Losing photos when importing to iPad Pro

I posted this a couple of weeks ago on the Sony Cybershot forum. The consensus there is that it’s not a camera issue. For years I have been shooting Panasonic and Canon. For the last several years I have been importing to various iPads and editing in Affinity or Lightroom or even Apple Photos. I shoot all jpegs because I shoot wildlife at 24fps and often can end up with thousands of pics a day. I import to Apple Photos typically and decide from there what to edit. I bought a Sony RX10IV a little over a month ago and since then have experienced several episodes where I lost hundreds of photos. I was using an original 10.5 inch iPad Pro but updated a few days ago to a 2020 iPad Pro. I had come up with a modified workflow that seemed ok where I would back up the card to my MBP before importing. I also would close every other app except Photos. After 2 weeks and a new iPad I thought the issues were behind me. Today it happened again. I reviewed all 488 photos and 4 videos on the camera. Then I went to import to my iPad Pro and only the first hundred or so were there. The other files exist but have zero data. I was not at home and didn’t have my MBP so I didn’t do that step and lost some very nice pics. I also didn’t close all the other apps. Only two or three others open though. This never happened to me with my Panasonics so I wonder if it is something with the Sony file system. I tried rebuilding the database on the camera with no luck. Using a USB-C dock different from the dongle I used on the other iPad. I have tried 3 different SDXC cards and it has happened on all 3. This is very frustrating. I love the camera but if this continues I will go back to Panasonic. Clearly this is happening when the card is loaded onto the iPad Pro. I can review all the files on the camera before but afterwards they are gone. Also gone on the MBP. I have tried to recreate the issue with a Panasonic and have not been able to. I believe this is the fourth time it’s happened with the Sony files. Obviously I will go back to the workflow of making a copy of the card before I try to import the photos. But it’s ridiculous that I have to do that. Back when we travelled a lot prior to this Spring I only carried an iPad with me. I don’t intend to start carrying a computer as well. I am curious if anyone else had had a similar issue? Today’s card was a SanDisk Extreme 128mb. It’s not the card. I have also used 2 others with similar specs and had the same issue.

Yes, I have experienced something similar. I am using a Kingston Nucleum USB-C with a 2018 iPad Pro, and images from a Sony A7riii on Sony Tough G cards. However, it only seemed to happen when I also had a Sandisk Extreme Pro SSD plugged into the hub at the same time with no additional power source plugged in the other USB-C power port. In that scenario, I lost several photos, which fortunately were just test photos. They were not even readable in the camera after that. Since then I only import into the iPad from the SD card, and then export to the SSD and the issue has not repeated. At some point I will see if including external power would help.

I only recently purchased the iPad Pro, in part to help cull and backup photos when camping / travelling in areas with no internet or electricity. I still am not sure of the best workflow.

Otterwa said:

Yes, I have experienced something similar. I am using a Kingston Nucleum USB-C with a 2018 iPad Pro, and images from a Sony A7riii on Sony Tough G cards. However, it only seemed to happen when I also had a Sandisk Extreme Pro SSD plugged into the hub at the same time with no additional power source plugged in the other USB-C power port. In that scenario, I lost several photos, which fortunately were just test photos. They were not even readable in the camera after that. Since then I only import into the iPad from the SD card, and then export to the SSD and the issue has not repeated. At some point I will see if including external power would help.

I only recently purchased the iPad Pro, in part to help cull and backup photos when camping / travelling in areas with no internet or electricity. I still am not sure of the best workflow.

Click to expand...

It’s nice to know it’s not just me. Unfortunately I have lost some shots that I cannot replace. The photos I lost a couple of days ago were of an albino hummingbird. Several hundred up close photos in flight that looked excellent when reviewing in the camera. It’s the only one I have ever seen. I tried multiple scenarios last night to try and recreate the problem and could not. It has happened 4 times out of 50 or 60 imports. Two different iPad Pros and two different card readers with nothing else plugged in. I had not considered that power might be an issue. I believe all my testing last night was with the iPad powered through the keyboard port.

I am thinking that it may be a power issue as mentioned above. I lost more photos today. Nothing important. I was just killing time taking pics of backyard birds. A few that I would like to have seen but nothing I will really miss. The iPad was not plugged into power. When I put the card back into the camera and tried to take pics it said that there was no space on the card. I reformatted and that was that. Obviously I will back up photos that matter when I can but I will try to have the iPad plugged in When importing and see if that makes a difference. All of my testing last night was with power. If this is the issue it will be a problem as you lose some convenience of the long battery life. I may just be jumping to conclusions but it makes a little sense. Here is the last photo on the card that was readable. Obviously it cut half of it off. I don’t know what to think of that. Several. Of the lost photos I sent over with the app first so I know they were actually on the card.

Alas, it is not simply a power issue.

My latest experiment: I had 450 photos including some keepers (Sony a6600) from Monday. First I saved them to my iMac before proceeding with the experiment. Then I tried to use Lightroom on my iPad Pro to import the photos from the SanDisk Extreme Pro SD card via the Nucleum hub, but the new folder was no where to be seen. The previous two folders were still there, but not the new one. And when I put the card back in the camera, the new images were no where to be seen. So somehow that process erased the entire new folder of photos!

Note that I had my iPad in airplane mode because my plan is to use it to back up photos when traveling / camping. But I don't see how that would be a factor.

Next I will try importing by using the Files app to copy the folder to the iPad and then will open in Lightroom.

Have you guys tried just using the SD card usb dongle from Apple? I’ve never lost a photo. After import it always ask me if I want to keep or delete photos on the card. I use a 2018 IPad Pro with no issues. I’ve used a Sony RX 10IV, Rx100 and an Olympus EM1 II with no issues.

No, but I'm thinking of doing that!

FYI: here's a another similar thread on MacRumors

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ipad-will-corrupt-my-cameras-sd-card.2230392/

That MacRumors forum was informative. definitely feel better knowing that others are experiencing this. I’m still not happy. I will try complaining directly to Apple. Maybe if they it hear it from more people they will do something to fix it. Meanwhile I will continue to back up my cards before importing.

I also just ordered an SD card reader from Apple. Then I can always say that I was using all Apple products when my cards were corrupted. It will be here Monday. I will update this in a week or two if that solves the issue. If it does not I will update as soon as it happens.

I'm starting to think it has something to do with the fact that we can simply remove the card from the iPad without needing to 'eject' it, as we would on an iMac (or PC).

In another experiment last night, I took some photos in my office using a SD card that still had photos from earlier in the day and that I had already backed up onto the iPad via Lightroom. Lightroom could not see the new photos, but the Photos (Camera Roll) app could. This makes me think Lightroom is keeping a memory of the last time it imported from the SD card and for some reason can't 'refresh' that memory.

I think to be safe I will format the SD card after every shoot, which I normally do when I travel but not when I'm shooting at my local wetland. I'd rather not use Photos to import but that is another option.

This does not seem to be a common problem but I have found similar issues elsewhere:

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/105667-sd-corrupted-when-connected-to-ipad/

https://feedback.photoshop.com/phot...well-and-there-are-issues-with-exfat-sd-cards

I did try and circumvent the issue by downloading directly from the camera tonight using the supplied USB cable through an adapter. Worked just fine. I tried some more tests tonight. Again I couldn’t find a scenario that corrupted the card. It has happened to me 5 times in about 5 weeks of heavy use. Obviously this is an iPad OS issue. As mentioned originally I have never had the issue using my Panasonic cameras. If it is an issue that began with iPadOS 13.3 that was released in December then I used it several months just as heavily with the Pannys. I got the Sony in May and almost immediately had issues. Possibly something in the Sony file system makes it more of an issue. If I use a dongle I will be sure to lock the card. Or I will use the cable direct to the camera method until it gives me a reason not to.

Update: I haven't lost any files since switching to using the Apple USB-C SD card reader from the Kingston Nucleum hub. So it could be that I have a faulty hub or it could be the connection was not well established because I have a Coverbuddy on my iPad and the hub doe not plug in as well as the Apple dongle. When I was using the Nucleum hub, the iPad was indicating it was connected (with the little icon appearing at the top right of iPad) and I was able to use it successfully most of the time. But most of the time is not good enough! I still wonder if it has something to do with not being able to 'eject' the SD card, as one can do on a Mac. I've noticed that after importing images via Lightroom on iPad, it says "You can now safely remove your device", which suggests there are times it's not safe!

I will continue to experiment.

I bought one of the Apple dongles as well and have not had any issues while using that. I have also been importing photos using the USB to Micro USB cable that came with the camera plugged into an Apple USB-A to USB-C adapter I had laying around. I have not had a failure with that either. So fas so good. I am still backing up anything that I don’t want to lose before I import the photos. It may take a while for me to trust enough to not back up if I had my laptop available.

I just lost a couple of hundred images using the Apple SD card reader. I also had the card locked. I didn’t back this one up so it is annoying. I suppose I will go back to importing with the USB cable from the camera. That is the only mode that hasn’t failed for me yet. For the first time using the repair database function on the camera did actually show errors. Still no images after it was repaired. This is really frustrating.

This has been a really useful thread. I have abandoned any thoughts I had about replacing my MacBook Pro with an iPad Pro. Thank you.

CameraCarl said:

This has been a really useful thread. I have abandoned any thoughts I had about replacing my MacBook Pro with an iPad Pro. Thank you.

Click to expand...

Surprisingly I am not giving up on my iPad Pro as of yet. I absolutely love everything about it other than this one issue which is likely temporary. It is fast and portable. I feel hobbled when I have to use my MBP for something. I have a ,attic keyboard which is great. For the time being I have a workaround by downloading pics directly from the camera. This has been 100% reliable so far. It’s not really a problem to do.

I’ve had issues downloading from an SD card to an iPad. Haven’t used iPad for that purpose in a few years.

My recollection on researching the issue is that the iOS actually modified the JPG into a iOS friendly file type that conforms to Apple Photos application when using the USB-C card reader. Crazy stuff would happen to the files including numeration, etc. So I stopped using the iPad.



BTW, never had any issues on JPG email attachments. They worked fine.

finally if I recall it was all related to using the SD card reader with the iPad.

If anyone is still following this thread I just wanted to update it. I have not had any issues losing pics when I import them since the last iPad update or two. I do still lock the cards but I don’t think it’s necessary. I use to occasionally get a photo that was not completely imported that I might have to import again. That is no longer happening. I usually do several imports daily so this is thousands of photos over several weeks. I am importing into the Photos app now which allows me access on whatever else I want to use. Affinity or Lightroom. I am using the Apple sourced card reader most of the time but occasionally a USB-C dock. I do not plug the card in while the Photos app is open. I don’t know if that matters but it works so I am going to keep doing it that way. I continue to prefer using my iPad Pro for image editing.

Glad to hear you are no longer having problems. Same here. In fact, I used my iPad Pro to back up photos on a recent canoe-camping trip and had no issues. Note that I am now only using the Apple USB-C to SD card reader to import photos and have ditched the Kingston Nucleum hub.

Was really nice to be able to easily review photos on a big screen. Helped me notice I took a selfie in the eye of this frog:


Bullfrog, Algonquin Park. Sony a6600, 90mm macro

Cheers

--
Richard