What is the best way to store and view images while on an extended trip?

<p >When you are on an extended trip what is the best way to store and view images (I will be taking a trip to Montana and Canada for 10 days). I have a 32 GB memory card for my 5DMII and want to be sure I do not run out space. I will be flying so my large laptop would not work and space will be an issue. Would you recommend a small inexpensive laptop or an additional memory card? With an additional memory card I would not be able view a larger image like I could on a laptop.</p>

<p>There are a number of fairly inexpensive portable drives that include an LCD and memory card ports for you to dowload and view your images. Cheaper than a small laptop, they also fit into a big pocket, and will hold many GB's of images. If you are going to be away from the internet, that's what I would recommend. My prference is to have many smaller memory cards than a big whalloping one. Sort of like spreading the risk than having all my images in one basket. Of course, the last big extended trip I was on did not feature any digital cameras and we came back with 120 rolls of film to process... </p>

<p>For trips away of up to 2 months I just buy extra cards. Provided they are not lost they are the cheapest and most secure form of temporary storage. I even have acquaintances who store all their images on the original cards, just buying new cards as they take more photos. I don't go that far.<br>

Neill</p>

<p>I have the Epson P-3000 with 40GB and an excellent quality screen. It will also store video/music to pass away those boring hours. If you are worried about back-up you can also buy extra cards and copy pictures to the Epson.<br>

Or you could buy a 10" netbook for the same price and get internet connectivity at the same time. That would fit into most bags. </p>

<p>I depends on a few things, I think, including your budget and whether you shoot RAW or jpg and the quality level you want to view.</p>

<p>If you shoot jpg and tend not do much post processing, are happy with a fairly simple display (no color adjustment and no cropping, etc.), and don't want to carry a laptop then one of the external device mentioned above could do the trick.</p>

<p>If you shoot RAW, want to process the images a bit, would like to view them a bit larger... and have any reason to otherwise use a computer (writing, email, web, etc.) then a small laptop could be a better bet. I'm fond of carrying a 13" Macbook Pro with Photoshop installed, but that's just me.</p>

<p>Of course, if you are so inclined and you want to negotiate a few technical issues, this could be your excuse to get an iPad... :-)</p>

<p>Dan</p>

<p>dupe</p>

<p>Hyperdrive HD80 is a fraction the cost of the P-3000 but it does not have lcd screen.</p>

<p>Mike Hitchen gave you some great advice. I would get small notebook and a very small HD.This way you have internet on the go and ability to dump your CF cards. I would back them up on the notebook AND small drive and free up the CF cards. If you have a bigger notebook that has DVD drive, skip the HD and take some blank DVDs. v/r Buffdr</p>

<p>I went out of my country a coule of months ago. I thought, and still think (with a caveat), that a 10" netbook is the way to go. I bought an ASUS, but yoyu need to compare models for yourself.</p>

<p>The netbook gave me not only a 250GB hard drive, but also a 10" decent screen, Windows 7 Basic and internet connectivity whenever our locale allowed it. The caveat that I ran into is that the 1080x600 max resolution would not allow me to load Canon's Zoombrowser or DPP software on it. I got some advice--as yet untested--that hooling up the netbook to an external monitor would allow me to load that software. I still need to try it. But I found a free solution by downloading IrfanView to do slide shows with my pictures.</p>

<p>About $330.00. I may have splurged for a newer, higher res modedl if I had known of the issue ahead of time. But I still use the netbook often for web browsing.</p>

<p>My earlier answer was incomplete and perhaps not totally to the point. Your idea about carrying more memory cards is a good one. My preference is actually to carry sufficient memory cards that I won't have to erase cards while in the field. There are several reasons to consider this:</p>

<ul>

<li>Memory cards are so much less expensive now that it isn't that costly to carry a truly huge amount of memory card storage.</li>

<li>You could avoid having to carry any additional storage medium if all of your images will fit on your memory cards, or better yet...</li>

<li>In addition to keeping files on the cards, also back them up to either a laptop or an external storage device so that you have duplicate copies, and if you want to be extra safe...</li>

<li>make the external device a laptop and burn copies of the files to DVD and possibly mail them to yourself as you go. You'll now have three copies of everything. But the truly paranoid....</li>

<li>Also bring a small USB drive and duplicate the files on the computer to the external drive.</li>

</ul>

<p>When it comes to file backup and duplication, a bit of paranoia can be a good thing. :-)</p>

<p>Dan</p>

<p>memory cards, enough for the entire trip</p>

<p>Backup to a computer daily</p>

<p>Copy from computer to an external hard drive and store separately away from computer in case of theft.</p>

<p>Keep memory cards face down in a strong memory card case. Do not reformat after comping files, unless you run out of them. Use face up card as needed. Keep case in shirt pocket away from computer or portable hard drive.</p>

 

<p>As G Dan says, it's just so much nicer to have a laptop (a small one) along if there's anyway you can "swing" it (danger: hernia alert). A portable HD with the ability to download directly is a close second. If you get lots of cards (advisable in any case), be sure to keep the used ones quite separate from the blank ones. It's probably a good idea to reformat the cards in the camera they'll be used in and check them, before the trip.</p>

<p>Also, there are lots of counterfeit cards out there. Some of these are labeled something like "8GB," but may actually only be 256K or some such. Buy not the cheapest, but the cheapest from a source you are confident about like one of the big NY stores, for example (e.g., <a href="http://www.adorama.com/Als/SearchPage/compact+flash/?Count=10&SearchInfo=compact+flash">link</a> for compact flash)</p>

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<p>Also, there are lots of counterfeit cards out there. Some of these are labeled something like "8GB," but may actually only be 256K or some such. Buy not the cheapest, but the cheapest from a source you are confident about like one of the big NY stores, for example (e.g., <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.adorama.com/Als/SearchPage/compact+flash/?Count=10&SearchInfo=compact+flash">link</a> for compact flash)</p>

</blockquote>

<p>And if you buy from Amazon I have seen a lot of complaints about this because Amazon (in UK anyway) pass the order to a third party to provide them.</p>

<p>I bought both a Toshiba netbook--lots of battery power--and a matching Toshiba 500GB pocket hard drive. Even with 320 gigs in the netbook, if you shoot a lot (and I do) you'll run out of space fast. If not too tight for space I keep at least a copy of all the raw files on both the internal and external drive.</p>

<p>It looks like a 10 inch netbook/laptop and extra memory card is the way to go.<br>

Will the xray machine at the airport have any effect on my memory cards & data?</p>

<p>Xray will not effect your digital storage but you will have a little additional time checking through. they may want the netbook to be turned on. to make sure it's not a bad device.</p>

<p>My netbook cost $280. The only difference between a netbook and laptop is speed and size. I've edited 12MP raw files on it and while it isn't great it is certainly usable. I replaced my drive with a 500GB hard drive but you can put a 1TB 2.5" drive in a tiny $15 case if you need more space.</p>

<p>If the images are important to you, this is what I do. I used my laptop and import the images into Aperture (Lightroom) as referenced images. The referenced images are stored on an external WD USB 2.0 Passport drive. My Aperture Library remains on my internal drive. Once a day, once I am back in the room for the evening, I back up my internal drive to as OWC FW 400 drive and my picture drive (WD USB 2.0 Passport to a second passport drive. I store the primary drive and the back up drive in different part of my travel bags. <br>

AND, I do not erase my cards unless absolutely necessary. <br>

Storing on cards is great, but I have heard of people having all of their pictures stolen when someone decide their CF/SD cards looked too good to leave behind.<br>

For me the pictures are important and I really try to preserve them. I could also burn them to DVD's on my laptop, and perhaps I should, but I don't.<br>

Good luck on your travels.</p>

<p>It depends on the extent to which you want to edit and delete on the trip. Personally I don't do either with the exception of clear composition and exposure mistakes which tend to go either immediately on viewing a histogram or the image on the LCD screen which I tend to do briefly each day. That aside I want to spend my time on trips planning what I need to do not reviewing what I've done, which is a job for when I get home. Equally I don't want to look at the photographs in any detail until I have the facility and time to post process and that for me means a desktop and Lightroom/Photoshop. </p>

<p>So I don't carry a computer, or any form of portable hard drive. I have lots of cards and I don't delete from those cards until I need to re-use them. I do recognise that I'm carrying some risk , but I really don't want to have a computer with me on photo trips and holidays- I'd just spend all my hotel time on the email/internet rather than planning and deciding on routes, timings etc. I imagine I'll buy a drive soon and load nightly as a security measure- though I wouldn't need a screen to do that. </p>

<p>You do not really consider seriously to spend the nights editing photos while being on a (recreational?) trip? Any memory card provides more security than a laptop - just drop both and guess which of them will still work? Also, you may stay in a hotel where you don't know whether your laptop is safe. And carrying it around all the time means increasing the risk of failure. 32GB for me would be enough for 10 days - get just another 32 GB card beforehand (maybe the same one which you already know well, or from trusted brands, e.g. sandisk or kingston), and you have more than sufficient space to shoot everythin in RAW. This is a better solution than buying another netbook.<br>

At the end of each day, just review your daily photos with your camera display, and erase the worst shots. If you are in doubt, just keep it, and decide at home.<br>

BTW, as already mentioned here, memory cards are the safest way of storing information. But buy them from a trusted brand.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>That aside I want to spend my time on trips planning what I need to do not reviewing what I've done, which is a job for when I get home</p>

</blockquote>

<p>My wife and I went to Canda for three weeks, travelling west coast and watching grizzly bears. We quite enjoyed sitting down in the evening reviewing the day using the Epson viewer as well as talking about it. Not to edit images (though we did take the opportunity to weed out the truly bad ones), but for enjoyment.<br>

Some people prefer to store the photos then get out shooting again, but I don't take it that seriously. My camera is a means of recording where I have been, and photography is rarely the main driver of what I want to do - sure there are days I will go out and spend a few hours taking pictures but rarely more than that. Plus I take the advantage of reviewing photos and working out what worked and what didn't - an immediate tutorial if you wish.</p>

<p>As ever, it is horses for courses.</p>

 

<p>Will you be carrying a laptop with you on the trip?</p>

<p>If so, USB hard drives are inexpensive and you can get 500GB+ on an external 2.5" drive - light, easy to work with.</p>

<p>Invest in a series of San disk extrem IV 8GB memory cards and delete what you don't need and can see for sure <br>

are bad photos that can not be corrected in photoshop. You can have a local camera store burn your photos onto a dvd.</p>

<p>I looked at getting one of the viewer/storage devices. In the end, I decided to buy more memory cards. I'm happy. My largest card previously was 8 gb that was rated for 20 mb/s. I bought a couple 32 gb cards rated for 60 mb/s. I'm quite happy with both the number of images I can take before swapping and the increased speed at writing and displaying pictures on my camera. I just got back from a 10 day trip and am working on processing photos. :)</p>