Photo Viewer for a trip. What should I get?

[mikepalo]

I am preparing to go to the Galapagos Islands for four weeks in about a month. I

do not want to lug my laptop with me since it is a very heavey HP. But I have a

Nikon D200 which I will be bringing. I have 2x 4 gig cards that I am going to be

shooting with, but as most of you can sympathise with 2x 4 gig cards might last

me the first day on the Islands, definitally not 4 weeks unless I turn my

quality all the way down to low and small(Not an option).

 

My question is I want to buy a photo viewer that I can use while I am in the

Galapagos. Something I can download my photos onto and look through them at

night so I can delete the junk wihtout having to stare at a 2.5" screen for

hours. I was looking into the Epson P-2000,3000,5000 series, but the more I look

into it the more I am unsure about their capabilites. Have any of you used any

of these three items, or another brand another product that does what I am

looking to do.

 

Here is what I am looking for:

 

Fast transfer time

Large Storage space

RAW support for the Nikon D200

Clear Larger screen to view on

Ability to view and delete

small and compact

 

I cant find exact comparison of any of these things between the three models I

have looked at.

 

I would appreciate any Input. Thank you very much

 

Michael Palozzola

[Ed_Ingold]

Think it over about the laptop. There are portable viewers with hard drives that work direct from CF card to HDD. However, do you really want to commit four weeks of shooting to a single hard drive. With a laptop, you have most of what you need, including a large-screen viewer, editing capability and most important, the means to back up to both hard drive and durable media (CDs and DVDs).

 

So what will you do for power?

[mikepalo]

power isnt a problem they have electricity its just that my laptop is like 20 pounds, our checked baggage can only be 50lbs and I already have two carry on's being a scuba diver, bringing my regulators and cameras on board. Also we are going to have to lug all of our baggage around, were not just staying in one place, there is the potential for having to hike a good distance with all our baggage.

[kendall helmstetter gelner]

The only thing I would say is, do you really want to spend your vacation reviewing?

 

I use the Nexto CF reader. It has only a simple LCD and cannot review images. However it has a few nice things going for it:

 

1) Very fast reads, especially if you have faster CF cards. Takes less time to load in images from a CF card.

 

2) Very good battery life, something like 50GB of transfer on a charge (which is amazing compared to most other devices).

 

3) Use your own drive. I bought just the shell, and then installed a 120 GB laptop drive.

 

4) (not as sure about this, but I seem to remember it does this) If you have two, one can synchronize with the other so you have a backup after you load CF cards for the day.

 

5) Somewhat small (a little larger than a laptop drive).

 

With 120 GB of storage, do you really need a laptop at all to review and delete?

 

If you decide you really need a screen, one device that impresses me is the GigaVu Pro Evolution. That has some cool features and has a nice LCD that does image review.

[bruce_margolis]

Will you be staying at places that have computer access? If so, a portable hard drive may be a simple answer. They are small, light, and pretty inexpensive now. I have seen capacity up to 160Gb.

 

You only need two things, a computer connection and a USB port. Use the USB ports to download from your camera to the portable drive.

[mikepalo]

I cant garuntee computer access

[ari_halberstadt1]

Not sure which photo viewer to get, but make sure your pictures are not stored on one single hard drive. At least carry a second disk-only backup device, such as the hyperdrive space or nexto and copy all your pictures to it as well before wiping the memory card. Consider carrying enough memory cards for the whole time, or at least to last you if your backup devices break. With a laptop you could back up to DVDs and review on a better screen, but it is a big thing to drag along. There is also a standalone DVD burner from EzPNP.

[mikepalo]

Hmm a stand alone DVD burner...interesting...unfortunatly i wont be able to bring a laptop which would be the best solution, also I only have enought money to buy one storage device..:( and I only have 2 4gig memory cards, I cant afford more then taht right now. So I have to work with what I can ...after doing some more digging I am looking into the Giga Vu Pro Evolution or the Epson P-5000, these two are both more expensive then I was hoping but they seem to be the best as far as being able to deal with my camera's abilities, such as the 10megapix and the raw format. ...anyone on here have one of these items or used em?

[ronald_olsen]

I also have been in this situation when travelling to Asia. I took the laptop once, but with my large flashes and batteries it was just too much of a burden. I've used an Epson P-2000 for five long trips, and have been extremely happy with it. You are right to be concerned with having files in only one place, what I have done is take along an extra 4 g card and downloaded the very best 15% of photos back onto it from the Epson. So, you have a copy of 100% of the photos on one drive, and the cream of the crop in another location as well. A compromise I know, but a good one. In general only my best 15 % images have any chance of being published anyway. By the way, I have travelled with people who have had hard drives without viewers, and they always wish that they had a way to view them, after they see what mine can do. The Epson is very small to carry, but has a beautiful screen. Let us know what solution you decided to use and how it worked out when you get back.

[mikepalo]

I think i have finally made my decision....After looking in depth into the two main competators for my needs the Epson p-5000 and the Jobo Giga Vu Pro Evolution. I have found that specs wise they are nearly Identical. But after getting lucking in a google search I found this

http://wetpixel.com/i.php/full/the-best-harddrive-storage-device/

Exactly what I was looking for a direct Side By Side comparison between the 2 products I was looking at. I am going to order the P-5000 from B&H photo in NY on tues or wends and then wait anxiously by the door till it comes and I can play with it! :) unless anyone has any last minute reasons why the P-5000 is a bad choice.

[ronald_olsen]

I think you will be very pleased with this product. Yes, you will play with it, a lot. I can tell you that it is absolutely Nikonian when it comes to the user interface, it's very easy to use. I never had to open the manual until I first tried to download files to my computer at home. It's a real gem. Just remember what I said about having backup, get another large CF card just for this purpose. Please do let us know how it went when you get back from the trip.

[mikepalo]

I have to be really careful, I dont have the money to buy another card before I leave, I had some un expected expensise...i flooded the strobe on my underwater camera, and needed to get it replaced before I leave. So I am stuck with only 2 cards. It looks like for this trip I am going to need to rely on Epson's good name to get me through. If the drive currupts within 1 month of me owning it I will not be a happy camper..the p-5000 is not a cheap toy :) ....I am leaving May 14th and I will be returning June 7th for anyone who is iterested. I will be posting my best pics up on photo.net as soon as I have the money for a suscription.

[mikepalo]

Im back from my trip. It was unbelievable. I came back with alot of pictures so i will probally spend the next few weeks filtering through them and adding a few pics each day so check my gallery often if you wish.

The p-5000 worked great I loved it. It was fantastic for what I needed gave me exactly what I needed to be able to do with little extra space taken up in my camera bag. Would Suggest it as a MUST for anyone doing any sort of trip that has them weight restricted. It was great for people around me to be able to look thro my pictures as well.