One of the things that I've always wanted to do from day one with my iPad is to somehow work it into my photography workflow and shoot tethered directly to it. Unfortunately this has not become a reality quite yet due to the restrictions that Apple imposes on what can connect and be controlled directly to/by the iPad. The good news is that onOne Software has come up with the closest, best solution to the problem that I've seen to date. Granted it requires a computer in the middle of the process, but it's really either that or nothing at all. 

 

How does it work?

The first thing you need is a compatible DSLR. It works with the most popular Nikon and Canon DSLRs. The next thing you'll need is a Mac or PC running the DSLR Camera Remote Server (free download). Your Mac/PC will need to be on the same WiFi/network as your iPad. You'll also need a long USB cable to tether your camera to your computer. You then turn on your camera and fire up the server App. At this point you should be able to connect to the server over your WiFi network from the DSLR Camera Remote HD App running on your iPad.  You can control many of the settings on your camera directly from within the App on your iPad. You can even bring up Live View (if your camera supports it) and see exactly what your camera is seeing in real-time on your iPad. This latest version not only supports my New Nikon D7000, but it also supports video controls too. I can use the App to start/stop recording as well as take still photos. This new version also allows you to save a low res version directly to the iPad's Camera Roll for quick sharing.

 

Lightroom Integration

By default the images captured from your camera are merely dumped into a folder of your choosing when you setup the server. There is an option to have a copy of those images automatically go into a Lightroom Watched Folder for auto import. This is the best of both worlds as someone could be reviewing and making picks on the computer in Lightroom as the photographer continues to shoot and review on the iPad. 

 

Use Case

While it would be nice to just be able to use the iPad connected directly to your camera, there are some cool use cases for using this setup wirelessly. One great scenario is shooting an event like a wedding. You could have a camera setup in a location like behind the minister/priest to get that angle of the bride and groom. This is sometimes a difficult location to have a physical person stand in as it detracts from the wedding itself. This way as the photographer you could see on your iPad exactly what's going on and know when to fire the shutter without being anywhere near the camera. Since it's WiFi you could even be in a different room. 

 

The Bottom Line

The onOne DSLR Camera Remote HD App is an elegant solution to a large (almost unsolvable) problem. They've done an excellent job in giving photographers the freedom to be almost anywhere nearby and not only control the camera, but also see the images that are being captured. All this in the palm of your hands with the iPad. While the App performs exactly as advertised I'd like to see a couple of small things addressed. For example, when you save a local copy of the image on the iPad there is no indication that it worked when you tap the button. It would be nice if it perhaps put a check mark on the thumbnail indicating that you saved that one to the iPad's camera roll. Also if you fire up the App and you don't have the server running you can't do anything. It just sits there with a blank screen and I know that really there's not a whole lot that you could do without the camera connected, but it would be nice to see perhaps the last cached thumbnails in the app. 

If you shoot in a studio environment or on location where you can setup an adhock WiFi network, this is a GREAT solution to have in your tool bag. 

You can get DSLR Camera Remote HD for $49.99 here from the iTunes

You can also get DSLR Camera Remote Professional Edition for your iPhone/iPod touch for $19.99 here from the iTunes