iPad Pro requirements for traveling photo platform

[Nancy Everds]

Lightroom Version Number

Don’t yet have LR on ipad

Operating System

1. iOS

Hi, I am looking to upgrade my very aged iPad for an iPad pro that will be my only digital photography platform for a 7 week trip (and future trips). I am unlikely to do much editing; mostly culling. I believe I’ll need 8GB RAM; is that correct?

I doubt I will shoot more than 1TB. I am thinking of buying the 1TB Adobe cloud storage, and uploading to the cloud when possible (access should be every few days). For local storage, I’m unclear about whether it makes sense to buy more internal memory (which I don’t need when not traveling), or an EHD. Assuming I shoot/keep less than 1 TB, any recommendations?
Thanks

 

[Jim Wilde]

I believe I’ll need 8GB RAM; is that correct?

I doubt I will shoot more than 1TB. I am thinking of buying the 1TB Adobe cloud storage, and uploading to the cloud when possible (access should be every few days). For local storage, I’m unclear about whether it makes sense to buy more internal memory (which I don’t need when not traveling), or an EHD. Assuming I shoot/keep less than 1 TB, any recommendations?
Thanks

The amount of RAM is determined by Apple, and it depends on the size of the internal storage that you buy. All sizes up to 512GB will have 8GB of RAM, the 1 and 2TB models will have 16GB of RAM.

Before your trip starts, think about how you will backup your new captures. If cloud access is going to be intermittent, you might want to think about a local backup solution. I have purchased a small hub for my iPad Pro (similar to this device: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09NJKB7JK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=AVLF12J31GN13&psc=1 ) which allows me to copy new images from my SD cards directly to an external portable SSD drive, as well as importing them into LrMobile. That way I have an extra backup while waiting for a good internet connection for uploading the images to the cloud.

 

[Nancy Everds]

Thanks, I plan to do exactly that; your approach seems very sound. I’ve actually been studying the various workflows for travel described in these forums. The posts have been incredibly helpful, and I’ll nail down my approach before leaving, and practice to make sure it works well.

But which iPad Pro to purchase? Adobe website just says that any iPad Pro can run LR mobile. Is 256 GB / 8 GB (internal/ram) adequate or is 512 GB / 8GB preferable for using LR mobile? I shoot nature mostly, RAW files, not much video. I’ve read (not sure if legit) that iOS limits app memory usage to 5GB RAM, so if I’m not multitasking, then 8GB RAM should be adequate.

 

[Jim Wilde]

I wouldn't worry about the RAM aspect. Figure out what you need in terms of the physical size of the iPad Pro, the amount of internal storage, any accessories you might want (e.g. pencil and/or keyboard), and if you want cellular or not. My prime consideration was the size (I went with the 12.9"), the storage (512GB), and I added the Magic Keyboard. I didn't need cellular as I can hotspot from my iPhone. The fact that it "only" has 8GB RAM is of no consequence, LrM runs great.

 

[Gnits]

The big 'gottcha' is that Lr only works with images on the internal storage of the ipad.

You can backup your images to a 10TB ssd if you wish and with a proper hub copy from an external ssd to the ipad or another ssd or vica versa, but Lr will not recognise any images on the external media.

Maybe that will change, but this warning should be the first line if any documentation regarding Lr on the iPad. I got burned, having bought an iPad Pro with 256GB. I have relegated this ipad for casual browsing / email and bought a MacAir to serve as my portable computing engine while travelling.

 

[Nancy Everds]

Thanks for the advice, Gnits, I understand your frustration.. But From what I understand, I can cull/share/edit the day’s photos, then put on external HD and cloud for safe storage until I get home and load onto my laptop (I’ve seen that workflow described in other threads on this forum). And repeat the next day, getting around the limitations you mention. Correct?

 

[clee01l]

I have the 12.9” iPadPro It uses the M1 chip and the M1 Chip used RAM differently from a traditional computer and there are no specific chips dedicated to RAM as such. RAM is actually a reserved part of storage (I think Jim Pointed this out already).
I opted for 1TB of storage. But I also purchased an EHD to hold backup copies of image file since I might not have access to the internet and the Adobe cloud.

I do not use the Photos app that Apple supplies. Instead I try to take all of the photos using the iPadPro came and Lightroom Mobile. Most of my photos are ~48mp Nikon RAW files that I import into Lightroom and later sync to Lightroom Classic on my Desktop.

So far, my Lightroom/iPad Pro workflow works well. I recommend strongly that you work through your travel workflow at home and iron out all of the “gotchas” before your trip.

Since travel has it own security issues and an internet may not always be available or speedy, I first import my images into Lightroom and then again as a second copy on the EHD. This gives me two copies of the camera images while I travel and frees up the camera card for reuse.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Victoria Bampton]

Maybe that will change, but this warning should be the first line if any documentation regarding Lr on the iPad. I got burned, having bought an iPad Pro with 256GB. I have relegated this ipad for casual browsing / email and bought a MacAir to serve as my portable computing engine while travelling.

Since you mentioned it, I've added it into the latest Edit Like a Pro in a couple of places and I have a mental note to add it in others, so thanks for flagging it up.

 

[serinr]

Hi, I am looking to upgrade my very aged iPad for an iPad pro that will be my only digital photography platform for a 7 week trip (and future trips). I am unlikely to do much editing; mostly culling. I believe I’ll need 8GB RAM; is that correct?

I doubt I will shoot more than 1TB. I am thinking of buying the 1TB Adobe cloud storage, and uploading to the cloud when possible (access should be every few days). For local storage, I’m unclear about whether it makes sense to buy more internal memory (which I don’t need when not traveling), or an EHD. Assuming I shoot/keep less than 1 TB, any recommendations?
Thanks

I have a 2017 iPad Pro 10.5 with 4GB RAM and 256 GB. It handles LR fine, not only for culling but also editing. Given its RAM size, some rendering during editing takes a few seconds, but nothing excessive. I import into LR directly from SD card and since it only has a lightning port, use a RAVPOWER hub to also copy all the files to an SSD Samsung T5. Works fine, and because of that I am having a hard time justifying moving to the M1 (or M2) iPad pro. We were away for a month and took well over 2500 pictures (RAW with concurrent JPG and some Panorama JPG and iPhone imports). With other stuff on the iPad, still under 150 GB but did have to upgrade to Adobe 1TB cloud storage - 20 GB not enough!

ps - with newer iPad and USB C you could just copy in Files from iPad to external SSD. I don't like Files that much and already had the RAVPOWER hub.

 

[art-alexion.co]

Thanks, I plan to do exactly that; your approach seems very sound. I’ve actually been studying the various workflows for travel described in these forums. The posts have been incredibly helpful, and I’ll nail down my approach before leaving, and practice to make sure it works well.

But which iPad Pro to purchase? Adobe website just says that any iPad Pro can run LR mobile. Is 256 GB / 8 GB (internal/ram) adequate or is 512 GB / 8GB preferable for using LR mobile? I shoot nature mostly, RAW files, not much video. I’ve read (not sure if legit) that iOS limits app memory usage to 5GB RAM, so if I’m not multitasking, then 8GB RAM should be adequate.

I’ve been fine with 256 GB. My old 128 GB 2016 Pro even does fine though a little slower. I do recommend buying the pencil for editing


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[art-alexion.co]

The big 'gottcha' is that Lr only works with images on the internal storage of the ipad.

You can backup your images to a 10TB ssd if you wish and with a proper hub copy from an external ssd to the ipad or another ssd or vica versa, but Lr will not recognise any images on the external media.

Maybe that will change, but this warning should be the first line if any documentation regarding Lr on the iPad. I got burned, having bought an iPad Pro with 256GB. I have relegated this ipad for casual browsing / email and bought a MacAir to serve as my portable computing engine while travelling.

If you store your images in the cloud, you should be fine using any size. I have 1.5 TB of images in the cloud and my 128 GB model can access them all.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[reidthaler]

one work around is if you don't have enough internal storage, export images as DNG files, which will preserve your edits, to and external drive