Ipod for photo storage???

[richwolf]

Is there any device out there other than memory cards that will allow you to transfer your photos to???
I am planning a one month trip and I will be shooting at full resolution and taking videos so I will be using lots of memory.
I would also like to take some music with me too so I thought perhaps I could kill 2 birds with one stone.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[John_Reed]

Is there any device out there other than memory cards that will allow you to transfer your photos to???
I am planning a one month trip and I will be shooting at full resolution and taking videos so I will be using lots of memory.
I would also like to take some music with me too so I thought perhaps I could kill 2 birds with one stone.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!Yes, I have a non-photo iPod, and I took it along with me on my recent Ecuador trip, along with a Belkin card reader. It was a little scary putting all those photos (I wound up with over 4,000 photos on the thing, including my wife's photos, and those of a Nikon D2H owner who'd run out of space for storage) on the thing and not being able to see that they were actually stored. But I took the "leap of faith," and by the time I got on the plane to go home, I was guarding that thing with my life! And it worked fine. Now, you can buy a 30GB iPod Photo ($349), Apple has a new $30 camera to iPod connector (only works with iPod Photo models, most likely through USB), and you'd be able to see your photos as they're loaded, and also listen to music. Cool!

[richwolf]

Can you give me the name of some other devices that do both music and photos in about the 20 GIG range?
The new iPod that does pictures and music looks pretty awesome. To get that much storage by buying camera memory would be really expensive.

[John_Reed]

Can you give me the name of some other devices that do both music and photos in about the 20 GIG range?
The new iPod that does pictures and music looks pretty awesome. To get that much storage by buying camera memory would be really expensive.You'll find one here (http://www.vosonic.co.uk/) by someone named Vosonic, a UK company. I couldn't see the price on their website, don't know if it's available in the U.S. Epson has a storage & viewing device that looks pretty nice, but no music, that I know of. You can see some options at http://www.steves-digicams/com, where he lists "portable storage devices," but curiously leaves out the Apple products.

But I'll tell you that using the iPod along with Apple's iTunes software and their music store is a nice user experience. If you want to load a CD, you insert it into your computer, iTunes encodes it into MP3 automatically, and the next time you plug in your iPod, it automatically loads the CD. If you hear a certain tune on the radio you'd like to have, just look it up at the store site, and seconds later, for .99 expended, you're in business. I think that $349 for the iPod Photo, considering it also functions as a photo storage and viewing device, makes it a pretty good deal, all things considered.

[seanbell]

you can use a reg ipod for photo stoage?

[D70FAN]

Is there any device out there other than memory cards that will allow you to transfer your photos to???
I am planning a one month trip and I will be shooting at full resolution and taking videos so I will be using lots of memory.
I would also like to take some music with me too so I thought perhaps I could kill 2 birds with one stone.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

How about killing multiple birds with one stone. I played with one of these at ESC about a month ago, and was blown away. I carry my laptop everywhere I go, but if I were going to get a stand alone storage unit, this would be the one. Available in 40GB or 80GB versions.

And it can display RAW!

http://www.pqimemory.com/mpack/mpack_home.html

[richwolf]

George,

The mPack looks incredible but it looks to be more than I need.
The iPod photo is nice but are there other ones with fewer features and about 10 to 20 gigs of drive that allow you to listen to music and download photos??

[John_Reed]

you can use a reg ipod for photo stoage?You can, but you have to invest ~$100 in a Belkin card reader that accepts SD and CF cards, and plugs into the iPod's interface socket. And although you can store image files on the iPod that way, you can't view them until you get them onto a computer. But that's exactly the way I used the iPod for my Ecuador trip, and it worked fine, though it was a bit scary to have downloaded from a card a bunch of photos, and then actually to re-format the card for the next batch of photos. At that point, you're putting your faith totally into the technology. This may be the reason why some folks never purchase download devices for trips.

[richwolf]

John,

That is true weather it is an iPod you can view or not. But I guess at some point you put your faith into a storage device one way or the other.
What I might do is to go to internet cafes and when my 512meg card gets full, to transfer it to a CD there. This trip is a black hole for money so I have to watch my pennies where I can.
Very informative discussion though

[D70FAN]

George,

The mPack looks incredible but it looks to be more than I need.
The iPod photo is nice but are there other ones with fewer features and about 10 to 20 gigs of drive that allow you to listen to music and download photos??

Here are several alternatives including disk writers.

http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse.com.au/category136_1.htm

[speaklightly]

George-

There is also the Epson P-200 which has a 40gig hardisk and the ability to view as well as store photos. www.dpreview.com has done a review of it.

Sarah Joyce

[erichlund]

OK, Here's the deal with the iPod Photo. I have the 40GB with the software upgrade, the card reader and the direct camera connector. You can use either the card reader or the direct camera connector to load photos to the iPod. You can view photos by either method. You can only view Jpegs. The raw photos show up as a box that says raw, with no picture. Interestingly, You can view Raw+Jpg on the iPod, and it only displays the Jpeg, so that's my new format. When you download the files to your computer, you get both formats, as expected. It's all very slick. :D

One little "feature" that I just figured out: I had set the iPod to manually manage songs and playlists to remove some stuff I didn't want. I then set the iPod back to automatic, but it would not disconnect after the iPod was done synchronizing with iTunes. What I just discovered is that you then also have to manually switch off the "Enable Disk Use" function. One selection to turn on manual manage of songs. Two, on different menus, to turn it off. Not the usual Apple panache. :(

Cheers,
Eric

[richwolf]

Seems to me that the 30 gig iPod photo for around $350 is the one to get for people who want to mix photos and music in a small package.

[ashpete]

Hi,
I've also had the same problem finding a 'good' portable storage device, and after reading this I realised that no one had mentioned the iRiver H340.

I'm heading off overseas later this year and had to find something to store photos, the iRiver H340 (from what I have read) would be much more suited to this purpose.

Rundown:
-40 gig (also H320 - 20gig)
-2inch LCD
-Support for playing video formats
-Long battery life (they claim up to 16h)
-*external battery pack that takes 4xAA (this is a huge bonus when in counteries where you dont wanna show off your fancy expensive hard drive to dodgy ppl, as you can not take battery out and charge independant)
-FM REceiver
-Recorder (record fm/voice from internal mix or plug in an external mic)

I think the main advantage of the H340 is the fact you dont need a card reader, the device supports some digital cameras and the camera plugs directly into the device via USB.

Disadvantages:
-Well from what I have read, the digital cameras that this device 'supports' are limited, however you can upgrade the iRiver software over the net with cables etc so I'm sure they will be releasing support for more digicams.

-From what ive heard the software (on the H340) can be a bit confusing, takes a few days getting used to - but overall it seems people who own these believe they kick the arse out of IPOD and from what Ive read and seen I would have to agree even though I don't own one yet.

Check it out for yourself @ www.iriver.com

I'm also interested to hear from people who already own these..


Hope this helps :D

[richwolf]

Ashpete,

I looked at the iriver and yes it appears to be the way to go. A little less memory than the iPod photo (20 vs. 30 gig) but it does have an FM tuner and it comes with an AC adaptor.
Customer reviews of it were very good and most of them compared it to the iPod and said this was a superior unit.
You can also get a car adaptor for it for around 20 dollars.

[gary_hendricks]

Here are several alternatives including disk writers.

http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse.com.au/category136_1.htm

This is a great site with viable options but I find it unfortunate that I am unable to find the prices available.

[richwolf]

Gary,

New egg has it for around $339 less a $30 rebate.
product name:Vosonic VP6300 MP3 player with 2" Color LTPS

Nice thing about it, is it SEEMS that you can directly plug in different types of memory cards BUT the battery life does not seem to be so good compared to the iriver.

Do any of the camer review sites have reviews of these type of devices? (Review screens, hard drives and music jukeboxes capable of storing and viewing pictures.)

Sure seems to make more sense than lugging around laptops or buying expensive memory cards, plus you can listen to music to boot.

[grayhair]

I like the my ipod photo to take to folks homes and plug it into their tv's and show the vacation pic's with some cool music in the background. It was not cheap but it does what it does perfectly.
Dick

[richwolf]

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2003_reviews/addonics_mfr.html

Check out the above review of the Addonics CD field recorder. It looks like it can also play DVDs and music CD's as well. Direct connection to most popular media cards is a big plus.Battery life doesn't appear to be great.
I found it at one re seller for under $170.
I think this might be a viable alternative to the iPod and iRiver units that cost about twice as much. No review screen but to be able to burn CD's which are cheap and give them to people right away is a cool idea.

[grayhair]

The Addonics Field Recorder is fantastic. Thanks for the eye opener.
Dick

[richwolf]

http://www.shopaddonics.com/Itemdesc.asp?CartId={F587AE6A-0642-4988-96DAEVEREST-7574DA70BA3F}&ic=AEMFR888D

The above link give price and info on the new Addonics unit that burns high capacity DVD's too! Yee haa!

[richwolf]

Well,

After much deliberation, I ordered the iRiver h-320.
Now with that a 512 Meg card and my Canon SD300 I hope I am set for my trip. Now I can take a lot more video clips and shoot away.
I will report back in Late June on how the setup worked for me.

[ktixx]

I have probably recommended this device 10 times on this site, but check out the RCA RD2780. It is a 20 GB Hard Drive, has a 3.5" color screen, and a built in CF Reader. You can easily (and for very little money) get an adapter to go from CF to any type of memory. The best part about it all is you can get a brand new Lyra (RD2780) for $300 (http://www.digital1234.com/product.jsp?x=RD2780) NOT including a $100 Mail in rebate from RCA. (http://www.rcaaudiovideo.com/NR/rdonlyres/41C499D6-543B-4F25-829F-092B3C335B75/0/RD2780Rebate.pdf) IE: Final Price $200.00!!!!
I personally have the RCA Lyra, and I love it, the only bad thing I can say about it, is it takes roughly 20-25 minutes to transfer a full 1GB CF Card to the Hard Drive. I have heard from a few random people that this device had a lot of problems, however it seems like RCA has worked hard to upgrade the firmware, fixing the issues. In addition to being able to store photo's this device can also play movies (Divx 4), Record off of a video source (TV, DVD, Etc.) and can also play and store MP3's. To me there is no better choice for the money. As for www.digital1234.com they are excellent, I bought my 20D and RCA RD2780 from them without any problems. When I purchased my Lyra there was a $50 rebate, which came in about 2 weeks. Good luck
Ken

[richwolf]

The RCA looks interesting, but probably too large for me.
Read some of the reviews and they were not nearly as good as the iPod or iRiver.
But for $200 it is a good value

[richwolf]

Well,

Got the iRiver H320 in yesterday. Starting to figure it out. Loaded some pics and music to it. I need to get a camera to unit plug in.
One thing that is a bonus with this vs. the iPod is the FM radio on it. It works well and sounds good and is easy to use with pre sets and all.
The pics don't take up the whole screen which is a little disappointing but for reviewing and checking it is OK. It also does not play video files. I heard there is a firmware update you can do but as long as it stores them, it is not that big of deal.
Overall I think this unit will work great for me.

[gary_hendricks]

Is there any device out there other than memory cards that will allow you to transfer your photos to???
I am planning a one month trip and I will be shooting at full resolution and taking videos so I will be using lots of memory.
I would also like to take some music with me too so I thought perhaps I could kill 2 birds with one stone.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

You can try the Creative Zen Micro. Another option to consider is getting an external hard drive with USB-to-go technology.

[richwolf]

Well,

Don't get the iRiver for transferring photos on the go, cause it don't work!!!
You can do it from you computer but not in the field.
Stupid, stupid, stupid!
I am returning it and either getting an iPod photo or the Addonics DVD field burner.
The iPod has an optional ($29) device that allows you to direct connect your camera to it and transfer photos.
It is too bad because I really like the iRiver h320, particularly the FM tuner which the ipod does not have.

[richwolf]

Well now that I am calmed down a little I have come to the conclusion that I should have known better before I ordered.
I really like the iRiver h320 for it's size, price, color screen and music capabilites. For it's size and price it is very nice.
I went to mysticriver, a web site that specializes in iRiver products including forums.
I can download pictures on the go if I make up my own cable and update the firmware to the Korean version, which will also allow it to play videos as well. Supposedly this will void the warranty but I don't think I have ever used a warranty in my lifetime so it probably doesn't matter to me.
For those want a more turnkey system then I would suggest going with the iPod photo models. Just make sure your camera is supported. You can find this on the iPod apple web site I believe.

[foaf]

Thanks guys, this has been a really interesting thread. There seems to be a lot of options Portable Hard Disks, High Capacity MP3 Players (arguably the same thing, but some do not have MP3 player capability) and In Field CD/DVD burners. It's something I am going to investigate, but anyone know any review sites for these kind of devices? (Hint hint, Mr Keller :D )

[richwolf]

Go to CNET.com and they have reviews.

Some of these mass storage devices are capable of playing music.
Probably the most turn key system out there is the iPod photo for listening to music and downloading photos through their under $30 card reader.

Mystic River, a web site, has a ton of information on the iRiver series of devices, including mine the H-320, with ways of making USB on the go cables capable of downloading photos with a card reader. You may also have to download firmware to make it work as well.
My brother made me a powered USB on the go cable and I upgraded to the Korean 1.28 version firmware, which should allow me to do what I initially bought the unit for.
Once I get it I will try to give an update.

[richwolf]

Well the USB on the go cable did not work. BUT I found a little device called the Smart X Copy and it allows you to plug a card reader directly into it along with my iRiver H-320 (iPod type device) and I can now transfer photos directly into it!!! Yee Haa!
If anyone needs any information let me know.

[D70FAN]

Well the USB on the go cable did not work. BUT I found a little device called the Smart X Copy and it allows you to plug a card reader directly into it along with my iRiver H-320 (iPod type device) and I can now transfer photos directly into it!!! Yee Haa!
If anyone needs any information let me know.

Now that was cruel and unusual...

...yes please post the information. Especially if it works with an iPod, iRiver, and Creative players.

[richwolf]

Well here is the link for the Smart X Copy
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=103&cp_id=10306&cs_id=1030601&p_id=2063&seq=1&format=2&style=

[richwolf]

Here is a picture of my iRiver H-320 and The Smart copy device which is listed here gives me the ability to download pictures in the field using a card reader without having to connect to a computer. http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=103&cp_id=10306&cs_id=1030601&p_id=2063&seq=1&format=2&style=

I now have over 30 albums of music on my iRiver, numerous photos for sharing and the ability to download all my voice, AVI's and JPEGS from my Canon SD-300.

Finally got together what I wanted.

Ready for my trip.

[richwolf]

Err,

Forgot the attachment!

[plschwartz]

Now that I see that a OTG bridge works well, I am going to try to use a different OTG bridge device which is also a 2.5" hard drive enclosure. Its


Macally On-The-Go PHR-250OTG Aluminum 2.5" USB2.0 External Enclosure - Retail
$45.99
* Model #: PHR-250OTG
* Item #: N82E16817146609 (at www.newegg.com)
Features:
•

Compliant with USB2.0 and the latest USB 2.0 ON-THE-GO specification
•

Internal 2.5” IDE HDD (height up to 9.5mm, not included) to provide large storage capacity
•
Copy and transfer data between USB flash drive, card reader, MP3 player (expect iPod), digital camera, and Hard Drive etc without a computer
• Compatible with both USB Mass Storage type and
Picture Transport Protocol type of digital camera
•
Support USB 2.0 and 1.1 devices, transfer rate up to 480Mbps
•
Accept FAT 12/16/32 file system in device
•
Work as an external USB2.0 Hi-speed hard drive with a computer
• Sleek and portable design
• LEDs to indicate power, file transfer status, and battery charging
• Built in Li-Ion rechargeable battery
• AC adaptor included
System Requirements: (For 2.5" Enclosure to Computer)
•

Mac OS 9.2, Mac OS 10.1.5,
Mac OS 10.2, Mac OS 10.3
• Windows 98SE, 2000, ME and XP
•

Any desktop or notebook computer with an
available USB
Specifications:
•
Net Weight: 6.9oz
•
Dimensions: W 3" x L 5.1" x H 0.8"
• 1 year warranty
Part Number:
• PHR-250OTG

[blancoal]

I want just a picture viewer with a bigger screen than I can get on a camera for easier showing off of pictures, so I don't have to lug around my laptop. Kodak put one out recently, but it only has the 2.5" screen. Anything with a bigger screen that doesn't have a high price because it can do a bunch of other things?

Alex

[richwolf]

Well, back from my month long trip to France with my bike, canon SD300 and iriver H320.

Bike performed almost flawlessly.

Canon was great and I got lots of great pictures at maximum resolution (over 1500 pictures). It's small size and great speed allowed me to get a fantastic picture of Lance Armstrong during the dauphine stage race. Carried it everywhere I went including in my back Jersey pocket during my bike rides.

iRiver kept me company with my tunes and I downloaded most of my pictures onto it. I did lose about 3 days of pictures though and I got an error message that the hard drive was full, so I needed to borrow a laptop to get it up and running. Would I recommend it as a storage device?? I don't know. Losing pictures is not cool and if it would have crashed I would have really been bummed. As it is only one day of pictures was really priceless and I lost them.
I guess extra memory cards are the way to go but 5 or 6 1 gig cards would cost more than my iRiver.

[richwolf]

Oh, by the way attached is a compressed picture I got of Lance

[ashpete]

Hi guys, well I just had a flick through after what I wrote previously... and I've read a while HEAP OF CR^P!
Do Yer research and you will find....
First of all, the Iriver is not smaller, well it is and it isn't.. there are TWO models, the H320 and H340, so really the Iriver H340 has more capacity than the ipod. If yer iriver didn't come with a usb-otg cable you got ripped! Mine came with external mic, leather case, usb on the go cable, external battery pack and a few extra bits and bobs...

i don't understand people getting this smart x copy shit when it's simply not needed

All you need is, well the usb on the go cable (if you didn't get one with your iriver, the pic shows the one which came with mine) and a cheap generic/ driverless card reader I got a cheapo card reader from ebay $10 (shipping cost more ahah) and it works a treat.. why bother with all the other crap? (I suppose there are a few versions of the iriver, international/uk/us etc, so this may explain why these differences but i doubt it) and yeah, upgrade to the 1.28k firmware it's a must-have ;)

Anyway now i've calmed, I hope I hlped you make the right decision... I know it's perfect for me, the ONLY thing that sucks about the iriver is the way the files are copied, as my digicam goes
canon -> canon101
canon -> canon102
canon -> canon103 etc etc
with only so many images stored per folder, you can't copy the main canon folder and paste coz the iriver can not copy sub-directories, so you simply have to copy canon101, canon102 individually over, which is a slight hastle but no biggie.....

EDIT: I read somoene said it takes them 6 mins for 128mb memory card which is about right I think, it took about 50mins to do my 1gig card which is a while yeah but there was still heaps of battery power left after that...(external batt pack a must have if your gonna go travelling with an iriver)


http://www.dcresource.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=3510&stc=1

[erichlund]

Family site, and all that.

Cheers,
Eric

[St. Chris]

Does anyone know if the iPod Photo (or a standard iPod with, say, a Belkin adapter) can download and store movie files from a digital camera? I have a Canon S2, and iTunes now automatically catalogues its AVI files, but I wonder whether the iPod w/camera adapter can do this too. I'm not expecting it to play the movies, just store them until I can sync them back to my computer.

[erichlund]

Does anyone know if the iPod Photo (or a standard iPod with, say, a Belkin adapter) can download and store movie files from a digital camera? I have a Canon S2, and iTunes now automatically catalogues its AVI files, but I wonder whether the iPod w/camera adapter can do this too. I'm not expecting it to play the movies, just store them until I can sync them back to my computer.

I have an iPod Photo, but I haven't really thought about that because I have a dSLR. From the computer, you could move a movie file, or any type of file onto the iPod. But the adapters rely on the software on the iPod itself. Offhand, I don't know, but the adapters will move Nikon .nef files, so I suspect it is possible.

Sorry I couldn't be more help. If I remember to check, I'll post back here.

Cheers,
Eric

[richwolf]

Ya, no real need for the bad language. Doesn't impress most educated people you know!

I could not get my Iriver to download without the x-copy and the x-copy wasn't that expensive anyways and it worked so that is why I recommended it.
As far as downloading pictures I made up a bunch of folders from my desktop computer while the iRiver was attached. I then downloaded from my card reader through the x-copy device and it downloaded it as a JPG file. I then went to my iRiver browser function and copied and pasted the JPG file into one of my folders on the iRiver. I then deleted the JPG file and was ready to go for the next day.
I was also able to store AVI or video files on my iRiver as well. I did the same copy paste and delete procedure as I did with my JPG pictures.
The x-copy allows you to pick which files you want to download which I thought was handy. It worked for me. Are there better methods out there? Probably but that is what I came up with.