Downloading RAW files to Lightroom on an iPad

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JohanElzenga said:
Who indeed uses that on a non-color managed device?...
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iOS is now color-managed, although there isn't yet the level of user control over it that we have on OS X and Windows. If you buy the new 9.7-inch iPad Pro, you have a tablet with a wide gamut (DCI-P3) display running a color-managed operating system that can properly handle that wide gamut.

I'm not sure if Lightroom Mobile automatically takes advantage of that right now, but the "there's no color management" objection is falling away, on iOS at least.

I also agree that Lightroom Mobile has not only been about selfie shooters. They've added many features that selfie shooters would never care about like the Tone Curve and on-image HSL sliders, like John said. It's still missing too many features like noise reduction, raw import, and keywording for me to use it for much more than basic image review and a first pass at correction, but there are definitely controls in Lightroom Mobile that you don't find in other serious mobile photo editing apps.
 
I suggest that if anyone needs to do serious work on editing photos, especially raw images, in the field....you want at least a Macbook, if not a Macbook Pro. Then you can run full LR and PS and the full range of plugins. You also have proper file management to move and copy files to external drives for storage and backup. On IOS you have neither raw support nor file management. Of course you can jailbreak IOS and put in file management.

The wife and I accept that as the current situation. We don't like it, we just accept it. But we are tired of carry rMBPs on trips. So yesterday we migrated from iPad Air 2 to iPP 12.9". We will take the iPP units into the field to do email, browsing, FaceTime...etc. We can read the preview thumbnails of our raw files on the SDXC cards and import into camera roll if there any we want to edit and share. Naturally we leave all the raw images on the SDXC cards (Lexar 1000x 128GB cards are $59 at B&H). When we get home we will use large monitors attached to our rMBPs to cull and edit. Maybe end of the year or early next year will we replace rMBP and monitors with 27" 5K iMacs that do USB-C and Thunderbolt 3.

And if we ever get native raw support and file management in IOS by Apple, we will be happy. The same goes for Adobe stepping up their game to make LR Mobile something worth downloading.
 
mcasan said:
I suggest that if anyone needs to do serious work on editing photos, especially raw images, in the field....you want at least a Macbook, if not a Macbook Pro.
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If you think that's what Mobile is for, that's obviously the case. The trouble is, LrMobile hasn't ever pretended to be a laptop replacement for ingesting new raw files in the field. Adobe have explicitly said that it's not, and its value is for other workflows.
 
I fully understand that Adobe and Apple are both totally ignoring the use case of importing raw images in the field via an iPad. Adobe is using LR Moble to address editing further down the workflow where someone needs/wants to work remotely from their desktop. Hence for me the app is of little to no use. I fully understand others may have the use case of remotely editing images away from their desktop. I wonder how they plan to invoke and use their desktop plugins. But I leave that to them to sort out.
 
johnbeardy said:
If you think that's what Mobile is for, that's obviously the case. The trouble is, LrMobile hasn't ever pretended to be a laptop replacement for ingesting new raw files in the field. Adobe have explicitly said that it's not, and its value is for other workflows.
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Actually, that is not entirely true. Tom Hogerty has written a blog post some two years ago, where he does describe a future where LrM is the entry point when you are on the road. It just hasn't materialized...
 
I was thinking about that blog post, Johan, and while acknowledging the demand he's explaining what LrMobile is now and what it's not. But I think we're splitting hairs. Obviously there is some demand to import raws, and plenty of wishful thinking.
 
Has either Apple or Adobe ever made a public statement about why neither has put raw support into IOS LrM? After all, both develop raw converters that work on Mac OS.
 
Thanks for the link. I guess the key is in what Apple will do or not do. Since Apple has turned their back on the serious photography by killing off Aperture to support only IOS based jpg snapshot photography, they seem to have no motivation to help use raw images in the field. Sad you have to jail break an iPad just to do file management.
 
mcasan said:
Thanks for the link. I guess the key is in what Apple will do or not do. Since Apple has turned their back on the serious photography by killing off Aperture to support only IOS based jpg snapshot photography, they seem to have no motivation to help use raw images in the field. Sad you have to jail break an iPad just to do file management.
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Apple Photos does support raw files, so Apple did not abandon them completely.
 
Which Photos...IOS or MacOS version? In IOS version the app will import a raw file but only edit the jpg preview embedded in the raw file. In MacOS Photos can use the raw converter service to edit the raw file. I wish IOS Photos did have all the capabilities of the MacOS version, including extensions such as the Macphun apps.
 
Things are a changing via IOS 10. IOS cameras will be able to save DNG raw files, not just JPEG! IOS Photos will do both native DNG raw files and lots of other camera raw formats. That should set the stage for Adobe to finally deliver a version of Lr Mobile that is not a joke.
 
mcasan said:
Things are a changing via IOS 10. IOS cameras will be able to save DNG raw files, not just JPEG! IOS Photos will do both native DNG raw files and lots of other camera raw formats. That should set the stage for Adobe to finally deliver a version of Lr Mobile that is not a joke.
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I believe the ability to save as DNG will be restricted to iPhone 6S/6S Plus and newer. I'm running iOS 10 beta on my iPhone 6 Plus and there isn't an option that I can find to use DNG.
 
Dave Miller said:
The Apple advert says the new OS will run on iPads and iphone 6's.
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Yes, it will run on iPads and iPhone 6 models (I'm running it now on an iPhone 6) but the ability to save an image as DNG is limited to iPhone 6S and 6S Plus models.
 
See latest update for Lr Mobile (Ver2.4.0 on iPhone)......Raw processing now available on mobile..

My personal view is that I would prefer to see more effort prioritised on Lr Desktop, sad that still no ability to edit my metadata on mobile (have not tried on version just release but not mentioned in the release notes), expect that the mobile platform will improve with time but not an area of interest to me for the foreseeable future. I do not plan to edit raw or jpg on current generation mobile devices. When they get the file system and colour calibration to a usable status then I will re-consider.

.
 
Note that Lightroom Web, the browser-based sibling of LrMobile, has offered title and caption editing for a few months.
 
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