How To View Trail Camera Photos on iphone
It’s been days since you checked your trail camera. The anxiety is palpable and all you want to do is check out what your camera has caught.
The last thing you want to do is bring a bulky laptop to the trail or wait till you get home to view the SD card contents.
This is not only annoying but also time wasting. How about you just view the pictures on your phone?
Yes, with a few tweaks here and there, you can easily view trail cam pictures on your phone. You’re probably thinking that your iPhone cannot connect directly to your camera, right? Well wrong. Using two easily available, easily portable, and quite affordable adapters, you can easily view photos on your iPhone right at the trail.
These two adapters are the Lightning to USB Camera Adapter and the Lightning to SD Card reader. Find out more about how to view trail camera photos on iphone.
Contents
The Lightning to USB Camera Adapter
This connects your iPhone directly to your camera enabling you to download photos. Lightning to USB Adapters are available at Apple retail and online stores as well as any store selling phone accessories near you.
The beauty of this tiny device is that you don't just have to connect it with your camera. You can use it on your iPad, laptop and other ports that use USB hubs. Better yet, it comes at an affordable price of about $30.
Before you settle for a lightning to USB Camera Adapter, make sure you have a look around as they come in different designs. A great example is the three hub USB Adapter which has increased connectivity.
One tiny drawback of depending on a lightning to USB Adapter is that some trail cameras don't come with USB connectivity. For this reason, you should ensure that your camera has USB connectivity before getting the USB Camera Adapter. If it doesn't have one, no worries, an SD card reader can do the job just fine!
Lightning to SD Card Camera Reader
Another way of accessing the contents of your SD Card is by connecting it directly to an SD Card reader. This comes with a port that connects to your iPhone hub and a slot for your SD Card. It operates pretty much the same as the USB Camera Adapter and comes at an affordable price of about $30.
The SD Card Camera Reader also comes in all sorts of designs. Some, like the BoneView SD Card Reader, have added connectivity and come in the shape of a flash disk, making them portable. The advantage of using an SD card reader is that you don't have to worry about compatibility issues.
How to View Trail Camera Photos on Your iPhone
Despite the connectivity method you are using, you can view trail cam photos on your iPhone in 4 easy steps.
Connection
Connect the phone cable to that of the camera and the adapter. If you are using a memory card reader adapter, insert the SD Card into the slot.
Access your photos
Once the connection is made, the photos automatically open in the Photo app. This usually has your photos organized according to memories and the year. If you decide to open the images using iCloud, they all get uploaded to the cloud automatically.
This way, you can access them on all your devices without going through the trouble of copying them. This also allows you to share the pictures with friends and family with ease.
Choose your desired pics
After the photos automatically open with your photo app, select those that need to be transferred to your phone. The best option, especially if you are in a hurry, is to select all photos and delete the undesirable ones later.
Save
After selecting the photos, they are copied to a newly made folder called “Imported Photos and Videos”. You will get a message prompting you to either save or discard the images. Select “Save” to get the images copied to your phone for later viewing.
Why should you view trail camera images using your phone?
Bigger is better, especially when it comes to viewing and editing pictures, so it’s no wonder most people transfer camera photos straight to their computer or iPad as opposed to their phone. However, viewing pictures on your phone comes with its own advantages.
Prompt access to your trail cam photos
Viewing photos directly on your phone saves you the time of having to go home and come back to replace the SD Card.
You can switch the location of your camera
Since you have quick access to your photos, you can decide whether a certain trail is a dead spot in good time. This helps you change things up as soon as possible. And if you're scared of your camera spooking the wildlife then you should read our article titled: trail camera black flash vs infrared.
FINAL VERDICT
If you want animals to come up to your camera, you have got to spend less time on the trail. This prevents you from leaving behind your scent or tampering with the scene which will spook the critters.
Viewing photos on your phone allows you to save good pics and replace the SD card without visiting the site more than once in a day.
If you're in the market for a new trail camera at an affordable price check out our post titled: best trail camera under 100. We think you'll get a ton of valuable information from that article!