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

[kxl]

I just came back from a trip where I brought my laptop, partly for photo storage but primarily to stay connected while on our trip. And I'm glad I did, because something came up (non-photo related) that required extensive coordination via email with multiple parties in different countries. So going forward, I will likely bring along my laptop/chromebook on future trips.

 

[Rob-F]

I download to my 13" imac when traveling. I put copies on a USB drive, and on a portable external hard drive. I leave the images on the memory cards until I get home, and then I download to the Macbook as well. A backup copy goes on another external hard drive.

 

[konicaman]

Lots of SD cards - and an ASUS netbook with a card reader. It is a long time ago I last had an SD card go bad, but it might happen again. Also there is the risk of loosing things as small as a memory card. Better safe than sorry, right?

 

[SuperUJ]

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.

This thread got me rethink what to bring on my trips. Since I read it, I have been trying different image file backup setups for laptop-less travels (i.e., smartphone interface only) over the last couple of months. Below are my observations:

- WD My Passport Wireless (mentioned by some here) is great but is heavier and bulkier than I thought. The 2TB hard drive is more than I need. This is a good tool for someone like my brother who shoots JPEGs and works almost exclusively with his iPad ... download his image files to his main computer once in a blue moon.

- Toshiba Canvio AeroMobile Wireless SSD is a great concept but poorly executed. The shock proof 128GB SSD is the right size for 2-3k DNG files that I typically have on each trip. However, the Toshiba Wireless SSD app from the Apple App Store is stuck in the interface design that is about 10 years ago. Third party apps (FileBrowser recommended by Toshiba) does not work well for transferring large files from SD cards to SSD. It's much slower than the Toshiba Wireless SSD app and the wireless network gets interrupted often. And the battery inside does not charge other smart devices.

- HooToo Wireless Hard Drive Companion + SD Card Reader + USB 3.0 Hub + 128GB USB 3.0 Thumb Drive: This setup does everything that the Toshiba Canvio AeroMobile Wireless SSD can plus providing 10400mAh multi-cycle backup battery charging capacity for my iPhone. Everything works well with the USB 3.0 high speed and the HooToo TripMate app is pretty easy to use. This is a great set up for those "off-the-grid" trips. The down side is the setup gets bulky with multiple devices to carry.

- RAVPower WiFi Disk (with a built-in SD card reader and 3000mAh battery) + 128GB USB 3.0 Thumb Drive: it does everything the HooToo setup does but in a smaller form factor (smaller than my iPhone). The battery inside can only charge my completely drained iPhone twice. However, this setup alone won't work for backing up Compact Flash cards that I use occasionally, but the HooToo setup does. The RAVPower WiFi Disk is a keeper for my upcoming multiple large city trip.
UPDATE: The RAVPower appears to be a USB 2.0 only. It's approx. 4 times slower than the HooToo's USB 3.0 setup above.

The above setups cost $100 to $150 each. In addition to the image files backup, I've got to offload/backup my iPhone data and stream videos and music by multiple devices wirelessly and simultaneously. I am all set to go!!

Hope the above helps.

John

 

[Ko.Fe.]

What has worked for you in the past?

Two 8GB cards. Each with 2K+ JPEG1 12MP capacity. Something like 5.5K of 4Kx3K images in total.

 

[John E Earley]

I voted 1,2 and 4. It depends a lot on where, how long, what and how much shooting I'll be doing and what access I'll have to an electrical outlet for recharging my phone and laptop after tethering and what transportation is available.

I prefer just taking 32 or 64g SDXC cards but sometimes I need lots of storage and I'll either save to a 500g portable HD or upload to the net.

 

[jpfisher]

For me it depends on how critical the images are, and how good the hotel Wi-Fi is. I usually load my M with a 32GB card and that's sufficient for vacation shots. If I'm photographing wildlife or the like with an SLR with a fast burst mode (eg 7D Mark II) it can eat through memory fairly quick, so extra cards are in order.

If you're worried about losing a card while on the road or having something stolen, installing Dropbox on your laptop and home PC is a solid solution to get those images safely delivered home while you're on the road—you just have to make sure that your Wi-Fi connection is up to the task.

The free Dropbox account only gives you something like 2GB of space to start. If that isn't sufficient you could remotely connect to your home computer directly (Back to my Mac supports this; there's likely a way to do it with Windows as well) and copy images over that way.

 

[Oscuro]

Personal - Travel with only cameras, cards, and phone.
Eye-fi cards transfer to iPhone 6+
Internal camera transfer of edits to second card.

Jobs -Travel requires laptop and G-Drive RAID. No internal camera transfer or phone.

Proviso. We are starting to do some jobs with the " personal " method. Sometimes iPad or laptop depending on the nature of the work.

 

[Oscuro]

. - HooToo Wireless Hard Drive Companion + SD Card Reader + USB 3.0 Hub + 128GB USB 3.0 Thumb Drive: This setup does everything that the Toshiba Canvio AeroMobile Wireless SSD can plus providing 10400mAh multi-cycle backup battery charging capacity for my iPhone. Everything works well with the USB 3.0 high speed and the HooToo TripMate app is pretty easy to use. This is a great set up for those "off-the-grid" trips. The down side is the setup gets bulky with multiple devices to carry. - RAVPower WiFi Disk (with a built-in SD card reader and 3000mAh battery) + 128GB USB 3.0 Thumb Drive: it does everything the HooToo setup does but in a smaller form factor (s. John

John, why won't the rav setup deal with CF cards?

 

[rhl-oregon]

Right now I travel with an A7 that transfers via Sony app to my iPad 128g, &/or Eyefi cards in other cameras for that upload.

I can then batch upload these into the Lightroom app, develop/tweak, upload to Flickr.

Here however is an FYI from Eyefi for their 5/16 launch of Freestyle, a 1TB chargeable drive that does wifi, reads SD cards, and transfers files to selected cloud servers including Dropbox. Worth considering? Have a look:

http://www.eyefi.com/lp/freestyle?mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRonvq3JZKXonjHpfsX%2F6eoqXqOxlMI%2F0ER3fOvrPUfGjI4DTcNqI%2BSLDwEYGJlv6SgFT7TCMaxrwLgMWBk%3D

Sorry for the gnarly url. They're seeking preorders @$125, planning a $200 retail price at the launch.

 

[Oscuro]

On the basis of SuperUJ's micro-review, Mme. O has gone and bought the HooToo thingy and a USB 3.0 hub.

I'll let you know, darlings. This system has a lot going for it, at least on paper.

 

[Oscuro]

Right now I travel with an A7 that transfers via Sony app to my iPad 128g, &/or Eyefi cards in other cameras for that upload. I can then batch upload these into the Lightroom app, develop/tweak, upload to Flickr. Here however is an FYI from Eyefi for their 5/16 launch of Freestyle, a 1TB chargeable drive that does wifi, reads SD cards, and transfers files to selected cloud servers including Dropbox. Worth considering? Have a look: http://www.eyefi.com/lp/freestyle?mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRonvq3JZKXonjHpfsX%2F6eoqXqOxlMI%2F0ER3fOvrPUfGjI4DTcNqI%2BSLDwEYGJlv6SgFT7TCMaxrwLgMWBk%3D Sorry for the gnarly url. They're seeking preorders @$125, planning a $200 retail price at the launch.

This looks very interesting, Robert. We've been using eye-fi cards for quite a while now and are rather happy with them. Up until recently we have been using cameras that have two card slots so back up at the source is inherent. From there we generally go to some sort of iOS device or laptop, raid, and so on. As I mentioned above, I've bought a HooToo and it should arrive in a week or two (I'm rather far from the post office these days!) and I'll let everyone know how the thing works out. We're planning on a very similar set up to Super UJ's. But this offering from eye-fi is intriguing. My husband is considering jumping in. We'll see. Thank you for the link! Mme. O.

Update: Oh dear. Hubby says, "Only available to U.S. customers."

Ridiculous.

At any rate we have a couple of 1TB drives that we're planning to connect to the HooToo. It's sort of our "field raid" solution. We also have a WD raid with a thunderbolt connector - we'll see if we can find an adapter to attach that to the HooToo.

 

[Ronald M]

Laptop and backup drive. I do not take off cards until home and all is well.

Storage without viewing is worthless because you can not identify problems.

Cards are cheap so buy quality. Cheap ones are inferior. Buy from trusted source, B&H, is what I use. No EBay deals. Way to many counterfeits mostly Sandisk wich is very good if they are real.

 

[rybolt]

Our trips are generally a month long and outside the country where we live. There are two of us shooting.
I only use SD cards 16gb or smaller. I don't want all the eggs in one basket so no large cards.
I have a 13 inch Macbook pro with a 1TB drive installed.
I build folders for each of us and a new folder for each week. I shoot Raw and Jpeg. She shoots Jpeg only. Each day I download the images that we shot that day. I change cards every third day if I haven't filled it up before the third day. I don't re-use any card until I'm home and know that everything is backed up.
I also carry a 500gb LaCie Passport drive that I back up to every week.
Being gone a month and not going to bars anymore I like to have the laptop to look at and do a little PP on the pictures in the evenings.
We travel specifically for photography so the weight and bulk is all part of the trip.

 

[rhl-oregon]

Personal follow-up on the eyefi Freestyle: I preordered.

Compared to other solutions mentioned here, $125 for 1TB that reads SD, micro, CF, has Ethernet I/O + wireless device/cloud transfer (including Dropbox support)--and is chargeable rather than requiring an outlet or other wire--seems a good deal. I have little usb hard disks that cost $80-100; good portable storage, yes, but with no further capabilities.

The bonus 32g Mobi pro sd (not cheap)/free shipping/not charging my card until all is shipped--that's gravy to go with the 1TB biscuit. Preorder (discount) deadline is February 7.

 

[Oscuro]

Personal follow-up on the eyefi Freestyle: I preordered. Compared to other solutions mentioned here, $125 for 1TB that reads SD, micro, CF, has Ethernet I/O + wireless device/cloud transfer (including Dropbox support)--and is chargeable rather than requiring an outlet or other wire--seems a good deal. I have little usb hard disks that cost $80-100; good portable storage, yes, but with no further capabilities. The bonus 32g Mobi pro sd (not cheap)/free shipping/not charging my card until all is shipped--that's gravy to go with the 1TB biscuit. Preorder (discount) deadline is February 7.

We should get a US mailing address!

 

[Colin Corneau]

I'd be nervous relying just on SD cards alone -- one magnet or unexpected dousing and *poof*...gone.
With external hard drives coming down in price and size, and with a lot of choice for cloud storage, it just seems to make sense to use both of those.

You still have the choice to leave the editing etc. until later, but it sure seems you would breathe easier knowing your shots are safe and backed up.

 

[Oscuro]

I'd be nervous relying just on SD cards alone -- one magnet or unexpected dousing and *poof*...gone. With external hard drives coming down in price and size, and with a lot of choice for cloud storage, it just seems to make sense to use both of those. You still have the choice to leave the editing etc. until later, but it sure seems you would breathe easier knowing your shots are safe and backed up.

Yes.
Hubby and I like to see our images to "final storage" as soon as possible. Though we've never had a card failure,...yet.

 

[mackigator]

Newish ideas re: photo handling and cloud

Newish ideas re: photo handling and cloud

I don't have a perfect setup, but I am trying some newish stuff.

In addition to using multiple cards, I installed a second HD in my DVD slot using an 9.5mm adapter. If I wanted to, it could use it to back up the main drive. At the moment it is just an extra work space.

I also started taking advantage of the free unlimited photo storage on Amazon prime, but I connect to it using a PC sync program called Syncovery. This is giving me finer control over what goes up to the cloud and when.

I am also working harder to grade and cull photos before they go to the cloud, since bandwidth has costs and uploading is slow. It's long overdue for me to store fewer images in the cases where I can spot the winners easily.

I've not been able to make either my Eye-Fi cards or my Ricoh GRII wifi work reliably, so I'm still getting the laptop out to clear cards and grade.

 

[geertvn]

Only sd cards.

I bring one or two fuji's with a 64gb card in it, and one spare card. Each card can hold 2000 pictures, raw plus best jpg. That's already more than I need for a 2 week trip. The spare one is for when something goes wrong. I had a few instances where a card gave 'read error' and reviewing photos was no longer possible. The pictures were fine, and shooting on the card was still possible.

I carry a mabook air (2011) as well, but it's basically useless with fuji's. The sd card slot is as far as I know not 100% compatible with sdxc cards, and once they've been in a mac they become slow and should be reformatted, which defeats the purpose of backing up. I had one card go bad (irrecoverable even) after using it in the mac, but it could have been the card, a Lexar 600x, which were known to develop problems. I now use a windows machine to get the pictures off the card.