Import 1D X files to iPad

[jrhoffman75]

Trying to import files from my Canon 1D X to my iPad using the USB3 Camera Connector. Works fine with my Canon T5i and a T6s. All I get when I connect my 1D X is grey squares; no images. Camera disk light flashes and if I select Delete Photos the files on the camera are erased.
Does anyone have luck importing 1DX files to iPad?
It worked last September before this round of updates.

[TCampbell]

If you shoot JPEG then iOS knows how to deal with them.  If you shoot RAW then the iOS devices recognizes it’s a RAW and can usually even view the embedded  JPEG thumbnail in the RAW ... but it can’t actually decode the RAW data.

When all I have is my iPad with me, I usually set the camera to shoot RAW+JPEG so I can at least see the JPEGs... and I’ll deal with the RAWs when I get back to a computer.

BTW, if you do shoot RAW only ... but want to see the JPEGs, the camera can process the RAW’s into JPEGs (after the fact) so you can still import the JPEGs.  I’ve done that once or twice because normally my camera is just in RAW mode (not RAW+JPEG ... but I needed JPEGs).

[jrhoffman75]

I worked with Apple. Did a complete restore. Still no luck. Same problem with iPhone.

If I plug in a USB card reader into the Apple dongle then the files come in OK. 

It it must be some strange interaction between the 1D X USB signal and the Apple system. 

It it works fine as direct camera download with the T5i and T6s. 

Same behavior with JPEGs. 

Reinstalled latest firmware. No change. 

[RobertTheFat]

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@jrhoffman75 wrote:

I worked with Apple. Did a complete restore. Still no luck. Same problem with iPhone.

If I plug in a USB card reader into the Apple dongle then the files come in OK. 

It it must be some strange interaction between the 1D X USB signal and the Apple system. 

It it works fine as direct camera download with the T5i and T6s. 

Same behavior with JPEGs. 

Reinstalled latest firmware. No change. 

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Did you try using a USB 2 cable? USB 3 is supposed to be downwards compatible with USB 2, and a USB 3 connector at the camera end is a subset of a USB 2 connector and will fit in the USB 3 socket. Maybe the camera and the computer have a slightly different understanding of the USB 3 protocol. The fact that the computer works with your two Rebels (which may not have USB 3) suggests something of the sort.

[TCampbell]

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@jrhoffman75 wrote:

I worked with Apple. Did a complete restore. Still no luck. Same problem with iPhone.

If I plug in a USB card reader into the Apple dongle then the files come in OK. 

It it must be some strange interaction between the 1D X USB signal and the Apple system. 

It it works fine as direct camera download with the T5i and T6s. 

Same behavior with JPEGs. 

Reinstalled latest firmware. No change. 

---

Ok, so it CAN read the files if they are imported using the card-reader adapter... it only has issues if using the USB adapter?

That is strange.  I find it particularly strange that it can't even handle JPEG images.  You should probably contact Apple.

(The one extra test I would do to isolate this issue is to make sure the camera isn't having general problems with it's USB port. In other words, verify that if you connect the camera to a computer (not the iPad) that everything still works fine.)

The thing about the USB adapter is that Apple says this thing was purpose-built for connecting digital cameras and is not meant to be a generic USB port.   

I'm wondering if the T5i and T6s are limited to just USB 2 ... and if the 1D X is trying to do USB 3 speeds... and the iPad isn't dealing with the USB 3 speeds as well.

[ebiggs1]

I am shooting yearbooks right now so I wish you guys would figure this out quickly because I would love to use an ipad for displaying photos.  I talked to a college of mine doing the same thing, yearbooks, and he told me he uses the Eyefi SD card.  He is shooting a 5D Mk IV but I am shooting a 1Dx like you are. (No SD slot)

According to him he uses Canon Connect and his ipad Pro.  No USB. No wires at all.

[TCampbell]

I had an EyeFi card (a couple of them).  Actually I still have them ... don't use them anymore.

What I found was that the file transfer speed is pretty slow on those cards.  For a JPEG image you'll wait a handful of seconds before the image shows up on your iPad.  But for a RAW... you'll wait for what seems like an eternity for the image to show up.  It was really painful.

I dropped the EyeFi in favor a 'CamRanger'.  This is a small device (about the size of a deck of playing cards) and you plug it into the camera's USB port.  The CamRanger creates a WiFi network.  You can use the iPad to join the CamRanger's network (or a computer, or phone, etc.)  It can also join an existing WiFi network ("infrastructure" mode) and it even has a physical ethernet port.  The CamRanger includes software that works on both regular computers (macs & pcs) as well as mobile "smart" devices such as iPhones, iPads, Android phones, and other tablets.  

But the CamRanger is a bit more clever in that it transmits a JPEG preview of your RAW images so you can see what the camera captured very quickly... without actually waiting for the RAW file to transer.  It only transfers the full RAW files when you ask it.  Also I think it's native WiFi speeds seem to be much faster than the EyeFi card.

Today, of course, there are lots of models that have built-in WiFi -- and if you have one of those models then you don't need either an EyeFi card or a CamRanger.  I still just occasionally use my CamRanger with my 60Da and my 5D III... my 5D IV has built-in WiFi.

When possible, I much much much prefer tethered shooting over WiFi.  When I'm doing food shots for restaurants, I tether the camera to my laptop using a 15' long USB cable and the performance is much faster than WiFi.  You take the shot and it's on the monitor in 1 or 2 seconds.  With WiFi you take the shot and it's on the monitor in maybe... 10 seconds (I haven't timed it ... it's not an eternity... but it's not as fast as a wired connection and the delay is long enough that it breaks my momentum when I'm working).   With RAW files via the EyeFi card... I feel like I may as well go have a coffee break... across town... while I wait for the files to transfer.

[ebiggs1]

Right now, currently, I use LR tethered to a 17" laptop and my 1Dx.  It works fine but the ipad is smaller and easier to lug around.

There is a new FW for the Eyefi SD cards.

[TCampbell]

I did just go check major sites like B&H Photo, Amazon, Adorma, etc.

B&H no longer lists it (but offers similar products that will show up in your search results)

Adorama shows the device, but when you select it you get "We are sorry, this device is no longer available."

Amazon shows up ... but it seems to be only from "marketplace" sellers (in other words Amazon isn't selling it... these are people who have old inventory and they're trying to get whatever they can for it.)

And you can find it on eBay.

I think EyeFi is a dead product.

I know I got the email that they were shutting down their services and offered one final software update that let us continue to use the card in device-to-device mode (no more cloud).  But that was the EyeFi Pro X2 card.  I think all that generation had a major security vulnerability so they killed it.

But then they had the EyeFi "mobi" and "mobi Pro" cards which replaced the X2 cards... but now I don't even see those offered anymore.  

If you visit their website, you see info on their capabilities, patents, but nothing linking to currently offered products nor how to buy one.  That ... coupled with the fact that no major retailer in the photography industry carries them... makes me think they're pretty much dead.

BTW, the last specs I could find for them... were that they supported 802.11 b/g ... that would explain why they are so slow.  Modern wifi is mostly on 802.11n or the faster 802.11ac, 802.11ad ... and now there's an even newer 802.11ax.

I agree that using an iPad would be preferable to lugging a laptop around (certainly from a portability perspective.)

[ebiggs1]

"I agree that using an iPad would be preferable to lugging a laptop around ..."

Not just the lugging but the battery life is fa better on an ipad.

This is a lot of what I am shooting.  You can see it is easier to tell what is going on on a 17" laptop or 10" ipad pro than a 3" screen on the back of the 1Dx.