I am heading out on safari in a little over a week. My camera is a 10 megapixel DSLR (Nikon D200), and my family will be bringing two 7mp point and shoots (both Panasonic TZ3's) as well.

I had planned on borrowing my father's old Sony Vaio TZ laptop (he just bought a new one) to download backups of my photos. Not only does it have an 80gb hard drive, but I also thought it would be nice to be able to show some of the pictures to my family and camp mates around the dinner table at night on its 11 inch screen. And all the other advantages of a laptop (keeping a journal, watching DVDs on the plane, internet access in hotels or at airports, etc.) would be possible.

My dad just told me he can't lend it to me because a project he needs it for hasn't finished.

I have 4 compact flash cards of 2GB each for my camera, and our other cameras each have a 2GB SD card. I may not fill all these up, but I might. But more importantly, I want to make backups for security.

Any recommendations? I know this has been discussed generally several times on this forum, but hopefully my individual circumstances will lend to some specific advice.

I am considering one of the ARCHOS products, a Wolverine, even taking my own HP laptop (but it is 14 inches and rather heavy compared to my dad's lightweight Sony and the other devices mentioned, and I already feel very weighted down.)

Anyone out there have any ideas?

How many photos will you take and of what "size"?

Not knowing this, I'd say double the number of your memory cards. Don't shoot RAW on the D200 and use a medium size JPG file setting on D200. Same thing for the TZ3s.

As for another backup drive like Archos or Epson P-5000 or Wolverine, etc, what is available locally to you that you can see, touch and try?

regards - tom

I use the older-version Epson P2000 and it works well.

I don't shoot RAW. I usually take the highest resolution and lowest compression JPEG my camera will allow. On the D200, I set it at "Large" and "Fine". Same answer for the P&S's.

Last year we spent three months touring the Middle East. I brought my camera and 1Gb memory stick and a 60Gb IPod.

Every night I downloaded the day's photos to the IPod quickly and seamlessly.

At the end of the trip I uploaded the almost 4,000 photos to my laptop, and voila, they all came through.

The other advantage of the IPod was that I carried all the tunes I wanted to listen to, as well as photos of my family and home toen that many were interested in seeing.

Nigel

How did you load the photos to iPod?

Where are you located? If you are anywhere near Long Island, NY., you are welcome to borrow my two 40gb wolverines, which served me very well on Safari and would cost you nothing. Seriously, I bought them in August for the September trip, and they are not getting much use since then. I think they would love to return to Africa.
bg
email at [email protected] if you want.

I attach a simple cable from the camera to the IPod, and issue an "Import" instruction to the IPod. Upload takes minimal time.

Normally I would delete the garbage shots before uploading, but that can all be done on the computer at home base later


Nigel

jenack -- What a very nice offer!! Thank you. Unfortunately I am in Texas.

I would like to know which Wolverine you have and how you liked it. I'm really interested in something with a decent color screen, and hopefully other features (such as video viewing, and possibly internet access).

We use the Hyperdrive HD Space units -- they are small, very fast, and have great battery life.

I tried the iPod method, but if you shoot large volumes of data, it does not work. The transfer of the files is so slow, and uses so much power from the iPod's battery that it would literally run out of power in the middle of downloading pictures (in my case, a full 4GB Extreme III CF card). And because the picture transfer module uses the dock on the bottom of the iPod, you can't power the iPod from an external source while uploading pictures to it. So the iPod method is only viable for smaller numbers of small files. We had hoped to use it as a backup to our Hyperdrives, but it doesn't work for us, since we shoot such a large volume of data (150GB on our last trip).

Chris
www.pbase.com/cwillis

Chris,

I downloaded many large files from my camera to my 60Gb IPOd. It was fast and there was never a power issue.

External power is always available.

Maybe you had a 1998 model of the IPOd

Just to correct things,

nigel

Nigel, now I am confused. We were using a 5G 60GB iPod Video with the Apple camera dock/USB connector, which connects on the bottom of the iPod. The photo transfer would start, would finish about 2GB of data transfer over the course of 45 minutes, and then the battery would die (having been fully charged to begin with). I noted from user reviews on Amazon.com that other users' experiences have been consistent with mine. So I concluded it could only be used for transfers of less than 2GB at a time, which of course is worthless for me.

How do you power your iPod with this thing attached to it?

Chris

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...OLORSPACE.html

There is also a 120 and 160GB model.

Hi sevendown,
I'm reseaching exactly the same thing and have concluded either Wolverine or Hyperdrive. I'm edging toward Wolverine because it has more options. Not being an audiophile, I have no interest in the iPod method. You'll be able to review photos and edit, so you DON'T end up back at home with 4,000 photos and having to delete 200 of the blurry ones! Pls reply with your final choice - I haven't purchased yet.

just the basic 40gb wolverine, no photo screen, no frills. Copies the card and worked great, very easy to use.

I agree with Chris GA. For our safari this past June I used the Hyderdrive for my photos and my BF. I worked great. It was fast and I never had to recharge in the entire three weeks. But it it was back ordered and took about five weeks to arrive. So that might make a differance.

Kim

Just noticed Luminous Landscape has a review of the new Hyperdrive Colorspace:

http://luminous-landscape.com/review...perdrive.shtml

Chris
www.pbase.com/cwillis

Chris,

Thanks to you again. The Hyperdrive came through with flying colors on its first proper outing last night.

Yvonne used it to clear one of her cards at the basketball. When you're shooting several hundred RAWs per game (1400 between us on some occasions), high capacity fast storage is very useful. It will be more than adequate on safari.

John

John, I am really glad to hear it is working for you. We will be getting one of the new ColorSpace units before our Galapagos trip next November, because my wife and I will both be shooting RAW like crazy too.

BTW I got a great, very slightly used 300/2.8 IS last weekend. I have been doing some test shots with it and I am not sure I ever want to take it off my camera ...

Chris

Chris,

That's what Y uses on one camera at the b'ball, and a 24-70/2.8 on the other...usually sitting on the floor under the backboard. She would agree with you about the lens quality...the glass, the responsiveness. I perch up on the concourse with the 300/2.8 to get a different angle.

John