Tablet for photo editing?

Gents,

I'm wanting a tablet for navigation and photo editing. I think I've narrowed my choices down to an Ipad (although I have no idea which one to buy!!) and Sony Xperia Tablet Z (it's to be released at the end of the month, and said to be one of the best and fastest android tablets...). My phone is android based, and I like it, but I'm not familiar with any other OS and apparently I haven't taken full advantage of Android's capabilities.

I'm uncertain of the IntegrationPad's navigational capabilities.
I'm uncertain of the Sony's photo editing capabilities.

I use Lightroom, exclusively, for photo touchups.

Anyone care to comment?
 

Scott Brady

Founder
Ywen,

That is an impressive little machine. I haven't even raised an eyebrow over a Microsoft product in a decade, but would seriously consider the Surface Pro.

Big downside for me is the lack of a GPS. Upside is form factor and actual peripheral support.
 
Ywen,

That is an impressive little machine. I haven't even raised an eyebrow over a Microsoft product in a decade, but would seriously consider the Surface Pro.

Big downside for me is the lack of a GPS. Upside is form factor and actual peripheral support.

Scott, I know I've bugged you about this already, but....

Seriously, I don't know which product to buy! Which version of the Ipad did you guys use to cross Australia and did you use the Ipad for basic photo editing?
 

Chazz Layne

Administrator
The iPad 2 has been my primary mobile setup for the last 18 months. I'm using Photo Forge on it for photo edit, which works reasonably well (though it doesn't come close to full-blown Photoshop). It can handle the most common retouching tasks like saturation, shadows/highlights, sharpness, etc. (and thankfully calls them all by the same names as Photoshop); and it does a good job uploading/sharing the finished product. It also does just fine with multiple layers, masks, and transparency. The biggest negatives would be the small screen, a guestimated 25% increase in the time it takes to do a photo simply due to the limitations of a touch-only interface, and the learning curve painting with fingers instead of a mouse. On the plus side is the obvious reduction in the amount of gear that must be carried, premium quality color/screen, and the fun/functionality that can be gained by the variety of 3rd-party styluses and "paintbrushes."

On the navigation side it's been very accurate, and the Topo Maps app is only $10 (free maps). Biggest negatives here would be how clunky the Topo Maps app is with map downloads/uploads, and it's downright pathetic support for actually plotting a route—for some reason the programmers fail to see a reason to want to plot a GPX or KML file as a line on the map, or track where one has been. Fortunately, Overland Navigator for iPad is on it's way (similar maps, but with all the must-have functionality).
 

nwoods

Expedition Leader
Okay, I actually watched the video, and it seems like LR for ipad is a ways off yet, but definitely in the pipeline.
 

esh

Explorer
I'm taking a look at the Xperia tablet. Pros for me are the dust/water resistance, screen resolution (and supposed quality), 2GB of memory and sd card slot. There is also a Galaxy 8 supposedly coming out that looks interesting.

For LR, I wouldn't probably do much more than filter shots on a trip. There is an app like this one that lets you rate and import the image with ratings into LR. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.rms.apr&hl=en

They do have Photoshop Touch for Android. Not sure how well it works.
 
Last edited:

DesertBoater

Adventurer
So how about using a tablet as a photo viewer/storage device while on the road? I'm headed to Nepal in September to work for a rafting outfitter as a photographer and will probably be shooting on multi-day trips. Depending on digital storage space, I'm looking to be able to view/select a few images from each day and then be able to pass them around or just download everything to the tablet, select, and view at the end of each day while keeping the cards intact as backups. An iPad seems like it might work, however the price tag for the 64 and 128gb versions are prohibitive. Are there any tablets out there that have removable storage slots to migrate photos onto different cards for the sake of backups? I'd really like to avoid a netbook, due to physical space, moving parts (screen), and for the most part, the wrong OS (Mac person) unless someone can give me a really good reason and dis-spell my preconceptions about pc based netbooks. Thoughts?

Cheers,
West
 

SOAZ

Tim and Kelsey get lost..
Gents,

I'm wanting a tablet for navigation and photo editing. I think I've narrowed my choices down to an Ipad (although I have no idea which one to buy!!) and Sony Xperia Tablet Z (it's to be released at the end of the month, and said to be one of the best and fastest android tablets...). My phone is android based, and I like it, but I'm not familiar with any other OS and apparently I haven't taken full advantage of Android's capabilities.

I'm uncertain of the IntegrationPad's navigational capabilities.
I'm uncertain of the Sony's photo editing capabilities.

I use Lightroom, exclusively, for photo touchups.

Anyone care to comment?

I'm going with the Xperia Z. Because it's got decent features and the waterproof/dust proof sealed the deal for me. I know how it will get used and abused. For photo I was looking at this for $9.99 I think. http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop-touch.html
Supposedly you can create an image and attach it to an entire folder of pictures which could work to watermark photos. We'll see how it works.
 

esh

Explorer
After using it for a while, I am completely satisfied with the Xperia, which is unusual for me. I got the 32GB version, but see no reason not to get the $100 cheaper 16GB version. Better to spend the money on a couple 64GB microSD cards.

I use RawDroid for photo selection/deletes. The Android Photo Review app was just too clunky of an interface, and didn't allow image deletion. My ancient 5D2 and 20D use CF cards. To connect, I use a block type USB adapter and a female USB to microUSB adapter cable. Transfers are fast (Sony has a decent built-in transfer app that auto-runs when the CF card plugs in) and it's nice to have an effective backup for the CF cards. At home I use the ES File Explorer app to transfer images to more permanent storage. It is an excellent file browser that maps drive connections to all kinds of file stores/systems, including some cloud storage types. I can transfer to my web server, image store or up to GDrive/SkyDrive/Dropbox, etc. with it. Great free app.

On the road, I have been playing with Gaia for navigation and c:geo to find geocaches along the way. I have been based in Windows/NG TOPO! and swap tracks/waypoints back and forth via GPX files. Gaia's import process for tracks and waypoints is pretty good, but takes a bit to get used to. It does have what I consider a bug in that anything you do getting outside the main map view will revert your zoom to Level 10 (then it takes a few seconds to re-zoom back to Level 15). Gaia also has the benefit/detriment of a lot of different map sets to choose from. Choice is one of the reasons I am behind Android as a platform. Still haven't worked out a good "on the road", "slow topo nav," and "topo alternative" favorite map set. It gets worse having to choose and plan for offline maps.

Sony has a neat dual-app feature that lets you have mini versions of apps or widgets on the screen at the same time as your main app. I haven't played with it much, and I think Samsung has a better version of it, but you could have a simple music control app up at the same time as mapping, for example.

The GPS works well, and with the GPS Status app the GPS seems to work even better via some kind of voodoo magic. I also use a few gee-whiz apps like Sun Surveyor to predict sun location, Google Sky Map, etc.

At home there is all kinds of media integration possibilities, more if you have some other Sony devices. It also can be an IR remote control. I have been using youtube integration with my PS3 (tablet lets you navigate and queue videos), Netflix and HBOGO streaming using an MHL adapter for HDMI output. I can also use the tablet as a DLNA server or client (MediaHouse app).

Battery life has been great, and not having had a tablet before I didn't realize how light it was until I compared with friends' tablets. Sony has an anti-shatter screen protector stuck on very well so you don't need to buy additional screen protection until you need to replace it. I've read people buying matte overlays to cut glare but haven't felt the need to do so. I have a cheap neoprene case that barely fits (made for more square tablets) when not in use, and have a RAM mount X-Grip III that integrates into my RAM setups in the trucks.
 

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