Where to back up photos/videos dai

[ceejilly]

Hi

In all the years I have cruised I have never backed up my memory cards and have got away with it but this coming January we are sailing around New Zealand and I reckon I ought to sort this dilemma out.  So experts can you advise me please what is the best way ahead, I haven't and really do not want to purchase a laptop to backup but would an iPad do the job? I am a Apple user so a iPad seems to be the best answer but I would like your advice.  My idea would be to download photos/videos from my Nikon and GoPro daily onto the iPad and then transfer them onto a Scandisk IXpand 64GB flash drive for iPhone & iPad, once home transfer them all onto my iMac.

Would this be the best option I have without purchasing a laptop?  Your collective thoughts would be appreciated

Craig

[pierces]

Chances of a card failure are slim, but not zero. I have used my Amazon Fire to back up images while traveling by using a compatible card reader. I simply copy from the card to the 128GB micro-SD card in the Fire with no real effort to organize since it is just for backup use and the original cards are not re-used. Copying to your iPad and then re-copying to external storage should provide the same function with the one additional step.

 

Dave

[ceejilly]

56 minutes ago, pierces said:

Chances of a card failure are slim, but not zero. I have used my Amazon Fire to back up images while traveling by using a compatible card reader. I simply copy from the card to the 128GB micro-SD card in the Fire with no real effort to organize since it is just for backup use and the original cards are not re-used. Copying to your iPad and then re-copying to external storage should provide the same function with the one additional step.

 

Dave

 

[ceejilly]

Oops sorry about the reply, pressed the wrong button!!!  But thanks Dave for your prompt reply.

 I did have look at a Amazon Fire, liked the idea of a removable micro-SD card, but I think I'll go down the route of buying the 128GB iPad, at least I know my way around Apple and with your comments.....it will work.

 

Craig

[Loonbeam]

My primary camera has dual slots so I just mirror now, but when I was shooting single slot only I had an older version of this - worked rather well..

 

https://amzn.to/2NUvTqz

 

The issue with the iPad is capacity, even with 128 GB, you lose some to the OS, etc.  On a recent 5 day trip where I did not shoot heavy I was over 100GB in card usage (I do shoot Raw+Jpeg)

[donaldsc]

Some of the new cell phones can take really large memory chips.  I have a 256 G card in my Samsung phone.  That will hold a lot of pictures.

 

DON

[Heidi13]

Don't use Apple products, so don't know what ports you have on an ipad. I upload to my laptop then create additional copies on a 2TB portable external drive

[Loonbeam]

17 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

Don't use Apple products, so don't know what ports you have on an ipad. I upload to my laptop then create additional copies on a 2TB portable external drive

 

 

The initial request was not to purchase or use a laptop, but other options....

 

 

[peety3]

5 hours ago, Loonbeam said:

 

 

The initial request was not to purchase or use a laptop, but other options....

 

 

Sometimes, the right tool for the job is right there in front of you, and the wrong tool will end up costing you a whole lot more.

Give us more info about how YOU shoot. Are you JPEG, RAW, or both? One camera or several? One photographer in the family group or several? Etc.

For us, both my wife and I shoot in RAW, with usually a total of five cameras. We've been known to shoot 157GB in a day and 350GB in a week-long Alaska cruise. A 128GB iPad is therefore an absolute no-go. Our solution leverages a laptop and several external/portable HDDs. Within an hour (worst case) of downloading our cards (157GB takes time to read no matter how you slice it) and four hours of unattended time, I have the images AND VALIDATED in three places. On our next visit to the cabin, one drive rotates into the cabin safe and another drive comes out, so it'd take the master key for the cabin safe to steal the last copy of our images. When it's time to leave the ship (boo!), the drives travel in different bags with different people so there's a safety net no matter what. And yes, it took a laptop to get that level of safety.

However, you may consider one of the purpose-built gadgets that holds a hard drive and can read memory cards, copying them to the gadget's HD. That avoids a laptop but does still require a thingy. I'm not a big fan of something that probably can't read RAW image files and confirm to you that they were successfully transferred.

[jlp20]

Last 10 cruises or so, we have taken lap top. Music, movies and the back up of that day's photos.

[Heymoe]

7 hours ago, jlp20 said:

Last 10 cruises or so, we have taken lap top. Music, movies and the back up of that day's photos.

I've done the same.  A 1TB hybrid system drive is a decent compromise between speed and capacity.  Plus it allows importing and doing some basic editing in Lightroom while on the ship.

 

Overnight backup to Amazon Photos for the jpgs is also possible with a laptop.  There just isn't enough bandwidth to upload raw files.

[Loonbeam]

19 hours ago, peety3 said:

 

 

Sometimes, the right tool for the job is right there in front of you, and the wrong tool will end up costing you a whole lot more.

Give us more info about how YOU shoot. Are you JPEG, RAW, or both? One camera or several? One photographer in the family group or several? Etc.

For us, both my wife and I shoot in RAW, with usually a total of five cameras. We've been known to shoot 157GB in a day and 350GB in a week-long Alaska cruise. A 128GB iPad is therefore an absolute no-go. Our solution leverages a laptop and several external/portable HDDs. Within an hour (worst case) of downloading our cards (157GB takes time to read no matter how you slice it) and four hours of unattended time, I have the images AND VALIDATED in three places. On our next visit to the cabin, one drive rotates into the cabin safe and another drive comes out, so it'd take the master key for the cabin safe to steal the last copy of our images. When it's time to leave the ship (boo!), the drives travel in different bags with different people so there's a safety net no matter what. And yes, it took a laptop to get that level of safety.

However, you may consider one of the purpose-built gadgets that holds a hard drive and can read memory cards, copying them to the gadget's HD. That avoids a laptop but does still require a thingy. I'm not a big fan of something that probably can't read RAW image files and confirm to you that they were successfully transferred.

 

Oh I agree in general.  In this specific case, the OP said they did not want to buy a laptop, nor do they have one, so its not really an option in play.

Edited October 23, 2018 by Loonbeam

[GottaKnowWhen]

Mine is an imperfect approach which lowers the risk but does include compromises.

1. I shoot RAW + jpg. In my cameras, there are two card slots, RAW goes to one card, high quality jpg goes to the other. My wife’s camera does RAW + jpg to one card. In either case...

2. At the end of the day I use the Apple card dongle to download the jpg versions to my iPad. Those  I view, rate, delete some, share some on various forums.

3. The RAW images stay on the card. The card(s) get stashed safely. If anything should happen to a RAW card, I.e., internal defect or physical loss, then I at least have high quality jpgs as a back-up of sorts. If I have adequate high speed high capacity internet connections along the way, I will also upload a few favorites to my online gallery - another form of backup.

 

i used to travel with laptop plus two external drives for backup. Way too much gear! If I were shooting for income, with actual or potential clients, it would make sense. But I shoot for my own enjoyment and have learned, in this case at least, to leave behind my OCD.

[ceejilly]

GottaKnowWhen

Thanks for your input, it does sound similar to the way I was thinking of though I've given up the idea of shooting photos in RAW, found my HD was getting too big, too quickly, so reduced RAW to high quality jpg.

So I am thinking of a memory card adaptor connected to lightening port on 128GB iPad, download photos, connect Scandisk iXpand Flash Drive 128GB and download photos. On return to UK, download photos from Flash Drive onto my iMac.  The chances are I will have enough memory cards so they'll be left full as a possible extra backup.

I know a lap top would be the best approach, but I really have no other need for a laptop, so the above I hope is a cheaper way out of my dilemma.

Craig

[GottaKnowWhen]

3 hours ago, ceejilly said:

GottaKnowWhen

Thanks for your input, it does sound similar to the way I was thinking of though I've given up the idea of shooting photos in RAW, found my HD was getting too big, too quickly, so reduced RAW to high quality jpg.

So I am thinking of a memory card adaptor connected to lightening port on 128GB iPad, download photos, connect Scandisk iXpand Flash Drive 128GB and download photos. On return to UK, download photos from Flash Drive onto my iMac.  The chances are I will have enough memory cards so they'll be left full as a possible extra backup.

I know a lap top would be the best approach, but I really have no other need for a laptop, so the above I hope is a cheaper way out of my dilemma.

Craig

I should have mentioned, I do also use a flash drive to download images from my iPad.
A. Camera card to iPad.
B. iPad Photos to flash drive.
C. On the iPad, review, delete, rate, edit.
D. Share.

Step B gives me more freedom to delete my jpg's from the iPad, knowing that I do have a copy if I get too carried away. At the end of each trip, I load images from the camera cards to my desktop (with backups) and soon thereafter delete all images from my iPad, flash drive(s), and cards.

The primary downside of the approach I am following is that any sorting/rating/editing done on the iPad is wasted and I need to start over once home. I have toyed with using Lightroom Mobile rather than Photos but am not convinced I can establish a smooth workflow with that either.

[ceejilly]

Thanks for your very detailed breakdown, it has supported my thoughts on the way ahead, and thanks to all who have responded to my query, it was much appreciated.

Craig

[mskaufman]

While cruising I download from the camera to a tablet.  The tablet is set to upload the pictures to the cloud when connected to "free" wifi.  That said, when I get home everything gets backed up to two external hard drives.  One in the house and one in another location.

[TruckerDave]

On 10/22/2018 at 4:59 PM, peety3 said:

We've been known to shoot 157GB in a day

what are you shooting that takes 157gb per day?     That is 6-7K shots (give or take). 

[peety3]

1 minute ago, TruckerDave said:

what are you shooting that takes 157gb per day?     That is 6-7K shots (give or take). 

It's the "double day" in Alaska: Tracy Arm Fjord, and if you take the small-boat excursion there's a lot to see and photograph. Then in Juneau the same day, "Photo Safari" whale watch and glacier "hike". And with the Canon 5DsR, a RAW image file is 55-70MB per file, so it's probably more in the 4-5k shots range if I remember. My wife has a habit of going a little nuts with the "motor drive" when there are whales, and that happened to be a REALLY good trip for whale sightings.

 

That day is the reason I prefer Princess' Glacier Bay itinerary over their Tracy Arm itinerary; GB calendar is a little more relaxed while the TAF calendar is more wait/hurry up/wait/hurry up/cruise is over (36 hours of relaxation to KTN, then four things in three days, then 49 hours of relaxation to Victoria, then a short sleep and time to go).

[TruckerDave]

haha.  ok at that file size it makes more sense. (I was going by my D610 and 20-25mb per file thus where I got the 6-7 range).   And the whole trying to get the whale shot I understand.  I tried a few times when I was up there a few years ago from the deck of the ship and I know how tough it is.  Along with trying to get a glacier calving.  

 

Just yanking your chain on the high GB total by the way.  I burn through a few gigs each day myself. lol

 

[KYBOB]

I use a Gnarbox which will allow you to connect an external drive too. Works great with iPad or iPhone. You plug a SD card into it and it downloads it. You can then use your iPad or IPhone to review the photos edit or email. I also download GoPro videos to it then edit those file on my iPad. 

 

 

[peety3]

On 10/24/2018 at 5:12 PM, KYBOB said:

I use a Gnarbox which will allow you to connect an external drive too. Works great with iPad or iPhone. You plug a SD card into it and it downloads it. You can then use your iPad or IPhone to review the photos edit or email. I also download GoPro videos to it then edit those file on my iPad. 

 

 

Can it view RAW? Can you connect multiple drives to create backups, or do you have to keep your cards to allow the Gnarbox to be the backup?

[pengu1n]

This is what I use:

https://www.amazon.com/HyperDrive-Colorspace-UDMA3-Portable-Storage/dp/B017OB42YM/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1543192650&sr=1-2&keywords=hyperdrive%2Budma&th=1

You can get it with a hard drive already installed or install your own. I installed my own, it does not require any advanced knowledge, just ability to follow simple directions. Much smaller & lighter than a laptop. Not very fast at copying but I don't sit and watch it, just do other things. I keep the device in the safe during the day.

 

An ipad would not have enough memory for me, I have often shot over 10,000 pics in both jpeg and raw. I use one memory card a day, copy it to the hyperdrive and keep the card as is. So I have 2 copies. When we come home, I stash the 2 in different carryon bags.

[truel1111]

Get a  Western Digital  "MY PASSPORT WIRELESS PRO"    

https://www.wd.com/products/portable-storage/my-passport-wireless-pro.html#WDBVPL0010BBK-NESN 

it read SD card for backup .

 

Perfect for backup memory cards when travelling.

 

[Loonbeam]

Only if you use SD - no solutions out there for XQD nor do I expect any with cfast coming.