Yes, we hear what you are saying, an SD card reader should have been built in as standard for the iPad rather than Apple, as is the case, making you pay an additional £25 for the option to upload your images to your iPad without the help of a computer.

Our quick take

If you see the iPad as a computer replacement, rather than something fun to kick around the house, the addition of the Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit means you can enjoy your digital photos on a big screen rather than just the one on the back of your camera.

It's a shame that Apple didn't include the card reader in the iPad from the get go, but this goes some way of making up for it.

If you are a photographer and have an iPad, this is £25 well spent.

 

Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit - 4.5 / 5

FORAGAINST
  • Get your images on to your iPad without an additional computer
  • easy to use
  • options to select individual images
  • Yet another box to carry around

Regardless of whether you think it should or shouldn't be there as standard, if you want to get images from your camera to your iPad there are two options. Either connect your iPad to a computer, or buy the Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit.

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The kit includes two connectors - a USB option and an SD card option. Plugging in the connector does nothing at first but as soon as you put in a USB cable (with the other end attached to your camera) or an SD card, then the Photos app is automatically loaded and gives you the option to transfer your images to the iPad. The number of images you have to transfer will govern the duration of the transfer, but in general the whole process takes seconds rather than minutes.

Images of course can be selected individually so you don't have to import everything at once and when you sync the iPad to your PC or Mac, the photos on your iPad are added to your computer's photo library automatically. It is really easy. 

The iPad and the Camera Connection Kit support standard photo formats, including JPEG and RAW.

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In use and the whole process is incredibly easy and helpful if you are looking to share your images instantly on a bigger screen. Images can then be shared with the world via apps such as Dropbox or Flickr or just emailed if that's what you want to do.

To recap

If you are a photographer and have an iPad, this is £25 well spent