Backing up photos when on long trips

I am going on a 1.5 month trip and would like to back up my photos.

I don't really want to carry my laptop around with me just because I have so much photo gear already.

I looked around, my last trip I tried two digital wallets that died (DigiMate II below), and thought this tech may have improved.

The new ones seem to cost an upwards of 300 bucks [<a href="http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=itemlist&cat1=Computer%20Systems&cat2=Memory%20Cards%20%26%20Pocket%20Storage&cat3=Portable%20Photo%20%26%20Data%20Storage%20Devices&feature1=HyperDrive" "="">link]

So this then got me thinking, why not buy a tablet, even if it was 100 bucks more, at least then it would do a lot more..

Does anyone know of tablets that can connect to external usb HDs or card readers? Most of the cheap ones are Android based, I was unaware if android could do that?

Anyone care to share their solutions to this old problem?

CE

How about a $50 500 gig USB hard disk? Pretty hard to beat that solution! Of course this assume you also have a laptop to download and view your photos. I always back up my photos a few times during a trip and rotate through a few 8gb memory cards to ensure I don't have all my eggs in one basket should my laptop be lost, stolen, or damaged.

There are tons of laptop computers available in the 2-3 pound range that should not be much trouble to transport. If you are making a 6 week trip you are probably going to have a need for a computer to view and process photos, communicate, etc. I'd prioritze making this part of your standard gear.

How about a $50 500 gig USB hard disk? Pretty hard to beat that solution! Of course this assume you also have a laptop

This is why I said 'laptop vs wallet vs tablet'.

I have a laptop, but it is pretty large [link]

I have so much photo equipment, and will be spending 6 weeks in africa, I would like to not have the laptop if possible. I have no need to get online, etc.

So your vote would be for 'netbook'? I will look more into those, I have been having trouble looking for tablets.

Chris,

Tablets are very cool devices for travelling, but all lack of enough memory for storing a lot of pictures.

Netbooks are nice devices, but usually terribly slow and most of them have limited HD space, they are too

slow to "reasonable" show and work with RAW files.

A external USB Disk will work only with a laptop/netbook.

If you don't need a computer then a storage device (as listed by you) will be fine, but will not show RAW files.

I personally use and carry my Lenovo 15'' high-end laptop always on my trips, giving me the possibility to

view and edit my pictures and videos. For short trips i use my Samsung Galaxy TAB Tablet for acessing internet,

reading e-books, musci, films, pictures, etc.

You may think about getting a "cheap" 13'' laptop with a fast processor and 8 GB of memory, a bit bigger than a netbook

but giving you full access to all possibilities a computer may give you.

Chris

I have the Colorspace you posted (actually a couple at this time). I buy the bare ones directly from them and put in my own drives. Work very well for me and fast.

I will always still carry a laptop (probably a MacBook Air from now on) for general computing needs and also to back up to another hard drive and/or carry two Colorspaces...

I carried a 10" Dell netbook to Galapagos last year and it was "sufficient", but really slow and the screen was not all that good. Viewing 1080p video? Forget about it... I also carried a 500gb USB drive for backup. I really missed having a better computer so from now on my Macbook Pro 15 just has to go...

A tablet *might* work, but only if you shoot JPEG+RAW or JPEG -- neither Android or iPod speaks RAW.

Best of both worlds would be an 11" Macbook Air which is much better than the cheaper Windows netbooks, especially with video, but it's $1000.

JP

I carried a 10" Dell netbook to Galapagos last year and it was "sufficient", but really slow and the screen was not all that good. Viewing 1080p video? Forget about it... I also carried a 500gb USB drive for backup. I really missed having a better computer so from now on my Macbook Pro 15 just has to go...

 

A tablet *might* work, but only if you shoot JPEG+RAW or JPEG -- neither Android or iPod speaks RAW.

 

Best of both worlds would be an 11" Macbook Air which is much better than the cheaper Windows netbooks, especially with video, but it's $1000.

 

JP

If I don't want to take a computer with me, I take a Vosonic reader/viewer. So far it has been perfectly reliable with no issues. Copying is not terribly fast but you can put as big a hard drive in it as you choose.

Bill

Thank you guys so much for the awesome replies! I might make my gf carry my lil laptop above.

It has a 300gb hd, and is ok speed wise. I have a large crumpler, but with a 400/2.8 it's still cramped for a laptop.

One last thing, anyone ever see any of those devices that dupe a CF or SD card to another? That could be an option as this stuff gets cheaper, Just get some class 2s.

I don't use that much space, only when I am shooting hdr light probes.

CE

I carried a 10" Dell netbook to Galapagos last year and it was "sufficient", but really slow and the screen was not all that good. Viewing 1080p video? Forget about it... I also carried a 500gb USB drive for backup. I really missed having a better computer so from now on my Macbook Pro 15 just has to go...

 

A tablet *might* work, but only if you shoot JPEG+RAW or JPEG -- neither Android or iPod speaks RAW.

 

Best of both worlds would be an 11" Macbook Air which is much better than the cheaper Windows netbooks, especially with video, but it's $1000.

 

JP

I went through a very similar thought process. Was thinking about the macbook air but I would worry about it breaking and it is $1000. I went the route of the netbook. I bought it for $300 and it has 250 gb. Forget about previewing RAW files (there may be some software out there that can do it but it couldn't take up too much ram). HD video is a no go for sure. So all I use this thing for is the harddrive space for photos/video and internet.

Out of all of your options though - netbook, tablet, powerful notebook or usb hardrive - only the powerful notebook can work with RAW files and do you really want to be doing post-production in Africa? Save that stuff for when you are home! I still think that with it's limitations, the netbook is the way to go.

Another nice thing for me was that when I was in hotels and there was wifi... I could have "private skype" sessions with my girlfriend who was 3000 miles away... This was worth the price of the netbook

6 weeks of photos? I would want at least 2 copies. You could have a sufficient qty of cards to never overwrite, and back them up to the ColorSpace.

I end up with 3 copies. My routine:

1. Copy to ColorSpace

2. Connect ColorSpace to MacBook Air and copy files to MBA (erase CF card after verify)

3. Every couple of days back up MBA external drive (to capture adjustments made)

You can never be too safe.

One last thing, anyone ever see any of those devices that dupe a CF or SD card to another? That could be an option as this stuff gets cheaper, Just get some class 2s.

The ColorSpace can dupe from the internal HD (after items copied to it) back out to another card, though with the costs of cards, not sure if that gets you any further, I usually generally do what Canuck mentions, though I will often copy out to the external hard drive right away. For 6 weeks I would carry an external with at least two partitions though, one to back up all the files from the ColorSpace and also have partition(s) to back up the laptop and even one totally "clean" base system for repairs and whatever else. You can get small portables that hold 750 Gigs and 1 Terrabyte. (There may be larger, but that is what I currently carry...)

I lost two digital wallets, probably through power surges. I use a small laptop (13" MacBookPro) and a hard drive. The laptop has let me review images properly, and give presentations on the go. The new MacAir looks like it's highly-enough specified to be an option, for the aficionado...

... I reckon on 25-50GB/week storage, after culling clunkers.

Tim

Netbook all the way for me on trips longer than a week.

I have an Acer aspire with 10" screen, 120gb HDD and 1.5gb RAM (it's a couple of years old now). It's tiny, weighs almost nothing, and has a 7hr battery life (I fitted a bigger battery)

I haven't found the small HDD to be a limiting factor. I only keep the latest pictures on there, with the rest sitting on an external drive, which is also used for backing up the LR library and any shots from the trip.

I run lightroom on it, and whilst it is slow, I can do basic keywording and rating of images.

There is always downtime in the evenings, so I use that time to kick start my keywording, saving time when I get home.

This has worked for me for several trips in the past couple of years, both UW and land based, including Kruger, where I was shooting 8gb a day.

Netbook, USB drive and Colorspace for me. Use the USB and Colorspace on netbook while its on battery, so no power surge worries for anything other than the netbook.

Colorspace can review RAW btw, just make sure your camera isnt too new for the model in question. Also they have card recovery options built in, used it to rescue someones SD card that went bung on a trip.

Otara