# Editing large camera raw files on iPad



## CloudedGenie (Aug 16, 2017)

Does anybody have a workflow that involves editing a reasonable number of large Nikon D800 .NEF files (or similar) on the iPad Air 2 or iPhone 7p?

I normally shoot RAW+JPG, with colour set to sRGB and seasonable in-camera sharpening and contrast or Active-D lighting as required. My camera is set up to save the NEF files to the CF card and the JPGs to the SD card. This gives me a set of smallish JPGs that I can use to share on social media (my family is distributed across three continents) without having to access Lightroom on the PC. I may do some additional cropping, if necessary. 

The JPGs also provide a backup, in case of file corruption - I lost three NEFs due to a failing CF card, fortunately the JPGs were "good enough".

With LR Mobile, I can just as well do any cropping and editing of the NEF on the iPad when traveling, eliminating the in-camera JPGs, and relying on a RAW-only workflow, exporting appropriately sized JPGs for Facebook. I could set the second memory card to write a backup copy if I feel paranoid. 

However, I am not sure how well the iPad or even iPhone 7 Plus will handle these large files on an ongoing basis. I know the iPad Pro will probably do much better, but find it hard to motivate upgrading when I have a Surface Pro 4 as main laptop.


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## Jim Wilde (Aug 16, 2017)

On an individual file basis, LRm on your iPad or iPhone will handle the raw files just fine. You can import them, edit them, crop them, add Title/Caption, and export them to e.g. Facebook. The problems are:

1. The space requirements that you'll need on the iDevice, especially with 36mp raw files. Fine if you just want to import, process, export, and then delete (if planning on importing to LR on the PC when you get home). But if you want to keep the work that you've already done, that means retaining the images on the iDevice, which means taking up space, at least until the raw files are uploaded to the Adobe Cloud and then replaced by Smart Previews. Not forgetting that to import them, you'd first have to import to the Camera Roll, which effectively doubles the interim space requirements because the import into LRm creates a second copy of the file.

2. If you do want to upload the imported raws for syncing with LR on your PC, then of course you've got some significant bandwidth issues to overcome as well....in other words, it's likely going to be very slow, and maybe expensive (depending on your data plan).

3. No watermark capability (yet) on exports.

The actual workflow is fine, if you are prepared/able to manage the issues. LRm has made significant progress of late, but it's not yet the finished article.


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## clee01l (Aug 16, 2017)

FWIW, I have  D800E & D810.  For precisely the reasons mentioned by Jim, I found the iPad totally unsuitable for robust image processing.  If you consider for a minute that the camera cards that I use for the D800 are 32GB & 64GB and that the total storage used for all apps, iOS storage and RAM may be as small as 64GB, you can see how pointless trying to use an iPad would be for any 'real' camera work. 
My solution was to get a 13" rMBP and install LR on it.  I have heard of people successfully running LR on a small MacBookAir, although I do not know how suitable a MBA would be for 36mp NEFs


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## CloudedGenie (Aug 16, 2017)

Thanks for your replies, @Jim Wilde and @clee01l 

I forgot about the space requirements... And the files would have be doubled up, at least temporarily. At roughly 45 MB per file, that adds up very quickly. I usually don't save the JPGs as maximum quality (between 12 and 20 MB), but have started doing it after I lost the CF card. I'm now using 64 GB and 128 GB cards, so I understand where you are coming from, Cletus.

While I'm in the US, I'm on an unlimited data plan, so that is not a big problem. When we visited Australia in May I discovered how quickly all my cloud syncing account can go through data! While staying with my sister, I used their home WiFi (which is also unlimited), until my nephew finally realised why his frame rate on Call of Duty dropped dramatically (resulting in his untimely death) every time shortly after his uncle and I came home 

The ability to shoot RAW on the iPhone, and the general improvement of the phone cameras mean that I often just "shoot an extra one with the phone" so I have a photo to post with a status update for the family. 

For now, I guess I'll keep the Nikon workflow outside LR mobile, and keep handling one-off copies of the JPGs that I want to upload, separately.

The Surface Book Pro (8 GB, 1TB hard drive) does not add that much weight (the main reason I chose it) and I use it to run my main Lightroom catalog. I was just hoping that I could get away with uploading everything using the phone, which I'll be carrying anyway.


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## clee01l (Aug 16, 2017)

The Surface Book Pro is about the functional equivalent of my retina MacBookPro.  Anywhere I travel with the intention of taking photos with my Nikon's I take my rMBP.


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