Which back-up device ?

[GillR]

The thing about laptops vs the specialized storage deviced is simple: Laptops don't have solid-state storage. This means they have mechanical parts inside them that are very sensitive to vibrations and being dropped. A solid state storage sollution (such as a CF crad, or any flash memory) is extremely secure. Since there are no moving parts, batteries get you a lot further too.

Good point on the HDD -v- SS! However, there are netbooks on the market with Solid State storage: from memory Eee and Lenovo have them, probably other manufacturers too.

[Colin Southern]

The thing about laptops vs the specialized storage deviced is simple: Laptops don't have solid-state storage. This means they have mechanical parts inside them that are very sensitive to vibrations and being dropped. A solid state storage sollution (such as a CF crad, or any flash memory) is extremely secure. Since there are no moving parts, batteries get you a lot further too.

It used to be that way, but many (most) modern laptops have shock protection that retract the heads if an accelerometer detects too big a shock whilst it's running. If it's powered down then the heads are parked and (last time I checked) they were good to withstand something like 75g. So a good rule of thumb is "don't jar them when they're going!

Definately not a robust as solid-state though.

[Dave Humphries]

Good point on the HDD -v- SS! However, there are netbooks on the market with Solid State storage: from memory Eee and Lenovo have them, probably other manufacturers too.

I considered one of these for this reason, but the ones I have seen have only been of similar capacity to a decent memory card (e.g. 16GB), so not much room on them

Given I have 28GB of SDHC (8+8+8+4) cards.

[john w revie]

Antonio

Have you considered online storage.
I use .mac images can be up-loaded from any internet cafe.
what I do is take enough cards to cover all the shots you will take
up-load to your online storage as often as possible. that way you have
2 copies of every thing.
john

[Colin Southern]

Antonio

Have you considered online storage.
I use .mac images can be up-loaded from any internet cafe.

I would have thought that you'd spend about 3 days uploading for every day shooting?

[Antonio Correia]

I would have thought that you'd spend about 3 days uploading for every day shooting?

It all depends where you are and how much time you have left ...

[Antonio Correia]

Looks here how fast and big are CF cards theses days...

[Alis]

Looks here how fast and big are CF cards theses days...

I love it when the higher capacity cards come to market; it always brings down the price of the smaller cards, and I do not mind changing 8 GB cards if the price is 1/12 of the 64GB

And even with HD video on 5D MKII, I do not need that much speed.

[Antonio Correia]

I love it when the higher capacity cards come to market; it always brings down the price of the smaller cards, and I do not mind changing 8 GB cards if the price is 1/12 of the 64GB And even with HD video on 5D MKII, I do not need that much speed.

However, one of the "dangerous" counterparts is to have all the eggs in the same basket with using a large card.

If one loses or if some problem occurs with the card containing important pictures, there they go down the drain ...

We can't have it all, can we ?

[KentDub]

However, one of the "dangerous" counterparts is to have all the eggs in the same basket with using a large card.

If one loses or if some problem occurs with the card containing important pictures, there they go down the drain ...

We can't have it all, can we ?

One could make the argument that more cards means more things to track, thus increasing the chances one will be lost. What ever is a photographer to do?

[Antonio Correia]

One could make the argument that more cards means more things to track, thus increasing the chances one will be lost. What ever is a photographer to do?

We can't have everything in life, can we ?

We just have to make choices like with everything in life ...

[Dirk]

i would go for the Epson if i were you, i sa a test recently and the epson was the overall winner on all parts..

[Antonio Correia]

i would go for the Epson if i were you, i sa a test recently and the epson was the overall winner on all parts..

Thank you Dirk

I was going to write and correct what I said before when you message came.

I have tried again with the ipod 60Gb I have.

It has eaten about 200 files when the battery was really low, on the red.

However, when it ended and stopped to load the files the battery was again on the green side. Half green half empty.

So, it may be a good device if you are not too demanding.

Anyway, I made up my mind: I bought 2 cards Sandisk Extreme III of 8 Gb each which gives me a large margin.

The 20D D with one of these cards makes some 400 photos - 433 to be exact - and the 5D makes - let me see - 231 raw files.
My sun is going to borrow me his 8Gb SD card for the G9 giving 460 raw files. Plus: I have 2 Gb card for 115 files.

You see the "army" I have ...

These, with the ipod and the cards I already own, others than these, are sufficient for many, many pictures.

I count to shoot about 1500 images with a sucess rate of about 10 to 15 %. It's enough.

Anyway thanks for the advice. In Portugal the Epson is terribly expensive. If I were to buy it I had to do it Germany or US...



One more think: We can't see raws in the ipod. Only jpg.

[KentDub]

1500 images over how long? I have a single CF card, 16gb, and can get a bit over 500 images on it. I don't think I've gone more than 200 or so without having an opportunity to dump them to a computer -- then again I havn't been on any trips longer than a weekend yet with the camera

[Antonio Correia]

1500 images over how long? I have a single CF card, 16gb, and can get a bit over 500 images on it. I don't think I've gone more than 200 or so without having an opportunity to dump them to a computer -- then again I havn't been on any trips longer than a weekend yet with the camera

Remember Ken that I am old.
I used to make photography the old way.
When the roll had 36 frames in 35 mm.
Sometimes 20 !
Even 12 on the Rolleiflex if my memory serves me well...
I don't shoot randomly, just to shoot.
I try to do it with criteria. Well, I try ...

1500 - 2000 photos over 15 days.