backing up photos when abroad (1 Viewer)

Another option is the iPod Camera Connector, used with an iPod classic, and the camera's USB connecting cord.

While not quite as versatile as the iPod touch (no speaker; not usable with apps) the classic has 160 GB of memory, and is well-priced at around $250. CAD. Used with an external speaker like the iMainGo2, it's also perfect to download the bird songs for a country (These can be placed in alpha order in playlists.). You can also download your entire CD collection.

Mike

ed keeble said:

Question is- will you trust it, or use it purely as back-up and also keep pics or at least selected pics on the CF cards as well?

I took a Flashtrax 20G or 40G (I forget which, but Flashtrax is a Smartdisk product I think) on a long trip a few years ago and in my innocence loaded stuff onto it from CF card and deleted them from CF card to maintain card space.. So when the Flashtrax failed after a week (horizontal lines like a broken telly...) they were irrecoverably gone, except for a few faves which I had kept on card.

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same thing happened to mine -- screen failure -- when connected to the computer the drive still registers and the pics are there but as the screen does not work you do not know whether its working or not -- cost me £250 and lasted about a year used 4 times -- total waste of cash

graham catley said:

same thing happened to mine -- screen failure -- when connected to the computer the drive still registers and the pics are there but as the screen does not work you do not know whether its working or not -- cost me £250 and lasted about a year used 4 times -- total waste of cash

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I still have mine (20GB) and it still works perfectly, but perhaps a little slow when downloading images to it and very definitely the HDD is far too small nowadays. Even have a charger for the car

Anyone want to buy it?

When traveling I like to transfer images to a netbook on a daily basis, but I also try to keep them on the memory card in the camera if it has enough room. When I took a regular laptop, I burnt CDs or DVDs with the new images just before starting the travel home.

Niels

I use the notebook plus I leave all on the cards. I just have a ton of cards I have collected thru the years. Once I return, I just transfer what I have from my Netbook to a few external hard drives and wipe out what I have on the cards....

Steve Babbs said:

In case anyone else is interested, I bought the CBA digital Photobank. 80GB for £79.99 and £4 postage. A good start it arrived the next morning. Charged it up and, as they say, it does what it says on the tin. It quickly copied my photos. Haven't tested the speed but I'd guess it dealt with the 24, 15 Megapixel RAW shots on my camera in a minute or so. It claims to be 2-3X faster than the 'the other ones on the market'. I will try timing it when I have a lot more pictures to back up. It's about the size of a fullsize ipod.

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Hi Steve - how is the the Photobank working out for you?

Marcus

Early days yet but just tried copying a full 8GB card from Spanish trip, it took c.25 minutes and the battery shows 2/3 strength after completion.

although it seems the battery was almost used up as it ran out when I was backing another card

Just in case anyone else is considering one. It 'does what it says on the tin'. I found that charged it'll do two 8GB SD cards, reasonably rapidly. I didn't time it last time, but I'd guess at less than 25 minutes.

Steve Babbs said:

Just in case anyone else is considering one. It 'does what it says on the tin'. I found that charged it'll do two 8GB SD cards, reasonably rapidly. I didn't time it last time, but I'd guess at less than 25 minutes.

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thanks Steve. I see that Amazon are no longer doing it, but will track down from CBA digital direct.

Key question: is it reliable? Has it crashed on you yet?

James

JCL said:

thanks Steve. I see that Amazon are no longer doing it, but will track down from CBA digital direct.

Key question: is it reliable? Has it crashed on you yet?

James

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To be honest, I've only used it a few times. It hasn't yet. It'll get proper use soon, as I'm off on a trip shortly.

Having been through the same thought process I arrived at the conclusion that photo specific storage devices were too expensive and the best option was to buy more camera cards. Many DSLRs have a dual card facility so if you are really concerned about backing the pictures you can use the camera to transer and save onto a back up card. You needn't copy everything either, just the very best.My D300s takes an Sd card and a Compact flash card. I buy faster writing Compact Flash cards as my primary in-camera card but the cheaper SD cards work just as well and speed isn't so important when you do transfers later.
The biggest problem with buying too many camera cards is that they may well be redundant if camera bodies keep on producing more and more MP's per picture in RAW format (I have some 10mb compact cards for my first digital point and shoot camera) but having said that the same applies to storage devices too.
On my last trip which lasted a month I took 40gb in camera cards and a 500gb external portable hard drive which is useful at home as well as "in the field". I waited until I stayed at an hotel that would let me use their computer and copied everything then.
I also think that the biggest mistake is to not delete obviously bad photo's or duplicates. It's all vey well taking 300 shots of an obliging bird sat on a branch for 20 minutes but once you have selected the best, be ruthless and delete the rest. I find ploughing through 40gb's worth of pictures takes days and days. You end up bored and never looking at some. I still have hundreds from my last trip that I have yet to edit.
Mind you, on a day like today ( it's pouring down) it's given me an idea of something to do !

I decided to go the Netbook route. I used to have a portable CD burner device, before the HD photobanks were in vogue...but the netbook just seemed to be a step up in overall functionality and usefulness compared to the photobanks for my own personal use. Most of my travels involve a home base of some form - hotel, cabin, home, apartment, etc. So the netbook usually lives there, as a repository to download all my photos each night. For the sake of redundancy, I also leave the photos on the memory cards, and bring multiple cards...so I've always got at least two sources...and if I'm staying somewhere convenient with a safe, secure room, I'll occasionally bring a portable passport harddrive, for a 3rd copy.

When I travel, my netbook fits in my camera backpack along with my camera body, flash unit, and 6 lenses...only one lens has to travel separately (can't quite get both my Tamron 200-500 and Minolta 300 F4 in the bag at the same time with the other 5 lenses). So portability-wise, it wouldn't be a problem if I was taking a long stint in the field with no home base. I'd be bringing my camera bag anyway, and since it's already ridiculously heavy, the extra 2Lbs or so for the netbook doesn't add much. I've got a 10.5hr battery, and used sparingly I could stretch it out easily over a week without a charge...camping or hiking with no access to power, I would simply power the netbook up and transfer the day's photos, then power it back down again as soon as it is complete.

Now if I had to travel 'in the field' extremely light - as in camera body and one or two choice lenses, leaving all else behind, then I'd just chance it with multiple memory cards...but i don't often travel that way, at least not yet while I still have to hold down a 9-5 job...so not yet much of a worry.

Another netbook user here. Basically the same price or cheaper as the photobanks, but (as others have mentioned) with the advantages of email, web browsing, and better image previewing.

Mine has been "slightly" upgraded over time and now sports 2GB RAM, a 500GB hard drive (with the old 160GB relegated to an external backup drive), and touchscreen capability for running DeLorme's LT-40 GPS with either Street Atlas or Topo USA. ||