Question re: SD card reader for iPhone, iPad

January 7, 2020 2:16 PM

Considering the purchase of the Apple SD Card Reader to transfer photos from my mirrorless Fuji camera to my iPhone and/or iPad. I have a question for anyone who has used or owns one.

I'd like to buy one of these for posting photos to social media during an upcoming trip to New Orleans during Mardi Gras. I have the Fuji wireless app, which has not been the most reliable method of transfer. Simply doesn't work more than one-third of the time.

So my question is:
Does the SD Card Reader allow you to select certain images for offloading from the card to the iOS device? (Assume I'm using the latest iOS 13.x on either device, if that makes a difference.) I don't want to offload all images each time I connect the card.

Googling for an answer to this has yielded conflicting info. Thanks!

posted by jrchaplin to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (3 answers total)

I don’t use a phone for this but I do use a USB-c iPad Pro for these kinds of tasks nearly every day.

Plug in anyone’s reader with a memory card and it shows up as a new device in files. No importing required - my GoPro footage plays just fine in files without copying from the card.
posted by mce at 3:12 PM on January 7, 2020

I have the SD to lightning card reader and use it mainly while travelling to back up to iPad. I manually select the new photos I've taken since the last back up and save to iPad - you can also opt to upload everything on the card. It offers you the option to retain the imported photos on the SD card or to remove them.
posted by ElasticParrot at 4:17 PM on January 8, 2020

Many cameras have a USB Mass Storage Device mode. You may be able to make this work with just a Lightning to (whatever USB connector your camera has) cable.
posted by Nerd of the North at 10:03 AM on January 9, 2020