We read every message. Include your iPad model and iPadOS version, and what you were doing when something went wrong — that's usually enough to track down.
Wiring the camera to the iPad
The steadiest way to get photos from the camera is a cable: the camera and the iPad each plugged into a small switch or a travel router, the iPad through a USB-C to Ethernet adapter. Keep that adapter for the camera only. Pick one of the two setups below. FieldTake's Camera Setup Guide (Setup › Receive from the camera) has the same steps and shows the address and port to type into the camera as you go.
Setup: basic switch (fixed address)
Cheaper, and the addresses never change between shoots. Any basic unmanaged switch works, no special features needed. A USB-C powered one can run off a battery pack (see below). Find a USB-C powered switch on Amazon ↗
- Connect the iPad's Ethernet adapter to any port on the switch.
- On the iPad: Settings › Ethernet › tap the adapter › Configure IP › Manual.
- Enter IP Address 192.168.50.20, Subnet Mask 255.255.255.0, Router 192.168.50.1. It's a private network with no internet, so it won't get in the way of Wi-Fi or cellular.
- Connect the camera to another port on the same switch.
- On the camera: set the IP mode to Manual, address 192.168.50.11, Subnet Mask 255.255.255.0.
- In the camera's FTP settings: server 192.168.50.20, port 21 (or the port FieldTake's Camera FTP screen shows), plain FTP, Passive Mode on, and the login shown on that screen.
Once it works, the addresses stay the same, so there's nothing to set up again at the next shoot. If you also use WireRelay on an iPhone, it takes 192.168.50.10 on the same range: both can share one switch, the camera keeps 192.168.50.11, and only the camera's server address changes between them (.10 for the iPhone, .20 for the iPad).
Setup: travel router (automatic address)
More plug-and-play: the router hands out the addresses. Keep it private, with nothing in its internet (WAN) port and no SIM, so it's a closed network with only the iPad and the camera on it. A router that also passes through to the internet often stops the devices on it from seeing each other. Find a USB-C powered travel router on Amazon ↗
- Connect the iPad's Ethernet adapter to a LAN port on the travel router.
- On the iPad: Settings › Ethernet › tap the adapter › Configure IP › Automatic (usually already the default).
- Connect the camera to another LAN port on the same router.
- On the camera: set the IP mode to Auto or DHCP, not Manual.
- On FieldTake's Camera FTP screen, read the address the router gave the iPad. It can change between sessions.
- In the camera's FTP settings: that address, port 21 (or the port FieldTake shows), plain FTP, Passive Mode on, and the login shown on the Camera FTP screen.
Powering it all from one battery
A USB-C switch or travel router can run off a USB-C Power Delivery battery pack instead of a wall outlet, handy on a sideline or in a photo position. A 10,000 mAh pack comfortably runs either one for a full day of shooting. Find a USB-C battery pack on Amazon ↗
Common questions
Wi-Fi from the camera keeps dropping in a big arena. What should I use?
Use a cable or a card reader. Where thousands of phones, radios and broadcast links share the air (a big arena on game night), Wi-Fi between the camera and the iPad gets unreliable, even through your own travel router: photos stall, arrive late, or don't arrive at all. Connect the camera and the iPad with Ethernet through a small switch or the travel router, or put the card in a USB-C card reader and use Ingest (choose Locked only to copy just the frames you protected in the camera). Keep Wi-Fi for quieter places.
Photos stopped arriving when I closed the iPad's case.
Many cases and keyboards lock the iPad when they're closed, and a locked iPad can't receive from the camera. Turn off Settings › Display & Brightness › Lock / Unlock, then use Pocket Mode to keep the screen dark instead.
How do I get my camera sending to FieldTake?
Tap the gear at the top of FieldTake's sidebar to open Setup, then Receive from the camera › Camera Setup Guide. It walks through wiring a switch or travel router, or using Wi-Fi, and shows you exactly what address and port to type into the camera as you go. Then tap Start Server under Camera FTP in the sidebar.
Can I connect the camera with a direct cable, or over Personal Hotspot?
No — a direct cable from the adapter to the camera, and Personal Hotspot, don't work for receiving photos, for reasons specific to how iPadOS handles each. Use a plain switch or a travel router (both are set out above, and step by step in the in-app guide), or Wi-Fi.
Does FieldTake support SFTP or FTPS?
Not yet — sending and receiving both use plain FTP for now. If your wire service or publication requires SFTP or FTPS, let us know; it helps us prioritize.
Are my edits destructive? Will the original file change?
No. Every adjustment — exposure, color, crop, the Curve tool, everything — is stored separately from the photo and applied only when you send, share, or archive. The original file on the card or in the job folder is never modified.
What happens if I delete a job by mistake?
Deleting a job asks first whether you'd like to archive it to a drive before removing it, and then asks a second time to confirm — there's no way to delete a whole job with a single tap. Individual photos go to a per-job Trash first, with restore, before anything is removed for good.
Where are my photos actually stored?
On the iPad, in the Files app under On My iPad › FieldTake › Jobs — nothing is uploaded anywhere unless you explicitly send or archive it yourself.
What does the subscription cost, and what's free?
FieldTake is $4.99 a month, with a 7-day free trial, or $49.99 a year, with a 14-day free trial. Each person gets one free trial. Without a subscription, your jobs and photos stay in FieldTake: you can open them, look through them, share, archive and delete. Bringing photos in, editing, captioning and sending need a subscription.
How do I cancel, or change between monthly and yearly?
In FieldTake, tap the gear at the top of the sidebar, then Subscription › Manage Subscription. Or on the iPad: Settings › your name › Subscriptions. Cancel at least 24 hours before the trial or the current period ends to avoid being charged for the next one. Refunds are handled by Apple at reportaproblem.apple.com.
I subscribed on another iPad. How do I get it here?
Sign in with the same Apple Account, then in Setup › Subscription tap Restore Purchases. There's no FieldTake account to sign in to.