Digital Travelers: How do you store your images while on the road?

[jarski]

Just few week trip? Couple SD cards that's it. But half year trip? Then it takes more consideration. If I do such trip again, Android tablet and some storage solution would probaly be lightest, still have enough storage, provide editing tools and net access, and not break too easily.

 

[kknox]

Bought a new WD My Passport Wireless drive. It has an SD card slot in the side of the drive. Just load the chip in no computer needed. Accepts raw files.

I also have a couple Eye-fi cards I use in other cameras that load to my cloud.

 

[Spanik]

When I used digital I used a 40GB X's DriveII as CF cards were too expensive. But I went back to film, so now taking a small p&s digital with a single sd card is enough. Never take a laptop with me. I'm on holiday, not to be reminded of work.

 

[jky]

"lots of SD"
Mainly for compactness.

 

[Addy101]

Several 16Gb CF cards - not on the list, but I assume with SD you mean any memory card. If anything goes wrong it is just a "few" pictures. However, it never went wrong.

 

[GaryLH]

On vacation for a week or less.. Enough sd cards to last plus 50% more just in case of failure or underestimating the number of shots..

For two or more weeks.. I have been thinking about getting a 120-250gb ssd HD and looking to c if I can find a wifi or sd slot external HD case for it. I would still bring enough sd cards for the trip, but the ssd external HD would be the backup.

Currently, for two or more weeks, I have an first gen mac book air.

Gary

 

[kxl]

the ssd external HD would be the backup.

I guess that's where my paranoia comes in. While I have never had an SD card fail on me, I would feel more secure if the images were backed up.

 

[GaryLH]

I have only had one sd flash card failure but several of those weird cards that were really thin back in the 80s (can't remember the name, no camera manufacturer uses them anymore). I never had a compact flash or the Sony flash card so far as well. I started experimenting w/ the medium during the days of the Toshiba cameras that did tiff8 and at best 2mp 😛.

But doesn't mean it can't happen...🙁 Knock on wood 😀
Gary

 

[kxl]

tiff8 and at best 2mp 😛.
Gary

Wow... that takes me back 🙂

 

[rogue_designer]

I generally travel with my laptop and an external HD - since I usually work, even on vacations. So that was my selection.

The cost of media being what it is these days though, if I didn't need my laptop, I'd just buy a mess of cards and wait until I got home. Just like I used to do with film.

 

[narsuitus]

Canon G11 and/or G15
Memory Cards (enough to allow me to shoot 100 photos each day.)
Battery charger
Extra Battery
Polarizing Filter
Pocket-size tripod (not shown)

https://flic.kr/p/9fcGQL

 

[SayCheese]

For 2-3 week trips, I manage with lots of SD cards and backup to iPad. The ipad also provides a first preview and edit.

Technically, how do you backup to the iPad? Is this possible with Raw-files? And how do you access the files later, if you happen to need the backups?
In the past,I just took enough memory cards, which is OK because I am a rather low frequency shooter. Also, in asia you can have the staff of most internet shops download your images from your cards and save them on a CD or DVD.
Now that I own an iPad, I might want to do backups as well, for security reasons and to post pictures while on the road.
Klaus

 

[Ronald M]

SD cards.

I carry a Macbook air and I will get anxious and look

I see no advantage in ripping off original cards to a storage device and reusing the card.

One of the big advantages of digital is seeing the images are ok, but no need to back up to do that.

 

[willie_901]

Bought a new WD My Passport Wireless drive. It has an SD card slot in the side of the drive. Just load the chip in no computer needed. Accepts raw files.

I also have a couple Eye-fi cards I use in other cameras that load to my cloud.

Now that's an excellent solution.

 

[peterm1]

The answer I might have given a decade ago might have been entirely different. Today SD cards are so cheap its almost funny. So lots of SD cards has to be my answer - which also means I run less risk of wholesale loss of the complete image record. A decade ago this was not the case. I could upload to cloud I suppose but then that leaves the issue of how to do that unless you have constant fairly high speed access to the net. That might be OK when in Hong Kong for example or somewhere like it but in some cases this is still not an option. If I am somewhere that a net book or laptop is viable then I am happy to also use backup to a portable hard drive but as extra insurance not my sole means of storage.

I do recall one case many years ago in the days of film that I bought a new camera before a trip. I bought it tax and duty free and in those days this meant it was boxed up by the duty free store, and you could not open it until on the plane and well out of the country. Such was the law. This means I had no way of practicing loading film and as a result I did not load the cassettes correctly whilst away on a 4 week trip. All 20 of them. Oooops. Loss of data is not wholly a digital problem. It did give us an excuse to go back and repeat the same trip a few years later (it was worth it - sailing and scuba diving around the Solomon Islands and New Guinea.) So maybe there was an upside.

 

[Archiver]

In 2007, when CF and SD cards were still fairly pricey, I bought a Creative Zen Vision M media player that doubled as USB OTG storage device. I could plug in a card or camera and transfer all the files across. It wasn't very fast, it took a little jiggling, but it worked. I used this method on a two week trip to China and it never skipped a beat.

At other times, when traveling on the road, I would bring a laptop and harddrive, and transfer my files every night.

In 2010 I bought a Nexto CF storage device which has a 500GB harddrive and a slew of card sockets. I've used it on a few international trips where taking a laptop would be unwieldy.

But if I'm on the road, I still take a laptop and harddrive. I can't remember the last time I went on a trip of more than a day or two without a storage device or laptop.

 

[micromontenegro]

I must be from another planet. I carry two SDs, and I've never used the second one.

 

[asilda]

I bring 16 32 gb cards with me and a hard drive. Always keeping two copies of everything even after the trip is done. And then another backup on the cloud if possible with wifi.

 

[jarski]

dpr recently reviewed the WD My Passport Wireless also mentioned in this thread: link. it will be my choice when traveling without laptop and usb drives.

 

[Out to Lunch]

Lots of SD cards for sure. One warning...in countries like Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia many legit looking SD cards from legit looking shops are fake and you don't want to buy them there. Nowadays, I'd bring an ultra book or laptop anyway. The whole 'storage' issue is one of the past.