ktmrider
Well-known
I am just finishing up a month of travel with the M9 and a Samsung Galaxy tablet. Now, this is really the first time I have traveled with digital but am planning a 3-5 month trip RTW with my daughter starting in August.
I am pretty much new to digital and have been using the tablet for email, skype and surfing the web. However, I have been disappointed in its photo limitations so let me ask a couple questions.
1. Is there any tablet which let's one upload photos directly? Unless I am totally messed up, using my M9 requires me to upload first to a PC then transfer to the tablet.
2. I really don't want to wait until the end of my RTW trip to see my photos so what is the best laptop to take for travel? Something that would let me run lightroom or something similiar.
3. Is there an alternative to carrying a laptop, say using an internet cafe? I really am an analogue dinosaur when it comes to this stuff so any hints or techniques you use for traveling with a digital camera would be greatly appreciated.
I am pretty much new to digital and have been using the tablet for email, skype and surfing the web. However, I have been disappointed in its photo limitations so let me ask a couple questions.
1. Is there any tablet which let's one upload photos directly? Unless I am totally messed up, using my M9 requires me to upload first to a PC then transfer to the tablet.
2. I really don't want to wait until the end of my RTW trip to see my photos so what is the best laptop to take for travel? Something that would let me run lightroom or something similiar.
3. Is there an alternative to carrying a laptop, say using an internet cafe? I really am an analogue dinosaur when it comes to this stuff so any hints or techniques you use for traveling with a digital camera would be greatly appreciated.
Scrambler
Well-known
I have a tablet/laptop hybrid running Windows 8. Battery life is great for a laptop and pretty ordinary for a tablet. Something like that might be worth checking out. I run Lightroom and Photoshop on mine: just don't plan to get too clever.
Tablets are optimised for battery life not for processing speed so any photographic editing will be slow compared to a laptop or worse still a well-specced desktop.
I don't have an iPad but it looks like you can get camera connection kits for them with USB or memory card hosting.
Photo editing apps for tablets or even phone abound, but are obviously more limited than Lightroom or Photoshop.
These days with internet on every phone internet cafes are pretty rare in my experience. And overpriced when you can find them
Tablets are optimised for battery life not for processing speed so any photographic editing will be slow compared to a laptop or worse still a well-specced desktop.
I don't have an iPad but it looks like you can get camera connection kits for them with USB or memory card hosting.
Photo editing apps for tablets or even phone abound, but are obviously more limited than Lightroom or Photoshop.
These days with internet on every phone internet cafes are pretty rare in my experience. And overpriced when you can find them
Paul Jenkin
Well-known
I don't profess to being any sort of IT expert but I would seriously consider some form of "cloud" stotage for a trip. Most tablets don't make good storage devices as 16, 32 or 64 Gb tend to be most common and you can fill the memory up with photos in no time flat!! Dropbox is very popular but, as with all such things, it comes at a price...
tsiklonaut
Well-known
I've been travelling similar to this setting.
I reckon it's horrible to edit photos and type long texts with a tablet. Get a lightweight laptop with a good display (meaning don't look for cheap laptops) - unless you're a professional programmer and configurator I'd steer clear of Windows as well, i.e. MacBook Air, preferrably 13" model when your eyes aren't exacly a top notch. It'll be a good choice for using in the public internet places as well - safe, with no virus hassles using foreign USB sticks etc. M9 is a decent choice when you have a massive dosh for the photogear to spare (I could travel the entire continent for months with this money!). I collected some over 500GB of data in 3 years some time ago when RAW files wasn't as big as they are today, thus buying 1-2 external HDs and keep the same backups in all places with laptop included - I kept the pannier and backup HD in separate panniers, so in case I have a crash and completely destroy one side, I have backup in another. Spare HD (and laptop as well if you get the right size) is best to be kept in waterproof bag in case you drown the bike during water/river crossing (you'll encounter loads of them off the beaten track in third world).
Don't count on cloud storage while in Third-World - painfully slow internet and uploading even a couple of 1-3MB sized JPEGs can take hours in many countries where "high speed internet" is advertised on the window, let alone uploading RAW files or videos.
Note editing the countless photos and writing long text (for blogs or mags etc) while on the road is very hard thing to do and this induced stress factor can have a major negative impact (been there done that) if you aren't used to riding a long day, lots of offroad and then sit on the computer the whole night and start again a long riding day in the morning, repeat every day etc. Took me many months on the road (also with a motorcycle and my wife) to find my rhythm and it was much "slower" than all the people expected reading the blog and waiting for updates (meaning a somewhat dissapointment to them). But you got to make compromises or your travel isn't an enjoyable experience anymore. Good thing with every-or-second-day updates is all the info is fresh and excellent for later reviewing yourself as well (you'll be surprised how much you'll forget few years after your long overland travel).
If your trip isn't longer than a year on the road then I'd say just take photos, keep text notes and don't bother with extensive blogging etc much, maybe just occasionally - do the comprehensive stuff later when you're back (by combining your notes from the road and your memory). This way you'll get more enoyment and focus out of your travels with just some little loss of info, bits and bobs as a compromise. It's worth it IMO.
Safe travels,
Margus
I reckon it's horrible to edit photos and type long texts with a tablet. Get a lightweight laptop with a good display (meaning don't look for cheap laptops) - unless you're a professional programmer and configurator I'd steer clear of Windows as well, i.e. MacBook Air, preferrably 13" model when your eyes aren't exacly a top notch. It'll be a good choice for using in the public internet places as well - safe, with no virus hassles using foreign USB sticks etc. M9 is a decent choice when you have a massive dosh for the photogear to spare (I could travel the entire continent for months with this money!). I collected some over 500GB of data in 3 years some time ago when RAW files wasn't as big as they are today, thus buying 1-2 external HDs and keep the same backups in all places with laptop included - I kept the pannier and backup HD in separate panniers, so in case I have a crash and completely destroy one side, I have backup in another. Spare HD (and laptop as well if you get the right size) is best to be kept in waterproof bag in case you drown the bike during water/river crossing (you'll encounter loads of them off the beaten track in third world).
Don't count on cloud storage while in Third-World - painfully slow internet and uploading even a couple of 1-3MB sized JPEGs can take hours in many countries where "high speed internet" is advertised on the window, let alone uploading RAW files or videos.
Note editing the countless photos and writing long text (for blogs or mags etc) while on the road is very hard thing to do and this induced stress factor can have a major negative impact (been there done that) if you aren't used to riding a long day, lots of offroad and then sit on the computer the whole night and start again a long riding day in the morning, repeat every day etc. Took me many months on the road (also with a motorcycle and my wife) to find my rhythm and it was much "slower" than all the people expected reading the blog and waiting for updates (meaning a somewhat dissapointment to them). But you got to make compromises or your travel isn't an enjoyable experience anymore. Good thing with every-or-second-day updates is all the info is fresh and excellent for later reviewing yourself as well (you'll be surprised how much you'll forget few years after your long overland travel).
If your trip isn't longer than a year on the road then I'd say just take photos, keep text notes and don't bother with extensive blogging etc much, maybe just occasionally - do the comprehensive stuff later when you're back (by combining your notes from the road and your memory). This way you'll get more enoyment and focus out of your travels with just some little loss of info, bits and bobs as a compromise. It's worth it IMO.
Safe travels,
Margus
sevo
Fokutorendaburando
Bluetooth tablet keyboards of all sizes are readily available, and so are good word processors for iOS and Android. And while the available photo editing software has limited capabilities compared to what you can get for a full-size notebook, it can crop and do exposure, contrast and colour correction - i.e. the few alterations permissible for a photojournalist.
About the only thing I have doubts about is the support for Leica M9 RAW files - the last time I checked that was about the only camera system not supported.
ZeissFan
Veteran
The tablet world hasn't evolved enough. Tablets primarily are for entertainment - not productivity. I like my iPad Mini with the Zagg Folio keyboard, but there is only so much that can be done.
Plus, it isn't build for file storage or transfer.
If you're comfortable with Windows, get a lightweight Windows PC. If you're comfortable with Mac, get a Mac. The road is no place for learning a new operating system and also finding out that you're missing some of your favorite software.
With today's file sizes, you should have a large external drive. I would want at least 1TB, if you plan to be on the road for an extended period.
I probably would replace the computer's main drive with an SSD.
Plus, it isn't build for file storage or transfer.
If you're comfortable with Windows, get a lightweight Windows PC. If you're comfortable with Mac, get a Mac. The road is no place for learning a new operating system and also finding out that you're missing some of your favorite software.
With today's file sizes, you should have a large external drive. I would want at least 1TB, if you plan to be on the road for an extended period.
I probably would replace the computer's main drive with an SSD.
Godfrey
somewhat colored
I've been traveling with digital camera and iPad (and iPad mini) for several years. On the desktop, my primary image processing app is Lightroom, but it's not available on the iPad (although I've heard rumors).
- The camera connection kit allow you to read the M9 storage card and imports both JPEG and raw files.* They flow into the Photos app "imported files" area, other apps which have access to the Photo Library on the iPad can read and write to them.
- Far as I'm concerned, if I am going to take a laptop, the only one worth considering is a MacBook Air 13". I'd outfit one with the fastest processor and the largest internal drive, and carry a portable hard drive for extended storage capabilities. That's actually the same computer I do most of my work on every day and runs everything, and it's very slim and light-weight, but it will need a bag almost double the size to carry compared to an iPad (and more than that for an iPad mini).
- No. Not that I've found. Internet cafe type places are disappearing since tablets and small, high powered, laptops started being relatively approachable in price. And they were always crap for image processing anyway.
* The iPad is not an ideal environment for raw processing, but works fine for editing JPEGs. There is, however, an excellent raw processor that handles M9 raw files, PhotoRAW.
When I'm traveling, I set the M9 to produce JPEG + raw files. MOST of what I process on the road I process from the JPEGs, but this gives me the option to go to the raw file for tricky subject matter. More on this later.
Working with an iPad takes a different mindset from working with an OS X or Windows system. You have a fixed and non-expandable amount of data storage, which any camera like the M9 can easily fill to capacity in a short time if you shoot a lot. For this reason you have to think about what you want to do and prepare for it.
When I am preparing to go on a trip, I plan what I'm going to carry on the iPad: I like to have a couple of movies and books available for my own entertainment in transit times, and I usually want to have at least a few albums of my work. I buy an iPad with the max storage capacity (64G on the older models, now 128G). Usually, what I want to carry along from the start fits nicely in less than 30G (that's the OS, all my apps, and the aforementioned entertainment and other data files).
The working methodology is
- shoot JPEG+raw in the camera
- download to the iPad a selection of the exposures
- make my picks and edits
- save the finished work to NEW files
- then delete the imports
There are TONS of image editing apps for the iPad. I use two as the basis of my travel use, and have a half a dozen others that I use occasionally. The two are Snapseed and Photogene. I tend to do most of the editing in Snapseed, save the finished image, then open it with Photogene to annotate with IPTC metadata and size for upload to the web (if I'm going to do that). Other apps offer different processing options as well, finding which apps do the job for you is something you have to put the time into.
Another way of working is to use PhotoSmith. This is a tool designed to work with your photos and with Lightroom on your OS X/Windows system. You can sort, grade, do IPTC annotation, etc, on photo files you import to the iPad or even leave on your camera card. When you get home, you can import those photos and all the annotation directly into Lightroom. I've only used it a little, it's pretty slick.
I also use Apple's Keynote and Pages apps to assemble photos into finished presentations on the iPad. There are other similar editing tools that work nicely if you want to blog with your photos, etc. I use DropBox and iCloud services to both store my work when desired and to share files over to the OS X/Windows systems.
It all works very nicely. An iPad mini, charger, and Camera Connection Kit takes up FAR less space and weight than any laptop, and has proven to be extremely useful on the road. I stuff a Bluetooth wireless keyboard in my bag for when I will need to do more extensive writing, and I create other graphics with Paper by 53 that I incorporate into the presentations with the photos. When I get home, all my work transfers into my regular OS X system for further development or archiving.
Hope that helps.
G
Sejanus.Aelianus
Veteran
1. iPads and iPhones take a simple plug in photo adapter. Push your SD card into the adapter and the adapter into the iPad/iPhone. You will be shown the images on the card and you can select which ones to import. I have an Android tablet and haven't worked out how to do this with that, either.
2. My travel laptop is a MacBook Air. I can run Photoshop Elements on it but wouldn't want to try anything more resource intensive. I suspect you'd have to consider a MacBook Pro or the Windows equivalent, if you really want to run Lightroom; something with a Core i7 or equivalent processor and at least 8GB of RAM. I don't think that anything suitable will be small nor light nor especially cheap.
3. Using an internet cafe is prone to all sorts of risks. If you choose to do this, set up a new Flickr account, even if you have an existing account, with a unique name and a password different from any other that you may be using. Only use that account to upload the pictures from your trip, copy the images from it when you get home and close it down. Never use the cafe to access any personal accounts especially banking or similar.
Also, a general rule is never to use other people's WiFi networks for anything sensitive. Some better hotels do provide secure WiFi but you still need to be carefull.
However, some banks provide their customers with a very secure connection called VPN. You'll know if you have this because the bank will have sent you a small device that generates a unique numbered key for each session or a link to download the equivalent software for your 'phone. This will protect your connection to the bank, even on an open WiFi (at least, in theory).
If your bank has not provided this, never use a hotel or cafe WiFi to connect to your bank, credit card provider or anything else you want to keep secret.
nongfuspring
Well-known
Google the Eye Fi SD card. It works with your Galaxy, fast, no wires, no need to remove card from camera. By far your best option.
back alley
IMAGES
what godfrey said…
the ipad is great for temporary post processing and you can do 'better' post work when you get home and have access to your computer.
it's great to show folks on the road what you are doing and to post to the web. my ipad mini is the perfect size for travel, has books & movies and magazines on it.
i also carry lots of sd cards and hard plastic sd wallets/cases for storage.
most of my kit plus extra camera batteries and the ipad fit in my compact bbb evolution bag.
the ipad is great for temporary post processing and you can do 'better' post work when you get home and have access to your computer.
it's great to show folks on the road what you are doing and to post to the web. my ipad mini is the perfect size for travel, has books & movies and magazines on it.
i also carry lots of sd cards and hard plastic sd wallets/cases for storage.
most of my kit plus extra camera batteries and the ipad fit in my compact bbb evolution bag.
GaryLH
Veteran
Everyone has basically answered your main question about tablets and such..
I tend to use Godfrey's method as well, bring or buy as need the sd cards for the number of shots I take while on vacation. Given your length of time away from home though, u are better off w/ a small laptop in the 11 to 13 inch range.. Big HD and external HD for backup. I am basically echoing Godfrey..
I also second staying away from Internet cafes... Surfing the web, email, etc.. Get an unlocked smartphone.. Some smartphones can be hotspots (provide Internet connection for your laptop or tablet).. A lot of US data carriers have data plans that can be used in other countries or just buy data and cell time as u need it in other countries using their providers since your phone is unlocked. Check w/ whoever u buy your cell phone from that it will work in the countries you are going to (most so called world phones will be ok), there maybe countries that use a cell frequency not supported by your phone though.
Good luck
Gary
I tend to use Godfrey's method as well, bring or buy as need the sd cards for the number of shots I take while on vacation. Given your length of time away from home though, u are better off w/ a small laptop in the 11 to 13 inch range.. Big HD and external HD for backup. I am basically echoing Godfrey..
I also second staying away from Internet cafes... Surfing the web, email, etc.. Get an unlocked smartphone.. Some smartphones can be hotspots (provide Internet connection for your laptop or tablet).. A lot of US data carriers have data plans that can be used in other countries or just buy data and cell time as u need it in other countries using their providers since your phone is unlocked. Check w/ whoever u buy your cell phone from that it will work in the countries you are going to (most so called world phones will be ok), there maybe countries that use a cell frequency not supported by your phone though.
Good luck
Gary
tomnrides
Established
".. a 3-5 month trip RTW.." This is not a motorbike or bicycle trip is it? Sounds too fast even for a KTM!
Just imagining digital photo gear alone w/ a computer would fill up a day pack. Is it possible to keep friends and family happy with smartphone updates from wifi spots, while working more serious stuff borrowing a desktop at friends (assuming occasional visits)?
My 1yr long trip consisted of a medium size backpack, a daypack and a baby between me and wife. that was more than enough gear and good film was readily available anywhere unlike these days.
Just imagining digital photo gear alone w/ a computer would fill up a day pack. Is it possible to keep friends and family happy with smartphone updates from wifi spots, while working more serious stuff borrowing a desktop at friends (assuming occasional visits)?
My 1yr long trip consisted of a medium size backpack, a daypack and a baby between me and wife. that was more than enough gear and good film was readily available anywhere unlike these days.
ktmrider
Well-known
Daughter has limited time due to grad school. We are looking at Spain, Morocco, Israel and then Istanbul over 3 months. I will probably continue on through India, SE Asia, Mongolia and Japan. We are still looking at possible routes.
As I stated I am finishing up a month in Thailand and Laos (everywhere has wifi) and have filled up a couple SD cards. When I get home a new learning experience awaits as I have had lightroom on the computer for a couple years but have never even opened it. I shot with the M9 on raw and jpeg with jpeg set on black and white so some processing to do. My only other digital is shooting jpegs with my X100 and unlike the M9, you can actually use the camera led to look at photos.
Thanks for all the input. Am sure I will be posting more as I get into lightroom.
As I stated I am finishing up a month in Thailand and Laos (everywhere has wifi) and have filled up a couple SD cards. When I get home a new learning experience awaits as I have had lightroom on the computer for a couple years but have never even opened it. I shot with the M9 on raw and jpeg with jpeg set on black and white so some processing to do. My only other digital is shooting jpegs with my X100 and unlike the M9, you can actually use the camera led to look at photos.
Thanks for all the input. Am sure I will be posting more as I get into lightroom.
Bingley
Veteran
I'm another iPad user when traveling, first with original and now wth the mini. I routinely upload jpegs directly from my m4/3 digicam at the end of the day. I use snapseed or photopad for minor edits and to resize while on the road, until I can get back home for more serious postprocessing if needed. I no longer use internet cafes - too risky, and the places I stay usually have wifi anyway. If you need a keyboard, there are lightweight bluetooth keyboards.
kuzano
Veteran
No Tablets for me....
No Tablets for me....
I wouldn't buy a tablet (any tablet) to save my hindmost part.
A good 13 inch screen Ultrabook with Windows 8, set up to run like a faster Windows 7, but with 8 functions available, 8 Gb of RAM. Third Gen I3 or I5, and a 600 to 700 Gb hard drive. 3/4 inch thick and not much bigger dimension than an iPad, but with a real keyboard. $600.00
One such is the Sony Vaio ultrabook I have in my kit.
Simply do not understand the allure of tablets.... Toys to me???
Also carry a 1 Tb Toshiba laptop size USB 3.0 external drive for backup. $75.00
Wireless mouse. $25.00
You can take all this on the road and not be carrying much more than a low powered, strrage starved tablet.... couple of pounds, Maybe?
No Tablets for me....
I wouldn't buy a tablet (any tablet) to save my hindmost part.
A good 13 inch screen Ultrabook with Windows 8, set up to run like a faster Windows 7, but with 8 functions available, 8 Gb of RAM. Third Gen I3 or I5, and a 600 to 700 Gb hard drive. 3/4 inch thick and not much bigger dimension than an iPad, but with a real keyboard. $600.00
One such is the Sony Vaio ultrabook I have in my kit.
Simply do not understand the allure of tablets.... Toys to me???
Also carry a 1 Tb Toshiba laptop size USB 3.0 external drive for backup. $75.00
Wireless mouse. $25.00
You can take all this on the road and not be carrying much more than a low powered, strrage starved tablet.... couple of pounds, Maybe?
FrozenInTime
Well-known
Travelling with a laptop is too much a reminder of work.
Just taking a tablet, an ipad2 for me up till now, fits in with the whole travelling light ethos.
PhotoRaw, SnapSeed and PhotoGenie.
Also so many books, magazines and PDFs loaded up make it a great travel resource. Music now lives on the phone.
Just taking a tablet, an ipad2 for me up till now, fits in with the whole travelling light ethos.
PhotoRaw, SnapSeed and PhotoGenie.
Also so many books, magazines and PDFs loaded up make it a great travel resource. Music now lives on the phone.
Scrambler
Well-known
#kuzano: it's grunt versus battery life. I curse the speed of my tabletish laptop, but it has 8 hour life... and for my work that is essential.
for myself, I prefer to travel as light as possible. While an smartphone is more difficult and slower to use than a full laptop, it will still get the job done, is easy to carry and can be bought as a rugged and waterproof device which is office device, visual notebook, photo-display device, alarm clock, entertainment unit and even telephone.
I would make sure I had a secure location for my SD cards (security pouch against my skin), keep a number in circulation so any corrupt cards or losses were only a fraction of the total.
For the total engineering "take" on lightweight travel, I recommend onebag . this includes a discussion of computing, and even camera choices - see the "specialty items" tab.
BTW my own comments re telephone come from using a laptop for some shorter-term international travel and deciding that at least for me the phone did enough (and I needed it for internet connection anyway).
for myself, I prefer to travel as light as possible. While an smartphone is more difficult and slower to use than a full laptop, it will still get the job done, is easy to carry and can be bought as a rugged and waterproof device which is office device, visual notebook, photo-display device, alarm clock, entertainment unit and even telephone.
I would make sure I had a secure location for my SD cards (security pouch against my skin), keep a number in circulation so any corrupt cards or losses were only a fraction of the total.
For the total engineering "take" on lightweight travel, I recommend onebag . this includes a discussion of computing, and even camera choices - see the "specialty items" tab.
BTW my own comments re telephone come from using a laptop for some shorter-term international travel and deciding that at least for me the phone did enough (and I needed it for internet connection anyway).
MiniMoke
Well-known
I think the adapter does only work on the iPad, not on the iPhone, sadly....
thegman
Veteran
This is good advice. I like my Android tablet, but it's nowhere close to a replacement for a real computer. If you want to run good, powerful software, use a PC or Mac.
A Macbook Air is really not much bigger or heavier than a tablet, and factors more powerful. Not just processor speed, just in terms of what it can do. Tablets are nice, but limited, Windows, Mac etc. are in all practical terms, unlimited.
swoop
Well-known
Tablets can be used for photo editing as long as you're working with JPEG's. Using RAW even with the free applications that support it is just asking too much. To transfer images you can a wifi sd card. I've used EyeFi and Toshiba. The Toshiba card is simple, you connect to it through a web browser, the EyeFi card requires a special app which rarely works the way it should. The range of these cards is limited, something like 1-2 feet because the M9 is solid metal. So you have to keep the camera close.
I also have an android tablet and for editing I use an app named Photo Editor, it has a clean and simple interface and offers basic adjustments. If you're considering switching to an iPad, the wifi sd cards will with the same. But for photo editing the best app on Apple's tablet is Filterstorm. It has the same basic adjustments as Photo Editor but with a faster and sleeker interface.
I also have an android tablet and for editing I use an app named Photo Editor, it has a clean and simple interface and offers basic adjustments. If you're considering switching to an iPad, the wifi sd cards will with the same. But for photo editing the best app on Apple's tablet is Filterstorm. It has the same basic adjustments as Photo Editor but with a faster and sleeker interface.