Backing up images on a trip

[dave.englund]

Heading out to Yellowstone soon, and also stopping off at the Badlands and

Devil's Tower on the way. I have three memory cards: 1-1GB and 2-2GB for a total

of 5GB. I expect they will fill up faster than I think, and am wondering what my

best option is for moving images off the cards to some type of backup.<br /><br />

 

I don't have a budget that permits me to buy a portable hard drive (Wolverine,

etc) or a Laptop with a CD/DVD burner. I'm wondering about the possibility of

using photo kiosks in stores along the way (CVS, Walgreens, Synders, Yellowstone

General Stores) to move my images from the memory cards to CD's. I guess it's

about $3 per CD, so that's pretty economical.<br /><br />

 

The question I have is - do theses types of kiosks do straight file copies of

*both* your RAW files and jpg files from the memory cards? I don't want to get

home later and find out I have no RAW files and my jpgs are in a reduced size or

resolution. Anybody have experience with doing backups this way?

[Ken Katz]

A few years ago, I found a number a camera stores in Jackson Hole, who were able to copy RAW files onto CDs. Best to talk to the people in the camera store, and ask that they just transfer the files to CD, without any type of processing.

[rick_wong]

Kinkos, Walmart, etc. all have download services but you have to remember that CD's only hold 680 megs.

 

I just bought a Teac 40 gig storage device for $76. http://www.buy.com/prod/teac-40gb-multifunction-usb-2-0-portable-photo-storage-drive/q/loc/101/203354280.html

 

The nice thing is that while waiting in the field for the right lighting or for oldfaithfull to shoot, you can download your files.

 

Was going to pick up two 4 gig cards for my roadtrip accross the country next week and while shopping for memory I found this ad and ended up buying this instead.

[ronald_moravec1]

I would use multiple small cards rather than one large one. Don`t put them thru body scan at airports, x ray is fine.

 

But moving the files to any other single device, you maximize the chance total loss in the event of failure.

 

CD`s will fill very fast if you shoot raw. Quality JPEGS are 1/5 the size or less.

 

The best way is to burn your own DVD multiple copies and keep the original cards intact if you can.

[geoffs1]

For file-copying, you might be better off at an Internet Cafe or business center (many hotels have them). I think DVD's would be better than CDs for the amount of data you'll likely have. Pack a cheap USB card-reader and a CD/DVD case filled with blank disks (don't forget to get both DVD+R and DVD-R - also a bunch of CDs). That way, all you need is a computer with an available USB port and a CD or DVD burner.

[bob_flood1]

I bought a stand-alone CD burner a few years ago. When away from home, every evening after a day's shooting, I burn everything from cards to CDs and reformat the cards. No laptop needed. They can be had for about $150, which is a budget pain if you aren't planning on it. But the CD-ROM is a universal format - anything can read one.

 

I like Geoff Sobering's idea - I also carry a USB card reader as a backup (haven't needed it so far). Most motels have a PC you could use to copy files from your card-reader onto your own supply of disks. The problem is likely to be that DVD formats aren't universal like the CD-ROM. You should expect to find "loaner" PCs that will write DVD+R and not DVD-R, and some that do DVD-R and not DVD+R, and some that will do both. Carrying both types of disks would be necessary - but that assumes that you have DVD read capability at home and can read both formats. This is why I like the CDs - it's older technology and I have to carry a lot of them, that's for sure, but I know that any optical disk drive that can write will be able to create PC-readable CDRs, even my cousin's old Mac. I buy plastic cases that hold 4 CDs each and load them up with blanks before departure. I carry enough blank CDs to write about 6-8 gb per day of shooting.

 

If you plan to "forage" for CD writing capability, I suggest that you hit whoever is the local supplier of bargain-basement memory cards and buy a couple of the cheapest spares available - otherwise, you run the risk of a motel with no customer-usable PC leaving you with no shooting capability the next day.

[geoffs1]

Bob - very true comments about DVD+/-R. In theory every DVD reader will read "pressed" DVDs as well as both +R and -R formats. FWIW, sometimes my -R laptop won't read a +R DVD I've created on my desktop machine (but I think it's due to the software I used).

 

You're correct, CDs are "more universal" in their read and writing behavior, but they are more fragile than DVDs (as well as being about 1/5 the size).

 

I have a friend who travels a lot to "less developed" countries. His solution is a card->CD burner, and a lot of 512 Mb cards. The advantage is that each card will fit onto one CD. It was some time ago that we last talked, and he may have switched to larger cards and some other "on the road" archive solution by now.

[pakivotis]

I am using my ipod to download RAW files to. I works just fine with my Nikon D200. I have

the 80GB version so it is enough for small trips. However, for a longer expedition I suggest a

combination of multiple memory cards (I find the 2 or 4GB cards most handy), an ipod-like

device and a small basic laptop PC to which you can connect a large 300GB external HDD.

Now, this is getting heavy and a bit expensive but will get you completely independent for

quite some time!

[dave.englund]

I decided to go with the Creative Zen Vision W 30 GB Widescreen Multimedia Player. You can get it at Amazon for $249.00.

 

I thought about going with a Wolverine or some other basic file transfer device, but there would always be a part of me that would still wonder if I didn't see some facsimile of my images too. This seems to be a very reasonable price for a storage/viewer combination. More than I really wanted to spend to begin with, but it will be a good long-term solution for when I do trips and want to keep on shooting. Thanks all.

[thomas_hardy1]

How do you use an iPod to download images from dslr?

[dave.englund]

Thomas, the Vision W has a CF card reader built in. See the specs <a href="http://www.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=210&subcategory=211&product=15752&nav=1"><b><u>here</u></b></a>. You would use the Vision W as a portable hard drive (see a demo <a href="http://www.creative.com/products/pmp/howto/welcome.asp?t=storage"><b><u>here</u></b></a>). Basically, instead of loading the thing up with tunes, you dedicate a sizable portion of it to "portable storage" space. You could still use the left over space for tunes or jpgs, etc.

[pakivotis]

Hi Thomas, to connect the iPod all you need is your dslr usb cable and the ipod camera

connector - it is an option. You just then hook the camera to the ipod and watch your files

being downloaded; it's that simple. Every time you do this with a new memory card the ipod

automatically creates a new folder so you don't need to worry about losing images.

[linda_vesci1]

I'm also going to Yellowstone in a few weeks. Your question is timely for me because I'm just getting startwd with digital and had no idea that you may need DVD+R or DVD-R. When I went to the store to buy them, they sold me -R. I haven't done anything with them yet. I was planning to take 3 2GB cards and film as backup until I know what I'm doing. I'll be reviewing the answers to your question to try to figure this all out! Thanks.

[ranong]

i do not know too much about this (i shoot film) but my photo store was telling me how some of the kiosks were set up to convert the files to something smaller than what was originally there. it makes it easier for them to process the data. they assume that no one ever makes a photo larger than 8x10!!!!! just keep this in mind at the kiosks.

 

eddie

[aaron l]

I just got back from eastern Europe and used the Wolverine to store my images. It's about the least evil of the available options, being small, compact, it does error checking to let me know everything made it over okay. I shot 16gigs of data, not once shooting RAW. That would be a ridiculous stack of CDs, a stack of 17 DVDs because I back up daily and clear the cards. You never know what's going to happen. Do you want to waste your time looking for kiosks that might not work or the 20 minutes in your hotel/wherever to back up your stuff?

[kbev]

FWIW - I usually travel with a laptop and was backing up photos to CD on my trips. I like the laptop option because I can see what I've done and retake things that didn't come out the way I wanted.

 

On my last few trips though, I had internet access and would just upload my photos to my smugmug account. It has unlimited storage and an overnight download form the hotel room usually does the trick. I don't expect to lose my laptop, but if I did, I could just d/l the full-size photos from the site.

 

Just a thought... Web access is free at some places and relatively cheap in others...

[dave.englund]

On my trip now I realize I do want to have a laptop for such events. I do have the Creative Vision W, but I don't like the fact that I have to assume it's copied both jpgs and CR2's (it doesn't show the CRS files - but the total amount of files copied matches both jpg and CR2). Also, Internet bars are unpredictable. So, another form of backup where I know my images are double-backed up would provide an extra measure of peace of mind. I'm realizing peace of mind is worth a lot;-)