back-up options - on the go

[wellsie82]

Hi all,

I'm after a bit of advice for a back-up solution I'm thinking about. I'll start off my listing my gear so you know I've got then I'll explain what I'm after

Canon 6d with wifi
Nexus 7 tablet with eos app
OTG cable
Cable to connect Canon 6d with PC
Numerous SD cards
Very old & cheap SD card reader off ebay
Nexus media importer app for tablet

What I'm looking to do is to back-up my raw files when I'm away from home (without the use of a laptop). I typically use SD cards which are 8-16gb in size & if I'm away for a few weeks using the camera a lot, it's not uncommon to fill a number of cards & have a significant amount of gb's.

At the moment, I fill the cards, then keep the cards in a safe place. What I'd like to be able to do is put a copy of those files onto another device.

My DIY type thinking lead me to believe that because I had an OTG cable, I could essentially plug the 6d into the tablet - this doesn't work.

Then, I removed my SD card from the camera, put that into the card reader & that into the tablet. Again this doesn't work (I think my £1 or £2 card reader could be the problem here).

I'd like to know whether I'm barking up the wrong tree, is this doable, am I missing something?

I'm considering buying the following items to complete this "solution" but before I do, I want to make sure that the current issue I'm facing is simply because my card reader for want of a better word, is crap

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kingston-Tec...ds=card+reader

Then I'd export the files onto this device:-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/SanDisk-SDCZ...ords=pen+drive

Thanks for anyone who can offer any advice or confirm from personal experience that they know this would work & seems logical.

[dabhand]

Hi - it sounds like your card reader may be the issue, I regularily use a card reader plugged into my Acer tablet without issue but what file manager are you using on your Nexus ? That may also be the cause of the problem - some work better than other with external storage.

steve

[wellsie82]

hi steve

on the nexus 7 i downloaded the nexus media importer which id heard should do the job of importing & exporting from the nexus 7 - seems to be quite popular

[dabhand]

hi steve

on the nexus 7 i downloaded the nexus media importer which id heard should do the job of importing & exporting from the nexus 7 - seems to be quite popular

Yeah that's fine so I guess it's down to the reader - only other thought - did you try with more than one sd card - just in case.

steve

[wellsie82]

Yeah that's fine so I guess it's down to the reader - only other thought - did you try with more than one sd card - just in case.

steve

yeah i used a couple of cards - i think the issue might of been my reader in that nowhere on it does it state sdhc - i think i need to replace it & retry

[wellsie82]

guess this is actually my proposed workflow - benefits are that images are in two places quicker, and i can view them (begin the rating process before returning home - ok i can do this already i know)

1) take pics & fill card as normal
2) optional - i can view them on the tablet via wifi & eos app, rate/cull them whilst the sd card remains in the 6d
3) remove sd card from 6d
4) put sd card into new card reader
5) put card reader into otg & otg into the tablet
6) copy files from sd card onto the tablet
7) remove card reader from otg cable
8) insert pen drive into otg & export files from tablet to pen drive (to avoid taking up space on tablet)

doable or any reason why it shouldn't be doable?

[dabhand]

If you can view them using wifi can you not transfer them too, especially afetr culling ?

Additional point 9 - Don't remove any files from the original card until they have been verified on the pen drive.

steve

[wellsie82]

Yeah agree with 9 - I think I'd be keeping files in both places at least till I'm home

Transferring via WiFi is an option but I assumed (& could be wrong) that cable would be quicker. If I wanted to avoid cost of ex hard drive with WiFi I'd need a cable for that anyway

[Adrian]

For a pretty safe back up solution whilst traveling light I use two things: 1) a La Cie 500GB rugged SSD drive. I connect this direct to the camera and transfer that way usually. Very fast transfer. 2) iPad, using a card reader adaptor.

Mostly I travel with a laptop macAir or Pro and copy to that rather than the iPad. I refer a card reader rather than the slots in the laptops, which I find less reliable. It is wrath investing in a decent high speed card reader.

Avoid wireless back up from your 6D. We have one in my office and although wireless works, it is slow and consumes battery quickly. Fine of you have a couple of spare batteries but you do not want the download interrupted.

I tend to travel with spare cards and I do not re-format anything until I get home and have backed up to my main system.

The one work of caution I would apply to tablet devices / PDAs as backups, is in my experience with them over the last few years, they are not as reliable as an extraction device (i.e. copying back off them) as a portable hard drive or SSD drive. No idea why this is the case but I have had data corruption on both samsung and apple devices when dealing with fairly large photo data volumes.

[RustBeltRaw]

According to the how-to page for DSLR Controller (a USB-based camera control app), Nexus 7 tablets have connectivity issues. They have a possible fix posted. Rather involved, but it might solve your problem.

I use an OTG/USB host cable with DSLR controller on a Galaxy S3 as a slightly-larger-than-stock focusing screen for video. So it is definitely possible to connect an Android device to your camera.