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Photogene for iPad

tashley

Subscriber Member
I've been having fun using the camera connector kit with m9 and Oly Pen files but came up with the problem that there seem to be no decent photo editors and nothing that let's you zoom in to 100%, which I am told is because the iPad lacks sufficient memory to hold all of a file more than about 6mp in memory.

But there is one app, Photogene, that I think is great fun. It can read any raw file the camera connection kit can see, has levels, curves, contrast, saturation, colour temperature etc.. It also has fun presets, frames, exports to various useful places and is just plain fun.

Anyone come up with anything better?

Tim
 

jonoslack

Active member
HI Tim
It's great isn't it . . . . . . but is it really dealing with the RAW files?
Are you getting decent results when you've just imported M9 RAW files (if so I've been missing something).

all the best
 

Terry

New member
The other program out there with a lot of controls is photo forge but it much less inuitive to use. I default to using photogene. Best embedded jpegs (when shooting RAW only) so far are my Panasonic versions. They seem to give a beefy jpeg.
 

tashley

Subscriber Member
Thanks Terry - I will follow your tips! I had a chat with Jono on the phone this evening and he made some similar suggestions. I do like Photogene - it may be a bit limited but it feels pretty nice to use...

Hope you're well?

Tim
 

tashley

Subscriber Member
In a moment fo great nerdliness I have conducted some tests and my observations are as follows:

The iPad, at least with the M9, does not deal not render the DNG, merely the small embedded JPEG. This is true in both iPhoto and in Photogene. But if you shoot DNG+JPEG fine or JPEL alone it will effectively turn the JPEG into a 2.8mp JPEG which you can edit to your heart's content.

What this means is that until someone comes up with something better (or I stumble across an existing product that does it) you unfortunately cannot use an iPad to check whether you have achieved critical focus. If, for example, you were to take an M9 file and zoom in to 100% view in your RAW editor to check focus, then zoom out to 1:3 view, that view is roughly the best the iPad can do. Useful but but not useful enough for critical use in the field.

So it looks like a Macbook Air is still the best bet if your main aim is to check focus in the field BUT if what you want is to check exposure, composition, or just to get a backup copy on a device other than the SD card then the iPad is very useful...
 

jonoslack

Active member
What this means is that until someone comes up with something better (or I stumble across an existing product that does it) you unfortunately cannot use an iPad to check whether you have achieved critical focus. If, for example, you were to take an M9 file and zoom in to 100% view in your RAW editor to check focus, then zoom out to 1:3 view, that view is roughly the best the iPad can do. Useful but but not useful enough for critical use in the field.

So it looks like a Macbook Air is still the best bet if your main aim is to check focus in the field BUT if what you want is to check exposure, composition, or just to get a backup copy on a device other than the SD card then the iPad is very useful...
HI Tim
I think you're right about this - still useful though.
My idea is to be able to sit in a bar in the evening and sort through the day's shots deleting the obvious garbage. I agree that critical focus is an issue, but rubbish focus isn't ! Of course, you can do this on a Macbook Air too - but not so easily in a bar!
The import routine (to Aperture at least) behaves really well, not sure what happens to those 2.8mb jpgs from photogene though?
You'll find the embedded jpgs on the Pen are just fine though.

all the best
 

Terry

New member
My test of what I got was to do the followinget:
Set the camera to RAW only but set the camera to B&W.
Import to iPad

The iPad image shows up as B&W - which demonstrated that you are seeing the embedded jpeg. If you import that file to Photogene, you will be working on a B&W file.

Then if you connect the iPad to the computer and import to LR you initily see the B&W thumbnail until LR renders the preview from the RAW file.

From what I understand, if you try and email a jpeg from the iPad you get the just under 3mp file. However if you copy the file and paste it into an email, you can send the full sized file.
 
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