Newer iPad or other device - download and edits TG4

[Bearkeley]

Hoag, do you find the MacBook easier with editing as well as downloading or is it just the convenience of not needing the sd reader? We travel about 7 months out of the year too...any major differences? Thanks all

 

[Hoag]

Hoag, do you find the MacBook easier with editing as well as downloading or is it just the convenience of not needing the sd reader? We travel about 7 months out of the year too...any major differences? Thanks all

Grab a coffee. Sit down & let me go into more detail, but this could become a long post, so get comfy.
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@Bearkeley going with a MacBook Air had a few advantages over an iPad. Let me rephrase that. It had what were for me a few advantages. They may not be advantages for everybody and only you will know if they will be advantages for you. (It also came with a couple disadvantages so it was a compromise, it was not a perfect solution, but for me, it was a very good compromise.)

The first big advantage was screen size. Going from an iPad mini to a 13.3" MacBook Air was a huge increase in screen size. (I am looking at it through 59 year old eyes.) I could always go with a 12.9" iPad Pro, but didn't seem logical to me. Similarly, I did not want to go with the size and weight of a "full sized" MacBook. I knew that either way, I would be getting something bigger than a Mini.

The next big advantage came in available software, particularly for photo editing. (A little bit of background to put it in context: I shoot a Sony A6000 underwater and a Sony A7iii above the water. When I transitioned to Sony, I also transitioned away from Lightroom and to Capture One. I also use an iMac as my home computer, so I have Macs both at home and when traveling.) By choosing the MacBook Air to travel with, I was able to load a copy of Capture One on to my MacBook and then I would be using the same program to edit on the road as I do at home. I found that any photo editing apps for the iPad were, at best, "light" versions of anything I would have at home. This way, the editing became seamless whether at home or on the road. It also means that I have the same workflow whether at home or on the road.

This is a small advantage but a very definite one (with a very minor disadvantage rolled in with it). I find that when doing photo editing, even though it means that I have to travel with an extra piece of gear, by using a mouse, I can be far more precise in my editing than I ever could be with either the surface of the iPad or the trackpad on the MacBook Air. This means that I will travel with a small, wireless mouse.

The next advantage was pure capability. (I touched on this above, but I think that it bears its own paragraph.) By being patient and keeping an eye on the Apple refurb page, I was able to wait until something that had the "horsepower" that I wanted became available at a price that I was willing to pay. The flip-side to this is that someone else might also be looking for one as well, so when you see one that meets your needs you should be ready to act quickly. The MacBook Air that I was able to get is actually a far more capable computer than my current home computer is. I can run the "full" version of just about any software and compared to my home computer, it is fast. (My home computer is a 2009 iMac and although it will run Capture One, it does it with all of the enthusiasm of an 8 year old being told that they have to eat their Brussel Sprouts. I need to upgrade it as well, but that is a different post.) In every way that I can think of, my MacBook Air is more powerful that an iPad would be.

You ask about the card reader. To be honest, that wasn't a huge factor in my decision as to whether I would opt for an iPad or a MacBook Air. I already had a card reader for a Lightning connection, so that wouldn't give an advantage either way. Where this did factor in though was that I had a hunch that when the MacBook Air was updated, that Apple might eliminate the integral card reader (Apple did remove it.) so I was shopping for a refurb rather than a new one.

Finally, I keep all of my photos on a portable 1TB SSD. With a MacBook Air, I can take this with me on the road and download my images to this and use the same "photo library" both at home and on the road.

Those are what I saw as the advantages that went into my choice. As I stated, there are some disadvantages as well, (No good deed goes unpunished.) but for me, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.

First, although the MacBook Air is small & light, an iPad would be smaller and lighter. An iPad is not much smaller or lighter, but the numbers are there and it is.

Second, I use an app on my iPad called Dive Log to log all my dives. I do not believe that there is a Mac version of this app so when I go on a dive trip, I will still have to travel with my iPad so that I can log my dives. Yes I know that there are ways around this (paper logs for example) but it was something that I had to be aware of. There are also some apps that I use for Milky Way and/or Landscape photography that would cause me to travel with both my MacBook Air & my iPad. This may or may not affect you, but it is worth noting.

Those are some of the key factors that I took into account when I decided to go for a MacBook Air when I upgraded from my iPad mini. As I said, it was a compromise. There are both advantages and there are disadvantages, but for me, it was definitely the logical choice.

(Told you it might be a long post.)
I hope, however, that this helped out and did not merely give you more to think about.

 

[Xta]

I recently got the new iPad Pro 12.9". And I have to say I love it. (I decided to go with the larger one as Photoshop for the iPad is coming out later this year.) I haven't gone on a trip with it yet, but we have one planned for next week. I'm planning on using my iPad to download and do quick edits of my photos, and video, and perhaps sharing them on social media.

Also, I plan on using Adobe's Lightroom, and the new Premiere Rush for editing. I've done a bit of experimenting with their cloud, and the work-flow I'm planning on using will be thus:

After the dive
- Backup all photos and video's to external hard-drive.
- If there's any photos I feel like I want to post immediately, use lightroom on the iPad to color correct them.
- Using Premiere Rush, go through video and start to make edits.

Then once I'm home, I'll open my Rush Project up on my Macbook Pro, and finish it in "real" Premiere, which I should be able to do quite easily since I'll be using Adobe's creative cloud. I'm kind of excited that Adobe is moving towards more cloud based projects. I currently have lightroom on my phone, my ipad, and my laptop. And I have to say, my mobile photography never looked better.

One thing to keep in mind: I did a test of my memory cards last night using an adapter I got on Amazon. Not all of them worked, but the one I plan on having in my go-pro and my husbands Sony do work, so we're all good on that front.