ipad + hard drive for travel?

living skies

I am hoping to get some feedback on the best "system" to use for photo trips where weight restrictions apply...and my laptop will have to stay home. I have been looking at the Hyperdrive 750gb storage and viewer, thinking I would be able to actually look at a few photo's on my ipad while on the trip. But have read conflicting reviews.
Can anyone suggest a system that works for them. I will shoot thousands images in 2 weeks, and use Canon, 7D and 5D II. I will have access to power to recharge, have another portable hard drive without any image viewing and hope to re-use my cards... but would really like to be able to view a few images along the way on something larger than my camera viewfinder.....any suggestions....

cmason

Honestly: take the laptop.

The iPad is an awesome travel companion, but it is no computer. Getting images onto the iPad is a pain in the rear. You can use the Camera Connection kit, which will transfer them from your cards, but while the Camera Connection kit includes a USB attachment, it does not act as a USB host, nor support USB On-the-Go, which allows you to connect USB hard drives to non-PC devices. So, you can't plug in your harddrive. This means you have to put in the card, and the iPad is s.......l.........o........w to download images over the card. This also means that the iPad is poor at being a photo storing device, especially since its cheaper to purchase 16/32GB cards than clear up space on your iPad.

I usually take both iPad and laptop, and use PhotoSync app to easily transfer some images to the iPad for viewing and sharing with others.

living skies

It would be so much easier to take my macbook, but the weight restrictions on the in country flights are just to tight, I already have issues with clothes let alone camera gear...lol Anyway I was looking into storage /VIEWER and have come across this one...

http://www.hypershop.com/HyperDrive-COLORSPACE-UDMA-750GB-version-p/hdcsu-750.htm

They also have an ipad one, that is not UDMA, thus the request for help... should I just view the images in the viewfinder, or is there a lightweight way to use the ipad, not for storage, but as a "monitor"

Is it better to have the UDMA hyperdrive and forget the ipad? Does anyone know of a better storage/viewer out there?

cmason

First I have seen of Hyperdrive for iPad. I am not sure how it supports iPad, as it says Camera Connection kit required. The problem is that iPad doesn't have a file system per se and no way to browse one. I suspect that it must use Photos, which can import from a camera, and somehow this Hyperdrive is pretending to be a camera. Looks cool.

OffTopic

I use an older version of the Epson storage/viewer and absolutely love it, perfect for a backpack because it takes up very little room and has a beautiful 4" screen for viewing raw files...5 years of hard use and still going strong. http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/jsp/Product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&sku=B31B192002


Downside is that it's only 160GB, which isn't much room these days. The 750GB on that Hyperdrive you linked seems the way to go for storage purposes alone if the reviews on it are good. The screen is a little smaller than the one on the Epson, but if you're shooting raw files on a 7D and 5D II for two weeks you're going to need that extra storage space if you're going to use it for backup purposes too.

living skies

I have read about the Epson, and it does get great reviews, and it seems has a better viewing screen than the Hyperdrive, but you are right, it's just too small for my needs, and costs about the same. Do you find you can check the quality of your photo's without loading them onto a laptop? When you travel do you just take the Epson?