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Review: Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter – a podcaster’s best friend

Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter

In addition to Apple’s newly released USB-C to Lightning Cable, which allows for faster iPad Pro charging, Apple also released a new Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter. This new $39.00 adapter is geared towards allowing users to easily transfer photos and videos from digital cameras to the iPad Pro.

But it’s no secret that this adapter has other talents, such as being able to power USB microphones for applications like podcasting, song recording, and voiceovers. Apple says that you can also connect USB accessories like hubs, Ethernet adapters, MIDI interfaces, flash readers, and more.

12.9″ iPad Pro owners received an added bonus as well, that being able to take advantage of the iPad Pro’s USB 3 transfer speeds. All of this considered, is the Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter a worthwhile investment?

How does it work?

Unlike the standard $29.00 Lightning to USB Camera Adapter, this new USB 3-enabled adapter features a Lightning input for powering the device. This means that, in order to truly take advantage of the adapter, you’ll need to mate it with a Lightning cable (not included).

Having a powered adapter allows you to circumvent the annoying The connected device requires too much power error message that pops up when plugging in devices that need too much juice. With the new Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter, that message will generally be a thing of the past, at least with supported iPads.

Video Walkthrough

What does it work with?

Apple states that the Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter works with both the 12.9″ iPad Pro and the just-released 9.7″ iPad Pro. There is a difference, which could be a deal breaker for some, in that the 9.7″ iPad Pro only supports USB 2.0 transfer speeds. That’s a bummer, especially if you’re purchasing this adapter for transferring large photos and videos to your iPad.

Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter iPad Pro

Apple also lists other hardware from the iPad line as being compatible with the Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter:

  • iPad with Retina display
  • iPad mini
  • iPad mini 2
  • iPad Air
  • iPad Air 2
  • iPad mini 3
  • iPad mini 4
  • iPad Pro (9.7-inch)
  • iPad Pro (12.9-inch)

As mentioned, the only device on this list that supports USB 3 transfer speeds is the 12.9″ iPad Pro.

It (sort of) works on iPhone

As usual, my curiosity got the best of me. I wanted to see how the adapter worked on the iPhone, especially when it came to powering a USB microphone that normally presented me with an error message when trying to connect it with the old Lightning to USB Camera Adapter.

Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter iPhone

I connected my Shure MV5 microphone, which actually features a Lightning cable and supports iOS devices natively, but can also be used with a standard USB cable. If you connect via the old adapter using its USB cable, iOS presents the “too much power” error message.

When connecting the Shure MV5 to the new Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter, I still got the error message, but only briefly. The error message flashes on screen, but quickly goes away, allowing me to use my microphone on the iPhone as well. Obviously your mileage may vary with this, as Apple isn’t officially supporting it, but I was able to use my USB-powered microphone with no issues.

Transfer speed

If you own a 12.9″ iPad Pro, the Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter increases the throughput for transferring photos and videos to your iPad. As long as your source is USB 3, you’ll notice much-improved transfer speeds.

Although my available USB 3 devices are limited, I was able to test the difference between a USB 3 file transfer on my iPad Pro versus a USB 2.0 transfer on my iPhone. The difference, as expected, was noticeable. I was able to transfer ~4.1GB of video between my iPad Pro and my USB 3 flash drive in about 66 seconds. The same transfer took 151 seconds on my iPhone 6s. That difference in speeds won’t blow you away, but if you’re someone who works with large photos and videos on a regular basis, the time saved will definitely add up.

Remember that you can also use Apple’s Lightning to SD Card Camera Adapter for increased throughput with SD Cards. Like the Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter, throughput increases are limited to the 12.9″ iPad Pro.

A podcaster’s dream

Apple’s main reason for producing such an adapter is geared towards transferring photos and videos to the iPad. That said, Apple’s SVP of Worldwide Marketing, Phil Schiller, made it clear that Apple was willing to cater to podcasters and others looking to connect USB devices to their iPads.

Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter Lightning Port

If you own a USB microphone without a powered Lightning connector, then the Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter is a no-brainer. Many of the best USB microphones out there aren’t supported natively on the iPad via Lightning, but with this new adapter, support is just a $39.00 purchase away. As Shawn mentions in the comments, however, the microphone will still need to be “Class Compliant” or “iOS Compliant”. Many of the mics/interfaces that I figure most iOS podcasters will be using, such as the Blue Yeti, Shure MV5, Apogee, and FocusRite Scarlett series are supported.

Conclusion

If you take lots of photos and videos and wish to edit them on the 12.9″ iPad Pro, the Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter is easy to recommend. This device makes it possible to transfer photos and videos at high speeds between your iPad Pro and camera or flash media adapter.

If you own a 9.7″ iPad Pro or lesser, and media transfer is your only reason for purchasing this adapter, the lack of USB 3 support is a bummer, but you might still benefit from having the option to add power to the adapter via a Lightning cable.

If you’re a podcaster, and you’re looking to drive a power-hungry microphone, then the Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter is a must-have accessory; it’s as simple as that. This new adapter plays nice with iPads, and as I joyfully discovered, it can even work with iPhones.

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Comments

  1. xoFoxtail - 8 years ago

    I was thinking about getting this to speed up importing photos onto my iPad Pro. Not really sure if it’s worth it or not though.

  2. I’m curious to know if they’ll ever let the ‘Pro’ devices read from and write to USB Storage. I think if they really want to replace PCs in the work or professional environment they’ll have to open up access to some sort of filesystem, be it a sandbox or shared document storage. iCloud drive doesn’t cut it.

    • srgmac - 8 years ago

      This should be obvious…I am not sure why Apple is so wholeheartedly against external storage on “Pro” devices.
      I don’t understand it at all…The Macs have built-in SD slots…Why not the iOS devices?
      Especially considering the ridiculously limited and expensive storage options on the iOS devices.
      Their $ per GB is so obscene, it’s like 3-5x more expensive IIRC than the equivalent MicroSD storage options.
      Example: A 128GB MicroSD card can be had for around $40.00 USD
      So that’s ~$0.32 per GB with MicroSD; not bad at all IMHO; and you can have multiple cards & use them to quickly transfer data between devices, like cameras, laptops, other tablets, etc.
      On the iPad Pro it’s an additional $150.00 USD for the jump to 128GB internal storage from 32GB; so 96GB extra for 150 bones.
      That’s ~$1.57 per GB! What makes anyone think this is acceptable?!
      Please; before all the comments saying that Apple *can* get away with this an it’s their duty to make a profit, I’m not an idiot, I understand this.
      But I just see this as a total dick move to their customers; plus this is supposed to be a “Pro” class device, they have the iPad Airs still for the masses; and in the end, is this really worth it to treat your “Pro” users like this?

  3. applegetridofsimandjack - 8 years ago

    This adapter is as expensive as a frikin tv.

  4. Wayne (@btontour1) - 8 years ago

    Have you tried it with a Ethernet adapter,nice review Jeff

    • Jeff Benjamin - 8 years ago

      I haven’t yet, as I don’t own any USB ethernet adapters, just Thunderbolt. I did try it with a USB-C to USB-A adapter, and although it was recognized by my Mac, the speeds weren’t USB 3 speeds at all. I’m very curious to see if USB-3 speeds are there when syncing/pulling photos on the 12″ MacBook.

    • srgmac - 8 years ago

      Doubt that will work; would need some kind of driver.

  5. Graham J - 8 years ago

    $40! It’s almost as if Apple doesn’t have tens of billions of dollars in cash just sitting around collecting dust (and interest)

    • theronster - 8 years ago

      How exactly do you think they ended up with that cash mountain?

    • srgmac - 8 years ago

      See my comment above on how much Apple’s price per GB of storage on iOS devices, in comparison to MicroSD prices.
      It’s downright obscene.
      Maybe I am being blind here but I don’t think this kind of price gouging on storage alone is something that earns them that much profit overall…But maybe I am wrong.

  6. santoshova - 8 years ago

    If i connect my external hard drive with large movie files using this adapater to the ipad pro, will apps like infuse be able to see the hard drive and play the file from it? Can someone please check it for me?

    • Alex Moran - 8 years ago

      This is exactly what I want to know

    • Damien (@daco77) - 8 years ago

      no, a the moment, then connect usb key or hdd, photo’s app start for import only photos and other can’t view usb storage. May be in iOS10

      • Jeff Benjamin - 8 years ago

        Basically, and that’s if there’s enough power to supply to the external drive. My Seagate Drive didn’t even have enough power to turn on.

    • srgmac - 8 years ago

      No. Apps have no way to access any kind of external wired storage.
      The only thing that has access to wired storage on a non-jailbroken device is the photos app; and last time I checked, it was one-way transfers only; meaning you can only import photos (or maybe videos?) to the iPad; you can’t take photos or videos that are on the iPad already and transfer them to the wired storage; although that might have changed since I last tried this.
      It’s really ridiculous that this is the norm on a “Pro” class device.

  7. James Leseke - 8 years ago

    Yawn, need a USB micro to USB c or Lighting to USB Micro dongle for my cameras, not this nonsense.

  8. Hi @JeffBenJam – Thanks for this article, and your testing! I just need to correct one thing in your article, so as not to confuser your readers:

    “If you own a USB microphone without a powered Lightning connector, then the Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter is a no-brainer. Many of the best USB microphones out there aren’t supported natively on the iPad via Lightning, but with this new adapter, support is just a $39.00 purchase away.”

    This statement is not necessarily true. Just because a mic has USB connectivity, does not mean it will work with this Apple USB 3 Camera Adaptor, or any iOS device connected to it.

    In order to work on iOS (iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch), the USB device (mic, interface, mixer) will need to be “Class Compliant” or “iOS-Compliant” AS WELL AS as have USB connectively.

    Most USB mics, interfaces, and mixers are NOT Class Compliant, and this has nothing to do with power. It has to do with the protocol of the communication. The manufacturer needs to write their software so they are compliant with Apple Products.

    If the specs on the device does not say, “Class Compliant” or “iOS Compliant” it most likely is NOT. There are exceptions (and you can try it – it won’t hurt anything), but the manuf’s almost always list it in the specs, if it will work.

    i.e. – Popular USB podcast mics that ARE Class Compliant and WILL work with iOS: ATR2100, ATR2005, Shure MV series, Blue Yeti, Blue Snowball, Samson Meteor.

    Popular Interfaces/Mixers that ARE Class Compliant: ART USB Dual Pre, FocusRite Scarlett series, Shure MVi, Mackie DL Series mixers, Apogee Duet & Quartet, RME BabyFace & Firefox, Behringer Digital Mixer x32

    Popular Interfaces/Mixers that are NOT Class Compliant: All Mackie USB mixers/interfaces including BlackJack (except DL series – those work), MOTU USB interfaces, etc. (again, most are NOT Class Compliant).

    Here’s a fairly updated list of Class Compliant or iOS Complaint USB interfaces, and mixers (fyi…I do NOT work for this site or app – just a fan of this resource!): http://auriaapp.com/Support/auria-audio-interfaces

    Again, I share this, because I don’t want someone to go out there expecting any device will work, just because it’s a USB mic, interface, or mixer. It MUST be Class Compliant or iOS Compliant in order to work on an iOS device – regardless of power.

    Hope that helps!

    Thanks again for your article, @Jeff. Wishing you all the best!

    – Shawn Smith, The Mobile Pro
    @TheMobilePro_
    http://www.TheMobilePro.net

    • Jeff Benjamin - 8 years ago

      Shawn,

      Thank you for your comment; you are correct. I over-generalized, thinking almost everyone would use USB Mics like the Blue Yeti, etc. And yes there certainly are exceptions, but this should be mentioned. I’ll update the post in the morning, thank you for the insight.

      • My pleasure, Jeff – glad I could help, and thanks for updating the article. Hopefully it will save some folks some frustration.

    • srgmac - 8 years ago

      “In order to work on iOS (iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch), the USB device (mic, interface, mixer) will need to be “Class Compliant” or “iOS-Compliant” AS WELL AS as have USB connectively.”

      Really? I have a Marshall MXL USB condenser mic that was manufactured before iOS even existed, and it works.
      I thought any USB audio device worked in iOS since years ago?
      I tried this on an iPad 2 right after Apple added USB audio support (with the old dock to USB camera dongle), and it worked great.

      • andyoooo - 8 years ago

        iOS was designed to support interfaces compatible with Core Audio, which is what Macs use, so it should be most interfaces.

  9. Ken Porter - 8 years ago

    I tried the $29 Camera Adapter and found it sorely lacking for my workflow. I was looking for a device that would allow transfers to AND from an SD card. Unfortunately, this device is a one-way street and only handles downloading to the phone. So I’ll stick to the PhotoSync app for my photo transfers for now.

    • srgmac - 8 years ago

      Wow, so you just confirmed it. iOS still only lets you transfer stuff that is on the wired storage to the iPad; it will NOT let you transfer stuff that is on the iPad to the wired storage. Unbelievable!

  10. Ian F. Bell - 8 years ago

    Did you try the ability to connect up ethernet?It was one of the features mentioned.

  11. knyw413 - 8 years ago

    Hey Jeff, great review! Just out of curiosity, have you tried mounting a USB flash drive onto a jailbroken iPad with iFiles (to access files with other formats such as playing a movie out of it and/or transferring a .docx file)?

    • Jeff Benjamin - 8 years ago

      No I haven’t tried this.

      • knyw413 - 8 years ago

        Is it possible if you can try this? I’m thinking of buying this adapter just for that reason?

    • srgmac - 8 years ago

      Yes. Works fine. You have to put the files from the drive in the apps sandbox folder if you want the app to be able to access said files.
      I’m not sure if a symlink would work, I never thought to try that.

      • knyw413 - 8 years ago

        Hey srgmac, thanks for replying! Just to make sure everything works before preceding to check out, do you know if the adapter will work with my iPad 4 jailbroken on 9.0.2? Do I need to supply this adapter power through lightning cable if I want to use SanDisk Ultra Fit USB 3.0 Flash Drive with it?

      • knyw413 - 8 years ago

        Forgot to ask, do you need to be on 9.3 to use this adapter, someone on reddit pointed out that his jailbroken iPad on 9.0.2 wouldn’t recognize the adapter?

  12. Joe Pray - 8 years ago

    I was hoping you could put movies you downloaded from the internet (from torrents), put them on a USB flash drive, and plug it in and play video files on your iPad/iPhone. I don’t think you can. So I recently purchased the Leef iBridge to do this for me. Arrived a few days ago and it works like a gem. It is a flash drive with both male ends for Lightning and USB 2.0. Put files from your PC/Mac onto it and then view/play them on your iPad/iPhone.

  13. Finally! Power passthrough is a critically important feature of Apple’s HDMI adapter, but it was sorely lacking on the USB “camera” adapter.

    This is particularly important for musicians, since now you can plug in a USB MIDI keyboard (or perhaps a mic or class-compliant audio or MIDI interface) and charge the iPad at the same time, without resorting to larger and more expensive boxes like the Alesis IO Dock or iConnectMIDI/iConnectAudio interfaces.

    • Michele Simone Scagliusi - 8 years ago

      it would be even better if once you plug the lighting cable in, it would sync with a mac. in addition to a usb keyboard, I would use my ipad also to run touchable via usb to control ableton on my mac. But, as far as I’ve red on the internet, that lightning door is just for powering. Am I wrong?

  14. Carson Cunningham - 8 years ago

    Can I plug in a USB flash drive and upload pictures and videos to my iPad Pro?

  15. Daniel T Colfer - 8 years ago

    Hi musicians. I’m a keyboard player and used the Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter with an iPad Pro and an M-Audio Code 49 USB keyboard controller. It works! However, it didn’t appear to be charging or maintaining charge on my iPad Pro, the battery meter was going down. I’m going to try hooking up a separate dc adapter to my Code 49 to see if the IPad at least retains its charge while the Code is receiving additional power from another source. The Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter also worked with my iPhone 6 Plus using garage band and other music apps like korgs module, iPoly six, ect. Of course this adapter is too much $, Apple is greedy, the “Pro” designation is marketed to pro users and a basic function such as this should not require an additional expenditure. There’s the way we would like the world to be and the way it is, Apple isn’t about nobility, it does provide great products that can be used by musicians and other artists but… Well, you know. :)

  16. Hey Jeff great review thanks! I was able to test it with an Apple usb to Ethernet adapter and it worked really well. You just have to supply it with power otherwise the device will say that it is unable to power the adapter. Also the old Apple usb to Ethernet adapter tops out at 100mb/ps so if you’re network is capable of higher speeds you may wanna shop around for one that supports it.

  17. What recoding app do you use?

  18. Tom Moore - 8 years ago

    So, what would happen if I plugged in a USB hub, and then plugged two compliant USB microphones into the hub? Could the iPad take input from both mics simultaneously? Thanks!

  19. Yuri Bezerra Sousa - 7 years ago

    Excellent post to obtain clear informations. The best about this product.

  20. Brent N Grace Chittum - 7 years ago

    Would I be able to use this to connect a compact flash card reader to my iPad Mini 2 or iPhone 7 Plus [with power source connected]? I’d like to use it for traveling, backing up photos from my Canon 7D.

  21. ctietze - 7 years ago

    Just bought this for my iPad Air 2. Tried to plug in my wired Apple Keyboard — but it had not enough power. With a Lightning cable attached to a MacBook Pro in the store, keyboard input worked fine, though. But at home, no such luck with the “old” USB power adapter. iPad recharges, but the keyboard lacks power … ?! 🤔

    Strangely, my iPhone 5 accepts the keyboard when I use the external power source. I guess I have to use the iPad USB power adapter when I can find it instead of the much slimmer iPhone USB adapter 🙄

  22. Sorin Paliga - 7 years ago

    Or, otherwise put: do you want a light, slim, easy to use, energy-save notebook or tablet? Buy an Apple product. Do you really want to use it? Then purchase a global Kanex or else product or a bag of adapters, they will weigh almost as much as the machine itself, but you are proud of putting a table in an expensive reastaurant an expensive product, to which to attach a bunch of adapters or a big adapter, for which you need mains. When you book the table, remind this detail: you must be close to a 110–240 V source.

  23. Pedro Kraft - 7 years ago

    I have a small Class Compliant MIDI Controller Keyboard and the old Camera Connection Kit. When plug it in, the Too-Much-Power Message pop up. BUT, when i add an UNPOWERED(!!) USB Hub, it works.
    Could the “bigger” Camera Connection Kit be a solution, so that i could use my Meyboard without an additional hub?

Author

Avatar for Jeff Benjamin Jeff Benjamin

Jeff is the head of video content production for 9to5. He initially joined 9to5Mac in 2016, producing videos, walkthroughs, how-tos, written tutorials, and reviews. He takes pride in explaining things simply, clearly, and concisely. Jeff’s videos have been watched hundreds of millions of times by people seeking to learn more about today’s tech. Subscribe to 9to5Mac on YouTube to catch Jeff’s latest videos.