How to Import Videos From SD Card to IPad or IPhone
When I take photos or shoot videos, I like to use a good camera and then import the photos to my iPad, which is my dedicated photo editing and social media sharing device. But if I want to import videos from the same SD card, it is more complicated process. This is how you do it.
Step 1: Buy an Apple Lightning Camera SD Card Reader
These small electronic keys are great for taking photos on the go. All you have to do is plug it into your iPad’s Lightning port and then insert the SD card into the slot. You will quickly see all the images on the card and can import as many as you want (even RAW images). When I travel, I shoot with a Sony a7R II, transfer the images to my iPad, and then use Adobe Lightroom to make them look even better. This is a great setup.
However, you will not be shown the video files on the map. For some reason, Apple doesn’t make it easy to transfer video files to iPad or iPhone unless they were captured on one of those devices (or don’t already live on your Mac). It’s a shame, especially since the iPad has good video editing capabilities. So, you need to get creative.
Step 2. Make sure you are using MP4 format
Before I get started, a quick note about formats. Whatever you use to shoot, make sure the video files are out in MP4 format or that you can convert them to MP4 . Otherwise, your iOS device probably won’t be able to do anything with them.
Step 3. Move the video files to the DCIM folder.
One of the reasons the iPad won’t see your video files is because they’re probably in a separate folder that iOS doesn’t check. For example, with my Sony camera, the video files are stored in PRIVATE> M4ROOT> CLIP, but instead they should be in the DCIM (or “digital camera images”) folder. If your files are not in the DCIM folder, you need to move them. I use a laptop with a built-in SD card reader for this, but you can also use a USB SD card reader. Copy the files from their original folder and then paste them into the DCIM folder. If your SD card does not have a DCIM folder, you need to create one.
Step 4: rename files using 8 character file names
Now that you have the video files in the correct folder, you may need to rename them. The new filename – and yes, that’s weird – must be exactly eight characters long, plus the file extension (“.MP4”). For example, my Sony camera names video files something like “C0300.MP4”, but I have to rename them to “clip0001.MP4”. I don’t quite understand why this is needed (if so, call me), but it is.
Step 5: import video files
Your video files are in the correct format, they are in the correct folder and renamed. You are finally ready to import! Connect Lightning dongle to iPad and insert SD card. You should see your videos among the photos on the import screen. Now you can edit them using various apps or share them on Instagram – as I was finally able to do with this video about cute ducklings:
This whole process is painful, but you get used to it pretty quickly. And while, unfortunately, you need a laptop to do this, at least you can plan ahead and upload tons of videos for work – for example, on long flights. There are other ways to import videos that don’t require renaming files, but they can be even more complex and require a few more adapters. For now, this is as simple as possible.