CF Adapter

[DadRob]

Forgive me if this has already been discussed. I just joined this forum.

I have a Rebel XT that uses a CF card. I have looked at upgrading to a newer camera, but do not have a need to get a new one. I use mine only for family and travel pictures.

I would like to transfer the pictures to my iPad. I can get the dock for the iPad, but it does not take CF cards. Amazon has an SD/SHDC/MMC adapter. Does anyone have experience with an adapter? I thank you for your input and opinion. I am up to try new technology,but I am definitely not on the cutting edge.

[RobertTheFat]

Wouldn't your iPad see a USB card reader? That would appear to be the cheapest and quickest solution.

[DadRob]

My iPad doen't have a USB port. Is there a way to transfer the contents of the card to an IPad via another method?

[RobertTheFat]

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@DadRob wrote:
My iPad doen't have a USB port. Is there a way to transfer the contents of the card to an IPad via another method?

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Not even a mini- or micro-USB port? that's what a card reader uses.

Ahhh!! What am I saying? The mini-USB is on the card reader end. Yeah, you'd need a full-sized USB or a reasonable facsimile.

[DadRob]

Apple sells a camera connection kit. I think that is what I need. Thanks for your input.

[TCampbell · Accepted solution]

The iPad has two variants on the camera connection... the original kit included both types, but now you can buy just the type that you'd prefer.

One type is a USB dongle that connects to the iPad (either "dock" type if an old iPad or the new "lightning" connector if a more recent model iPad.)  That USB is not a "generic" USB port... it's intended specifically for use with digital cameras and allows the iPad to offload images directly from the camera.  In other words, the only thing they expect you to connect to that USB port... is a camera.

The other type is a dongle that has an SD card slot in it.  This reads the images directly off the card (no need to connect the camera) but the "catch" is that it's only available for SD cards ... not CF cards.

I use a Lexar brand CF card reader to attach to my computer (via USB) but this wont work for an iPad.  If you intend to use ONLY an iPad, then you can try using their USB camera adapter and connect the camera via the USB connection cord that came with your camera.   

You can also try a CF to SD card adapter... this "looks" like a CF card (in that it fits into the camera, but it really has an SD card slot in the adapter.  So you slide the SD card into the adapter and then slide the adapter in the CF slot of your camera.    Using this method, you can extract just the "SD" card and slip that into the iPad camera connection adapter (for the SD card adapter.)  I have not tried such an adapter myself (but I know that they exist.)    Save you receipt(s) in the event that the product does not work as expected.

[DadRob]

Thank you for the info. I did go to the Apple store and found the device. I will pick it up this weekend. In my research on the CF-SD adapter there was some discussion about fir and delayed time processing the shot. I will try the USB thing first. I can download to my PC from the camera, so I hope it works as well with IOS

[TCampbell]

I think your camera has a menu setting for the download mode -- which is likely "Normal" and "PTP".  I'm not actually sure which mode it needs to be in to work with the iPad... but if it does not work for you when you get the adapter, go into the camera menu and try switching to the other mode.

[DadRob]

Thank you, Tim! I would probably be searching for that info next.