Memory Card Backup Options

anonymouscubananonymouscuban Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 4,586 Major grins
edited March 31, 2015 in Accessories
It's been almost two weeks and I'm still extremely bummed!

My wife and I spent 6 weeks traveling through the Philippines. We traveled to 7 different islands. I captured so many great experiences, sights and just everyday life during our travels. I was shooting with two cameras, one with a long and the other with a wide angle lens. I had more than enough material to put together a great Philippines Travel book.

The day after we arrived at home, I unpacked all my gear only to find I lost a 64GB SD card with well over 1000 captures. Some of my best stuff. Fortunately, since I was shooting with two bodies, I still have some photos but nothing to replace the stuff I had on that card. I'm still so disappointed that I have yet to be able to edit the stuff I do have. It just upsets me.

So that brings me to my query... can you recommend any backup process/equipment that is lightweight and can be done on the road?

One of my bodies is a D800 which can hold an SD and CF card. Unfortunately, I had it setup for overflow and not back up. Lesson learned there. So that gives me a backup at least for shots taken with the D800. My other body is a D700 so that's not an option.

I've traveled with a laptop in the past but for a trip like this one, it just wasn't practical. Maybe I need to get a small netbook just for this?

Keep in mind that cloud storage isn't going to always work because I won't always have an internet connection. It has to be local backup until we get someplace where I can upload.

Really looking forward to suggestions. :cry
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Comments

  • RichardRichard Administrators, Vanilla Admin Posts: 19,963 moderator
    edited January 14, 2015
    I think you've answered your own question. A cheap, light netbook should work fine, as long as you're not exposing it to extreme conditions.
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  • anonymouscubananonymouscuban Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 4,586 Major grins
    edited January 14, 2015
    Richard wrote: »
    I think you've answered your own question. A cheap, light netbook should work fine, as long as you're not exposing it to extreme conditions.

    I am pretty darn smart when I want to be. ne_nau.gif
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  • mercphotomercphoto Registered Users Posts: 4,550 Major grins
    edited January 14, 2015
    A netbook is nice, as it also gives you a computer. So you can check email, surf, etc. But if all you want is a small portable photo backup solution, small enough that you can take it into the field and put into a large jacket pocket, you want something like this:

    http://www.hypershop.com/HyperDrive/

    I used to own the Epson P2000 a long time ago, and I really liked this approach to field backup of photos.
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  • ziggy53ziggy53 Super Moderators Posts: 24,145 moderator
    edited January 14, 2015
    mercphoto wrote: »
    A netbook is nice, as it also gives you a computer. So you can check email, surf, etc. But if all you want is a small portable photo backup solution, small enough that you can take it into the field and put into a large jacket pocket, you want something like this:

    http://www.hypershop.com/HyperDrive/

    I used to own the Epson P2000 a long time ago, and I really liked this approach to field backup of photos.

    I have a HyperDrive and I love how it works. thumb.gifthumb
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  • WillCADWillCAD Registered Users Posts: 722 Major grins
    edited January 14, 2015
    Nothing beats having an actual computer with you, even if it's a small one like a netbook. They run software that tablets can't and allow you to manage your files as easily as you do at home, allow you to access the net better than a phone, and give you a full-size keyboard for typing notes, emails, and such.

    Netbooks are puny, but they're still real computers and superior to tablets in many ways, not the least of which is storage - you can get netbooks with up to 500gb hard drives. You can supplement that with pocket-size portable hard drives up to 1-2tb, and together the netbook and portable drive will still be smaller and lighter than a full-size laptop.

    You should take any opportunity to upload your pics when you find a place with decent internet access, no matter how many or how few you might have. I wouldn't recommend doing any processing with the netbook, but you can at least view and backup your images, and do your real processing when you get home.
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  • mercphotomercphoto Registered Users Posts: 4,550 Major grins
    edited January 14, 2015
    WillCAD, I would have never dragged a netbook computer with me into the field around a race track. Or on a hike. But a Hyper Drive in a pocket, yes.
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  • bike21bike21 Registered Users Posts: 836 Major grins
    edited January 15, 2015
    Sorry to hear about your images lost Alex, that has to be a sinking feeling. I've been wondering about a travel backup system myself. I don't want to take a computer of any sort due to size and the desire to pack light. I can backup via iPad but it is ridiculously slow and not the best option. I'm thinking something like the Hypderdrive will work great though I haven't wanted to drop the coin but I don't think there are many other options out there. If you aren't concerned about reviewing your photos on your backup this looks like a good option...

    http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1077915-REG/digital_foci_p31_500_photo_safe_ii_on.html

    $150 for 500GB worth of backup with no fancy options. Might just be the ticket.
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  • bike21bike21 Registered Users Posts: 836 Major grins
    edited January 15, 2015
    So I did a bit more research on the topic this morning and came across the Kingston MobileLite G2 reader. It doesn't appear to have it's own internal storage but you can connect a USB drive to it for backup copying directly from your SD card. So a few USB flash drives and this and you have a very portable system that you can view your files on.

    Also it does the following things:

    - wifi hotspot/router (for those hotels only with wired connections)
    - charge your phone (sweet!)
    - stream movies from it to multiple devices (not a bad idea to have a separate USB stick loaded with just movies)

    So this little guy which apparently is a touch bigger than an iPhone 4 coupled with however many USB sticks of storage you might need sounds intriguing. Quick math...

    Kingston MobileLite G2 $50 + 128gb USB stick $90 = $140 for a very verstatile and compact backup system.

    After reading a few reviews of the Digital Foci system I mentioned in my previous post I'm not so sure about it now.
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  • Tom FosterTom Foster Registered Users Posts: 291 Major grins
    edited January 15, 2015
    I've always used a laptop in the past but obviously there are more portable options available. I might have to look into it!
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  • WillCADWillCAD Registered Users Posts: 722 Major grins
    edited January 16, 2015
    mercphoto wrote: »
    WillCAD, I would have never dragged a netbook computer with me into the field around a race track. Or on a hike. But a Hyper Drive in a pocket, yes.

    And I would never recommend taking a netbook into the field. On trips where you're staying in a hotel, motel, or cabin of some kind, where you have electrical power, the netbook is an option. On trips where you're only day-hiking and can leave stuff in the room, it's an option.

    On camping trips, especially those where you're hiking, biking, or boating to a new location each day, netbooks become less of an option, due to power restrictions.
    What I said when I saw the Grand Canyon for the first time: "The wide ain't wide enough and the zoom don't zoom enough!"
  • anonymouscubananonymouscuban Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 4,586 Major grins
    edited March 30, 2015
    So after a lot of thought and research, I ended up going with the Hyperdrive.

    The biggest selling point was the fact it supports both SD and Compact Flash cards. My cameras use both. Next was the size and the support for RAW files.

    I just ordered from BH today. I ordered the Hyperdrive case (without the SATA drive) for $249 and then a 1 TB SATA drive for $69. So $318 for 1TB unit. Much cheaper to piece it together this way. If you buy the version they sell that includes the 1TB drive, it runs $650!

    I'm leaving for a trip to Big Island next week so it will come in handy. Thanks for the help everyone.

    Alex
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  • FoquesFoques Registered Users Posts: 1,951 Major grins
    edited March 31, 2015
    that's what I use, and pretty darn happy with it.
    http://www.amazon.com/ND2901-released-Storage-Portable-Compatible/dp/B00KX2DPJS/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1427834737&sr=8-3&keywords=memory+card+backup
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  • anonymouscubananonymouscuban Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 4,586 Major grins
    edited March 31, 2015
    Yeah... Very similar to the hyperdrive I ordered. Same type of device.

    How do you like it?
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  • kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,681 moderator
    edited March 31, 2015
    I'd prefer to take an Ultra-portable laptop. The new Macbook Air, and the new Lenovo laptops both weigh under two pounds, with lots more offerings by Dell, Asus and others under 3 lbs. They have big (11-13") gorgeous screens and you can run Lightroom and Photoshop on them and get a jump on your processing during your downtime (which I realize is not always the case). Plus you can do your email on them, and manage your Dgrin forums, etc, etc. deal.gif
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  • FoquesFoques Registered Users Posts: 1,951 Major grins
    edited March 31, 2015
    anonymouscuban wrote: »
    Yeah... Very similar to the hyperdrive I ordered. Same type of device.

    How do you like it?

    I am quite happy with it.
    It has helped me quite a few times during the long and busy shoots.
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