Photographers: On the go storage

[bluntman]

What do you guys do when you are on vacation an shooting a lot of photos? Do you carry several memory cards or do you use a PSD (photo storage device)? If you use a PSD, what do you use?

I bought a 4GB CF card through eBay, but if decide to shoot using RAW instead of JPEG, I think that card will fill up quite quickly especially with a 10.2MP camera.

[TM3]

My solution:

20GB personal multimedia device called \"Archos Gmini\"

Pros:
20GB of harddrive storage
has USB interface so you connect your digicam directly to the device and transfer into HD
MP3 player
plays Divx movies

check it out.. i bought mine at futureshop and love it so far.. had it for about 2 months now.


Way better then spending money on memory

btw... I know some IPODs can do the same thing but will require a USB adaptor.

[bluntman]

Do you have the 402 or the 500? I was playing around with the 500 at Best Buy during my lunch and I really liked it a lot. But can you view RAW files on the GMini? Unfortunately, it wasn\'t available for purchase.

I was also looking to import an Epson P-4500 from Japan, through eBay. Users of the P-2000 were dissatisfied with its battery life, screen and incredible lag when viewing RAW files. The P-4500 fixes all of those issues.

Apparently the iPod takes forever to transfer even 1GB of photos, so that\'s out of the question eventhough I have the Camera Connector.

I would prefer a PSD with a screen and I was looking at the ones available at My Digital Discount (http://www.mydigitaldiscount.com) and the Vosonic 8360 looks good because you can swap out the hard drive.

Too many decisions! :(

[///M]

I use a laptop.

[bluntman]

I thought of that, but mine is too heavy, it\'s more of a desktop replacement. :(

[majic]

umm i think you have to figure out whether you want an all in one multimedia box that can take pix off your cam OR just a plain storage for upload to PC later on

very different beasts altogether.. like broli and bubba ;)

a few links

1 (http://www.photo.net/equipment/digital/tripper/)
2 (http://secure.serverlab.net/shop/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=T00107&Categor y_Code=FlashPro)
3 (http://www.digitalfoci.com/picture_porter.html)

just bring a laptop with u :D

[bluntman]

Originally posted by majic



3 (http://www.digitalfoci.com/picture_porter.html)



I think we have a winner!

Thanks majic. ;)

[majic]

Originally posted by bluntman



Originally posted by majic



3 (http://www.digitalfoci.com/picture_porter.html)



I think we have a winner!

Thanks majic. ;)

i honestly think i was raised by google.. ;)

[bluntman]

I just noticed that that company has one similar to the Epson P series. Hmmm. ;)

[JMAK74]

Hi Bluntman,

I\'ve thought about the PSD (Epson/etc) however I\'ve been reasonably happy with just using my CF cards while on vacation - have a 2GB, a 1GBm and two 512MB. Granted, I\'m not at the 10MP as you are B (6MP only :( ). When I think that the trip may result in lot\'s-o-pictures, I\'ll move from RAW to highest JPEG - gives more than enough pic space. More or less the reason why I\'d want the PSD is really for viewing the pics while on location (which a laptop is too cumbersome most of the time), not storing them. Should a trip run very long (i.e. Australia for one month) - I\'d maybe then get a PSD or more likely, depending where I am, go to a camera shop download the files to CD and continue.

I guess the one issue of PSD/large memory cards vs. a number of smaller cards is putting all you eggs in one basket vs. having a number of memory cards to deal with.

A thought - correct me if I\'m wrong, however if you\'re viewing RAW files on your camera or a PSD, it\'s the imbedded JPEG that\'s being viewed. When you get back home, you will still have to process the RAW file (one thing I still hate about shooting in RAW) to get to what the image looked like on the PSD/Camera screen or extract the JPEG. If that is what you do (extract the JPEG only and I gather you don\'t), then why not shoot in JPEG all the time. You\'ll have more space per card for pics (you can get 2 GB Ultra II CF at Costco for $99.99). I guest you\'d have to see how many JPEG images your 4GB card holds. At 10MP vs. my 6MP we are looking at the storage world at different levels. I guess I\'m just wondering if the $300 on a PSD could be spent on glass/mods/etc instead.

Hope you find what you need.

JK

[TM3]

Originally posted by bluntman


Do you have the 402 or the 500? I was playing around with the 500 at Best Buy during my lunch and I really liked it a lot. But can you view RAW files on the GMini? Unfortunately, it wasn\'t available for purchase.

I was also looking to import an Epson P-4500 from Japan, through eBay. Users of the P-2000 were dissatisfied with its battery life, screen and incredible lag when viewing RAW files. The P-4500 fixes all of those issues.

Apparently the iPod takes forever to transfer even 1GB of photos, so that\'s out of the question eventhough I have the Camera Connector.

I would prefer a PSD with a screen and I was looking at the ones available at My Digital Discount (http://www.mydigitaldiscount.com) and the Vosonic 8360 looks good because you can swap out the hard drive.

Too many decisions! :(

i have the 402. the 500 is better for multimedia. but for travel, 402 is ideal... i\'m going away for 1 full month, so memory cards won\'t cut it.

i\'m not 100% sure, but i highly doubt that you can use it to view RAW files... can just use to transfer them if using RAW

[chaser]

On my last vacation in Vegas, I had Walgreens (http://photo.walgreens.com/) to burn my pics onto CDs. I think you can find other stores do the same in major cities. The deal at Walgreens is pretty good, $2.99 per order. That means you can burn all 4GB at once for $2.99.

[TM3]

ya, actually, that\'s the most cost efficient way.. to go burn it at an internet cafe or something.. but depending on where you\'re traveling to... you may not find that type of service away from big cities

[bluntman]

Originally posted by JMAK74
A thought - correct me if I\'m wrong, however if you\'re viewing RAW files on your camera or a PSD, it\'s the imbedded JPEG that\'s being viewed. When you get back home, you will still have to process the RAW file (one thing I still hate about shooting in RAW) to get to what the image looked like on the PSD/Camera screen or extract the JPEG. If that is what you do (extract the JPEG only and I gather you don\'t), then why not shoot in JPEG all the time. You\'ll have more space per card for pics (you can get 2 GB Ultra II CF at Costco for $99.99). I guest you\'d have to see how many JPEG images your 4GB card holds. At 10MP vs. my 6MP we are looking at the storage world at different levels. I guess I\'m just wondering if the $300 on a PSD could be spent on glass/mods/etc instead.

Hope you find what you need.

JK



You\'re right about the JPG being embedded in the RAW file. That\'s one of the reasons why I am leaning towards buying an Archo GMINI 500. I know I want to be able to view the photos once they are stored so a colour screen is a must. The Archos is small too and the screen takes up most of the unit...although the 402 isn\'t bad either.

[bluntman]

After reading all of the glowing reviews I couldn\'t resist it any longer so I splurged and bought myself an Epson P-4500 (http://www.epson.com.au/products/multimedia/p4500.asp) through eBay. I have a sneaking suspicion that it will arrive before my Alpha. :(