The Wired Photographer iPad & Einstein

I'm not talking about how many cups of coffee I drink every day.

The combination of using the Einstein, CyberCommander and the iPad has got to be one of the most efficient ways of shooting I've ever tried.

Being able to adjust the strobes from the camera is a great time saver when you have six lights and no assistant.

Being able to have a monitor the size of the iPad always with the camera is also a huge time saver. No laptop to pack up if you have to move around.

Next week I'm shooting a catalog and the Art Director is in another state. I'll be emailing images to the AD from the iPad so she can view and approve the images almost in real time. Remember having the AD sign Polaroids?

This is lit by one E640 in a Photek Softlighter II with fill from ambient.

The iPad arrangement is an $8 eBay iPad case, Bogen Flex arm and a Manfrotto Super Clamp.





Bill F

http://picasaweb.google.com/faulknerstudios

Very cool set up. Curious how the flex arm attaches to the back of the ipad case.

How are you transmitting the images to the iPad? Does it have an HDMI input that you are using from the camera or is it a USB connection and special software?

Are you using the iPad to show the images post-capture and how? Is that a direct connection via the USB port? Also, how is the back of the iPad connected to the flex arm - can you take a pic and show us and also share more about the $8 eBay iPad case.

This is so cool; I am currently shooting with a home-made wireless transmitter from my D300 to my workstation and my monitor is mounted on the wall behind me instead of in front where it really belongs like yours. I also sold off all my monolights this past month and have 5 Einsteins on order with a CC and CSB etc....having the exact same thoughts!

Mike

Interesting, are those real time previews you're getting through a wired setup? Interested to know how you're achieving that. I use an eye-fi card to communicate with my iPad for similar reasons

http://paulcoxphotography.co.uk/2010/07/03/shooting-tethered-with-the-apple-ipad/
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http://paulcoxphotography.co.uk/

Interesting... please tell us more about this.

nt
ed

--
Alan

...
A real artist is the one born to share

I know what you meant, I mean how. Are you talking about the wireless USB?
Man, I love to learn something new.
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Alan

...
A real artist is the one born to share

I made one of these:

http://petetek.blogspot.com/2009/05/50-wireless-tethering-solution.html

This is what my version finally turned out like:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1021&message=33576325

Regards,
Mike

Humm, I wonder what would happen if I plugged the wireless USB receiver of that setup directly into an iPad...a wireless version of the OPs setup? Hummm, interesting....

But what app is he using to capture the images - or is he really not capturing them to the iPad and just displaying what is copied after the fact to the iPad? I don't think there is a Camera Control 2 or similar app that runs on an iPad, is there?

What we all want is LiveView and immediate post-capture display directly to an iPad or similar tablet from the camera - preferably completely unteathered I doubt we are there yet unless we grow our own solution and write our own app.

Regards,
Mike

All I'm using right now is the photo import found on the iPad. The Apple Camera Connect Kit just let's you hook the camera up via a USB cable. You have to download the images from the camera to the iPad.

TIP- If you are shooting a lot keep a second card that you can put a single image on then delete after downloading to the iPad. Otherwise you'll be waiting a while.

If you have one of the wireless transmitters that Nikon or Canon makes you can transfer directly to the iPad from the camera.

There is an app that allows you to control the camera from the iPad but you need a laptop involved in the process.

No live view capabilities that I've figured out yet.

Here is a link to the iPad holder, caddy, cradle thingy.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Windscreen-CAR-KIT-MOUNT-HOLDER-Apple-iPad-WiFi-/170515023673?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27b37cc739#ht_4021wt_920

It's not the same company I got mine from but it looks like the same product.

I have to go back to the drawing board for cradle to flex arm connection. The threaded part is beginning to work it's way loose of the Epoxy so I'll need to drill and tap some holes to place some small retaining screws. Not going to risk $800 hanging out 5ft above the floor.

The flex arm is not a bad start but it doesn't offer enough resistance to keep the iPad from sagging when you have it straight out. You have to keep it folded back on it's self to be effective.

For the time and cost invested so far it's not a bad start. Gonna have to be some refining before I start using it on a daily basis.

Bill F

Yea, this is what I thought. You can't beat $40.00 @ $700 or so from Nikon for the WiFi. Thanks. I think I will go for it. It works.

Yea, LIVE view on the iPad. The Holly Grail...for now at least. I hope OnOne comes up with some setup, they have an Iphone App but it also requires laptop. Will be great to just connect the camera to the display device.
--
Alan

...
A real artist is the one born to share

Amen! Ya think the camera manufacturers Canon, Nikon or both would jump right on creating a version of their control SW to do it sooner than later!

Regards,
Mike

Bill,

A little more expensive, but something like this might provide more stability:



Mike

Notebooks are much faster than an enlarged phone.

I’m currently using my notebook to do the same but in real time. I connect my camera to it over a 30 feet long USB cable and I get pictures to my notebook in real time. No downloading, no card changing, etc.

I also have a video projector connected to my notebook when in studio so my models immediately see how the photo looks like so we can immediately improve the pose.

I supposed my response would be the same as yours would be if someone asked you why you don't use a real computer in the studio instead of that handicapped thing with the miniature uncalibrated screen?

Adopting any new technology is always about what it can do, never about what it can't do. In the beginning there's usually a long list of what is currently out there that can do a better job, faster, maybe even cheaper.

Consider what digital cameras couldn't do in their first years compared to film cameras.

The iPad does something better than a laptop or for that matter any other computer system because of it's unique form, functions and size. It does this for me. And that really is the key to the whole reason for using the equipment you use to make pictures, isn't it? How does your equipment work for you?

This post is about what the iPad can do.

I have a laptop that gets used in the studio or sometimes on location. I also have a desktop system with a 24" monitor for the heavy lifting and critical work. My guess would be that most people use the appropriate tools for the appropriate task.

In a week or a month or six there will be a new app or iPad2 or Eye-FiCF card that will allow an iPad to do everything a laptop can do now and without a 30ft USB cable. This is when you will begin to see more overgrown phones in the studio. I'm just waiting for the world to catch up.

Bill F
http://picasaweb.google.com/faulknerstudios

its sounds like you and I have the same setup. I have a tower sitting on the floor behind me to which I teather my D300 via a long USB cable when wired. I have a 20" LCD mounted the the wall and I also have an Epson projector hooked up (again, via a very long VGA extension cable) the the dual VGA port of the tower that projects a life size image on an opposite wall. its all out of the way and if I want to shoot unteathered I use the home-made transmitter/receiver I built and described in an earlier post.

The iPad via wireless would be an improvement as the display would sit right near the camera in front of me - large enough with a very high quality display and then the client wouldn't see the images which tens to distract then when I've used the projector (I now put a large reflector panel between then and the wall so they don't). Yes, I can use a laptop and am considering it - maybe even a touch-sensitive tablet that runs Win 7 or XP cause that is needed to run Camera Control 2 (for us Nikon Users). Another option I've considered is to mount the 20" display (again, using an extended VGA cable to it) on a retractable Bogen wall boom or scissor arm attached to the ceiling to get the HQ display out in front and above the camera. With the projector, it quickly becomes a pain in the neck (literally) shooting and turning repeatedly.

Regards,
Mike

Your post got me to thinking about it more....and you are right, why not just go with a laptop. For me, I want touch screen and I want a decent size display up in front and slightly above of where I am shooting (and adjustable l/r and adjustable height) - so I am dreaming now....been looking at an MSI Win Top AE2220 on which I can run Nikon Camera Control 2 on native and hang it from an adjustable 098B Bogen Wall Boom down from my 12' ceiling. CC2 instantly displays each image after it it shot and works with Live View. MSI's built in 802.11g/n would give me the same access to the captured images on my network and its got more than enough oopmh and connectivity for the job. The MSI is a little more than an iPad at $700 and not battery portable, but I don't need portability for that kind of app. With this setup I could stop turning around to look at screen behind of to the side of me and even if still shooting teathered, at least the USB cable is coming down from above and off the floor.

Now if I could only figure out a reliable way to shoot un-teathered AND have CC2 work just as fast un-teathered.