photo storage

[Ian Brewster]

I would consider getting a bunch of memory cards. They are so cheap now and as such its feasable to get lots of them for travel purposes. 10 years ago a 256MB memory card cost me $250, now I can get a decent fast 16GB card for $40! Out in the field having lots of memory cards saves the hassle of backing up when I could be enjoying other things when I am out doing a project and it allows time to concertrate on planning the next days shoot etc, whilst backup can be left for when I return home.

But how do you back up to the memory cards? If travelling overseas seems a bit risky.

[arthurking83]

But how do you back up to the memory cards? If travelling overseas seems a bit risky.

I'm not exactly sure of the intent of the question Ian.

if you're asking how do you backup images to a memory card .. I think WA's point is that you don't backup to the memory card .. you leave them on the memory card!

That is, if you know that you're on holidays for A days, and you shoot B Gb's worth of images per day .. then you get C(where AxB=C) worth of memory card capacity.

eg. I tend to have about 2 - 3days off in any given instance. I shoot between 4-8Gigs worth of photos per day... at most, for the 3 days I may be out and about I therefore need 8(gig)x3(days) 24 gigabytes of Memory in terms of card space.
What I have tho is 2x 32Gig cards, a few 8Gig cards and a few 4Gig cards.

All images stay on the cards till I get home where I then transfer to PC.

This could be considered 'cumbersome' if you're on an overseas holiday for 2 months or so .. but the reality is that you're not really going to be shooting 100Gig's worth of (keeper) images per day every day for 60 days!

if you do, then they are almost certainly going to be multiples of a single scene, or snapshots .. or both.
Of course you're not going to rush out and acquire 100 128Gig memory cards for that purpose .. so the best course of action is to be ruthless with your culling process.
Do you really want to keep 6Tb's of snaps, or multiple images of the same thing?

ps. if the question is actually more along the lines of technical assistance ...

Many Android mobile devices exist where you can connect a card reader(or more) to the device and transfer images from one card to another.
You would need to be weary of the use of such devices and the onboard memory capacity of the mobile device in some situations .. but it can be easily and quite cheaply done(approx $200ish).

[phild]

+1 for multiple memory cards, I went OS this year for 6 weeks and took 2 x 64Gb cards. Despite having 2, I only filled one. (around 2000 images shooting Raw+JPG on 6D with 64Gb card....).

No additional storage was needed IMO, there's always a chance of losing the files, but that's also the case even while transferring to a backup device.

If I were buying again I'd buy 32Gb cards simply because losing the contents of a card is worse the larger the card.

[Ian Brewster]

Thanks Arthur, but the original post seemed to be looking for advice on backup options. A stolen or pick-pocketed bag (I have experienced this) can see multiple cards disappear quickly! Another storage "back at the ranch" is good insurance.
I would counsel against using large capacity cards; better to have many 8Gb eggs than one 64Gb basket!

[ameerat42]

+1 for multiple memory cards, I went OS this year for 6 weeks and took 2 x 64Gb cards. Despite having 2, I only filled one. (around 2000 images shooting Raw+JPG on 6D with 64Gb card....).

No additional storage was needed IMO, there's always a chance of losing the files, but that's also the case even while transferring to a backup device.

If I were buying again I'd buy 32Gb cards simply because losing the contents of a card is worse the larger the card.

Cannot agree. It really depends on the METHOD of backup, not the type of media used.

[s1l3nt]

I personally have 2 x 16GB cards and a 8GB card, even during overseas trips, shooting adventures, etc, I dont really ever fill more than one. They are just back up cards, the 8GB was bought when I went out to shoot and forgot my cards So now it just sits in my bag as a back up if others die/get lost.

I also prefer this , as if I lose one card for one reason or another (lost card or damaged, etc) atleast its not a HUGE amount of files gone at once.

I also keep multiple back ups of my images as a safety measure. Two external hard drives (one I usually keep at work) and I also have a cloud backup system in place. This ensures minimal if any loss of data occurs should something happen

[nisstrust]

I personally have 2 x 16GB cards and a 8GB card, even during overseas trips, shooting adventures, etc, I dont really ever fill more than one. They are just back up cards, the 8GB was bought when I went out to shoot and forgot my cards So now it just sits in my bag as a back up if others die/get lost.

I also prefer this , as if I lose one card for one reason or another (lost card or damaged, etc) atleast its not a HUGE amount of files gone at once.

I also keep multiple back ups of my images as a safety measure. Two external hard drives (one I usually keep at work) and I also have a cloud backup system in place. This ensures minimal if any loss of data occurs should something happen

I like this approach. I am of the same opinion, i hate having to lug around more than i have to when i travel and often leave the laptop at home and just come back and process all the images.

[ameerat42]

...i hate having to lug around more than i have to when i travel...

On the other hand, photography is one of the main things I travel for, and I feel the need to take 2 x passport type drives as well as the laptop.

[Warb]

The OP mentioned a 2nd hand TV to view the pictures, so I imagine we're not travelling light!!

I don't yet have 50 posts, so I'm not sure how many product names will be edited from what follows!

Personally I use Adobe Lightroom to manage my pictures. The licence allows me to install it on my desktop PC and also on a mobile device, so I use a Surface Pro. It's small, but allows me to index, view, cull and edit my pictures "round the campfire". That gives me 2 copies of the files, the Surface and the original card. I can also copy them to USB drives, I use so-called "military style" 64 or 128gb flash drives that are in a waterproof aluminium tube and have proven to be very tough. I prefer flash drives to mechanical drives because they have no moving parts to break when dropped, and are physically smaller (though limited to 128gb in the style I use). After many years in the IT industry, I would never rely on a single backup no matter what media is chosen!

I also have the option of uploading the files to the cloud, or indeed straight back to my office (where they are subject to further automatic backups) via the internet if I really want to be careful! Because I shoot RAW at maximum size, the files are very large which can use a fair amount of bandwidth and "quota" to transfer over the 'net, not to mention using up any "free" cloud storage quite quickly.

Some vendors cloud solutions automatically sync all connected devices - my wife loaded a mass of large pictures to her iPad, which were auto-sync'd to her phone, which in turn got upset because it didn't have as much capacity as the iPad. Just something to be aware of!

You probably think that the above sounds excessive for a lousy amateur photographer such as myself. You're right! But only Lightroom was purchased for photography, the rest is all stuff I used (before I retired from IT) for work. However the basics (tablet/Lightroom/flash drives) work very nicely as an on-the-road edit and backup process.

I have a USB card reader that reads SD cards quickly to my desktop PC. But when travelling I sometimes connect the tablet straight to the camera. It's much slower to transfer files, but means I don't need to take a card reader.

[Crysis]

I have taken my laptop with me a few times and at the end of the day downloaded them on the laptop.
Then there has been time when I found that taking the laptop was pointless, as it was just a day trip.
But if I was doing a long trip I think I would follow the idea of SD Cards and just number them 1 to what ever.
Also I agree with the 8gb card as they are cheap these days but good.
Then when you are back home it's just follow the numbers.

[griffljg]

Having made the old photographer's mistake of not threading the film properly and ending up with a blank film when I thought that I had 36 photos, I tend to get a bit paranoid about whether my photos are coming out OK or not.

I take all my photos in raw format, as I know that I will edit each and every one, if only to get the horizons horizontal. - I HATE slanting horizons.

I carry a fully configured MacBook Pro with 15" Retina display, together with 1 x 2TB passport drive, my backup camera, spare lenses, flash and passport in a LowePro backpack. My main camera, together with a second 2TB passport drive, is carried in a shoulder-bag. I have never had any difficulty taking both bags onto an aircraft as carry-on baggage.

My technique is then, every night, to download the photos which I have taken to the MacBook and process them to check that I am happy with them. I then back them up onto each of the two passport drives. (I keep the photos on the memory card in the cameras until I get home....... Just in case!) This way, even if somebody breaks into my hotel room while I am out and about, I keep all my photos. - My cameras are insured, while the photos are not.

This system saved me on a trip back to South Africa in late 2012. While I was checking in the rental car at OR Tambo Airport, some very helpful baggage handlers helped themselves to one of my cameras and my GPS. I lost not one photograph! I had downloaded, processed and backed them all up the night before.

As for memory cards, I carry 32GB SanDisk Extreme Pro SD cards in my Canon EOS 6D and Olympus OM-D E-M1, with a spare 32GB SanDisk Extreme Pro SD card in the shoulder bag. If I take my Olympus XZ-2 with me, it has a 16GB Lexar Platinum SD card in it.

[ameerat42]

Larry. That's me on an OS trip. Crysis, that's me on a day trip.

[griffljg]

That's me on a day trip too. I leave my passport in my LowePro backpack. - It's easier to find that way...... And also less chance of it being left behind.

[binnie]

I have been using a ipad with SD card adapter for backing up as i travel, It has worked well so far with the only pain full bit being there is no was to delete photos on mass once your finished. Im assuming this is an apple thing...

[lindsayr]

I use external hdd