Memory Card Backups

Zharrt

Zharrt

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Simon
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On another forum someone asked:

I'm off on holiday soon and will be taking lots of photos while I'm away - either on a CF card or SDHC or SDXC depending on the camera I'm using.

Just in case anything happens to the memory cards, I'd like to take a backup of the photos while I'm away, but don't want to take a laptop with me.

I'm looking for some kind of portable hard drive that I can just plug the cards into and hit a button and it backs them up automagically. I'd also like to be able to use the drive as a normal drive at some stage, otherwise it will just sit in a box unused the majority of the time. Can't imagine I'd need more than 100GB at a time, but need some way to get the photos from the cards onto the drive.

Anyone know of anything that would do the job??
Click to expand...

And it got me thinking of something like this anyone got anything they use?
 
I use a Hyperspace Colorama UDMA 2 (bare chassis) & intsall a 1Tb drive in it.
 
I tried a colourspace udma 2 and it worked nicely, transfer was quick enough for me. I did end up selling it as the d7000 has two memory card slots and a function in the menu allows you to copy one card to another card. Ok it's another SD card rather than a separate hard drive but the cost of a 32gb or 64gb SD card was a much more cost effective solution for me. Do you use both memory cards slots as backup rather than overflow? I wrote about my backup process on my website here, it may of interest to you. It's not a complete backup system but so far I'm happy with it. To be honest I don't usually complete a third backup, only if I'm away from home for a few days or if it's special trip somewhere for the day.
 
I wouldn't trust any portable mechanical hard drive when travelling around.. too fragile, and for the price the Photo Safe II is, it must be mechanical.

I'd get this....

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/480g...ash-read-550mb-s-write-520mb-s-42000-iops-oem


..and stick it in this....

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/pny-...d-hdd-enclosure-usb-30-25-35-mount-and-screws


Solid state... fast... 500GB or thereabouts... far more reliable, and only about £40 more I think.


If this option seems appealing, but you want to shop around for your own enclosure, make sure it's not only USB 3.0, but also SATAIII (6GB/sec) capable or you'll be gimping your SSD's performance.

Personally I think the one linked to is ideal.

Problem of course is that it's not a stand alone system, but needs a computer, so if the idea was to not have a laptop with, perhaps not.

The other solution is just use loads of SD cards. Way cheaper than any "proper" solution, and probably far more reliable than any mechanical option such as the Photo Safe.
 
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i posted similar question and seems to cheapest solution would be a 10" netbook. small and light ebough to fit in camera bag, and you can pick up a second hand one with 250-320gb hard drive inside for between £50-75.. plus it gives something a bit bigger to check your images on. ( just ensure netbook has card reader slot )
 
Sounds like a good plan actually.
 
st599 said:
I've got a £25 portable WiFi NAS which has a SD card slot and a USB port.

Connect to it with phone, copy card contents to USB Flash Drive.

Battery lasts about 6 hours and it takes ~15 mins to backup a 16 GB card - so can backup 20 cards whilst away.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kingston-Technology-MLW221-Mobilelite-Wireless/dp/B00CEB5QU2
Click to expand...


PS To drive a spinning disk from it, I need to use mains or a solar panel - much better using flash memory (like a 128GB USB key) as it's smaller, harder to damage and requires less power.
 
dean messenger said:
i posted similar question and seems to cheapest solution would be a 10" netbook. small and light ebough to fit in camera bag, and you can pick up a second hand one with 250-320gb hard drive inside for between £50-75.. plus it gives something a bit bigger to check your images on. ( just ensure netbook has card reader slot )
Click to expand...
Exactly what I use when on holiday etc. Mines an HP Netbook 110 250gb hd. Not much bigger than a 10" Tile, just a bit thicker. Can even do PP on it!
 
I generally take a laptop while travelling but the storage space is limited so i ordered one of these:

http://www.dx.com/p/jesurun-photoba...f-ms-xd-sd-mmc-ms-duo-micro-sd-us-plug-269364

If it works as advertised, direct copy from memory cards to hdd (i've got loads of 2.5" drives spare). Yes they are mechanical but you know before flash memory / ssd's we coped just fine with mechanical drives ;). For me the idea of the device is at the end of each day copy the memory cards used that day to it and leave it in the hotel / accommodation. Gives me extra insurance i have the photos in two places if something goes bad.

Its still on a slow boat from China at the moment.
 
Sharky said:
I generally take a laptop while travelling but the storage space is limited so i ordered one of these:

http://www.dx.com/p/jesurun-photoba...f-ms-xd-sd-mmc-ms-duo-micro-sd-us-plug-269364

If it works as advertised, direct copy from memory cards to hdd (i've got loads of 2.5" drives spare). Yes they are mechanical but you know before flash memory / ssd's we coped just fine with mechanical drives ;). For me the idea of the device is at the end of each day copy the memory cards used that day to it and leave it in the hotel / accommodation. Gives me extra insurance i have the photos in two places if something goes bad.

Its still on a slow boat from China at the moment.
Click to expand...
thats the thing i was looking for but hard to find in UK apart from the £300+ ones.
i have an old laptop that has a 250gb 2.5" sata drive in so could easily take that out. still i think im gonna keep watching on netbooks.
Acer Aspire One D255 Netbook ( just missed out on one that went for £51.
Intel Atom 1.60GHz, 160GB HDD, 1GB RAM, Windows 7
enough storage space to back up to and should be able to install LR on it ( might be a bit slow ) just to check through the images.
 
dean messenger said:
thats the thing i was looking for but hard to find in UK apart from the £300+ ones.
i have an old laptop that has a 250gb 2.5" sata drive in so could easily take that out. still i think im gonna keep watching on netbooks.
Acer Aspire One D255 Netbook ( just missed out on one that went for £51.
Intel Atom 1.60GHz, 160GB HDD, 1GB RAM, Windows 7
enough storage space to back up to and should be able to install LR on it ( might be a bit slow ) just to check through the images.
Click to expand...
I figured for 30 notes i'd give it a shot, not much lost if it's hopeless lol. I like the idea of the OTG device because it means i can just plug in the memory card and press a button job done, a quick workflow for the sole purpose of backing up.

I still do use the laptop to review the images and post to social media etc while on the move but actual storage i want something quick and easy and more pocket-able if a laptop wasn't practical for a trip.
 
yeah was an option to look at.. my only worry is with the OTG theres no display so you cant be 100% if the backup is successful. if it fails at some point during the backup then you wont know and could lose images. bit of a pain really as i only have 5 days to sort something out before hols.
 
I am quite surpised nobody has made something like the size of a smartphone with touchscreen UI, built in SSD drive and SD card slow.
Anything like that exist?
 
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