It’s all about the iPad, isn’t it?
I have just spent a couple of weeks with the Android powered S series Sony Tablet computer… What does this have to do with photography I hear you mutter… well, a lot, actually! Read on…
Sony S Wi-Fi Tablet (32GB) on Amazon.com
I’ve started photographing slightly different subjects, these include families, children and people that, for a change, are not on a stage singing – so I wanted something to take my images to meetings with families and prospective corporate clients in Melbourne – I didn’t want to cart my Macbook Pro along. It got me thinking – aside from the iPad, what are my options to carry around my images in such a way that it’s easy to find and display them to people? I wanted the screen to be nice and crisp and punchy, and I wanted it to be light and to have good battery life.
A couple of days of wondering was followed by an email from Sony, announcing their newly launched S Series Tablet, sporting an Android OS and sufficient picture displaying power. A quick email later and I had the S series sitting on my desk, eyeing up my old iPad with a watchful 5mp camera… (the back one takes photos and 720p HD video) I wanted to give it a thorough going over, but this review is mostly about how it displays images, not about how good it is at everything else it does (for those of you wondering, I thought it was very good!)
Now, I’m pretty much open to whatever works these days, it used to be all “gotta be windows and Canon!” now I’m more “whatever works when I need it to’ …so, I wasn’t put off by the Android OS (I’m mostly Mac at home right now, so when I told my Android fanboy dad that I had an Android device coming in, he was chuffed!) …though it did take about half an hour to find all the things I was looking for, order them into places where I could get to them easily… The processor is a dual core (it has one engine that kind of acts as if it’s two engines, for those of you that don’t do computer speak) which is an NVidia 1Ghz job, all I’ll tell you here is that it is totally sufficient for a bit of web (real quick, actually) and some text and a heavy PDF eBook (I was looking through the dPS Click eBook for reference) and the main reason that I got hold of the little device (598gm or about the same as iPadII) which was to show people my portfolio of photographs and hopefully get myself a shoot as a result – it’s important, I think, that when you’re talking to prospective clients that all of your gear works as it should, that you can show someone what they want to see, fast and clear.
The Sony springs to life very quickly from stand-by, and with my most used icons well within reach – it was mere seconds before we were browsing through the various collections of images that I had on offer, portrait, babies, children, music (if they wanted to see them!) and all the while it didn’t slow down or do anything weird… The most important thing here is that the slightly smaller (9.4″) Sony 9.4-inch TruBlack™ touch-screen display was very nice to look at – the iPad is also pretty sweet, no arguments there, but with the angle on the back of the Sony, we had it sitting on a table, coffee to the side, and it looked very good!
The battery is listed as lasting up to 8 hours, it seemed to me to do that and more – I was using it on and off daily, sometimes reading “Click” sometimes browsing the web and sometimes showing images to people – video is also very good (Though I didn’t love the audio – headphones totally overcame that! I use Beats Studio)
The Sony uses DNLA which in easy word terms means that you can share content between certain devices, think Wifi TV’s and things like that – I don’t have a wifi tv, but have heard from others that it’s sort of cool! Though, don’t go to a client’s house expecting to flick your portfolio up onto their 1958 HMV! — When it does work, with the right connected gear, it is very impressive!
The Sony S series tablet has a whole host of features, including a wild all singing all dancing remote control – no longer needed my seven remotes… (My wife almost let me have one just for that fact alone!) but with everything my iPad could do, the Sony was never found lacking in my two weeks of use. This includes tethering directly from the device to a dSLR [I've not done this as I don't have a cable, but here's a video for you If you've done this, what was it like? Comment below!]
Coming in at a little cheaper than the iPad equivalent, it’s well worth considering as a photographers tool! $458 on Amazon.com | Sony S Wi-Fi Tablet (32GB)
And it may well be my photographs, or my hilarious quick wit, or, it may be how good the images looked on the Sony S series Tablet that secured me two shoots in the time I was using it to display my portfolio….
The Sony S series is available on Amazon, or via Sony Australia for $499.00 for the 16Gb Wifi version, $599.00 for the 32Gb Wifi version and $649.00 for 32Gb and Wifi / 3G.
A great all around digital life organiser / social media tool / computer on the go / portfolio – 7 of a possible 10 stars on the Simon Pollock scale. I don’t get to keep the Sony, it was provided for review purposes only, back to my banged up, version one iPad for now…
23 Responses to “It’s all about the iPad, isn’t it?” - Add Yours
March 8th, 2012 at 7:12 am
I’ve wanted to get a tablet for sometime now. I really wanted one for to help with my photography so this is definitely something I will look into. Since the 2 major choices are either Android or iPad (I personally like the android platform) I’m glad you hear a review from a trusted source. Hopefully this will push me further along into the world of Photography. Thanks!
March 8th, 2012 at 7:40 am
I’ve always liked the google integration of Android. I only just recently switched to iPhone because of lack of decent AT&T handsets.
But the main reason I don’t like Android for photography is the lack of photo portfolio apps. The photo editing apps are aimed at the built in camera.
One good thing about the iPad being so prominent is all the apps.
March 8th, 2012 at 7:41 am
The element that was forgotten was that the Android EcoSystem is fragmented and rife with crapplets (crappy apps). In my experience with every Android tablet from the Motorola Xoom to the Samsung Galaxy Tab to the Sony reviewed here – they all fail compared to the iPad. Why – it is the OS and not the hardware.
I, too, use my iPad as my portable portfolio. I use the native Photo’s app in most cases though I have tried some of the custom portfolio apps. What I have found is that the response to the iPad is much more immediate and emotional than the Android devices – I can only attribute this to the responsiveness of the OS and apps – there is a perceptible “lag” on Androids that reminds us that we are using a computer. The iPad doesn’t suffer from the “lag” and the flipping, swiping, and page turning feel natural.
I suppose that I would have a different public opinion if Sony (or any other vendor) had given me a device to review – since a harsh review would lead to no more freebies – but I doubt it. In my experience nothing compares to the iPad for a truly immersive and personal experience that will impress your clients, and perspective clients.
My advice – skip the imitations and get the real thing – your money will be much better spent on an iPad than any other tablet out there – they are cheap imitations though not inexpensive.
March 8th, 2012 at 8:00 am
Odd timing on this article considering that Apple just announced the new iPad, with an incredibly high-resolution screen, 5MP camera, and at the same time, dropped the iPad 2 price by $100.
March 8th, 2012 at 8:49 am
This sounds too much like a sponsored post for me to take it seriously.
March 8th, 2012 at 9:56 am
I use a Motorola Xoom – 32G Wifi for $300.00. I takes micro SDHC cards and has a terrific display. It has plenty of quality apps available including Photoshop. Several gallery apps display my photo portfolio in excellent style. I see no reason to spend almost twice as much for an Ipad. Great article.
March 8th, 2012 at 10:13 am
As jeff alluded to: if you want your photos to “pop”, consider the just-announced-today iPad. Your pictures will never ever look better than on that new display.
While all the tablets are probably good…the iPad is known to be good. And reliable (it’s for your business, right?), and the OS is more seamless to the hardware than ANY other tablet made. Period.
March 8th, 2012 at 11:53 am
Um, this is a joke isn’t it? The updated iPad has four times the pixel density of this sony nock-off, longer battery life and beats it hands down in performance… and is cheaper.
Anyone looking for a tablet to display photo’s would be stupid to pass on the new iPad, wait til you see the screen, it is insane.
March 8th, 2012 at 1:35 pm
I have an iPad 2 and the Sony Tablet S at home, and the single biggest difference, by a country mile, in photography terms is the SD card slot in the Sony. It is just so easy! I have the SD adapter for the iPad, but it never seems to be in the right bag at the time, and it is still very limited in what you can do, and incredibly slow to use (it has to read all the images on the card, even if you have a thousand hires images on there, before you can do anything, and even then, all you can do is import them to the Camera Roll.
The Sony reveals this as a joke with its instant access to the card and its contents.
Having said that, saying the Sony display looks nice on the day the new iPad is announced is just silly. There’s no comparison, and given that this article was about how to SHOW your photos on tablet, it’s pointless.
March 8th, 2012 at 1:45 pm
Hey Russell, I was going to mention that – but I don’t use SD, so I didn’t… Lucky you’ve got an iPad II though, eh (I don’t) …I shall just go back to writing pointless stuff for you to pick apart
–S
March 8th, 2012 at 3:13 pm
Its amusing to read this article moments after the intro of the ipad 3. I placed an order half an hour ago for the new ipad. I am kinda in the same boat as you, when i was younger everything had to be windows, but after i got my first macbook and now macbook pro everything just happens to be apple, the products just feel better in hand and work well, my windows laptop would start showing its age within a year, my 3 year old macbook pro is as fast as it was day one. This is going to be my first ipad, and i purchased it as i am going on a vacation to europe and didnt want to tag along a full sized laptop. Just wondering did u end up buying the tablet or was just loaned for review? If you havent purchased it, would u consider the new ipad?
March 8th, 2012 at 6:22 pm
Windows 8 tablets will be better than any tablet. The x86 version of Windows Tablets will be able to run Adobe Photoshop and many more photography apps. that are made for Windows.
March 8th, 2012 at 6:27 pm
iPad 3 as a laptop or a gaming machine.
is a good laptop for photographer too.
March 9th, 2012 at 12:54 am
When Sony produced their palm-sized assistants in the 1990s as their response to the Palm, I purchased one and as a music player (one of its most promoted uses) it was pretty much useless because of their copy right fascism. There was a limit on how many times you could save a song to the device and I actually never got any music purchased from them to work on the device, only the music a copied from my CDs. There was a lot of proprietary software as well. The digital recorder I purchased from them was the same. Given that their copyright lawyers think we should all purchase a copy for each device we intend to play it on, I’m not sure it is safe to use any of their products other than televisions. Who is going to own the data once loaded on the device?
March 9th, 2012 at 1:08 am
I totally relate to what you said, Zaman. I used to be all about Windows because I liked the total control I had over the file system. Right-click on anything and you would have a context menu full of options. (Plus, i gotta have my PC games!) However, after I got a MacBook Pro from work, I started understanding the appeal of Macs – the stability, speed, simplicity, and clean and polished interface. As for tablets, if your primary reason for having one is to showcase your photography, there really is no contest now that the new iPad is out. Retina resolution at 9.7 inches? Wish I didn’t already have an iPad 2.
March 9th, 2012 at 9:15 am
I got a Toshiba Thrive specifically to shoot tethered and I’ve used it for that a few times. It works, and has helped me get some low angle shots without myself getting muddy. However I’ve found the quality of the preview is not good. I don’t know if that’s my camera (nikon d7000) or the software I’m using but it is hard to see exactly what you are focusing on, but being able to touch the “exact” focal point is nice. The other issue is I end up with the RAW files in my tablet and that is a bit harder to process when they are in multiple locations.
March 9th, 2012 at 1:13 pm
The biggest problem of ipad or for that matter iphone is that they can not share files if not jailbroken. You are locked despite having gr8 hardwares, no go if u r moving and working.
Himanshu
An iPad user
March 9th, 2012 at 1:20 pm
The device is so small that I lost my galaxy tab plus 7 in the plane…
March 11th, 2012 at 4:28 am
One does NOT need to jailbreak an iPhone or iPad at all. One can share files with any system with Dropbgox. 5Gig of storage free. I have shared files with my desktop, pad and phone and sent them to clients as well. Don’t like Dropbox use one of several other services or simply turn photos into PDF files and mail. This jailbreak comment is unnecessary.
March 13th, 2012 at 7:29 pm
I didn’t think a place like DPS, full of photography experts, would need me telling them this, but maybe I was wrong:
Don’t let the pixel count fool you.
Yes, the screen on the new iPad is pretty amazing, but in every other conceivable way, it’s inferior to the newer Android tablets. Speed, seamless integration and sync, usabilty, etc.
Buying the new iPad is like buying that Casio compact camera, because it has “the most megapixels”. Ok, maybe not quick that bad, but unless screen resolution is really all you’re after, maybe you shouldn’t automatically focus on the iPad.
March 13th, 2012 at 9:39 pm
My experience is limited to iPhone and the HTC EVO, but based on it, I’ll take the iPhone and iPad. It isn’t all about pixels, it’s all about the camera sensor. The EVO had an 8 MP camera when the iPhone was still at 5 MP, but the iPhone camera kicked its butt when it came to image quality.
March 14th, 2012 at 12:31 pm
As this is a photo blog, I think the focus does need to be on pixel count and the quality of the screen. The primary uses of any tablet for a photog, I would think, would be to display photos for clients, family, friends, and/or self and maybe some light processing. And at this point in the arms race, the iPad is winning. As for the camera, what self-respecting photog would use a tablet to take photos?! I think it’s pretty ridiculous for a photographer, much less anyone, to be using such a large device to take photos or, gasp, videos.
March 15th, 2012 at 2:02 am
There are so many great apps for the Ipad that allow you to do different types of photography. There is also an app that lets you do time lapse photography.
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