Ipad Pro or Surface Pro 4 for Photography

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Sootchucker

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Hi guys,

Looking to get a new tablet soon as I've outgrown the storage on my current 32gb Ipad.

Been looking at the new Ipad pro (the bigger 12" version, 256GB ) and also the new Surface Pro 4 (Core I5, 256GB SSD and 8GB Ram), but I can't really make my mind up which is best.

I've been an ipad user for over 6 years now (since the original Ipad) and have found them generally to be very reliable and with the latest Chipsets and OS very stable and quick. The trouble still is the Ipad is still a media display device and not a media consumption device, making getting media into the device not as easy as it should be (unless you do it wireless though the camera manufacturers app), and obviously the Ipad is still an App's based device so doesn't run native versions of say Lightroom and Photoshop, but there's no denying the quality, battery life and just ease of operation of an Ipad.

By comparison, the Surface pro 4 on paper looks really good. As good (if not better) screen, a full Core i5 processor and 8gb ram. Full USB sockets and HDMI out etc, making connecting external hard drives and cameras / card readers a breeze. I have Windows 10 on the desktop I'm typing this on now, so again, pretty familiar with the OS (although not in the full touch screen version). I also like that the optional keyboard has a trackpad which the apple version doesn't. Downsides are the Surface Pro 4's (depending on spec) can get expensive really quickly and although the pen is bundled, like the Ipad Pro, the keyboard is still optional.The biggest downside's I read about on the Surface Pro is battery life in which people are reporting around half of what an Ipad gets ?

Having never handled a Surface Pro, can anyone with any experience of both please comment on which you would choose for photo storage / editing etc and why ?

Thanks
 
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I'm a mac user, iPad, iPhone, macbook but although I personally wouldn't buy one, I would say the surface pro is your best choice. iPad has very limited apps for working on photos professionally, I believe that as the surface pro is a windows machine it will run PS and LR, although I'm not certain on this.
 
I have a Surface Pro 4 and can recommend it for photo editing and have used it for a couple of months. My only advise would be to get the mid-range version (8 Gig i7) as it has plenty of drive space plus memory to process even the biggest of RAW images. You will need to get an external hard drive to store and edit your images unless you are planning on buying the 1TB version!

One of the best features is the HD screen which isn't far from the MAC's retina display for colours and resolution. You really cannot go wrong with it other than perhaps a MACBOOK pro for which I use now for my main editing, only due to it being my main laptop.. But in the field, its the PRO that comes out of the bag first :)

Good luck in making your choice!
 
Have had a play with a surface pro / lightroom combination and was pretty impressed by it - all depends on the software you want to use I suppose.
 
It has to be the Surface Pro, iPad won't be a tool for photographers until a decent raw editor is available.
 
FWIW I had this predicament and ended up buying a 12" Macbook.

I did look at the SP4 but we are a Apple household so wasn't sure about making the jump, I then installed Windows 10 as a dual boot on my iMac and immediately remembered why I don't use Windows so ruled out the SP4. iOS doesn't cut it yet (although I'm sure it will one day - they'll need to figure out a way to do catalogue sharing though) so I got the Macbook which is great.
 
I've a surface pro 3 and gradually used it more and more for photo editing - especially on the move rather than a normal iPad or laptop. Version 4 has a larger screen which is a further plus- I added a large memory card to the internal slot on the 3 and also have a small western digital 1 TB external drive- got used to using either the pen or keypad for editing plus you can get different sized nibs for the stylus. The only problem I had was with an older version of Photoshop and a problem with the way the surface resizes it- basically the icons are tiny- I managed to overcome this in Photoshop but in bridge the icons are still tiny- I did have a look at a trial version of the latest photoshop & bridge and that worked fine but can't justify the subscription at the mo.

That's the only thing I'd check out first or the compatibility/ appearance of Photoshop and bridge if that's the editing software you use?
 
I have a surface pro 3, i5 128GB and 8GB ram. Running it with office 365 pro plus and adobe CC. Runs it all just fine. Also got a docking station and hooked up to a 4K monitor when in the office.

For now that would be my choice, but I'm watching what will happen with the new iOS 10 and iPad Pro. Won't be until the fall though.
 
The trouble with IOS is, it is still locked down.

Processing photographs on it,could be fine, but getting them off and on is a nightmare. Take a shoot of say 30gb, great, but export them as TIFFs and how do I get the off, wireless or cloud, far to slow for many professionals.

Surface pro is a SFF PC, Ipad pro is a big Iphone.
 
Surface is a proper laptop that looks a bit like a tablet. It can run all editing operations just fine. iPad is like an iGhetto. It is still ultimately a heavily policed consumption device but admittedly it has started moving in the right direction with the pro.

Why not consider a normal macbook pro as well? Most people thinking about a tablet actually are better off with a good reliable modern laptop.
 
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I've been in this position.
Frustrated with being unable to connect hard drives to the iPad to transfer photos from a CF or SD card and then work on them.
I have tried wireless devices that supposedly offer this functionality but it takes days to simply back up my photos which was useless.
Gave up in the end and got a macbook.
Fast and simple to do all I need it to do.
It fits into my mac system with iMac & iPhone. Plus its the little things that have ultimately made me far more productive on the macbook than I ever was on the iPad.
The iPad is far more suited to the consumption of media, and things like checking where you've seen that actress on TV before on imdb!
 
Not photography related, but we have started seeing laptops being replaced by surface pros at work and they seem to be well up to the job including running fairly demanding software like autocad and revit,

I also work regularly with one particular architect who has an ipad pro. I have never seen him use it for anything other than taking meeting notes (read: drawing doodles when he's bored), just seems like a very pricey note book.
 
Can certainly recommend the Surface pro.

I use the 3,it works just as a PC, with the size and weight advantage. and is fast.

Can't comment on the Ipad v10 software, but doubt it has the range of software available.

IMHO
 
For proper editing? Not an iPad. Surface Pro 4 or Surface Book. I'm biased as my employer makes both but I have a Core i5 Surface Book and the screen is PHENOMENAL. It's not widescreen, it has a much more natural aspect ratio and it's very nice indeed. Battery life is huge and there is an additional battery and GPU in the keyboard for heavyweight work, and you can use the top half as a tablet. The pen support is excellent, too.
 
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