Best portable file storage solution for 1DSmk2

Hi everybody,

 

I shall soon be going on a two-week trip, using my 1DSmk2 shooting RAW files only. I'd like to be able

to store my files reliably as I go along, so I can erase and re-use my memory cards. I don't want to

carry a laptop (partly because of space and weight). So I am looking at portable storage products that

will allow me to download RAW files created by this camera.

 

Having had some problems with external hard drives corrupting at home, I want something that is

going to be reliable. I am more concerned about this than features such as a screen to view the files

on. I shall be editting my images when I get home, so that feature (nice though it is) is of secondary

importance. All I really care about is capacity, reliability, compatibility with the RAW files and the ability

to accept CF and SD cards. Oh and price...

 

I have looked at the Epson P-5000. It looks good, though rather expensive. Any opinions on this? Any

alternatives that meet my criteria? In the end, I would buy an expensive unit if it's the only way of

getting reliability and capacity.

 

Many thanks in advance!

Storage devices don't care what kind of camera you have. The Epson unit has a very fancy-ass display, and many people are just so impressed and willing to buy one just because of that. However, there are two deep problems:

 

1. You can not field-replace the disk. If it fails -- and it eventually will -- you must send it back to Epson for repair.

 

2. One might think that you can spend some time at night doing "delete/keep" decisions with the display and all. Alas, the unit will only display the 1536x1024 embedded JPEG thumbnail in .CR2 files, making critical editing like this impossible.

 

And until the advent of the P-5000, there was a third problem: utterly pathetic performance. Monsterously long copy-times from card to disk. If you get any Epson unit, only consider the P-5000, as it is up to Hyperdrive HD80 levels.

 

In fact, I recommend you just get a pair of Hyperdrive HD80's. Or, if you absolutely need that display (and all the MP3, movie, etc crap that comes with it), an Epson and an HD80. The HD80 has a clunky interface, no display, but it is screamingly fast. And is powered by common-as-spit AA batteries, and the drive is field-replacable (I've had one failure so far). It's also about 1/3rd to 1/4 the price.

Hyperdrive has a newer model than the HD80: the Space. I do like my HD80 so I would recommend this brand.

I have been using a <a href=http://www.eastgear.com/shop/index.php?cPath=17_66>PD70X</a> for years withou any problems whatsover. The same company that made the PD70X has a <a href=http://www.eastgear.com/shop/index.php?cPath=17_101>new unit</a> out now (actually two).

<p>

I'd suggest the PD70X but, ck out the new model as well and see which you like best.

I used an iPod for this kind of storage a couple of years ago. Just had to buy a card reader-to-iPod converter, which was about thirty bucks in 2005. It worked like a charm, although downloads took almost an hour for 4GB cards, so batteries in the converter ran out pretty often. I was also nervous about whether the transfers were successful each time, because iPod can't display RAWs (just jpegs). But all transfers occured perfectly. Of course you would need one of the larger iPod models for this (mine was an 80GB model), but if you already happen to have one then this is by far your cheapest alternative. It's not a bad approach in any event because even when you aren't using the iPod for RAW storage, you can of course use it the majority of time as a music player!

Whatever you buy, make sure it can display your images. Some may think that image display is optional, but I believe that it is the only way to be sure that the images have actually been transfered. Last year I lost a card's worth of images because a failed transfer to an older model with no display to verify anything.

>.It worked like a charm, although downloads took almost an hour for 4GB cards, so batteries in the converter ran out pretty often.<<

 

That's lousy performance! I can empty my full 1gb cards in a minute or less using the PD70X and I have never ran out of juice in the field.

 

Sometimes it's best to use something that is designed from the ground up to perform one task well.

I suggest you take RAW + small jpgs and get a storage device that can display you files and images (to be sure). I use an Archos and it comes in various sizes. Mine is an old model with 60Gb but the later models go to 160Gb.

"downloads took almost an hour for 4GB cards, so batteries in the converter ran out pretty often"

 

wow, my 3rd gen ipod would take an hour for 1GB, and frequently drain the battery before finishing, and often quit early with error messages like "no connection" or "no space on ipod" when in fact there was 18 GB of space...

 

so it's an improvement, but still ipod is not the recommended device. works ok as an external HD for your laptop though.

<i>Last year I lost a card's worth of images because a failed transfer to an older model with no display to verify anything.</i>

 

<p>The Epson (and probably others) does not go about the job of reading and decoding the underlying raw data and present its results to you. (I wish it did!) All you "see" on the display is about 10% or so of the actual file. If the other 90% was random garbage, you'd never know it.

 

<p>Because of this, and that these devices are are not limited to photographic use, most units offer "verify" modes: they ensure the file on disk has a bit copy of the file on the card. This consumes energy (and time) to do, but probably less consumed by a display.

 

<p>In any event, no one should depend on a single disk for their in-field backups. At least two units must be used to cover the worst-case scenario of drive failure.

Ed, how much capacity do you anticipate using? How much do you shoot per day (in GB) and how many of those days do you expect you'll be doing so?

One thing to keep in mind is that ALL of these devices use a standard laptop hard drive for storage. That said, I've used the snot out of my PD70X/HD80 (identical save the sticker on the front) over the past two years; I have lost exactly zero (0) files after transferring on the order of 50-60,000+ files. I know the HD80 does do a check for successful transfer before giving the thumbs-up, and you can activate an extra-paranoid setting that checks more thoroughly. If that's not enough for peace of mind, get a second one and make two copies.

 

The HD80 is now obsolete & hard to find, now replaced by the Hyperdrive Space model. Looks like it's taken the HD80 concept & improved just about everything, though I'm not too sure about the change in battery--a field emergency is less easily dealt with. Another brand I've seen a lot of positive feedback on is the Nexto line. From performance reports on the iPod like has been stated earlier, it basically sucks for this application & I wouldn't bother; in comparison an HD80 transfers 1GB in a little over a minute--I cannot fill the next card by the time It's done.

I don't know if this is what M Barbu is getting at, but here in Canada the Epson P-5000 is about $850. At Costco, a 2 GB Sandisk Ultra II CF card is $60. So you could buy fourteen 2 GB cards for the same price as a storage unit. 28 GB of memory vs. 80 GB for the Epson P-5000.

 

How much will you be shooting? 2 GB per day on a 2 week long trip = 28 GB. Costco Canada also has a 4 GB card Regular Sandisk for $90 each. That gives you 36 GB over 9 cards for $810. 36 GB over 14 days is 2.5 GB per day of storage...something to consider...?

Are you planning to have the images recorded only on the portable storage? I find it extremely risky. If the drive fails you are without pictures. Having the drive as a back up for the CF cards is probably good idea. I am going for 3 weeks to Europe this summer and I am taking 25 1GB CF cards. Smaller size better. If I loose one CF card the damage is minimum. 5D can take about 70 RAW+ M Jpg so, I should be able to take about 1700 pictures.

 

Good luck with your trip. Where are you going ?

Correction:

 

5D can take about 70 RAQ+ M Jpg on 1GB card so, ............

Andre, that's basically it. Amazon has the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Faffiliate-program.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Fassociates%2Fnetwork%2Fbuild-links%2Ftext%2Fmain.html&tag=robotphotos-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325">Sandisk Extreme III 16 GB Compact Flash card</a> for just US$250. Depending on the amount of storage needed, that may be a better option, because it's really small, and there are no moving parts.<img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=robotphotos-20&l=ur2&o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />

Epson p-2000 is what I use 40GB space. It is rugged. Have had no data failures. Though the battery/charge unit has failed it still works on ac current. Best bet is cards+ backup device + laptop+ cd burning=Safety Epson P-5000 would be my buy today.

I have been using a PD70X/Hyperdrive for a couple of years now and have not experienced any problems. B&H sells them under the name Sanho. Very reliable and affordable.

I'm happy with my Wolverine 80Gb drive. The new models have a view screen with zoom capability, and they undercut Epson significantly in price, with equivalent functionality. Download is very fast. I agree with the point about just buying more cards, but with a drive backup you have a second level of safety. This applies especially if you can store backup devices in different places.

 

A small notebook is also an option, and if you need it for other things then that might be a better option. But small hard drives will easily fit into a hotel safe, whereas a notepad might not. At some level you have to draw a limit regarding what you are willing to carry. Internet cafe's are all over the world, I found one even at Everest Base Camp. You can easily use your cards or portable hard drive at a cafe, and upload small files there.

 

Dave

<i>That gives you 36 GB over 9 cards for $810</i>

 

<p>This isn't making much sense. CF/SD is <i>much</i> more expensive than disk. Example: the <a href="http://www.hypershop.com/shop/index.php?cPath=27">Hyperdrive Space</a>, with a 60GB disk is ~1/4 of your above price. If you have a spare laptop drive, you can save even more.

<p><i>This isn't making much sense. CF/SD is much more expensive than disk.</i></p><p>Indeed (though the new 16 GB card is only $250, making 32 GB only $500). I believe the benefit would be in size/weight and lack of moving components. For some, this may be worth it, for others, not.</p>

I wouldn't assume that a CF card is more reliable than a hard drive.

 

Out of 8 CF cards that I've purchased, one (an expensive Lexar 80x) completely failed, and another (Kingston Elite Pro) has stopped working, though most of those files were retrievable with image rescue software.

 

My HyperDrive HD80 hasn't lost any images so far (after more than a year and a few hundred GB worth of files). At worst, a card sometimes fails to write properly on the first try (I get a write failure warning from the HyperDrive), but I've gotten a successful and secure copy after trying again.

I found this to be an interesting read: <a href="http://www.novell.com/coolsolutions/qna/8928.html">http://www.novell.com/coolsolutions/qna/8928.html</a>

Hi Ed,

 

I'm in almost exactly the same predicament. A couple of hundred 5D RAW images per vacation day over about three weeks would use up way too many pricey CF cards. The Epson P-5000 is widely available in Canada and I'm going to pick one up soon. I'm also going to pick up a few 4GB CF cards and maybe an 8GB Transcend card as disaster storage in case the Epson or a card or both dies. Costco has by far the best prices I've seen in Canada for CF cards.

 

I'm thinking the Epson P-5000 might have some wife appeal too. Just think, pretty pictures of the days activities while sipping a beverage. I think I'm in, guys. She might even forget to ask how much it costs.

 

I refuse to bring a laptop on vacation because of the weight and bulk, but also for peace of mind. I do not want to end up connected or on the net while on vacation.

 

By the way, I just put my brand new grip on my new 5D w/24-105 and tried to put it in my travel bag - a Lowepro Off Road. It's too tight. My wife is going to kill me after all.

Thank you everybody for your ideas and input. Looks like a tricky decision with lots of

pros and cons!

 

To answer a quesion that was put above, I am likely to be shooting every day for 2 weeks.

It is hard to estimate how many shots per day, but say 250 shots per day (all RAW). Each

file is about 14MB (I think) so that's (by my reckoning) about 49 gig of data ... Which is a

lot! Of course I don't know for sure that i will take that much, but I also don't know it

won't be more!

 

From what everybody is saying above, it sounds like I should try and store every file twice

- so either have two back-up drives of some sort (and re-use the memory cards) or one

back-up drive and enough memory cards not to have to reuse them.

 

To answer another question above, I am going to South Africa on an organised 'steam

train safari' (steam-hauled trains are laid on every day, and we travel the country

photographing different ones in different locations). So we're constantly on the move...

Mad, but fun!

 

Thanks again everyone - all further thoughts/suggestions very welcome!