Update: There is now a new way to tether your camera to the iPad that does not require jailbreaking the iPad. Check out the new video here.
Are you a photographer and an iPad owner? If so, you are really going to love this. Are you a photographer who swore you would never buy an iPad because it's just an over-sized iPod Touch? Well you are about to change your mind.
How To Directly Tether Your Camera To An iPad By Lee Morris from FStoppers on Vimeo.
Ok, now that iPad has gone from being a nice toy to being a fantastic tool for any photographer, let's talk about details.
Everything that we are doing on the iPad can also be done on an iPhone but since we like to see our images big, if you don't already have one, you need to buy an iPad.
Which card to buy
Now you need to decide where you will be using this new system. If you plan on shooting in a studio then I would highly suggest sending your images through a wireless router. By doing this you do not have to buy the $130 Pro X2 card and you don't have to jailbreak your iPad. Instead, you simply have to purchase the Eye-Fi Connect X2 for $45. Your range from iPad to camera is also much better because you have a router as a middle man. If your camera only takes compact flash cards, you will have to use an adapter until Eye-Fi starts making CF cards of their own. Update: I have been told that this does not work with all cameras. Please do your research before buying.
Of course, I'm sure many of you are like me and your shoots are never in the same location. For photographers on the move, it is worth buying the Eye-Fi Pro X2 card. Keep in mind that the card can "memorize" multiple wifi logins meaning that when you are in the field you can connect directly to the ipad, and when you are in the studio it will transfer through that network.
Jailbreaking your iPhone or iPad
If you want to transfer images directly from the camera to the iPad you do need to jailbreak your iPad (the same goes for the iPhone as well). If you haven't jailbroken your phone or pad before, don't worry, it's really very simple and if you don't like it for whatever reason, you can always "un-jailbreak" it by reverting back to factory settings using iTunes, or by simply upgrading your firmware. The most difficult part about jailbreaking is finding the correct jailbreak for your current firmware. Simply go to Settings > General > About > Version. Once you know which firmware your iPad has you need to do a Google or Youtube search. For example, my iPad is running version 3.2.1 so I would search for "iPad jailbreak 3.2.1". Keep in mind that if you have recently updated your iPad, a jailbreak will not be available for your version for sometimes weeks or months.
Once you jailbreak your device, a new app called Cydia will show up. This is the new "jailbreak appstore". From here you will need to download "My Wi" and it costs $20. Then you need to go to the normal App store and download "ShutterSnitch". I believe it costs $8.
Once you have done all of this, simply follow the steps laid out in the video and you should be good to go. This "hack" has opened up so many doors for my business. You will be surprised with what is possible when you can instantly see/email images out of a pro camera. Please let me know in the comments below if this is something that interested you. If you come up with something cool we would all love to see it. Please post your work on FstoppersForum.com
More details about wireless transfer
Rob Galbraith has some extremely detailed articles about transferring images to the iPad. If you would like to learn more before you buy, I would highly suggest checking out this article about Shutter Snitch and this article about choosing the right router.
Now that I can tether my camera to my iPad, I love my iPad. We also love our Twitter followers. We have decided to give a 16gb iPad away to a random Twitter follower on December 15th. All you have to do is follow us and at some point tweet at least 1 thing about "Fstoppers" or link to a post on our site. Hell, you can even tweet about this contest if you want. On the 15th we will randomly choose one of you as the lucky winner. Due to mail/customs issues, this contest is only open to US and Canada residence. Don't worry, we will be doing a big world wide contest again very soon.
Here is the same video if you prefer using YouTube.
And if you want to win the iPad check out this video:
Fstoppers is Giving Away an Apple Ipad from FStoppers on Vimeo.
Love this ! :D
Thank you.
Have to get myself an iPad soon.
Be careful... I just purchased this and see that you can't jailbreak the current version of the iPad OS, so you won't be able to get it to work if you don't have a computer/network to run it through.
You can jailbreak the iPad 2...they just recently cracked it. But with the new Eye-fi Cards you actually don't have to jailbreak anymore. New video explaining it coming soon :)
This work with Raw files too?
Gosh Lee ! Stop doing this ! Now, I need an iPad, I need it so bad !
Btw, the sound ain't so good in this video, what have you used to record the audio ?
I love you guys.
But one constructive criticism: the videos would be a lot better with a better mic system. Have you guys looked into that?
Ha, the walk-byes were great. Still jealous of your engadget appearance.
eye-fi can send raw images to a computer. But, i don't believe raw is built into shuttersnitch yet.
it will send RAWs to your computer but I don't think it will send to the iPad
Ya the audio quality is killing me in this video. I used my iPhone to record audio which usually sounds great, but I used some old earbuds as the mic and they suuuucked (they went through the wash a few months back). This will not happen again.
Do the photos then get stored on the ipad or the 4gb card?
The images are stored on both the iPad and the SD card.
Let me know when you have the CF card version up!
I hope that Eye-Fi is at the Expo tomorrow. I will try to get info about a CF version
Lee,
The delay looks to be around 5-10seconds for transfer? Are you transferring small jpegs?
Can you take Raw+jpg and have it just transfer the jpg?
Cool idea, I can see where this could really keep hyper clients out of the way with a dedicated client interface.
Did you use a cf card adapter? If so can you link to the one you use? I use one, but I had to modify it and remove some metal so it got a better signal but it's still not that great.
Great job guys, now I must go shopping!
Can this be done with the iPod Touch too? Hmm.
I'm sure this will be available for Android devices soon enough
If you have a camera with dual memory slots like the d300s, could you could shoot raw+jpeg and have it save raws to the CF card and have jpegs sent to the ipad via the SD slot?
I don't think you need to jailbreak at all. The Pro X2 works with ad-hoc networks, and iOS supports ad-hoc networks as well. Just go into the Settings, Wi-Fi, Other. From there you should be able to create an ad-hoc network without having to jailbreak nor to buy My Wi.
I'm not sure about this, but if anyone is interested they should try.
These Eye-Fi cards are too expensive, we're talking about a $80 premium for the top of the line. For me, they are not worth it.
I've been doing exactly this for a few months, love it! Jailbreaking your iPad really isn't hard or scary, and the MyWi app purchase will also allow you to put it on your iPhone for tethering without having to buy it twice.
Eye-Fi really needs to make a CF card though. You can't use the adapter in a D700 or D3s, and many Canon models (like 5DII) have corruption issues when using an adapter.
Have you had any luck finding a Type one adapter?.. i just bought everything and didn't know my d3s was only type 1. No bueno. Wish i could get this thing to work....
Amazing, I just wish my girlfriend would let me buy an Ipad! Good work Lee.
Really great video!
To bad about the contest for me who lives in Sweden. ;-)
Looks great! I tweeted. @donnak4
Hi Mate,
Thats simply ingenious! But I'm just curious to how you put an sd card in your... d3? im presuming. Some kind of cf-to-sd adapter.
I'd really like to know... i want this so bad, by the end of the video, I had jailbroken my ipad, bought the two apps... and I'm just about to order the SD card... but I have a d700, and I'm not sure how I'll use the SD on it? PLEASE let me know!!!!
Nice idea here... I was the same way about not getting the iPad. Now I'm thinking it just might be handy!
GAH! Stop the cool stuff I can't keep up ;-)
I did recently teathered a 10" netbook via a usb cable to my XSI and that worked fine with the included Canon software. The biggest problem is using it in sunlight, really difficult to review the images in the bright AZ sun. At least you can stick with RAW this way...
@bfred.it, in this video I am using it with my D300s and it has both a CF card and an SD card slot. There is a link in my full post to a CF to SD adapter but I have not tested on the D700.
Heey! Thanks for the info, I've been wondering if it was possible to make the ad-hoc network with the iPad! I think its s great way to show the pic to the client on location and let them mark which photos they are going to want. Will love to see a review of good raw processing apps on the ipad as well :) you know, to do some on-the-go jobs.
Thank you guys! You're really inspiring!
Greetings from Mexico :)
does the ipad need to be the 3g version or will non 3g work?
MESSAGE TO APPLE: STEVE JOBS, TIM COOK, PHIL SHILLER, SCOTT FORSTALL, ROB MANSFIELD:
>PLEASEPLEASE< TAKE NOTE OF THIS INCREDIBLE INNOVATION AND MAKE THIS POSSIBLE WITHOUT THE NEED TO JAILBREAK THE IPAD...
COME ON!!!
Awesome update. Can the files be RAW or JPEG or just JPEG?
Cheers :)
i want to have iPad, but dont have any money :-(
Hello f-stoppers and users.. i would just like to inform you all that this product do NOT work with Sony DSLR's - I have sent them an e-mail and received this awnsor from there Support line
Hello Bjerg,
Although the camera is not on our list the initial tests are showing that this range of Sony Alpha cameras is not compatible with Eye-Fi cards.
Please feel free to contact us again if you have questions or would like further assistance.
Kind regards,
Michal - Eye-Fi Customer Care
also by checking there compatible form on there website it seems like its only there NEX and new A55 and A77 that supports these WIFI flash cards.
This is so cool! Following :D
Hi, great fun using a iPad for tethering, but it fails on us using RAW
But if it works with RAW+ (Raw & jpg)it can work for me, then I can see the JPG up close and determine the Q of a RAW file.
Anyone know if that works???
This would make a great addition to your photobooth. If you could have it mounted somewhere so people could just flick through the photos of the night so far. If that's possible... :)
Nice trick!
I'm using 3network MiFi dongle as portable Wifi network to avoid jailbreaking the iPad. Very small, sits in my pocket and lasts 6+ hours. Quite fast, works everywhere. Added bonus - internet everywhere included! The rest of the setup is the same
Great Video like always. Funny ass outtakes at the end. Good Job Lee!
I've been wondering when this was going to happen. The iPad has a gorgeous display, and it is about the right size for a photographer on the go. I try to tether to a laptop whenever I am on a shoot, so we can immediately see what the camera is seeing. This helps my confidence and the talent's confidence that we are capturing what we need for the shoot. However, I have learned that my Sony Vaio has a wonderful display, but it wasnt showing us lens flares, which necessitated extra work later on.
So the question is, does the iPad display show that level of detail, or am I stuck lugging a 23" flat screen on my shoots as well? Otherwise, this looks like a wonderful solution.
Is there a particular cf adapter that works better?
Aaarrrggg! My birthday is the 15th December and a cannot participate in the contest because I live in Spain.
I would have been a great birthday present...
Anyways i'm already following FStoppers
Hi all, I got this card the day it came out. I used the old and original version with an adapter in my Canon 1d Mark III and 5d Mark II. But the new one can send RAW images. Except from any adapter in combination with any Canon camera. Using it directly inside a 1d Mark III it does work (no adapter).
I've been contacting many people on the Eye Fi Forums and support itself but they tell they won't support the card when you use an adapter.
In a Nikon it should work just like the video from Lee.
Hope there will be a better solution soon!
Stefan
Hi Lee,
Greetings from Canada.
That is one awesome tip. I too never really wanted/needed an iPad until now.
I'm following you on twitter, so if I don't win the iPad I'll have to go and buy one.
Cheers,
Paul Phillips
Lee, you should really amend your post to let people know that the new X2 cards will NOT work with adapters in any Canon camera. I purchased the adapter posted in your link based on this blog post. After pulling my hair out trying to get the card to work in my 5D MKII, I researched it online and indeed, Eye-fi confirmed (in many forum posts on their site) that the new X2 cards will not work via an adapter in Canon DSLR's. Only the older cards will work and apparently they're pretty buggy.
Thanks Shane, I had no idea of this issue. I will make a note in the post.
Thanks this is what I was exactly looking for...Good one..