Backup pictures on the go

[Caezar]

I am about to go on a long trip and I need to find a back-up solution for my photos. I thought of the following:
1) buy an Ipod Photo, with the camera connector accessory. However, Apple does not mention on its website that the connector works with the Nikon D50
2) buy a Palm LifeDrive. The downside is that HD size is "only" 4GB. On the plus side, the LifeDrive can do more things than the IPod photo.
3) buy more SD cards. This will enable me to take lost of pics, but small SD cards are easy to misplace.

Any other suggestion?

Caezar

[ReF]

depends on how much memory you need and how much you have to spend.

i've got the plain 60gig version of the wolverine card reader / portable hard drive found here:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?ci=1&sb=ps&pn=1&sq=desc&InitialSearch=yes&O=RootPage.jsp&A=search&Q=*&bhs=t&shs=wolverine

works great: fast, reliable, small, good battery life, and functions as extra hard drive space.

[ktixx]

I would suggest memory cards. I tried the hard drive storage unit and stored about 2 1/2GB of information on it. Turned it on about a 6 days into my trip and it was completely fried. I now have to spend $500 to have my hard drive professionaly restored. I am not saying you will have the same problem, I am just suggesting that you spend the $300-$400 on memory cards, they are much more reliable.
Ken

[ReF]

I would suggest memory cards. I tried the hard drive storage unit and stored about 2 1/2GB of information on it. Turned it on about a 6 days into my trip and it was completely fried. I now have to spend $500 to have my hard drive professionaly restored. I am not saying you will have the same problem, I am just suggesting that you spend the $300-$400 on memory cards, they are much more reliable.
Ken

it really is safer to NOT have "all your eggs in one basket, but for someone who shoots a lot the $$$ doens't buy a lot of flash memory. on a trip i may shoot 2-3 gigs a day. i guess one of those portable card to dvd or cd burners may be safer, especially if a backup is burned. i used one of those and it was a pain in the rear though. maybe they've improved in the last 9 months? a laptop + backup disc is good too if you have one of those handy.

ktixx, which device in particular burned up on you?

[D Thompson]

I just bought a Jobo Giga One portable 40G. Has slots for most cards so you don't need a pc. $155 @ Adorama. I haven't used it much yet as I got it for a trip to New Mexico in early Feb.

[coldrain]

The iPod (not iPod Nano) will definitely work with the Nikon D50. Since the D50 uses a standard way to communicate with the computer, it will work.
On the downside, transfer to the iPod is a bit slow. On the plus side, compared to other solutions, you get a great MP3 player.

[cwphoto]

Epson P-2000 out of your league? Best of breed LCD and supports many RAW formats.

[Mike2002]

I will be in the same boat this summer, going to Alaska.

I have called and in Anchorage there is a Kit's Camera shop (related to Ritz according to Ritz web site) and so I am thinking about stopping by there and downloading everything to a CD or DVD for $5.99 and then clearing my SD memory for more photo's.

What would be the downside of this plan?

Thinking ahead what do most folks do with storage of their photo's, DVD/CD, separate hard drive, flash drive?? Is there a good thread on this?

Thanks,

Mike

[coldrain]

Your best bet still remains to have a harddrive device to download your photos on. Either you have an mp3 player with that possibility or you get a dedicated device... they are not that expensive anymore, lots of solutions below 200$. I do not know how many photos you usually make, and how many cards you have, but having to go to a camera store every (other) day to empty your card, and having many CD's to burn and hoping they will be readable at home, I do not find that a very attractive option.
Sitting somewhere on a quiet moment just waiting till your camera has downloaded your card(s) onto your portable storage device takes a lot less time, and gives peace of mind.

[George Riehm]

I am about to go on a long trip and I need to find a back-up solution for my photos. I thought of the following:
1) buy an Ipod Photo, with the camera connector accessory. However, Apple does not mention on its website that the connector works with the Nikon D50
2) buy a Palm LifeDrive. The downside is that HD size is "only" 4GB. On the plus side, the LifeDrive can do more things than the IPod photo.
3) buy more SD cards. This will enable me to take lost of pics, but small SD cards are easy to misplace.

Any other suggestion?

Caezar

I may be in a different situation, but I use my laptop, since it is with me when I travel (business or vacation) anyway. Having a larger screen helps to edit at the end of the day as well.

[Caezar]

I may be in a different situation, but I use my laptop, since it is with me when I travel (business or vacation) anyway. Having a larger screen helps to edit at the end of the day as well.

I went for shopping today (in Taiwan) and could not find any of the devices mentioned in this thread but the Ipod. I just bought the 30gig version instead of the 60GB) and I will use the dollars I saved to buy additional SD cards.

Thanks to you all for your advice.

Caezar

[George Riehm]

I went for shopping today (in Taiwan) and could not find any of the devices mentioned in this thread but the Ipod. I just bought the 30gig version instead of the 60GB) and I will use the dollars I saved to buy additional SD cards.

Thanks to you all for your advice.

Caezar

One other (that is made in Taiwan) is the PQI mPack800. It may be a little pricy, but I tried this one at ESC last year and it works very well, for everything, including storing and viewing photos (with the optional card reader).

[ktixx]

ktixx, which device in particular burned up on you?
RCA Lyra RD2780 - 20GB MP3/MPEG Player w/ built in CF card Slot. It was perfect for the situation. I literally went to put my CF card in one day and all the plastic was melted inside. I opened the casing, saw that everthing was fried. I took out the HD and tried to hook it up to my laptop...no luck.
Ken

[ReF]

MELTED? that's crazy! i thought maybe RCA was starting to move away from their old reputation, but i'm still gonna stay far away

[George Riehm]

MELTED? that's crazy! i thought maybe RCA was starting to move away from their old reputation, but i still gonna stay far away

RCA is still owned by Thomson (France) as is the GE consumer electronics brand. Their products are typically in the middle of the pack in quality and reliability.

ktixx... I suggest that you contact Thomson Consumer Electronics (TCE) on this problem.

[Rhys]

Have a look on pricegrabber. I've seen some neat stuff there. Having said that, I notice that many solutions aren't that much cheaper than a laptop.

[uncle_b]

I recently went on a trip to Vegas and at some point during each day, I would transfer my photos to my laptop in the hotel room. It worked fine, but it sure was a pain in the but to have to carry that thing around since I wasn't on business and didn't need it for anything other than a backup drive. I think I'll try the iPod and see how that works.