep an iPad cable and power brick or Mogics Super Bagel (https://www.mogics.com/super-bagel) in my backpack so I can plug in pretty much anywhere in the world. If A/C is not available, I have a small battery pack for charging phones, AirPods, etc with me, too. I don’t carry these things all the time, on day trips they’ll stay back in the room, but for those time when I’m going to be burning through the memory cards, I will pack one or both for the day.

 

[Replytoken]

I agree Ken at looking at all options and thanks for the suggestion. I had hoped somebody had some experience with transfer speed on tablets. I am trying to push a lot of data. I don't have space on my current travel laptop to download an entire card to it first then send out to the external hd. So speed matters. I just don't have enough technical understanding to know what is needed and what effects transfer speed. Sigh.

Whatever you decide upon, leave yourself time to try it out before any big trip. Its the only way to know that your setup works as you intended.

--Ken

 

[KimM]

Hi Kim - I’m using a 4th generation iPad Pro (M2 chip) with 256GB of RAM, USB-C hub with USB-C connected SSD and card readers. I use the files app to backup from the card to the SSD. I don’t import into the Photos App. I browse with Apple’s Files app if I want to look through the shots, but I rarely do so while traveling. I prefer to just backup and do the cull and edits when I’m home. If there are shots I know I want, I locate them using the Files app and import to Lightroom. Speed wise, this setup is the fastest I’ve had for an iPad Pro. It’s in the ballpark with my MacBook Pro and Mac Studio. I zoomed in on that photo and 5.71GB took ~100 seconds to copy from SD card to SSD drive using the Files app.

For power, rarely do I not find an available A/C power outlet. I keep an iPad cable and power brick or Mogics Super Bagel (https://www.mogics.com/super-bagel) in my backpack so I can plug in pretty much anywhere in the world. If A/C is not available, I have a small battery pack for charging phones, AirPods, etc with me, too. I don’t carry these things all the time, on day trips they’ll stay back in the room, but for those time when I’m going to be burning through the memory cards, I will pack one or both for the day.

Thanks for the numbers Tony! If my math holds (it isn't much better than my technical understanding of needed speed for transfer) I get that a 320 gb card would take an 93 minutes to copy from camera card to external ssd. That might not work for me. Sigh. I do appreciate this information. My Asus weighs 4# with the power brick. I guess we will remain travel friends. Back to the gym and moving those big weights around.

 

[AndyE]

Happy Thanksgiving! I am in search of a way to reduce weight for travel and wondered if a tablet and it's power source would offer a lower weight option. Currently using an Asus and it's lethel weapon power brick. If you are using one I would love to know your experience on transfer speed. I would need to use a hub and I do have 320 GB cards so am transferring and then backing up some massive amounts of data some days. Thanks!

Hm, as far as I noticed you never stated the actual type/kind/model/brand of cards you are exactly using in this topic. Transfer speeds and possibilities very much depend on the available type and read speed of your cards and those are very different. MicroSDXC, SDXC, CFexpress cards type A or type B and it would depend on the connection and capability of your card reader as well.
Could you eventually transfer your images directly out of your camera into a tablet (which I do via a USB-C/thunderbolt cable to my iPad Pro)?

 

[AndyE]

On my ipad I use affinity photo to view images..l have the same app on my Mac. I used the Photos app, but alas, it can’t view Z8 files! SnapBridge to the rescue! The Sandisc SSD is relatively cheap, and using tne Files app makes it easy to copy images to the card.

Ever thought of using Capture One for iPad? They support the Z8 and you could even tether your Nikon directly to it and transfer your images on the fly or after your shootings with a USB-C/thunderbolt cable.

 

[Patrick M]

Ever thought of using Capture One for iPad? They support the Z8 and you could even tether your Nikon directly to it and transfer your images on the fly or after your shootings with a USB-C/thunderbolt cable.

I do so little pp that I can't justify paying monthly fees - and CC is £15/m though there's a 50% sale on as I write

 

[StefanSC]

Happy Thanksgiving! I am in search of a way to reduce weight for travel and wondered if a tablet and it's power source would offer a lower weight option. Currently using an Asus and it's lethel weapon power brick. If you are using one I would love to know your experience on transfer speed. I would need to use a hub and I do have 320 GB cards so am transferring and then backing up some massive amounts of data some days. Thanks!

If you are mainly a Windows(Linux) user and looking into iPads for file transfer, keep this in mind:

Corrupted files from iPad transfer

Just a heads up for those who are considering using an iPad / iPad pro to transfer files from a memory card to an external hard drive. There is a known issue that hasn't been addressed by Apple when using the File app to copy files from the memory card to the iPad and then from the iPad to the...

bcgforums.com

 

[AndyE]

Kim,

just beeing curious myself here about your question I did a little testing here. Keep in mind that this will not be exactly the same environment (type of memory card / card reader) you are facing and therefore only partly representative.

Testing environment:

• ProGrade 325GB Cobalt CFexpress type B card (325GB) r 1700MB/s, w 1500MB/s
• this card was filled with '250GB' and 9'416 images of 'various' sizes between 6MB and 700MB (mostly RAW NEFs, DNGs, TIFFs, HEICs and with small XMP sidecar files)
• ProGrade 40GB/s USB/C cable for connecting between card reader and iPad Pro
• 11" iPad Pro M2Chip Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 with 2TB storage, 470g in weight
• Delkin USB 3.2 CFexpress type B single slot card reader (up to 10Gb/s), model DDREADER-56
• ProGrade USB 4.0 CFexpress type B single slot card reader (up to 40Gb/s), model PG05.6

Results:
Transfer of 250GB from Delkin card reader to iPad Pro by simply copying took 7min 20sec.
Transfer of 250GB from ProGrade card reader to iPad Pro took 4min 31sec.

I hope this gives you a clue on how modern tablets can perform. But as I mentioned above it very much depends on the hardware used (tablet, card reader, cable and memory card) as well as the image file sizes.

I use only a tablet for many many years now on my trips. I never bring a PC to my travels anymore as weight is always a point with the gear I use. My iPads never let me down.
My strategy is that I have dual cards in camera (the second one as backup = first backup). I use my iPad as a backup device while abroad. I transfer my images after a days shooting to my tablet (2nd backup), sometimes but rarely I use a separate external Samsung T7 shield SSD and transfer the images from the iPad to the SSD, when I stay at a hotel at night my images travel to the cloud (3rd offsite backup). Back at home I transfer my images from the memory cards to my computer and after successfully doing this (and backing up my computer too !) I delete the files on the tablet and the cloud.

I am not a BIF photographer but on some trips I can fill my cards easily too . Luckily my tablet never let me down and regret and I can view, tether and edit images on the go easily.

Andy

 

[AndyE]

I do so little pp that I can't justify paying monthly fees - and CC is £15/m though there's a 50% sale on as I write

Not sure what exactly you mean by ‘pp’ (post processing?). But yes, I totally agree with you, most everybody in here probably has to justify their spending at least for themselves (I have too and for my wife as well). And there’s nothing wrong with that.

But in recent times I often read articles in photography forums where people complain about poor performance or lack of functionality of their gear while e.g. at the end they were not willing to invest in a decent and proven cable that cost them something like 80$ and trying to get off with something cheap. While otherwise they buy camera bodies in the thousands and lenses costing even more, not mentioning the rest of their gear.

For me I try to keep it in a relation most of the time. No matter it being the hardware or software. I am not a pro in photography and don’t do it for a living. But I do it as one of my most passionate hobbies, spending a lot of time with it and enjoying taking pictures, editing them and watching them over and over. Therefore I try as best to level my investments on all sides no matter of hardware or software. And as being a Nikon user for the last 20+ years I spent a lot of money into bodies and lenses and yes I am willing to spend 250$ a year for a perfect software solution that fits my needs and budget, saves me time and hassle and is a joy to work with.

PS: I am confident that Apple will support your Z8 images in the near future.

 

[jeffnles1]

Kim,
Also check out a MacBook Air. They are not much, if any, heavier than the iPad Pro and I find a laptop easier to work with than the iPad also, apps like Affinity for iPad, Lightroom for iPad etc. have different interfaces than the laptop version. With the MacBook Air, it is the same interface you are used to.

I, also have an iPad Pro that I take on vacations but find myself using the MacBook more and the iPad is what I use to surf the net, watch movies, and store sheet music for the band sets.

Hope this helps.

Jeff

 

[Butlerkid]

I do so little pp that I can't justify paying monthly fees - and CC is £15/m though there's a 50% sale on as I write

I have not found the Photography Plan on sale..... The only one I found one sale was the ALL APPS plan.................... If the Photography plan is on sale, please post a link!