Both ... Same way I work with it using any of my cameras:
- set camera to record JPEG+raw (the iPad is capable of but not great for raw conversion, but is a delight to use for editing JPEGs using any number of excellent photo editing apps)
- take card from the camera and insert into the SD card adapter from the Camera Connection Kit
- on the iPad, check what's on the card and tap the ones I want to work with. Tap the "Import" button and choose the Selected Photos option.
All the selected pictures, both JPEG and raw, are transferred to the iPad. Next depends on what I have in mind ...
- Review the photos using the Photos app
- If I see any that I want to edit the JPEGs, start Snapseed or Photogene or FilterStorm and open the image I want to work on. Edit to taste and save to the Photo Library.
- If I see any that I want to work on but they need extensive work, open PhotoRAW and choose the images I want to work on. Make the necessary adjustments then output to TIFF or JPEG. After that, open the TIFF files with Snapseed or Photogene or FilterStorm to do the finish editing, then save to Photo Library.
I normally incorporate the results into slide shows I create with Keynote. This is the one I created last October using the Ricoh GXR and the iPad 2 ... It was completed entirely on the iPad, the only work done on my MacBook Pro afterwards was to output put it to HTML and PDF for display on the web.
Another alternative, if I'm on a photo trip, is to import photos from the camera card into PhotoSmith, review them, and then set flags, grading values, and input metadata annotation. When I get home, I can upload the photos to my Lightroom catalog and then incorporate all the metadata I created on the iPad into the Lightroom catalog.
I've also created several dozen short films (typically two to four minutes) using the iPhone 4S, the iPod touch and the iPad, and iMovie on the iPad. These are fun shorts for friends and family; I distribute them to the intended recipients via a private account on SmugMug.
The iPad (and iPad mini, and iPhone) are very versatile computers—tools—that you can do a heck of a lot with if you want to. Or they're just toys for those who can't see past the 'cool new gizmo' part. I don't buy computers as toys, I buy them as tools ... Just like cameras. ;-)
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I might mention that I acquired the iPad 2 in late March last year. I took it on the first trip (California to Jackson, Mississippi to New York to California by road) not knowing whether it would suffice so I carried both it and the laptop the entire way. Used the laptop three times. The next five trips, I took only the iPad with a wireless keyboard and the connection kit, including a three+ week photo jaunt to the UK last October. Worked like a charm. There were only two instances when I had to borrow my friend's computer in the UK because I needed to book a reservation and the particular website would not work nicely with Safari on the iPad.
In the year since, it has proven to be one of the most useful computers I've owned in 25+ years of working with computers professionally.
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