Storage help for 2 week trip to Africa.

lifethroughalens

lifethroughalens

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Rod
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Hi,

I have a photo assignment that's taking me to central Africa soon and I need to pick peoples brains to see if anyone can help with a data storage / backup issue.

I will be remote for most of the time. Very remote. Camping. Away from power and computers. I have to travel as light as possible. I will be shooting 5DMK3, 5DMK2 and a 1DMK3. I will be generating around 30GB per day (Videos & stills).

I use a battery powered Nexto Extreme with a 512GB SSD for my download dump from 6 32GB CF cards and I back up small JPEGS onto my rooted nexus 7. I have many spare camera batteries and a small solar panel.

But, and obviously, I nee to make incremental backups of the Nexto drive each day, to a second drive, as I add more images.

Problem - No room / power for a laptop. Does anyone know of a way to make a reliable backup of the Nexto's SSD to a second HDD in the field, without a laptop in the middle?

Or is the only 'solution' to buy another Nexto Extreme & drive and go through the process of copying each memory card to each device?

I can of course plug the Nexto drive directly into the bottom of my Nexus 7 (with a USB OTG cable) and using an Android camera RAW viewer I can review all my RAW images perfectly. In fact, if Google had just included a MicroSD card slot or USB port on the Nexus 7, couple with a Nexto Extreme this would be the perfect travel set up for travelling photographers as 32GB Micro SD cards are cheap as are external HDDS.

Any suggestions welcome.

Thanks, Rod :)
 
Thinking laterally, if you're based in a vehicle why not get a 12v charger for a laptop and back up to that, charging the laptop from the 12v charger each day?
 
Hmmm, I use a Nexto ND 2730 with a 750 Gig SATA drive...not SSD...and I assume you know with that one it will take incremental card backups with the latest firmware ( I used a beta version which works fine) for all my still shots, so you don't have to do a new backup if you dump a card and it isn't full then you plug it in again....if you don't have that let me know and I'll send it to you.
Are you planning to take more than 500 Gigs of stuff, Rod?
Would have thought that the Nexto would charge from a solar panel during the day, as long as it wasn't eaten by a cheetah....

I did what Brian suggested when I was on Safari, usd the vehicle's 12v supply with a USB charger.
George.
 
Thanks Brian, yes that is an ideal scenario. There will be a support vehicle around at times, but not long enough to leave kit in to get fully charged, and god only knows what condition they will be in! Also, with 10 crew using iPhones, they'll all be fighting to use the one and only working cigarette lighter for 300 miles! Power wise, I think I can be independent and shoot for around 4 days without worry. I also have a 10A USB battery pack to help with the Nexto battery.

I really don't want to lug a laptop & cables around for 16 days, especially with all the gear I already have to take. It is such a massive burden to have to take all that junk, just to be able to make a copy of a drive!

I think that my only options are:

Buy 30 x 32 GB CF cards and treat them like rushes. Copy them to the Nexto and stow the CF cards away. - Too expensive!

Buy the smallest, cheapest netbook I can find with 2 USB ports that I can charge with my solar panel / battery pack. - Sensible.

Buy another Nexto external CF reader and SSD or HDD and copy the cards twice each night.- Expensive.


I think the cheap old netbook is the only realistic route. Around 1.5 KG extra weight but it will let me copy from one external drive to the backup. Can't believe that there's still no gadget I can buy that can do this sort of thing! :)
 
George said:
Hmmm, I use a Nexto ND 2730 with a 750 Gig SATA drive...not SSD...and I assume you know with that one it will take incremental card backups with the latest firmware ( I used a beta version which works fine) for all my still shots, so you don't have to do a new backup if you dump a card and it isn't full then you plug it in again....if you don't have that let me know and I'll send it to you.
Are you planning to take more than 500 Gigs of stuff, Rod?
Would have thought that the Nexto would charge from a solar panel during the day, as long as it wasn't eaten by a cheetah....

I did what Brian suggested when I was on Safari, usd the vehicle's 12v supply with a USB charger.
George.
Click to expand...

Hi George,

Thanks for the input. I have the ND2700 and it too does incremental backups should I forget to format the cards from the day before. I love this gadget!

I'll be on the road for around 13-14 days actual shooting split between several countries, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania & maybe Burundi (I know, that's crazy - don't ask!). I don't know when or if i'll have access to any power points but i'm hoping for one every 4 days would be nice! I just need to plan for being independent for as long as possible.

I have 4 LP-E4 batteries and 10 LP-E6 batteries. The 1DMK3 just lasts forever and a day in warm climates (I got over 4000 shots from a battery in Indonesia!) It's the video on the 5D's that sucks the power. But that will only be used for short bursts as the priority is stills.

I think a cheap netbook that i'll give away before I fly home. :)
 
How about backing up to usb flash drives instead? You could then put the second back up spread across multiple flash drives.
 
srichards said:
How about backing up to usb flash drives instead? You could then put the second back up spread across multiple flash drives.
Click to expand...

Hi srichards,

Yes that sounds logical, i've been trying this tonight. In theory, after downloading a 32GB CF card to the Nexto drive, I could re-copy that folder back out over USB OTG directly onto a £20 32GB USB key.

The problem I have found is that the GUI & screen on the Nexto is next to useless! And the write speed on cheap SD cards and USB sticks is awfully slowwwwwwwwwww. And it's impossibly difficult to keep track with what has been copied to what folder and file on that tiny screen. I fear I could very easily make a mistake after a long day, heck, I made loads tonight in ideal conditions with a cuppa tea :)
 
Hmm. If the nexto is that bad then I think you need something else that does the same job but that is easier to use. I had a quick google and this looks quite good: http://www.hypershop.com/HyperDrive-COLORSPACE-UDMA-s/64.htm but you'd need the modern version of it. They have ipad ones which I don't know whether they're any good... I wonder what connectivity is available via an ipad that you could use??

I think the daily fresh CF card that is written to once and then backed up and filed away is the easiest solution. It's expensive but so is a wasted trip... with needing so many I'd be trying a few places such as Wex or Jessops to see if you can get a really good discount on 20 or so of them which should be more than enough. You won't have to keep track of anything. Just take out card, back up, file card away with date on. Less opportunity to make any kind of mistake.
 
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Why not try and source an old Asus EEE NetBook? You should be able to buy a decent one for less than £80.

The 9" models (900 and 901) have a relatively decent screen and 3 USB ports. From memory they weigh between 900grams and 1kg and only need 9 volts/3amps to charge which shouldn't tax your solar panel. They are also almost as small as a paperback book.

Boxed 901 on eBay with 12 hours to go is at £51

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ASUS-EEE-...g_Laptops_EH&hash=item3a796f15db#ht_500wt_922
 
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srichards said:
Hmm. If the nexto is that bad then I think you need something else that does the same job but that is easier to use. I had a quick google and this looks quite good: http://www.hypershop.com/HyperDrive-COLORSPACE-UDMA-s/64.htm but you'd need the modern version of it. They have ipad ones which I don't know whether they're any good... I wonder what connectivity is available via an ipad that you could use??

I think the daily fresh CF card that is written to once and then backed up and filed away is the easiest solution. It's expensive but so is a wasted trip... with needing so many I'd be trying a few places such as Wex or Jessops to see if you can get a really good discount on 20 or so of them which should be more than enough. You won't have to keep track of anything. Just take out card, back up, file card away with date on. Less opportunity to make any kind of mistake.
Click to expand...

I don't 'do' anything Apple, not a fan :)

I do like the look of that Colourspace UDMA - but that still leaves with with the same problem, how to make backups of the storage unit?! I have lots of lovely, cheap rugged 2.5" external drives that are perfect. The Nexto or the UDMA thingy would become my primary after downloading, then I need to back that up without a laptop preferably.

Undoubtedly then best solution is to shoot a CF card until full, back up on the Nexto then store the CF. But I don;t want to spend £750 on CF cards! (£38 for the 32GB 400x Transcend on Amz).

I think that the netbook is the only viable solution, for £100 I can easily back up to multiple HDD's and it'll be easier to power like Dave1 suggests (thanks for the link btw). If I pop a small SSD in there instead of the 2.5"HDD then it should be pretty robust.

Does the 901 support SATA drives? Hmm, time for some netbook research. Is it 2008 all over again? :D (Frustrating memories of an MSI Wind)

Cheers all.
 
You could look at it a diffrent way,what would i do if it was the days of film,no way to back up in the field,you just had to be very careful with your film.
I know its hard to think of it this way,but if you take enought cards with you,you can download at base when you get back :)
 
lifethroughalens said:
.

I think that the netbook is the only viable solution, for £100 I can easily back up to multiple HDD's and it'll be easier to power like Dave1 suggests (thanks for the link btw). If I pop a small SSD in there instead of the 2.5"HDD then it should be pretty robust.

Does the 901 support SATA drives? Hmm, time for some netbook research. Is it 2008 all over again? :D (Frustrating memories of an MSI Wind)

Cheers all.
Click to expand...

As I recall, the 901 only comes with SSD storage. There was a 12GB and 20GB version depending on OS.

The SSD for the 901 was SATA mini PCiE.

There was at least one other 901 on ebay for £65 BIN, I think it was a 12GB/ XP.

With regard your MSI Wind, the 901 was Asus's flagship, it was built to a higher standard than the Wind.
 
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Dave1 said:
As I recall, the 901 only comes with SSD storage. There was a 12GB and 20GB version depending on OS.

The SSD for the 901 was SATA mini PCiE.

There was at least one other 901 on ebay for £65 BIN, I think it was a 12GB/ XP.

With regard your MSI Wind, the 901 was Asus's flagship, it was built to a higher standard than the Wind.
Click to expand...

Thanks Dave1 - I just bought that XP 12GB version for £65 - Bargain :) I also have a little 12V car inverter which should work very well with this. :thumbs:

Thanks Tugster - yes, I use ebuyer all the time (& 7Dayshop). Those 32GB USB keys have write speeds that'll make your hair turn grey, through old age! :)

I'm sure this little 901 will do the job nicely and not take up too much room, shame the PSU is so chunky and not built into the plug.

Now it's back to getting all 337 inoculations crammed into me before I leave. :eek:
 
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