DSLR Photography Forum

1 year on, the iPad has definitely made its mark in the world of tablet computing - no other tablet comes close. Whether it's useful for photographers or not is something that has been argued back and forth on multiple occasions.

That being said, DPReview have posted an interesting review of the iPad 2, if anyone is interested.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/appleipad2/

Covers some interesting topics like apps available, and also more importantly, photography workflow.

One year on, have your opinions on the iPad changed? Will you be getting an iPad 2?

As for me, I had never really seen the need for an iPad since I get by between my iPhone and laptop. However, I can see how handy having one could be for couch or bed surfing, or just for looking at photos. However, I'm getting a hand me down iPad v1, as soon as my brother upgrades to the iPad 2. Most likely it'll end up entertaining my kids on trips.

No, I think not...
Mind you, I discovered quite by chance the other day that I have a gadget that, if plugged in, annoyingly removes creases from shirts, contributing to stress as I then have to try and not crease them: an i-ron, I believe it's called. Since I stopped teaching for a living, it is now passé too!

I think Kombi made a good case for an iPad as a blogging tool during his travels. However, as a photographer's tool, it is severely limited due to lack of storage and RAW support. I have seen some third party hard drives that support some RAW formats (but strangely enough - not DNG) and that can connect to the iPad via the docking port, but now we are talking about an add-on in the multi hundred dollar range. Its a pretty hard case to make versus my $500 eeepc that has an SD card reader, 160 GB hard drive and can run LightRoom/PhotoShop (albeit a big grudgingly).

I really want to find a reason to buy the iPad because I like it - but if I have to carry it PLUS a laptop, netbook, or external hard drive to make it viable as a photographer's tool, I can't make a case for it. It is a nice screen to *display* photos on, but that just isn't what I need it for.

Yeah… no.

I know a couple of people with the iP1, and neither has managed to make it into a useful tool. I was impressed by Kombi's use of one as a blogging tool, and that increased my temptation to get a tablet; other people have turned it into a touch-sensitive secondary monitor for their laptop, which is exceedingly cool.

But ultimately I decided to go with a small notebook instead: it's a better tool for blogging, if less spontaneous; more storage space, connection options, and uses the software that I already have for photos. And just now it took me about five minutes to find the software and figure out how to tether my D700, complete with camera control, live view, and auto-import into Lightroom. That's a photographic tool.

Rob Galbraith uses one in his photography business for remote shooting.

As for me - it is hands down the best product to show your work off anywhere, anytime to clients.

An iPad as a portfolio is one thing that my laptop simply can't match.

There's an article on the same subject here:
http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com...ipad2.html