MobileRead Forums - View Single Post

scottjl · 05-04-2010, 02:09 PM

Got my kit today. Brief write-up below, when I talk about photos I most likely mean imported photos and video clips.

General observations:

The two little dongles are small and come with an end-cap to protect the 30pin adapter side. No caps for the SD card or USB socket.
Both are white (surprising since the iPad is black), very lightweight. No moving parts. Seem rather sturdy. Will survive being tossed around in a backpack. They have markings on the top with glyphs for the iPad and camera (USB adapter) and card (SD card adapter)
A SD card only fits in one way, face up.
There is no software to load, all functionality is built into the iPad.
Attaching either adapter does not launch any software. You must manually launch the Photos application. You can attach the adapter while Photos is open.
Video playback works fine, the same as video playback on an iPhone. You can also trim video to a selection as well within the Photos app

Importing photos and video:

When you insert a card full of photos and video, or attach a camera via USB, an additional tab in the Photos application appears "Camera".
Thumbnails of all photos and video appear under this tab, they are not titled, they appear to be sorted by file name.
From here you can delete all photos/video, delete selected photos/video, import all photos/video or import selected photos/video. You tap to select individual items, there is no way to select a range in one easy swipe. The thumbnail view scrolls vertically to show you more items.
You can not look at individual photos or watch video, they must be imported to the iPad first.
There is a small progress spinning wheel on each individual photo as it is imported. A green check-mark lets you know an item has successfully imported, a blue check means an item is selected.
After importing you are asked if you wish to keep the items on the card, or remove them from the card.
You can import the same photo twice, it will then appear twice on your iPad.
You can import unsupported video types (video off my RCA EZ209HD) but not view them, just using the iPad as a storage device.

Albums:

After a successful import two new albums appear, "All Imported" and "Last Import"
The "All Imported" album contains every photo and video ever imported.
The "Last Import" album contains only the items from the most recent import.
Neither album can be renamed.
Both albums behave like any other photo album, pinch and stretch to open and collapse. You can scroll through them. Look at individual photos, etc.
There is still no way to copy or move photos between albums.

Events:

A new tab titled "Events" also appears.
Every successful import procedure creates a new Event album with the date of the items taken as the album name. Import some photos, take the card out, put the same card back in, import more photos, you have two events with the same date.
These albums behave like any other photo album, pinch and stretch to open and collapse. You can scroll through them. Look at individual photos, etc.
There is no way to rename these event albums.

Exporting photos:

Imported photos are not managed through iTunes. They don't show up in iTunes, they are not synced by iTunes.
Just as with the iPhone, to copy photos off of your iPad and onto your Mac, you use the Image Capture application. It functions just the same with the iPad as the iPhone.
You can email imported photos or use them in photo editing applications just like any other photo.

Unsupported devices:

An Apple USB keyboard worked fine, so did a Microsoft USB keyboard I had handy.
The iPhone plugs in via USB, works just fine.
A USB Jump Drive (SanDisk) did NOT show up with just files on the drive. It did show up once I created a directory titled "DCIM" and any photos and video I put into that directory showed up in the Photos application for import. Other files did not.

I've tried several video devices successfully, a few Cannon digital cameras, a few Nikon cameras, a 2G and 3GS iPhone. The RCA EZ209HD digital camera did not work via USB as the iPad complained it drained too much power. Its MicroSD card did work fine in an adapter.

Some additional notes, because my iPad is jailbroken I was able to poke around on a command line. The mounted device (SD card, jump drive, iPhone, camera) mounted as /dev/disk1s1 on to /private/var/mnt/mount1. From the command line I am able to see and manipulate all files with standard unix commands.

Photos are stored in the DCIM directory and can be in sub-directories, it appears the iPhone scans all the sub-directories and presents them all for import, it does not create any sub-albums within albums.

Overall, for the $30, a nice set of accessories for the iPad. I could see using this on a vacation to import and review at the end of your day. That you can use additional devices is an supported bonus, which Apple could yank out with any future updates, and jailbreakers can take a lot of advantage of.

If anyone has any questions feel free to post them here, I'll answer as best as I can..

05-04-2010, 02:09 PM	#1
scottjl Reader of Books Posts: 1,632 Karma: 2697 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: none	Received iPad Camera Kit Got my kit today. Brief write-up below, when I talk about photos I most likely mean imported photos and video clips. General observations: The two little dongles are small and come with an end-cap to protect the 30pin adapter side. No caps for the SD card or USB socket. Both are white (surprising since the iPad is black), very lightweight. No moving parts. Seem rather sturdy. Will survive being tossed around in a backpack. They have markings on the top with glyphs for the iPad and camera (USB adapter) and card (SD card adapter) A SD card only fits in one way, face up. There is no software to load, all functionality is built into the iPad. Attaching either adapter does not launch any software. You must manually launch the Photos application. You can attach the adapter while Photos is open. Video playback works fine, the same as video playback on an iPhone. You can also trim video to a selection as well within the Photos app Importing photos and video: When you insert a card full of photos and video, or attach a camera via USB, an additional tab in the Photos application appears "Camera". Thumbnails of all photos and video appear under this tab, they are not titled, they appear to be sorted by file name. From here you can delete all photos/video, delete selected photos/video, import all photos/video or import selected photos/video. You tap to select individual items, there is no way to select a range in one easy swipe. The thumbnail view scrolls vertically to show you more items. You can not look at individual photos or watch video, they must be imported to the iPad first. There is a small progress spinning wheel on each individual photo as it is imported. A green check-mark lets you know an item has successfully imported, a blue check means an item is selected. After importing you are asked if you wish to keep the items on the card, or remove them from the card. You can import the same photo twice, it will then appear twice on your iPad. You can import unsupported video types (video off my RCA EZ209HD) but not view them, just using the iPad as a storage device. Albums: After a successful import two new albums appear, "All Imported" and "Last Import" The "All Imported" album contains every photo and video ever imported. The "Last Import" album contains only the items from the most recent import. Neither album can be renamed. Both albums behave like any other photo album, pinch and stretch to open and collapse. You can scroll through them. Look at individual photos, etc. There is still no way to copy or move photos between albums. Events: A new tab titled "Events" also appears. Every successful import procedure creates a new Event album with the date of the items taken as the album name. Import some photos, take the card out, put the same card back in, import more photos, you have two events with the same date. These albums behave like any other photo album, pinch and stretch to open and collapse. You can scroll through them. Look at individual photos, etc. There is no way to rename these event albums. Exporting photos: Imported photos are not managed through iTunes. They don't show up in iTunes, they are not synced by iTunes. Just as with the iPhone, to copy photos off of your iPad and onto your Mac, you use the Image Capture application. It functions just the same with the iPad as the iPhone. You can email imported photos or use them in photo editing applications just like any other photo. Unsupported devices: An Apple USB keyboard worked fine, so did a Microsoft USB keyboard I had handy. The iPhone plugs in via USB, works just fine. A USB Jump Drive (SanDisk) did NOT show up with just files on the drive. It did show up once I created a directory titled "DCIM" and any photos and video I put into that directory showed up in the Photos application for import. Other files did not. I've tried several video devices successfully, a few Cannon digital cameras, a few Nikon cameras, a 2G and 3GS iPhone. The RCA EZ209HD digital camera did not work via USB as the iPad complained it drained too much power. Its MicroSD card did work fine in an adapter. Some additional notes, because my iPad is jailbroken I was able to poke around on a command line. The mounted device (SD card, jump drive, iPhone, camera) mounted as /dev/disk1s1 on to /private/var/mnt/mount1. From the command line I am able to see and manipulate all files with standard unix commands. Photos are stored in the DCIM directory and can be in sub-directories, it appears the iPhone scans all the sub-directories and presents them all for import, it does not create any sub-albums within albums. Overall, for the $30, a nice set of accessories for the iPad. I could see using this on a vacation to import and review at the end of your day. That you can use additional devices is an supported bonus, which Apple could yank out with any future updates, and jailbreakers can take a lot of advantage of. If anyone has any questions feel free to post them here, I'll answer as best as I can..