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Alternatives for storage on travel

Antonio Correia

Well-known member
Alternatives for the expensive Epson P-7000 Multimedia Storage Viewer ?

Doesn't need to review the photos.

Just to be used as a "store" and with no need of computer.

Any tip please ?

Thank you :)
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Alternatives for the expensive Epson P-7000 Multimedia Storage Viewer ?

Doesn't need to review the photos.

Just to be used as a "store" and with no need of computer.

Any tip please ?

Thank you :)

Antonio,

It all depends on your shooting habits. One simple solution is to get a 64GB CF or SD card from My digitaldiscount.com for $189 or $144.99, respectively. That might be all you need


TS64GCF400.jpg
TS64GSDXC10.jpg


However, this won't give you back up or any peace of mind. The best device on the market is the Nexto. Here's the Nexto Nexto DI 750GB ND-2700 eXtreme 5400RPM 3GB/S External Back-up Hard Drive and Portable Storage Device - NESE-ND270750G is in stock at My digital discount with a 750 GB capacity that's all you'll even need. These are very reliable. I have used a lesser capacity one for over a year and it's bullet proof. No viewer, just rock solid copying, reliability and bit checking.

NESE-ND270750G.jpg


I also use a Colorspace UDMA from Sanho, under the famous moniker of "Hyperdrive". It is also totally reliable system with bit checking, but also has a nice screen. Slow to use the screen, not like "chimping" images in the camera, no way! But if you do need it can show you all the images. This one is from Adorama.com

ICDHDCSU160.jpg


These items are in stock right now.


Hope this helps!

Asher
 

Jerome Marot

Well-known member
The same 64GB SD card cost around $100 on amazon.com

As to a storage device older netbooks can be had for very little money and can be retrofitted with larger HDs.
 
I also use a Colorspace UDMA from Sanho, under the famous moniker of "Hyperdrive". It is also totally reliable system with bit checking, but also has a nice screen. Slow to use the screen, not like "chimping" images in the camera, no way! But if you do need it can show you all the images.

I also use a Hyperdrive 'Colorspace' (the earlier model). They are often also available without drive, so you can add whatever capacity you need, or exchange the drive for a new one if you don't want to erase the old one when it fills up. They backup reasonably fast as well, so you can do the backup immediately when switching to another card, and have that card ready as the second one fills up. The image review is not that fast, but that's because it does a Raw conversion if you don't let it create thumbnails.

Cheers,
Bart
 

Antonio Correia

Well-known member
Thank you all for your efforts.

I solved the problem the lightest and easiest way: A CF card borrowed by my son with 32 GB which is a Kingston elite pro writing only at 25MB/sec ! Too slow !

Yes, I know it is dangerous. If one loses it or if it just fails everything is lost. We can't have everything in life can we ?

Plus: it is light. It is not another "thing" to drag around travelling abroad.

Moreover - I like this word - I use an old 20 D and and old 5D. So, the capacity is far more than enough.

I just came from Budapest and still with much room for more images.

Thank you again guys. I know I can always count on you :)

I am counting to buy one CF card of 32 GB from Sandisk

On SanDisk® Extreme® CompactFlash® Card the speed is 60MB/s which is very good for my old cams and for myself :)
 

Jerome Marot

Well-known member
writing only at 25MB/sec[/URL][/B] ! Too slow !

I would not say it is too slow. Writing speed is often overrated. You will only need a faster card if:
-you take long series of pictures at maximum fps
-you use raw or jpeg with little compression
-your camera actually supports the faster write speed of that card
-all this at the same time.

On the other hand, and especially on older cameras, you should double check that the camera really understands the capacity of your card. Cameras which report the right file size for 32 GB, appear to work correctly up to 16 GB and suddenly trash the file system when you write beyond the 16 GB limit are not unheard of amongst the camera of that era. For the previous era, it was 8GB...

When you use a new card, and before going on a trip, format it here and there, fill it with random data on your computer and see whether the camera still understands it when it is next to full. If that works, then format it and be safe.
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
I would not say it is too slow. Writing speed is often overrated. You will only need a faster card if:
-you take long series of pictures at maximum fps
-you use raw or jpeg with little compression
-your camera actually supports the faster write speed of that card
-all this at the same time.

On the other hand, and especially on older cameras, you should double check that the camera really understands the capacity of your card. Cameras which report the right file size for 32 GB, appear to work correctly up to 16 GB and suddenly trash the file system when you write beyond the 16 GB limit are not unheard of amongst the camera of that era. For the previous era, it was 8GB...

Jerome,

A good point, but AFAIK, there were workarounds. However I can't remember where I saw them! The faster cards are also convenient when copying the files back to one's hard drive and one wants to go to sleep or use the card again ASAP. I now use 32 GB cards and a 64 GB card with the 5DII and that covers me for a few days, LOL!

Asher
 

Antonio Correia

Well-known member
I would not say it is too slow. Writing speed is often overrated. You will only need a faster card if:
-you take long series of pictures at maximum fps
-you use raw or jpeg with little compression
-your camera actually supports the faster write speed of that card
-all this at the same time.

On the other hand, and especially on older cameras, you should double check that the camera really understands the capacity of your card. Cameras which report the right file size for 32 GB, appear to work correctly up to 16 GB and suddenly trash the file system when you write beyond the 16 GB limit are not unheard of amongst the camera of that era. For the previous era, it was 8GB...

When you use a new card, and before going on a trip, format it here and there, fill it with random data on your computer and see whether the camera still understands it when it is next to full. If that works, then format it and be safe.

Thank you Jerome :)
My two cameras have no RAW compression. I use the 20D and the old 5D.
But I can't travel with both. They are just too heavy.
Next time I will take only the 5D with the 24-70 and nothing else. A few cards - 2 or 3 - of large capacity which I am going to buy in the next days and the old ones - 2 * Sandisk Extreme III 2 GB + 2 * 2 Sandisk Extreme III 4 GB

Thank you for commenting :)
 

Jerome Marot

Well-known member
The faster cards are also convenient when copying the files back to one's hard drive and one wants to go to sleep or use the card again ASAP.


Reading speed is more similar between cards of the same generation than writing speed. In my experience, what made the most difference between reading speeds is the type of reader, although this is less true today.

For CF cards on a Mac, I can vouch for the Sandisk Extreme FireWire Reader, but it seems to be horribly expensive nowadays. If I had to buy a CF reader today, I would try the other firewire alternatives first (Lexar or Calumet).
 

Ian kydd'Miller

New member
Small laptop (mini) and a couple of 250GB hard drives (externals) are usually what I solve the problem with. Very little extra weight and a very reliable option.
 
Small laptop (mini) and a couple of 250GB hard drives (externals) are usually what I solve the problem with. Very little extra weight and a very reliable option.

Hi Ian,

Yes, I like the Western Digital Passport drives a lot, they're compact and USB2/3 powered and have huge capacity.

For travel without a laptop I use an older model Hyperdrive. I bought the Hyperdrive without HD and shopped for a better priced high capacity drive which was easy to install myself. One can even swap out that drive for even higher capcities when they become available, although I wouldn't do that on a regular basis because the connectors are not designed for repeated cycles of use.

Cheers,
Bart
 

Robert Watcher

Well-known member
I have done quite a bit of traveling and need to process while I am travelling - so I can post the images and video online. For the past 6 years I have been using the basic 13" white Macbook along with a very small and sleek USB powered external 500GB HP SimpleSave hard drive (now available in 1TB size). My wife uses a 14" Acer laptop that she purchased for $400, 5 years ago. There is nothing we can't do with that combo. The laptop with external hard drive, was obviously a much more practical solution for me than the self contained Epson (which I had considered). FYI - I never worry about how big the hard drive in the computer is - - - I always store all of my data files in external drives, and use the built in drive for OS and programs. There is no better a way to safeguard precious data, than separating the 2.

While I have never yet had hard drive failures - one thing that I have come to appreciate over the years is the durability of solid state devices like Flash Drives and Memory Cards - and they should really be preferred as offering the most security for files. As far as I am concerned, they simply don't fail - even with dust and grime or dropped in water.

Memory cards are really coming down in price. Now that I am shooting more video with my cameras, I try to have at least Class 6 cards - but I also use several inexpensive $9.95 8GB Class 4 cards and have had no loss or failure or even any issue while shooting video. My current preference are several Lexar Platinum II 32GB Class 10 cards that I picked up at Walmart for $45 a year or so ago. That is all that I need for both my stills and video. http://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/lexar-3...String=&startSearch=&fromSearchBox=&addFacet=

Doing a web search, I see that these Lexar Class 10 cards can be purchased for $27.74 - crazy. Depending on the amount of storage you need, a few of these might be all you need and they would be the ultimate in storage from my perspective. - http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/809897-REG/Lexar_LSD32GBSBNA100_32GB_Platinum_II_100x.html . The only thing is that it appears to only be for SD cards - CF are much more expensive - - - OK for me as I shoot Micro 4/3 when travelling.


I also heavily use Flash drives and currently have several Lexar 16GB drives that I picked up for around $10. They are transportable and sit in my pocket on my key chain. For travel, my wife and I each have an older 4GB flash drive where all that is stored on them are photographs of all of our documents - driver's license, passport, boarding passes, etc - - - in case any documents get lost, we have a high quality photographic copy with us in our pockets at all times (we also have a copy of these photos on our laptops). Except for a quick transport of a few images, my use of flash drives is for that - as well I have one flash drive dedicated to all of my web hosting and web design files and contents, including an Apache server and other Portable programs that I can use on anyones computer if need be. While Flash Drives are a great alternative - you still need a computer to transfer from the memory card to the flash drive. And at $27 for 32GB memory card, there is no price advantage.

500GB or 1TB portable hard drives for around $100, are still the most cost effective option. I tend to fill a 500GB drive in the 2 months that I have been gone. This year, there will be five months of data - plus I am shooting 1080 video - - - so my storage needs will be even greater.

Oh - another thing that can be done for ultimate safety when travelling - - - is upload the files to the "cloud" as a backup (you still want to have hard device storage of them as well). Again though - you need a computer to store them via the internet.




Rob
 
I usually take my Laptop with me for photo travel, along with a USB powered external HD for duplicate backup. I'm heading to Africa in a few weeks, and am wanting to travel as light as possible. I'm thus considering leaving the laptop home and getting a PSD.

It would need to be around 500gb, and reasonably fast. Ideally, I would be able to plug in my new Seagate USB 3.0 usb-powered 500gb expansion external HD, and copy/sync to it, for duplicate copies.

CF cards are not practical - the Raw files for my 1D Mark IV and my wife's 7D are around 20mb/image, so over 10 days that's going to add up!

So far I'm not finding anything that will meet my needs. I just chatted with the Hyperdrive ColorSpace UDMA2 people, which otherwise looks good, but currently will not transfer to another HD (they said it will with a proprietary adapter, but not until after Nov.).

The Epson P7000 is quite pricey and only 160gb.

Does anybody know of a device that will be solid, dependable, with the functionality I'm looking for?

I've looked at some of the units mentioned above, but reviews have been dicey - reliability has been a frequently mentioned problem: not the HD itself, but the device, it's speed and consistency, etc.
 
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