Digital photos: memory card backup device
Aug 24th, 2006, 01:44 PM
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Digital photos: memory card backup device
I am leaving for a trip to Romania in a few weeks. I had been planning to bring my laptop computer so that I can back up the digital pictures that my brother and I will be taking on the trip (as well as access the internet where possible.) I will also bring my film camera and a few lenses. We are very interested in architecture and I can get to 28 with my film camera but nowhere near that wide of an angle with any of our digital cameras.
I brought the film camera, digital camera and laptop on my recent trip to the UK (as well as previous trips). The problems I faced were that my 3 year old Dell laptop is huge and very heavy. My SLR camera and lenses are rather bulky and heavy as well. My carry on bag was a largish backpack and while heavy was manageable. BUT the new hand baggage restrictions from the UK hit while I was already abroad and I had a tricky time getting my gear home within the size limits. I essentially ditched the cases into my checked luggage, used a smaller carry on bag and didn't jostle it.
Although I think the carry on restrictions are not as strict sizewise for the rest of Europe/US as they are from the UK to the US, it has gotten me thinking. Now I am contemplating leaving the dinosaur laptop home and purchasing an external hard drive/ memory card reader for the trip. We are looking at the "Wolverine Data FlashPac 7-in-1 Memory Card Reader and 40GB External Hard Drive". My question is: Has anyone used this type of backup for their digital pictures? The plus seems to be that this device is rechargeable, can read both Canon (mine) and Sony (my brother's) memory cards, and is quite portable. The downside seems to be the lack of a preview window. Is there anything else that I am missing?
I brought the film camera, digital camera and laptop on my recent trip to the UK (as well as previous trips). The problems I faced were that my 3 year old Dell laptop is huge and very heavy. My SLR camera and lenses are rather bulky and heavy as well. My carry on bag was a largish backpack and while heavy was manageable. BUT the new hand baggage restrictions from the UK hit while I was already abroad and I had a tricky time getting my gear home within the size limits. I essentially ditched the cases into my checked luggage, used a smaller carry on bag and didn't jostle it.
Although I think the carry on restrictions are not as strict sizewise for the rest of Europe/US as they are from the UK to the US, it has gotten me thinking. Now I am contemplating leaving the dinosaur laptop home and purchasing an external hard drive/ memory card reader for the trip. We are looking at the "Wolverine Data FlashPac 7-in-1 Memory Card Reader and 40GB External Hard Drive". My question is: Has anyone used this type of backup for their digital pictures? The plus seems to be that this device is rechargeable, can read both Canon (mine) and Sony (my brother's) memory cards, and is quite portable. The downside seems to be the lack of a preview window. Is there anything else that I am missing?
Aug 24th, 2006, 02:20 PM
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Hi Noe847!
On my recent trip to Germany I had two 512MB and two 1GB cards for 17 days. I like to take photos, and I take them as I go along, I don't like to even think of remaining without spare film or memory on cards.
This gives you an idea about the number of pictures I take.
So... The cards I had with me were enough to cover the trip. I took all the photos at 5MP FINE.
However, you could go to a photo studio and have your cards transferred on a CD. In big cities like Brasov or Sibiu you could easily do it. I did it once this year at a studio in Bucharest.
I gave the guy 1 card and in half an hour I had the CD. I had my own CD, but I don't think it is necessary. The price was about 3 or 4 euros in Romanian currency.
For me it was cheaper to buy an extra memory card (Compact Flash) than a backup device. And it doesn't even ocupy space.
On my recent trip to Germany I had two 512MB and two 1GB cards for 17 days. I like to take photos, and I take them as I go along, I don't like to even think of remaining without spare film or memory on cards.
This gives you an idea about the number of pictures I take.
So... The cards I had with me were enough to cover the trip. I took all the photos at 5MP FINE.
However, you could go to a photo studio and have your cards transferred on a CD. In big cities like Brasov or Sibiu you could easily do it. I did it once this year at a studio in Bucharest.
I gave the guy 1 card and in half an hour I had the CD. I had my own CD, but I don't think it is necessary. The price was about 3 or 4 euros in Romanian currency.
For me it was cheaper to buy an extra memory card (Compact Flash) than a backup device. And it doesn't even ocupy space.
Aug 24th, 2006, 02:41 PM
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My husband and I just returned from a 17 day trip to Switzerland and Germany. We took (2) 1GB cards as well as a 512MB. We also had our Dell Laptop.
We took close to 1700 pictures (I am picture happy) ... and that is with 75% of our trip being overcast, cloudy and rainy... so imagine in the nice weather.
Since I knew ahead of time I would be taking a gazillion pictures and I knew I wanted back up other than my laptop, I purchased a Smartdisk, Firelite external hard drive. It was about $99. It worked wonderfully. It's small and very light to carry around. We bought it at Best Buy.
We took close to 1700 pictures (I am picture happy) ... and that is with 75% of our trip being overcast, cloudy and rainy... so imagine in the nice weather.
Since I knew ahead of time I would be taking a gazillion pictures and I knew I wanted back up other than my laptop, I purchased a Smartdisk, Firelite external hard drive. It was about $99. It worked wonderfully. It's small and very light to carry around. We bought it at Best Buy.
Aug 24th, 2006, 04:03 PM
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What you're looking for is a portable storage device (PSD). A great place to look is over on the DPreview storage and media forum (http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1023). There's even a current thread entitled "portable storage device for trip" (http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/re...hread=19654672) which has some interesting comments and links. I'm also thinking about getting one, though not until we're off to Europe next year. (This year we're driving to Montreal, so taking a laptop is no big deal.)
Good luck,
Paul
Good luck,
Paul
Aug 24th, 2006, 06:24 PM
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We have used a Portable Storage Device on our last two European trips and they are great. My husband bought one for the same reason, he didn't want to have to lug around the computer anymore. We actually have a card that could hold all the pictures we would want to take, but if you have downloaded your pictures onto the device, if your camera gets stolen atleast you haven't lost all your pictures. Ours does have a preview function. We have an Epson P2000 and my husband did all his research on the website mentioned by sanschag www.dpreview.com.
Aug 24th, 2006, 06:55 PM
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Thanks so much, everybody. This is exactly what I was looking for. I will spend time researching the dpreview site and reading reviews and recommendations.
We are planning to have enough memory cards for all of the photos that we think we will take (For our 10 day trip, it could be hundreds). At the same time, I would like to have a back up to the cards in case of loss or damage. I don't always travel with the laptop, but I am more comfortable when I can download the pictures.
I know that I could probably find some CD backup from photo stores, but I would rather not spend the time tracking these down and waiting for the CDs. We will be moving around a lot, and wouldn't want to have to rely on finding a place in a short amount of time.
We are planning to have enough memory cards for all of the photos that we think we will take (For our 10 day trip, it could be hundreds). At the same time, I would like to have a back up to the cards in case of loss or damage. I don't always travel with the laptop, but I am more comfortable when I can download the pictures.
I know that I could probably find some CD backup from photo stores, but I would rather not spend the time tracking these down and waiting for the CDs. We will be moving around a lot, and wouldn't want to have to rely on finding a place in a short amount of time.
