storage options

I have recently switched from film to digital by purchasing a D-70s. I am weighing my options for storage while on a livaboard but I don't want to puchase a laptop. One option I am considering is buying a storage device such as the photo ipod or nikon coolscan and use a portable CD burner like the one Apacer makes as a backup. Anyone have any experience with these devices or have any other recommendations?

Tom

I went through the same thought process as you are and here are some of my thoughts.

I bought a flashtrax because I did not want to spend the money on a laptop. The screen quality wsa not good enough to show me that many of my pictures were slightly out of focus. I just saw someone with the i-pod a few weeks ago and I dont remember the screen size or quality but I was impressed with how small it was. I saw an epson 2000 earlier this year and was really impressed with the quality of the screen. I think it might be better than my viao screen on my laptop.

If you are just looking for a system for back up then the systems that you are looking at might be fine. If I had to do it over again then I would have gone straight to the laptop and saved myself the money on the flashtrax..The Epson screen is good enough that you could see focus issues and exposure problems as well...

hope this helps

I recommend the Epson P-2000

If you want to be able to see the photos, the Epson P-2000 is definately the best bet. The Vosonic VP6210 might also be useful for you, but the screen isn't as big.

If you just want to store the photos (rather than see them), either the Vosonic VP3320 (in either 60/80/100GB sizes), or the Compact Drive PD70X are great options as they are considerably less expensive than the "screen models". The PD70X runs off AA's which is nice, but the VP3320 plays mp3s. Both are around the same price and have very fast transfer rates and good battery life.

The ipod is s**t for photos because it only allows transfer at USB1.1 speeds meaning a 1GB card takes ages (1/2 hour) to transfer and nearly empties the battery. See this thread for why I'm not so hot on it. The above devices transfer a 1GB card in under 5 mins and do multiple transfers on a charge.

Finally, I assume you mean Nikon Coolwalker rather than Coolscan. The Coolwalker is nice, but the screen isn't as good as the Epson and I think it is a bit overpriced for it's capabilities. I've heard good things about the Apacer CD burner units, but never used one myself.

Look forward to hearing what you choose and why, so we can all learn about options.

We took a Roadstor CD burner with us to Indonesia. It doesn't have a screen, so we had to hook it up to a television to view our images. It also was slow, 1/2 hour or so to burn a CD.

One problem with burning CD's is that they only hold 700 MB and we only have 1 GB cards. So we had to download every two dives.

The Roadstor is also very sensitive to power surges, being bumped and sometimes tells you to put in a "disk 2" and then doesn't recognize it. We did come home however with all images so I guess it was successful.

Before we go on our next trip we are buying a laptop with internal DVD or CD burner for backup.

Kathy

Getting a laptop sounds like a good idea Kathy, but I'm not sure you're experience is typical of all portable CD burners...

This review indicates that the Apacer mentioned by Tom can burn a CD in around 7 minutes. You would still be limited to using a 512MB card, although it does have multi-disc spanning capacity. There is also a newer portable DVD burner available from Apacer too.

Anthony and Folks,

Not sure what iPod you have in Oz. The newest 30GB and 60GB Photo iPods in N. America have a color screen that isn't huge, but then netiher is the device. I just used a 30GB model for two weeks of shooting (I'm assuming Red3 is Donnie Boy AKA SharkMan

These newest Photo Ipods transfer via USB 2.0 and I did it directly from my Canon Rebel XT maybe twice a day. I'll confess to plugging my Rebel XT into the TV on the boat for a quick banshee editing session before only saving the "keepers". Plus I'm a Fine / Large JPEG guy, no RAW. Longest it took for 201 photos in one transfer was about 10 minutes.

The size is nice and it freed me up to relax between dives and I only loaded about 400 songs into it, but will putting my whole music library for future trips. Travel packing was super, of course, and once home I loaded 1520 photos to my 20" G5 iMac in under 20 minutes. Reviewing the images on my bigger screen I could've done an even better job of editing, but overall I was really happy to travel so light.

Hope this helps!

David Haas

The ipod is s**t for photos because it only allows transfer at USB1.1 speeds meaning a 1GB card takes ages (1/2 hour) to transfer and nearly empties the battery. See this thread for why I'm not so hot on it. The above devices transfer a 1GB card in under 5 mins and do multiple transfers on a charge.

Not sure which ipod photo you are refering to, but mine, which is the first generation available, has both USB 2.0 and firewire. I take it on trips (and a laptop too), and put backup of photos on it in no time at all..

Cor

Hi guys,

Sorry to keep ranting about this.

You are both right that the ipod photo is capable of transfer at USB 2.0 and firewire speeds....but only between a USB 2.0 capable device and the ipod.

There are two spanners in the works for Tom's setup...

1. The Nikon D70s is only capable of transfering at USB 1.1 (1.5 MB/sec) which means a 1GB card will take at least 12 minutes to dump from the camera. However, judging from David's results above with the USB 2.0 capable Rebel XT...it may even be slower. The Rebel XT can transfer at up to 2.6MB/sec which means it is nearly twice as quick as the D70s and yet, extrapolating from David's timing, a 1GB dump of jpegs from a Rebel XT would take at least 20 minutes.
    
    
   
2. Even if you get one of the Belkin card reader devices, my understanding is that you are still limited to USB 1.1 transfer speeds to an ipod because the camera connector usb connection is limited to that speed. A friend recently tried to use a Belkin device to transfer a 1GB card to his ipod and it took over half and hour and half emptied the ipod battery. This is fine if you are near power and aren't in a hurry, but it just doesn't seem ideal to me, when there are devices that'll do the same thing in under 5 mins and do multiple transfer per battery charge.
   

I'd be delighted to be proven wrong here, because I really like other aspects of the ipod, but it just doesn't seem to be the best photo storage solution out there. Maybe there are newer ipod versions in the US, but the info presented so far doesn't really make me that confident.

The other devices by Apacer, Epson, X-Drive and Compact Drive et al. are around the same size as the ipod (some a little bigger). The X-Drives also play mp3s, some of them have a screen and they allow you to view Nikon NEF (RAW) images (unlike the ipod). They also don't require a separate adaptor to transfer from cards (the cards plug straight in) and the batteries last long enough to do upto 20GB with a charge. All this and they are cheaper...

Just want Tom to have all the information before making the jump. If you are happy with the slower transfer rates, battery life and price... I promise I won't be offended.

I just got an Epson P-2000, and it is awesome. I can't say enough great things about it.

There are definitley some limitations with RAW files, but the quality of the screen is good enough, that for me, it can act as a laptop replacement.

Also, check out this cool trick for recharging the P-2000 in the field.

Cool, thanks for posting the tip!

Cheers

James

You are both right that the ipod photo is capable of transfer at USB 2.0 and firewire speeds....but only between a USB 2.0 capable device and the ipod.

It will come as no surprise that a fast USB2 device like the ipod will be slow if you connect it to a slow USB device. Even though the D70 claims to be a USB2.0 device, i believe it can only transfer at USB1.1 speeds (12MB/s). This is confusingly called 'Full Speed', but it not the speed of USB2,0, which is called 'High Speed".

I transfer my 2GB cards in the time it takes me to grab a cup of coffee from my ipod to my laptop.

Cor

Also, check out this cool trick for recharging the P-2000 in the field.

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I use this same trick with a flashtrax. Radio Shack is still a fun place!

It will come as no surprise that a fast USB2 device like the ipod will be slow if you connect it to a slow USB device.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yup! This is exactly what I've been saying. For the setup Tom uses, the ipod may not be the best option. He is better of with a device with a built in card reader.

Even though the D70 claims to be a USB2.0 device, i believe it can only transfer at USB1.1 speeds (12MB/s). This is confusingly called 'Full Speed', but it not the speed of USB2,0, which is called 'High Speed". 

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Ummm, it's actually worse that that. The D70 only transfers at 12 Mbps (mega bits per second), which is only around 1.5 MB/s (mega bytes per second).

I transfer my 2GB cards in the time it takes me to grab a cup of coffee from my ipod to my laptop.

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That's cool cor, but Tom specifically requested a solution that didn't involve a laptop. Unless you're very slow at coffee making (you'd be waiting almost an hour to dump a 2GB card to an ipod from the D70s) I don't think an ipod will work well for Tom.

That's cool cor, but Tom specifically requested a solution that didn't involve a laptop. Unless you're very slow at coffee making (you'd be waiting almost an hour to dump a 2GB card to an ipod from the D70s) I don't think an ipod will work well for Tom.

I know what he wanted. I was only responding to you You seemed to suggest that it is the Ipods fault that it was transfering at slow speeds. You said you thought the ipod was a shit device because of that. If you should think anything is shit, its nikon for not putting a usb2 device in a camera this day and age. Its not like you save money on putting a slower device in it. It's probably on purpose to artifically make the D70 'not as professional'.

As for the original question, there definately are nicer devices than the ipod if you dont want to bring a laptop. Plenty of people already responded on that

Cor

Hmm........Now you guys have got me thinking about how fast the USB 2.0 on my Canon Rebel XT really can transfer to my iPod. Have to do a search, but in any event the size and convenience outweigh any speed dilemmas. Plus having all my music with me

Also, since I had two tiny Rebel XT bodies I could throw a new card and battery in the "underwater" one and transfer any images via the second body while eating lunch, having coffee, snoozing, etc.

Finally, one thing I note (on my trips anyway) is people saving EVERYTHING as in fish butts, divers with heads cut off, etc. Editing as I've posted ages ago is a lost skill with digital. I actually saw one photographer shoot 650 Fine / Large JPEGS on ONE DIVE!! Plus I hear he has shot 1800 frames in a day. How in the world if you keep all these you can find the ones you really want to post process in this maze is beyond me....

YMMV

David Haas

Thanks for all your input guys. I have a while before my next trip but you guys have given me alot to think about. I appreicate all the suggestions.

Tom