Roger S Posted July 12, 2012 Share #1 Posted July 12, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) I've been looking for an affordable (yes, I know - define affordable) backup device for use in the field. None of the current batch of tablet PCs seem to have full-size SD card slots and, of course, very few tablets or even dedicated backup devices like those available from Canon seem to be able to handle DNG files. My 11" Sony Vaio laptop does the job well but is bigger and heavier than I would like. Any suggestions? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted July 12, 2012 Posted July 12, 2012 Hi Roger S, Take a look here In-field SD card backups. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
stuny Posted July 12, 2012 Share #2 Posted July 12, 2012 There is an SD card attachment for the iPad, but I have no idea if the iPad handles DNG files. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pop Posted July 12, 2012 Share #3 Posted July 12, 2012 .. if the iPad handles DNG files. It did not, the last time I had a look. Much cheaper and certain to be up to the task are most 10" netbooks such as the eee series by Asus or their equivalent by hp. All of those are quite affordable. Also, there are dedicated devices for that very purpose, such as the Photo Cube 2 by EMTEC or the image tank (by Epson, I believe). They might not appeal much to the gadgeteer but they get the job done and are a bit more compact. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger S Posted July 12, 2012 Author Share #4 Posted July 12, 2012 Thanks, pop. unfortunately I can't track down these products. Do you have any source sites to suggest? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger S Posted July 12, 2012 Author Share #5 Posted July 12, 2012 I've come across an Android App called Photo Mate that will allow an android tablet to view RAW files. Anyone know if it works with DNG? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pop Posted July 12, 2012 Share #6 Posted July 12, 2012 I've come across an Android App called Photo Mate that will allow an android tablet to view RAW files. Anyone know if it works with DNG? They mention on their site DNG as one of the formats supported. They also offer a demo version which is free of charge (which they suggest to use in order to find out if your image format is supported). The answer for your other query will take some more time; hopefully, I'll be able to supply the requested information tomorrow. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tsgames.pictureinfo&hl=en 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wda Posted July 13, 2012 Share #7 Posted July 13, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) I once used an Epson for back up but it could not display with raw files for viewing while away. My solution is an Acer netbook Eee-PC which is excellent and gives internet access. I choose to keep mine in the hotel and upload and check/view files in the evenings. I always return home with original SD cards still loaded. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pop Posted July 13, 2012 Share #8 Posted July 13, 2012 There are my latest updates: The product I have been using for some time has been launched in 2007or thereabout and is not produced any more. It is the EMTEC Photo Cube. EMTEC does not produce a device of that kind any more. However, there are a number of suppliers who do make that kind of thing. It's called an image tank (search by that term). Image tanks are devices with a disk drive and a card slot. You turn on the device, insert the card to be copied and press the "copy" button. The decide then copies all of the card to the disk which will take a few minutes. Back home you attach the image tank with the USB cable to your computer. It then will work as a normal external disk drive. There are some image tanks which also have a display screen. You can use them to view your images, provided the device understands the image format used by your camera. As others already have mentioned, a small laptop pc might also be very useful. I used the eee netbook by Asus (not Acer). The current model appears to be this one: ASUS - Eee- ASUS Eee PC 1011PX. It should be able to do all you need right out of the box if things are still as they used to be when I bought mine. Other vendors also sell netbook PCs which will answer to your needs, provided they have a fixed disk of sufficient size and an SDHC card slot. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted July 13, 2012 Share #9 Posted July 13, 2012 What do you mean by in-field backups, please? My view - I have a fistful of SDHC cards and at the end of a few days, or longer, I can back them up into a Mac Air and then to a secondary archive drive - from my vehicle if necessary. I am certain the same is available for PC (WindoZe) users. The technology has come to us upon all fronts. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger S Posted July 13, 2012 Author Share #10 Posted July 13, 2012 Thanks for your very detailed reply, pop. I'm sure I can work with that. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wda Posted July 14, 2012 Share #11 Posted July 14, 2012 Correction: I meant Asus; my Acer is a big laptop which seldom leaves home! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlorianM Posted July 15, 2012 Share #12 Posted July 15, 2012 FWIW, the ipad does handle DNG via a thirs party app, however the experience on my ipad 3 of my M8's smaller dng's is, umm, clunky at best. I can only guess the M9 dng's will be far worse. I also only shoot dng, process with Aperture and then view them on the ipad, which is a great experience. For backups, I'd go with something like what pop suggested. Actually, I just take plenty of SD cards along, but I don't shoot for a living either. hth. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karaminder Posted July 23, 2012 Share #13 Posted July 23, 2012 I use my iPad for backup. I use the digital camera connection kit. Specifically the SD part. I shoot in DNG+JPG. The iPad pairs both files into one shot and labels it as such. When I get back to my laptop, I plug it in and then import the photos into Lightroom. There are RAW processors for the iPad but I don't do any photo processing on the iPad. Just in Lightroom. Works great. Fits in the back pocket of my billingham. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gyoung Posted July 23, 2012 Share #14 Posted July 23, 2012 I use a Samsung 'netbook' its cheap, versatile (unlike tablets) and will do pracitcally anything any other PC will do, including emails, the net etc. Although the Android phone increasingly deals with that. Gerry Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlashGordonPhotography Posted July 25, 2012 Share #15 Posted July 25, 2012 There are basically three field backup solutions. First is a ultra book or netbook. Netbooks are too slow to be useful for processing. Ultra books, on the other hand are more than adequate, at a price. The second is the "image tank". The fastest I have used is the Hyperdrive, of which I have the iPad version. It's very fast and has replaceable drives. None of the current models will deconstruct a DNG file so you'll need to shoot jepg plus raw or live with the tiny DNG thumbnails. All the files are copied reliably even if they're not immediately viewable on the device. In addition to the Hyperdrive I also carry an iPad and card reader kit. Shooting raw + jepg means the jepg file will display full screen. I cull hard on the iPad as I also have a full set on the Hyperdrive. Actual raw processing is possible with a 10 dollar app but is terribly slow and cumbersome. The jpegs work great in Snapseed and the like. I have yet to see an android tablet that will take the cards natively. So, if you want to proves in the field get a MacBook Air or Ultrabook. If you just want backup until you get home get a Hyperdrive, if you have other uses (books, web browsing, emails) and don't need heavy processing then get the iPad. Gordon Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JediKubo Posted June 25, 2015 Share #16 Posted June 25, 2015 Personally, I think it's safer to use more than one methods to do backup and needs to backup to more than one locations. In case, there is any error from the particular method, you could always have the data back from another method. Since taking picture as I traveled to different place, I did take a lot of pictures. So all these photos became previous to me that I did back them up in more than one location. I use xcopy and cloudbacko to backup them in daily & weekly basis at night. The strategy between xcopy and cloudbacko is different. xcopy sync all files from my laptop to my portable drive once a week while cloudbacko does it in daily basis. In this case, I mostly just bring some sd cards with me while travel. Once I am backup, I will plug them to laptop and backup directly. This is ideal to me coz the weight of sd card is minor. In this way, you don't need to buy too many sd cards as the backup. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Albertson Posted June 27, 2015 Share #17 Posted June 27, 2015 Take a look at the WD My Passport Wireless external HD. The guy at The Strobist raves about it: http://strobist.blog...ut-bulk-up.html Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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