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Portable backing up of photos on a trip

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 Robert Durran 27 Apr 2017
I am looking for a way of backing up photos from an SD card on long trips, so that I don't live in constant fear of an SD card failing or getting lost. I need something battery powered which doesn't need frequent recharging and which is light and portable. The only thing I've come up with is one of these: https://www.wdc.com/en-gb/products/portable-storage/my-passport-wireless-pr... Does anyone have experience of using this? Any other options? What do other people do?
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OP Robert Durran 27 Apr 2017
In reply to David Barlow:


Thanks, looks like I need to look for a My Passport one - upgrading my camera to have dual SD cards would cost me over £1000 - I would have thought this ought to be easily added and standard insurance on a decent camera!
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 CasWebb 27 Apr 2017
In reply to Robert Durran:

If the worst should happen and a card fails then I can thoroughly recommend SanDisk RescuePro software to recover as much as possible from the card.
Jim C 27 Apr 2017
In reply to Robert Durran:

Memory Cards are cheap, buy a few and spread your photos around on them.
( and it's also a good idea to photograph your contact details on each card- and protect it- that way if the worst happens and you lose one of them , you have a better chance if getting it back, and if not, then at least you have at least a couple more cards )
 two_tapirs 28 Apr 2017
In reply to Robert Durran:

How about a cheap/old android phone that has an SD card slot? Lightweight, cheap and a backup phone just in case
OP Robert Durran 28 Apr 2017
In reply to two_tapirs:

My phone is a cheap, old Android phone! But seems to have a tiny memory. Does any phone have an SD slot (rather than a micro SD slot)? I had been wondering about buying a cheap Tablet (but maybe a phone would do) and a SD card reader and with an adapter from USB to mini USB. Would this work? I am clueless about this sort of stuff. Would an old phone have enough memory - I might need to save up to about 10GB worth of photos?
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 Heike 28 Apr 2017
In reply to Robert Durran:

How a bout getting an iPad mini? I did that four years ago when we went on a few months trip (now it seems to have become the property of our son somehow...) and it was really great. Good to use for things like Skype etc as well whilst on the move and not very big.
 Fraser 28 Apr 2017
In reply to Robert Durran:

I was about to suggest you get a regular SD sized holder to mount your Micro-SD card but you'd actually want to 'go the other way', sorry!
 HeMa 28 Apr 2017
In reply to Robert Durran:

I have the wd passport wireless, and I guess I already answered the other thread.

That said the WD works Ok, and If you don't Mess around with the wireless I can easily backup quite a few cards on one battery. Charges with regular 5V USB, same as yer phone etc.
 wintertree 28 Apr 2017
In reply to Robert Durran:

I've been beaten to the punch, was going to suggest an iPad mini and external SD card reader. Edit: You can also use an iPhone.

When I've done long trips in the past I've used a MacBook Air to backup the photos; a 2nd hand 11" is pretty small. Needs mains power though.
Post edited at 19:51
OP Robert Durran 28 Apr 2017
In reply to wintertree:

> I've been beaten to the punch, was going to suggest an iPad mini and external SD card reader.

A Tablet and a card reader seems a good option. The cheapest and lightest tablet I can find seems to be an Amazon Fire, but it's not clear whether an SD card reader would work with it. Anyone know?
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 aln 28 Apr 2017
In reply to Robert Durran:

Put the SD card from your camera into a cheap camera or tablet then back up the photos to a cloud based app?
OP Robert Durran 28 Apr 2017
In reply to aln:

> Put the SD card from your camera into a cheap camera or tablet then back up the photos to a cloud based app?

But that's no good in places with no access to the internet (ie all the best places!).
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 aln 28 Apr 2017
In reply to Robert Durran:

Fair point. I'm not sure about the current Amazon Fire, but I m bought one for my 6yr old in 2015 and it was useless really, even for him.
OP Robert Durran 28 Apr 2017
In reply to aln

> Fair point. I'm not sure about the current Amazon Fire, but I m bought one for my 6yr old in 2015 and it was useless really, even for him.

It seems to get good reviews. Anyway, I've no interest in anything else it does as long as I can download and store up to about 1000 photos for a few weeks.

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 thlcr1 29 Apr 2017
In reply to Robert Durran:

I've used a Kingston Mobilite G3 wireless card reader. http://www.kingston.com/en/wireless/wireless_readers/mlwg3?gclid=Cj0KEQjw0I...
It has an SD card slot and a USB socket. Connect to your Smartphone via wireless and you can use the phone as an interface to copy from the SD card to a large capacity USB flash drive. The supplied software for the phone is a bit Rubbish but on android phones a good file manager (I use ES file explorer) will see the SD card and the Flash drive and allow you to copy and paste between them. Be warned though it's quite slow at copying.

Lee
 aln 01 May 2017
In reply to Robert Durran:

> In reply to aln

1000 photos for a few weeks.

You must have a lot of editing to do when you get back from a trip! :-0
OP Robert Durran 01 May 2017
In reply to aln:

> 1000 photos for a few weeks. You must have a lot of editing to do when you get back from a trip! :-0

That's only 25 per day for a six week trip. Not many really even after deleting all the rubbish directly from the camera daily.

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 aln 01 May 2017
In reply to Robert Durran:

Aye well that sounds reasonable for the excellent results. Some of your photos have been fantastic, Death Valley, Jordan etc.
OP Robert Durran 09 May 2017
So I've bought a My Passport Wireless. Unfortunately the device, the instructions and the various online things are all utterly baffling to me and I can't even begin to make it do anything. After quite a few hours I'm close to smashing all £150 worth of it to tiny bits in an apoplectic rage. So pretty normal situation for me and technology.............. I think I'll send it back and look at other options (maybe tablet and card reader with USB adapter).

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OP Robert Durran 21 May 2017
For what it's worth, the cheapest, lightest Amazon Fire tablet at £50 (comparable in weight but a third the price of the cheapest My Passport I could find) seems to do the job well - just connect direct to the camera with a cable and press the photo icon and download. Works just like an external hard drive to download easily to a computer later. But it does seem a pity that nobody seems to make something this simple dedicated to this function (and therefore presumably potentially lighter and cheaper).

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 Fraser 21 May 2017
In reply to Robert Durran:

I suspect those who are precious about backing up whilst away on a trip have a camera body with twin slots and quite possibly also a laptop. But I can see why you'd want to keep it as simple and light as possible. Glad you found something that appears to be doing the job asked of it.

And for the record, 1000 shots over 6 weeks in a decent location sounds quite restrained. I think I shot that many in just a 2 week trip to Chulilla and I'm sure more serious photographers /climbers would shoot way more than that.
OP Robert Durran 21 May 2017
In reply to Fraser:

> I suspect those who are precious about backing up whilst away on a trip have a camera body with twin slots........

For me that would mean upgrading to an X-T2 at about £1300. Don't tempt me........ and there's already the 100-400 lens I'd really like or this trip at about the same price!

> And for the record, 1000 shots over 6 weeks in a decent location sounds quite restrained.

I'll be deleting all the dross (ie most of my photos!) directly from the camera most days. 1000 is a rough guess at how many I'll actually bring home.
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 The Lemming 21 May 2017
In reply to Robert Durran:

> ....... and there's already the 100-400 lens I'd really like

If you are on about the Panasonic 100-400, then I can most definitely recommend it.

It's pin sharp and very very fast to focus.

You can find some of my shots on Flickr using the lens.
Removed User 21 May 2017
In reply to Robert Durran:

> For me that would mean upgrading to an X-T2 at about £1300. Don't tempt me........ and there's already the 100-400 lens I'd really like or this trip at about the same price!I'll be deleting all the dross (ie most of my photos!) directly from the camera most days. 1000 is a rough guess at how many I'll actually bring home.

How many batteries are you taking or are you able to charge regularly/daily?

Re lenses, have you discovered MPB? There was a used X100-400 on there recently.


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OP Robert Durran 21 May 2017
In reply to The Lemming:

> If you are on about the Panasonic 100-400, then I can most definitely recommend it.

No. The Fuji XF one.
OP Robert Durran 21 May 2017
In reply to Removed UserStuart en Écosse:
> How many batteries are you taking or are you able to charge regularly/daily?

Car based, so ok charging - shall still take 5 or 6 though. I've used a small solar charger ok in the past though.

> Re lenses, have you discovered MPB? There was a used X100-400 on there recently.

Thanks. Shall keep an eye on it!
Post edited at 22:32
 elsewhere 03 Jun 2017
In reply to Robert Durran:
I've not tried this yet...
USB card reader and USB to Micro USB Adapter are dirt cheap

Assuming phone has micro SD slot...
Insert micro SD card into phone
Plug card reader into micro USB on phone
mena 13 Jun 2017
In reply to Robert Durran:

when going out for photographing, you'll find it helpful to have a good camera bag with multiple compartments. Every time going out, I have to bring my camera, several lenses, tripod, etc. Once upon a time, I forgot to bring a backup memory card and I lost my photos I took that day. And later I bought two extra cards and save them in my bestek canvas camera bag. You'd better buy more than one backup memory card in case of losing photos like I did.

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