Cool Gear: iPod And Photography

If you haven’t heard of Apple’s iPod, you need to get out more. No single product has so dominated popular culture in recent memory like this shiny little icon of the digital lifestyle. What you may not know is that the iPod does more for photographers than merely play music.

Compatible with both Macintosh and Windows computers, any iPod, including the diminutive Shuffle and the sleek iPod Nano, can be used as a portable storage device. You can specify the amount of space dedicated to file storage and easily port documents between home and work computers.      
           
Even better, starting with the iPod Photo in 2004, Apple designed the iPod to support playback of images. The iPod Photo has since been discontinued, but all full-sized iPods with color screens have this capability. Simply connect your iPod to your computer and transfer photos to it for a modern take on the wallet cache of family and vacation photos.

In addition to using the iPod as a way to display photos, you also can use it as a portable backup device. Inexpensive accessories allow you to transfer full-resolution images from your digital camera to the iPod, all without a computer.

Get Connected
One option is Apple’s own iPod Camera Connector (www.apple.com). Compatible with the iPod Photo and the new iPods with color screens, this simple adapter snaps into the iPod’s docking port and lets you connect your digital camera to the iPod with your camera’s USB cable for fast image downloads. If you want to pack light, this is the accessory for you, as it’s quite small and doesn’t require batteries. The iPod Camera Connector is priced at $29.