iPad supports RAW files [Merged]

[sanyasi]

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I just received notice (Thursday, April 29, 2010, 1:30PM CST US) that my iPad Camera Connection kit has shipped, so it appears that the device is now available for shipment. However, the Apple website store still shows a 2 to 3 week shipment date so maybe you have to get into the queue. Rumor has it that the device also will be available for purchase this Friday at 5PM at Apple stores in the United States, but call first.

[Guest WPalank]

I just bought my iPad Camera Connection Kit yesterday (Thursday) at an Apple Retail store (Stonestown San Francisco) as they had just arrived. They had a bunch on the shelves even today as I returned to pick up my MacBook Pro that which had a little diagnosis appointment with a genius. They also had a bunch of the Apple iPad covers which have been in thin supply.

 

The point of my post is that you might want to contact your local store today if you are interested in one of these devices as I'm sure they will be sold out tomorrow with the release of the 3G.

[Guest WPalank]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the Leica M9 files downloaded to the iPad via the connection kit look like sh*t. They look very pixelated as if I took a tiny thumbnail and blew it up.

 

I was going to wait til tomorrow to test when I get the new 3G iPad but having the connection kit in the same house as my wife's iPad.... well I couldn't resist. Especially after seeing Terry White's review of the Connection Kit on his blog:

iPad Camera Connection Kit Review | Terry White's Tech Blog

 

Just to make sure it wasn't the connection kit itself, I shot some RAW photos on my wife's Olympus EP-1. They downloaded just fine to her iPad and look gorgeous on the screen, as expected.

 

For a further test, I downloaded the DNGs from the M9 (via card reader) to iPhoto (which I haven't used in years) to my main work station and the images look fine. So the Mac OS on my Mac Pro recognizes the files but the iPad does not.

 

At first I thought it was the fact that the M9 files were on a SDHC card. the iPad recognized the files, which I guess is good news. I then took an SD card and shot some random pics, they look equally bad.

 

I would love to hear the experiences of other M9 shooters with the device.

 

My apologies to Graham, I did not see your earlier posts. I got the same results as you (low rez look). I can only tell you that Terry White (see above) got great results when importing from a Nikon NEF file (NEF only). He also sent himself an email from the application with one of his images to his home computer and it was a full resolution NEF and not a Jpeg. Also, when importing from my wife's Olympus camera (Raw only), the result was gorgeous. Could it be a DNG thing?

[sanyasi]

Your post is a little unclear--so don't despair yet. Try two things, if you haven't.

 

First, shoot a combination DNG and jpeg. It may be that we have to view the photos on the iPad as jpegs.

 

Second, offload the DNG file to your computer and see whether it transfers as a good DNG. One way to test this would be to do a transfer from the iPad and a separate transfer from the SD card. Are the files sizes the same? When both are opened, do they look and behave the same way?

 

Crossing my fingers.

 

Jack Siegel

[Guest WPalank]

Jack,

 

My findings mirror those of Graham on page 6 of this thread. DNG + Jpeg is necessary to render an acceptable image (quite nice actually) on this device. So as Graham had deduced, the image when shot in DNG only is based on the embedded Jpeg.

 

So that being said, is the Leica DNG or DNG in general know for having a really sh*tty quality embedded Jpeg? Like I said earlier, I shot Raw only with my wife's Oly and the image quality when viewed on the iPad was absolutely outstanding. I've always been a DNG only shooter.

[gwelland]

The rendered jpgs from DNG (only tried Leica M9 so far) are too nasty to even email. It would be worth trying with some other DNGs to see if it is just Apple's rendering code or the low quality of the embedded image in M8/9 files. The M jpgs look great though.

 

I've reluctantly reverted to DNG + basic jpg. I can live with that for now.

 

As noted in Terry White's review, the iPad does a nice job with my D3x & D3s NEF files.

[sanyasi]

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Jack,

 

My findings mirror those of Graham on page 6 of this thread. DNG + Jpeg is necessary to render an acceptable image (quite nice actually) on this device. So as Graham had deduced, the image when shot in DNG only is based on the embedded Jpeg.

 

So that being said, is the Leica DNG or DNG in general know for having a really sh*tty quality embedded Jpeg? Like I said earlier, I shot Raw only with my wife's Oly and the image quality when viewed on the iPad was absolutely outstanding. I've always been a DNG only shooter.

 

Me to on DNG only, but if I am reading your post correctly, it looks like with the M9, we are going to have to add a jpeg if we want to view it on the iPad. I did a quick test on photos per SD card and it looks like you take a 10% to 15% hit on capacity if you add a jpeg to the DNG

 

Best

 

Jack

[Guest WPalank]

Me to on DNG only, but if I am reading your post correctly, it looks like with the M9, we are going to have to add a jpeg if we want to view it on the iPad.

Best

 

Jack

 

It looks like Graham and I would both agree.

 

The main problem as i see it is not so much storage but if I remember correctly, it takes the M9 and M8 much longer to render the Jpegs because it is processing the image. So it's the stress on the buffer I'm most worried about.

[Alnitak]

OK, so I finally got in to work today and was able to pick up my camera connection kit. When I got home, I decided to try out a variety of raw files. I suffer from a bad case of GAS so I had a lot of different raw files to try. The following files rendered very low-resolution previews:

 

M9, M8, D100, D2H.

 

The following rendered beautiful high-resolution previews:

 

Canon 20D, 40D, 50D, Rebel XSi, 1D Mark II, 1Ds Mark II, 1D Mark III, G9, G10, G11

 

Panasonic GF1, Olympus E-P1

 

So, it appears that either there is real raw support, or some raw files include a higher-resolution preview. I personally think its the latter, as I should be able to zoom in far more on the higher-resolution raw files than I can. I think that neatly explains why the other raw files show up, but only show a low-quality image. Finally, I tried a raw file I knew would *not* be supported, as its not supported in OS X--the Sigma DP2--and the iPad didn't even see it on the card, so it wouldn't even import it.

 

Unfortunately, what this means is that if I want to use the iPad to save M9 files, I will need to shoot raw+jpeg. Luckily raw+basic is enough to render a really nice preview on the iPad, but that does slow down the M9 and uses up more card space than I would like.

 

Jeff

[wlaidlaw]

Shooting RAW + JPEG is also a total pain, when you want to download only the RAW to convert in say C1. I have this with my Ricoh GX200 which will not shoot RAW only. I end up opening up the SD card in finder, sorting by file size and deleting all the JPEG's before I open the card in C1. If you only have 20 to 30 images, opening direct in C1 is not an issue but if you have 250, it is a lot of work to individually select all the RAW's to import. I wish these camera manufacturers would put the RAW and JPEG into different folders; it would make life much easier. I don't see the M8/9 iPad thumbnails improving, as I don't think this is anything to do with interpretation of the RAW image but just the way that Leica DNG's are written, with a very low res thumbnail.

 

Wilson

[Alnitak]

Shooting RAW + JPEG is also a total pain, when you want to download only the RAW to convert in say C1. I have this with my Ricoh GX200 which will not shoot RAW only. I end up opening up the SD card in finder, sorting by file size and deleting all the JPEG's before I open the card in C1. If you only have 20 to 30 images, opening direct in C1 is not an issue but if you have 250, it is a lot of work to individually select all the RAW's to import. I wish these camera manufacturers would put the RAW and JPEG into different folders; it would make life much easier. I don't see the M8/9 iPad thumbnails improving, as I don't think this is anything to do with interpretation of the RAW image but just the way that Leica DNG's are written, with a very low res thumbnail.

 

Wilson

 

It appears to be broader than just Leica. I just downloaded a couple of Ricoh GXR DNG files and they look the same as the Leica DNG's. You can embed higher-resolution jpeg's in a DNG, so I wonder if they just choose not to with the Leica and Ricoh DNGs.

 

I took a standard raw file from a Canon and converted to DNG using the Adobe converter, and did it two ways: No preview and medium sized previews. The DNG with no preview looked even worse than the standard Leica or Ricoh preview, and the medium sized preview looked decent, but couldn't take much zooming--but it was still good to check focus. It would seem that Leica could choose to embed a higher-resolution preview, but it would likely slow down processing even further.

 

Jeff

[wlaidlaw]

Jeff,

 

I can understand with the Ricoh, as if the GXR is the same as the GX200, you cannot take DNG on its own. Therefore there is always going to be a JPEG to display but with the Leica where you can take DNG only, it would make sense to at least grant the option of what size thumbnail to embed. Perhaps it is another thing to put on the Firmware wish list. I am now dubious if I can justify an iPad. I am happy to use my MBP as a reader and as I am usually with my wife on any major trip, we can always take her 64GB SSD Mac Air as a basic RAW photo sorting device.

 

Wilson

[Guest WPalank]

Earlier in the thread I mentioned Terry White's blog. In his video he managed to send himself a NEF file via e-mail (not sure if he mentioned the size).

 

Anyway, I tried sending myself a DNG only file. It seemed to travel off, but I never received it. I checked my webmail on my internet service provider and it wasn't received there as well. So it seems to have been boinked within the iPad itself (without an error message). It may be a file size issue.

 

So I took a DNG + Jpeg image and sent that. I received it immediately via e-mail but it was the Jpeg only that made it to my home work station. It looked gorgeous.

[wlaidlaw]

Given that it is handbags at dawn at the moment between Apple and Adobe, I don't suppose we would get very far suggesting that Adobe write a DNG viewer App for the iPad (in Flash????)

 

Wilson

[Guest WPalank]

Given that it is handbags at dawn at the moment between Apple and Adobe, I don't suppose we would get very far suggesting that Adobe write a DNG viewer App for the iPad (in Flash????)

 

Wilson

 

Only in our dreams....

[bill]

Don't you early adopter bods get tired of life at the bleeding edge, living in baseless rose-tinted hope, working as unpaid beta test monkeys for Mr Jobs...?

 

Regards,

 

Bill

[Alnitak]

Jeff,

 

I can understand with the Ricoh, as if the GXR is the same as the GX200, you cannot take DNG on its own. Therefore there is always going to be a JPEG to display but with the Leica where you can take DNG only, it would make sense to at least grant the option of what size thumbnail to embed. Perhaps it is another thing to put on the Firmware wish list. I am now dubious if I can justify an iPad. I am happy to use my MBP as a reader and as I am usually with my wife on any major trip, we can always take her 64GB SSD Mac Air as a basic RAW photo sorting device.

 

Wilson

 

Ahah. Well, I just snagged the DNG off the web. The X1 will only take a RAW+jpeg combo as well, so maybe that's a "feature" that can be offered. Seriously, it would be nice to have a small embedded jpeg that is better than the one that is currently in there.

 

The Air makes a great quick travel machine, and is definitely more capable as a machine for sorting and even doing some editing. I actually started using Lightroom because I could use it on the Air where Aperture is unusable.

 

What I have found is that the iPad pretty has replaced my laptop for use around the house. I haven't picked up the laptop in the house since I got the iPad. I use the small Apple BT keyboard with the iPad when I really want to do a lot of typing--like this response--otherwise I just use the on-screen keyboard. I can type quite quickly on that keyboard, but not as quickly as I can type on a real keyboard. For traveling, the iPad is great--movies look stunning--way better than the airline screens--and I've got books, magazines, music and games. It's really the computer I have on me at all times.

 

Jeff

[Guest WPalank]

What I have found is that the iPad pretty has replaced my laptop for use around the house. I haven't picked up the laptop in the house since I got the iPad. I use the small Apple BT keyboard with the iPad when I really want to do a lot of typing--like this response--otherwise I just use the on-screen keyboard. I can type quite quickly on that keyboard, but not as quickly as I can type on a real keyboard. For traveling, the iPad is great--movies look stunning--way better than the airline screens--and I've got books, magazines, music and games. It's really the computer I have on me at all times.

 

Jeff

 

In response to Bill's comment, I agree with Jeff and his assessment above. I bought one for the wife last week and she has not had a problem. I bought my 3G Friday evening and my experience has mirrored hers.

 

I had to use my MBP for a while today to watch some Flash videos on CS5 (I know!) and it felt like lead weigh on my lap as opposed to my iPad. Also, my MBP is a second generation model that could cook an egg on the underside. My sack felt like I had been handling weapons grade plutonium in my pocket, I digress....The iPad is a luxury item and not a necessity. If forced to choose between my laptop or iPad for a trip related to photography, the MBP wins hands down for its ability to edit images with all my applications and as a simple way to get the images to my LaCie Rugged for backup.

 

However, as a device to digest information as it is happening, the iPad can't be beat. Applications like SkyGrid (free) allows you to access information realtime by picking up the the most popular information being accessed from the internet at any given moment. The new app from the BBC is wonderful as well.

 

I love reading the paper physically but any newspaper dropped on our doorsteps before dawn is based on news that happened 8-12 hours ago. It's a lagging indicator. My online subscription to the Wall Street Journal updates as the news changes, with video content as well.

 

The free application Zinio acts like a newsstand for downloading interactive magazines. It comes with 3 free magazines to start; Mac World, Car & Driver and National Geographic (Water issue). The Nat Geo is stunning to experience with high rez images that we have learned to expect from the paper publication. With the ability to separate the text from the graphic content and increase the font size.... I don't need reading glasses anymore!

 

ABC (television station US) has a free app to view their programming. You can't access the shows from On-Demand with my cable television box. There is a very well written comedy IMHO, "Modern Family" that I was able to view in bed with my Pad and it never hiccuped once. It streamed as if I was watching my television.

 

Just for the hell of it, I downloaded the Marvel Comics free application (the film IronMan 2 is coming out in a couple of weeks so it was currently on my mind). I haven't read a comic book since I was 9 years old. To my surprise it had about 15 comic books for free. By double tapping the magazine it then views the cells of the pages individually, panning and zooming as if it was shot for film by a hotshot Director of Photography.

 

Bloomberg has just released an app for free that has received nothing but 5 stars from reviewers for free. I'm looking forward to seeing it in action tomorrow when the Market opens.....

 

Using it at my coffee shop this morning I noticed some of the other patrons struggling to position their laptops, muffins and coffee all on the small circular tables. My Pad balanced comfortably on my lap while I noshed and drank coffee.

 

I could go on and on... Anyway, to me this feels like the fully functioning device that the developers intended. So far, knock on wood, it has performed flawlwessly.

[stunsworth]

I love reading the paper physically but any newspaper dropped on our doorsteps before dawn is based on news that happened 8-12 hours ago. It's a lagging indicator

 

Yes, but newspapers are more than headlines and the stories behind them. What's interesting - for me at least - is the analysis of what's happened, and that's not going to happen in real time - look at how poorly rolling news services deal with breaking stories to see what I mean.

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[Guest WPalank]

Yes, but newspapers are more than headlines and the stories behind them. What's interesting - for me at least - is the analysis of what's happened, and that's not going to happen in real time - look at how poorly rolling news services deal with breaking stories to see what I mean.

 

Agreed!

 

But the analysis is still there. It 's only when you decide to click on a link with updated content that you are taken there. Also, letters to the editor, etc will remain unchanged.

 

I do a bit of Options Trading, so up to the second (actually nanosecond) information and breaking news is imperative in some situations or open positions.