Data download from Rebel XTi

[donald_a]

What's the most compact way to have a memory storage/backup system for the Rebel XTi? Suppose I have a 2GB

card and I want to use fill it up every day during a trip and dump the data somewhere at night. What's the smallest

(in size) set of equipment that will let me do that? Thanks.

[PuppyDigs]

Photo DVD at Ritz or Longs.

[jp_and_ap_the_glass_eye]

Hello . This is not really an answer to your exact question, but - you might consider more memory cards as a cheap and quick solution. 4gig and 8gig cards are fairly inexpensive. Before my China trip I bought 3ea 8gig Lexar cards for about $70 ea after California tax and Lexar rebate. So it kind of comes down to the length of your trip and your daily memory consumption.

[josh_baker]

How long are you gone? So how many dumps do you need?

Do you need multiple copies, or is just one fine? (i.e. do you reqire a back up copy)

 

One option is an independent dvd burner like the EZDigiMagic Portable DVD Burner. I havn't used it, but in theory you could make a copy of the info every night (even two copies, and store them like dvds/cds in a small space)

[Charles_Webster]

You might look into a Portable Storage Device such as this: http://www.hyperdrive.com/

 

The Space model offers a color screen and lots of features. I have used their old HD-80 model and it works well and is dependable.

 

These devices typically d/l a 2Gig card in less than a minute, allowing you to shoot one card while downloading the other.

 

<Chas>

[apetty]

I agree with the hyperdrive. I have one and it comes in very handy. The portable DVD burner, you have to be careful with. I had bought one once and it only copied JPG, not RAW files. So be careful.

[g dan mitchell]

I'm in the "memory cards as cheap and small solution" camp. I carry a couple of 8GB Flash Memory cards, each of which

holds nearly 500 images from my 5D. (I may also bring along a few older cards including 4GB and 2GB cards if I'll do a lot of

shooting.)

 

The cost of 8GB cards is quite low these days.

 

I guess that if you are concerned about making a backup of the card each day and are not carrying a laptop (which is where I

would make my backups) then one of the small self-contained units might make some sense.

 

If you do carry a laptop and for some reason don't want the photos on the laptop's drive, very large USB 2.5" drives are now

available for dirt cheap. Use the laptop to backup to the external drive and put it somewhere away from the camera and laptop.

 

Dan

[matthijs]

Just a quick note: shouldn't you have two copies of each picture to prevent a disaster by hardware failure?

 

I would vote for extra memory cards which you do not erase until your pictures are safely stored at home and an image tank-like solution.

(Something like a "Image Tank, Card Reader, Color Display" which are about 5x3x1 inch and hold 30GB or more and cost about $ 150)

 

Regards,

 

Matthijs. (Whose day job sometimes involves computer datacenter storage projects...)

[JAPster]

I would recemmend yo get a compact but heavy duty laptop, like the Lenovo IBM Thinkpad Model Z61M or something equivalent. Get some quality DVD burning software, like NERO 8, or something equivalent. Take along a bunch of name brand DVDs, like Sony or HP or TDK. And a finetip permanent marker to label the DVD disks. And a cushioned DVD carrying case to carry the DVDs in.

 

Once or twice a day, depending on how a active you are, use your picture card reader to upload all the picture files from your camera to the computer. Use a simple program like Irfanview to quickly step through all the images to confirm their integrity (ie, verify there is no corruption).

 

Then load a scratch DVD into drive, launch the DVD burning software, select the picture file folder into the burn list. Select the option the "Verify Data after Writing". Then start the burn, and burn one or two DVD Backup disks. Confirm that the "Verify Data" portion complete succesfully. Then label the DVD disks with all pertinent information. Store them in the DVD carrying case. Keep the DVD carrying case stored in a clean, cool, dry, protected place.

 

Then, after you have made the DVD backup disks, do Folder Copy operation, and copy the picture files folder to a small external USB drive (ie, 160GB). Something like the little Western Digital "Passport" drives. They are small, lightweight, portable, but have lots of space.

 

This strategy would give you (3) sets of each picture file set you upload. 1st set, on the laptop C drive.l 2nd set, on the small external hard drive, and 3rd set, on the (2) DVD backup disks.

 

If you buy your DVD disks in bulk, and catch them on sale., you can get them for $0.10 or less. So they are quite inexpensive, compared to all the other expenses you are acruing when taking the pictures.

 

Thats how i do it, whenever i travel to someplace and expect to take either pictures or video files when i get there.

[Charles_Webster]

I'm not compulsive about my pictures unless they are for a client assignment. Therefore, having 3 copies of my vacation snaps seems a bit excessive. I shoot all day and download to the HD80 at night. I download the HD80 to the desktop computer when I get home. Meets my needs, might not meet yours, especially if you're shooting for money.

 

<Chas>

[rogerleekam]

External hard drives are neither very expensive nor very large. May be the best bang for the buck. For permanent archive I use both a hard drive and DVD.

[digitmstr]

Another vote for the Hyperdrive. I have been using one for years and it's excellent! Super fast downloads and very reliable. Small, easy to use and runs on readily available AAs. When you get back to base, just plug it in a USB 2.0 port and transfer your files to your PC. Done!