[BruceBanner]

I am posting here in case someone here has been a similar situation and can recommend a tablet (including platform) to suit my needs.

First things first, I don't actually have a tablet currently and have been keen to grab one to replace an old Nexus 2012 tablet that died some years back, so this is not a purchase brought about by my impending K-1 that is due to be delivered next week, but rather something I was wanting anyway.
I tend to read better on tablets than books or magazines, I also enjoy digital comics that I have, I often 'Pocket' articles from my browser (on my windows 10 pc) and then consume said articles from a comfier location such as the couch or bed, or at least I did in the past, I've missed it... ).

This is reason 1 why I would like a tablet, to consume text articles/study.

Reason/Criteria 2; As I try and make a living from photography I will want something 'lightish' and thin to transport around with me allowing me to demonstrate my portfolio. This therefore means I'm looking for a very high PPI and general vibrant/high quality screen.

Reason/Criteria 3; Currently I have a Pentax K-50, which has an Eyefi card housed within. I have enjoyed being able to wirelessly transfer a picture from my K-50 to my android smartphone on the go (and then being able to edit lightly>Instagram etc). I know the K-1 has wifi, so I'm imagining this sorta thing should also be possible (therefore I don't need to rely on my frail Eyefi sd card that is falling apart, those things seem to have a tendency to have a weak enclosure...), I'm wondering if this aspect can be taken a step further with semi fast/or live preview of the pictures just taken?
I recall one time during Sydney's Vivid festival, I saw a gentlemen take pics and had a tablet connected up to his camera I think, and was checking his work as he was snapping, could be very handy. I do believe the K-1 has a nice LCD screen, it may very well be large and suitable for this task, but perhaps by choosing a certain tablet (including platform, iOS, Android, Windows etc) might be important in working well with the K-1?

Reason/Criteria 4; something light to take on holidays.


I'm aware of Pentax's expensive Image Transmitter 2 software, but it doesn't seem to get good reviews. Being software that is more intended for a laptop (Mac or PC) that increases the price and bulk significantly and starts defeating the purpose, and I'm also imagining overkill for my needs (I'm not in a studio, i'm not wanting to control the camera from a tablet. Often with my K-50 I have taken pics, checked them out on the back of the camera screen, thought they were decent, got back home, checked pictures on a 24 inch 1080p monitor and realised the ones I thought were good are actually too soft/out of focus etc. I've always thought if I could get a larger screen to view the series of pictures taken I could leave that location with less anxiety and more confidence that the outing was a success.
Sometimes with these sorts of things Pentax/Ricoh might not sing and dance about it but an actual paid for app in an app store can so this sorta thing for far less etc.

Anyway, ebay has a 20% off tech sale currently for quite a few major tech companies here in oz, so it's not a bad time to strike for one as well...
I'm hoping Android will be the way to go, it's cheaper than iPad's and more windows 10 compatible etc. Windows 10 tablets are not only expensive but the PPI is less than what I have seen on some Android variants, basically paying too much for guts and grunt and being left with a subpar screen...


Does anyone have anything they might like to add to this thread?

Cheers,

Bruce

[SeaRefractor]

Be careful of Windows 10 tablets, the OS is not necessarily always the same. The smaller screen variety are typically loaded with Windows 10 "32bit edition" and so Adobe's latest versions are 64bit only so the older versions will install instead. I have a Dell Venue 8 Pro with Windows 10 Pro installed on it, but found I was limited in the versions that Adobe Creative Cloud would install because of that reason.

Personally, what tablet you pick should be based on the software you'll use. I have a Windows 10 (Dell Venue 8 Pro), Google Nexus 10, Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and a Dell Latitude. I am considering donating the Dell Venue 8 Pro as I hardly use it any more. The Google is stuck on Jelly Bean but has an amazing screen for the Play Newsstand, so I can read my magazines in full screen format. Just realize with Android, even if you go with a costly Google product (Pixel C), you shouldn't expect more than a revision or two of the OS since the purchase of your device. Windows systems do seem to hold up better, but yes they do cost more for a 64bit edition.

[calsan]

Travelled with my ipad and would have been better leaving it at home. Wasn't compatible with hotel wifi in Japan - would see networks but not connect.
Copying photos to the device using the apple sd card adapter took forever and it only recognised jpegs.

After a week, I just left it in a family member's place and bought an extra large SD card for backups.
My opinion - either use a phone or a computer. Tablet is just for browsing the internet at home on the couch.

[BruceBanner]

Be careful of Windows 10 tablets, the OS is not necessarily always the same. The smaller screen variety are typically loaded with Windows 10 "32bit edition" and so Adobe's latest versions are 64bit only so the older versions will install instead. I have a Dell Venue 8 Pro with Windows 10 Pro installed on it, but found I was limited in the versions that Adobe Creative Cloud would install because of that reason.

Personally, what tablet you pick should be based on the software you'll use. I have a Windows 10 (Dell Venue 8 Pro), Google Nexus 10, Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and a Dell Latitude. I am considering donating the Dell Venue 8 Pro as I hardly use it any more. The Google is stuck on Jelly Bean but has an amazing screen for the Play Newsstand, so I can read my magazines in full screen format. Just realize with Android, even if you go with a costly Google product (Pixel C), you shouldn't expect more than a revision or two of the OS since the purchase of your device. Windows systems do seem to hold up better, but yes they do cost more for a 64bit edition.

My experience with Windows on a tablet is limited, tho from my understanding they are more expensive because they are full on computers, cost more due to processor and bits inside, and usually have less battery life. I'm not looking for something so lavish unless it really fitted the criteria I have outlined in relation to pairing with the K-1.

I should say that this isn't really for editing pictures on (tho perhaps that might be a good additional feature when on holidays, can edit and upload rather than process them all back home post holiday (when usually there is enough to do post return from trips!). I realise Lightroom and other editing software exists on the Android platform, they however are likely to be stripped down variants with some features omit I imagine.

What I want is the ability to transfer the RAW image from the K-1 to the android tablet in as quick a fashion as possible, preferably wirelessly...

With Eyefi, you get the app on the phone, and you can transfer, but it has to be jpg, a bit of a bummer as it's an additional step on the camera to get the shot across to the phone.
The real intention here is for me to take pics in RAW from the K-1, and if possible transfer them to the tablet (as I'm snapping), so that I can review them in relatively quick fashion. If live previews are not possible (i'm imagining a video cable would be needed for this) then perhaps wireless transfers that are automatic can be setup, albeit I'll have to wait a bit before the pics come through...

I might grab the pdf K-1 Manual and start there, see what it says, perhaps it too (like the K-50) cannot do RAW transfers... perhaps i'll need to set up the camera to take jpg and raw simultaneously and just review the jpg (on the larger tablet screen), I should get a good idea if the picture was in focus in places where it needed to be etc).

Travelled with my ipad and would have been better leaving it at home. Wasn't compatible with hotel wifi in Japan - would see networks but not connect.
Copying photos to the device using the apple sd card adapter took forever and it only recognised jpegs.

After a week, I just left it in a family member's place and bought an extra large SD card for backups.
My opinion - either use a phone or a computer. Tablet is just for browsing the internet at home on the couch.

My phone is a 98g Blue Vivo Air LTE running Android (4.3 inch screen), i'm content with it and not looking to currently replace. I can understand perhaps if I sought after a large phablet style phone (5.5-6 inch screen) then that might be a good compromise but I can't help feel that's not that much larger than the back of the K-1 screen and might not be quite the step up I'm looking for. And then in terms of the criteria points listed I'm not sure how happy I would be to use phone 100% for reading on all the time etc. Besides good phones like that are also pretty pricey!

I have found this, seems to be cheaper than even what eBay's 20% off tech sale is giving;

Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 Wifi | eGlobaL Australia

Delivered to me it's $400AUD (within my budget).

- 8 inch screen AMOLED
- 2048x1536 res (fantastic PPI)
- 3gb RAM
- Android 6.0

Most of that seems pretty good for my purposes, I just need to workout if the Playstore has anything that's gonna work well with the K-1...

[clackers]

My experience with Windows on a tablet is limited, tho from my understanding they are more expensive because they are full on computers, cost more due to processor and bits inside, ...

Windows these days isn't just for high-end Surface devices, there are kernels for low end ARM tablets and even Raspberry Pi devices.

[pakinjapan]

If I were you,
1. Size: Tablet should be able to stick in my pants back pocket. I had never considered this until I got a Nexus7 2013 2-3 years ago and it perfectly goes in to any pants back pocket.
It is 200 x 114 x 8.7 mm or 7.87 x 4.49 x 0.34 inch. Convenient tablet's size proved to be one of the best feature for me because if I need something bigger than that, Laptop will do the job. Anything smaller than that (smartphone size) it will be uncomfortable to edit images and view Google map.

2. Platform: It must have no problem tethering with my camera. (You mention you have a K-1.) I think iOS and Android are safest for this?

[BruceBanner]

Windows these days isn't just for high-end Surface devices, there are kernels for low end ARM tablets and even Raspberry Pi devices.

I owned a Surface 2 (RT), was actually ok (till it died), but it's too large for what I'm considering for. I also owned a 7 inch low end ARM Win 8 tablet, wasn't too found of it, was good to begin with but soon got slow, buggy and laggy.

If I were you,
1. Size: Tablet should be able to stick in my pants back pocket. I had never considered this until I got a Nexus7 2013 2-3 years ago and it perfectly goes in to any pants back pocket.
It is 200 x 114 x 8.7 mm or 7.87 x 4.49 x 0.34 inch. Convenient tablet's size proved to be one of the best feature for me because if I need something bigger than that, Laptop will do the job. Anything smaller than that (smartphone size) it will be uncomfortable to edit images and view Google map.

2. Platform: It must have no problem tethering with my camera. (You mention you have a K-1.) I think iOS and Android are safest for this?

Yeh I completely agree. The Nexus 2012 tablet I had was 7 inches, fitted back pocket, and was a nice size, I can imagine 1 more inch not hurting too much (such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 at 8 inches), I hear the S3 is to be announced soon so that should hopefully drive the S2 prices down even further...

[wissink]

Im thinking about this as well. Had a Surface Pro 3, sold it. Too slow for lightroom, battery too short. Had a Nexus 7 and sold it to my dad. I miss the portability and longevity of that device. I really want to go amoled for white letters on dark screen for reading though. I've been eyeballing the Tab S2 as well. I hate laptops due to my poor vision and thus quazimoto posture trying to use them.

There are other tablets of similar specs to the S2. Asus Zenpad, Pixel C, Lenovos, even the Nvidia Sheild I think. Anyways.. the S2 looks appealing for the AMOLED to me.

[clackers]

Im thinking about this as well. Had a Surface Pro 3, sold it. Too slow for lightroom, .

To run Lightroom, you'd want 8Gb minimum of RAM on your tablet, notebook or PC.

[wissink]

To run Lightroom, you'd want 8Gb minimum of RAM on your tablet, notebook or PC.

Thats why I have my desktop. But all our family is out of town and I'd love to be able to read on the couch. My windows phone isn't reliable nor does it have access to numerous apps I used to use on Nexus 7 2013.

[BruceBanner]

Im thinking about this as well. Had a Surface Pro 3, sold it. Too slow for lightroom, battery too short. Had a Nexus 7 and sold it to my dad. I miss the portability and longevity of that device. I really want to go amoled for white letters on dark screen for reading though. I've been eyeballing the Tab S2 as well. I hate laptops due to my poor vision and thus quazimoto posture trying to use them.

There are other tablets of similar specs to the S2. Asus Zenpad, Pixel C, Lenovos, even the Nvidia Sheild I think. Anyways.. the S2 looks appealing for the AMOLED to me.

Yeh Tab S2 is for me the front runner currently.

To run Lightroom, you'd want 8Gb minimum of RAM on your tablet, notebook or PC.

Yeh well my desktop pc is a bit og a gaming rig, Lightroom says it's compatible with my GPU but in fact it isn't, I get faster smoother performance with GPU acceleration unticked So it's not just about specs etc, at the end of the day it might install ok but the experience be very poor indeed.

Thats why I have my desktop. But all our family is out of town and I'd love to be able to read on the couch. My windows phone isn't reliable nor does it have access to numerous apps I used to use on Nexus 7 2013.

Yeh i'm the same, desktop for the grunt of work, i would just like a tablet for out and about and couch consumption. Image Sync seems to be something that works with Android and Pentax K-1, will have to test it next week on my phone, that'll give me an idea if it works well etc before committing to the Tab S2.

[wissink]

Id love to hear about your experience. I have a windows phone so I can't help there. Also note I don't believe the Tab S3 will have an 8" variant.

[clackers]

Yeh well my desktop pc is a bit og a gaming rig, Lightroom says it's compatible with my GPU but in fact it isn't, I get faster smoother performance with GPU acceleration unticked So it's not just about specs etc, at the end of the day it might install ok but the experience be very poor indeed.

.

Well, that's Adobe for you. The gaming companies seem to be able to write code that works.

[BruceBanner]

Well my K-1 arrived this week, and I tried out the Ricoh Image Sync app available in the Android Play Store using my Android phone. I was pleasantly surprised. I had no issue setting it up, getting it to work etc. I could view quickly the pictures on my camera sd card on a larger screen, and these were DNG files as well. I could remote control the K-1 and do a 'selfie' (because I could use the phone to frame myself for the shot).
All in I think this will work ok for my means, it prompted me to grab a Samsung S2 8.0 tab that should hopefully be in my hands in the very near future.

I haven't tested Image Sync extensively, I haven't transferred pictures to the phone (for uploading to social media etc), nor am I sure how well quickly it can be used a second time (do i have to input the wifi pw everytime?), so I'm far from being finished with getting to proper grips with it and evaluating it prooperly, but first impressions were ok (and I was surprised as it has a pretty bad rating, it could be that it has had quite a bit of development on it since it's initial release... or I am very easily satisfied...).

[BruceBanner]

Update on the Image Sync and Samsung S2 tablet;

Here's a pic of me standing with the K-1 focusing on me and the S2 tablet in Image Sync mode showing a Live View of me (the shot was taken via a remote with the K-50 behind me);



I've spent a little more time with the Image Sync app and a few things come to mind;

1) It doesn't do a great job of remembering the K-1's wifi password. I've had to make a memo pad on the S2 and often c/p the pw into the Image Sync software whenever I want to use it <groan>. Coming from the Eyefi interface they did it much better, things just paired and worked more often than not.

2) Although the K-1 has wifi, from the camera there doesn't seem to be a way to 'push' a file across (unlike the K-50's Eyefi method). It may be that the only way to transfer files off the K-1 wirelessly is through the Image Sync (for Android) app, which is prolly very limiting tbh...

3) Disappointingly (tho probably to be expected had I thought long and hard enough about it), when viewing the Live View and pictures taken via the Image Sync app, they don't look that great because what yer seeing is the restraint dimensions/resolution of the K-1's LCD screen live view up on a higher res screened device. This actually makes the whole process of doing this stuff on a tablet null void, as you actually get a far better idea if the shot taken was good/sharp/in focus on the back of the K-1 than on a larger tablet screened device... :|
Plenty pictures I took looked soft on the tablet, go check Live View on the K-1, zoom in slighty and confirm the areas are not soft like they appeared on the tablet but in actual fact sharp where they should be.


It's not all the K-1's and Image Syncs fault, the S2 with it's very high PPI even makes just looking at Instagram pics a naffier experience (than phone), because images that are maxed at 1200 pixels are being dragged out over 1500 etc.

It feels as tho although the K-1 has Wifi, there are a lot of issues needing addressed in this intense PPI tech world now. No doubt the pictures I take and transfer across look amazing, but once uploaded, viewing in certain apps and methods don't take advantages of the screen. There definitely needs to be a HD Instagram app for example (if this high PPI trend continues). Yes the majority use instagram via the phone, but Instagram is definitely something that is being used by professionals and larger screened devices.

EDIT:

4) Oh, I don't think there's a way to use Image Sync and be in any other mode other than single shot. Bracketing, timer etc all don't work as far as I can tell.