andalus Posted October 8, 2009 Share #1 Posted October 8, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) I may be headed to Jerusalem and perhaps parts of the West Bank in November. Also, by then, I may have my M9, which is on order at Dale Photo under David Farkas. Of course I want to take the M9 with me, but I may not take my Mac laptop. Want to travel as light as possible. Obviously, IF I had the computer with me, I'd take pictures and download the files to the Mac. But in 2005 when I was leaving Israel, after several months, "security" at Ben Gurion confiscated my cell phone as well as my laptop, although a few weeks later I got the computer back, somewhat damaged. Why? Because I had worked for a while at an American-run school in the West Bank. It was pure harassment. What's the best solution the pros use to get the files off the Sandisk card for safe keeping after a day's shoot? Is it best simply to carry a bunch or cards and being them home filled up, assuming one has no computer? Or is there another solution? I am rather new to this digital stuff and I would also ask, might it be better NOT to take the M9 and just take the MP and some film? I always go to Israel with some trepidation now, given past experience with "security". The harassment is entirely arbitrary, and it would be horrible if the jerks took a camera or computer again. Any ideas, advice appreciated. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted October 8, 2009 Posted October 8, 2009 Hi andalus, Take a look here Advice Needed re Trip maybe with M9. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
chris_tribble Posted October 8, 2009 Share #2 Posted October 8, 2009 Depending on the number of images you shoot, AND if you have access to broadband you could set up an FTP site and upload to that (https://www.getdropbox.com is free, but may not give you enough space). Otherwise you could go for Photoshelter (Photography websites & Photo hosting. Sell photos. | PhotoShelter) it costs - but a lot of pros use it... A cheaper alternative is to take a a couple of USB drives with you - back up to these. Keep one in your check-in baggage and courier or post the other one to yourself back home. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted October 8, 2009 Share #3 Posted October 8, 2009 Andalus, I'm planning a trip to India next month and I face a similar dilemma. In the past, I have taken a JOBO GIGAVuPro (40GB) and dumped on that each night. But even that consumed valuable space in my camera bag. For my M9 I have just purchased 4 16GB cards, to add to the those I already have. My thought is to just use the cards and fill them sequentially and they will hold a lot more than my JOBO, take less room and can be kept in my pocket or anywhere else. Am I missing a hidden risk with this plan? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissah Posted October 8, 2009 Share #4 Posted October 8, 2009 i would take more cards, and have them be smaller in size. like 4gigs and or 8. i know big cards are what alot of folks are going with these days, but on my m8 i get 275 images with a 4 gig. so m9 youll get about half of that? i like to have more cards just incase of corruption, which doesnt happen very often but does happen. keep us posted! best melissa Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted October 8, 2009 Share #5 Posted October 8, 2009 Melissah, I agree with you in principle, but so far my M9 is gobbling up MB's! I will be taking 12 other cards in addition to the 4 16MB's. A mix of 2's and 4's as you say. That is what I have always worked with for the M8's. The 16's are just to greatly expand my capacity. I may even still take the JOBO, if it does not consume otherwise useful bag space. Still to decide on the lenses to take. Probably a range of 6 lenses (two groups of three). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
markgay Posted October 8, 2009 Share #6 Posted October 8, 2009 As an Internet junkie I always travel with a laptop anyway. I considered and rejected a Jobo and invested my money in a comfortable, well sculpted backpack that accepts my Domke insert. Into my checked luggage goes my empty Domke bag. Arrive at destination, lift insert, containing lenses, out of the backpack. Drop into the Domke satchel and I'm away. Mark By the way this applies to the M8 as well as the M9 )) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest EarlBurrellPhoto Posted October 8, 2009 Share #7 Posted October 8, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) SD cards, especially the smaller-cap ones, are cheap and take very little space. They have no moving parts to jam from shock or dust, and they don't need a charger and time to be recharged. Most of all the chances of all or a huge block of your images being ruined beyond recovery are slim, especially if you squirrell the cards throughout your belongings. Just make sure you number them and shoot them sequentially. That makes organising easier, and lets you ID a corrupt card if it happens. I would say that unless you are on assignment and forced to crop/edit/process/reformat your shots in the field, there's no need to carry a laptop. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andalus Posted October 8, 2009 Author Share #8 Posted October 8, 2009 Much thanks for the advice. I think taking extra cards will be the way to go -- assuming I've got the M9 by then. Leave the computer home. I've got a Blackberry for e mail and all overseas. And can even trade stocks with it. Hope you all are buying some gold these days. It's the go-to asset and sure as hell beats fiat paper. Gold is financing my M9 purchase, which I hope is as good as gold. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted October 8, 2009 Share #9 Posted October 8, 2009 My 'gold' and real estate has all been compacted. It all now fits into the space of an M9. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bo_Lorentzen Posted October 9, 2009 Share #10 Posted October 9, 2009 I have been using the san disk card plus series - that is the ones which fold in half and contain a USB plug. They are fairly in-expensive at 4 gig size so I have a bag full of them. While traveling I use my old OQO to dump cards to my ZenFolio.com account for backup. the folded san-disk card plug directly into the OQO usb port. I have enough cards that I don't need to wipe them and this way I have a backup. When in areas with no reliable high-speed, i dump to a epson drive/viewer and keep the card also. . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BigSplash Posted October 9, 2009 Share #11 Posted October 9, 2009 I used to travel regularly to Tel Aviv and also used to get rigorously searched, quizzed etc although I would not say singled out for harassment. That said the security people certainly are interested in things that have magnesium cases like a Vaio or Toschiba top model laptop or a La Cie large external Hard disc or a LEICA M8, M9. (M7, M6 etc also I believe) They tend to scan these a few times and then "sniff them" in special equipment as magnesium is apparently also used in explosives. They for sure will want you to show that the items work.....so HAVE YOUR BATTERIES CHARGED. It was difficult in my case to show a HDD functioning so they confiscated it and sent it on the next day flight, not very well packed I may add. Tel Avi security would not allow it to go in my checked baggage. They eventually did allow my Vaio on board after an additional one hour of examination at their special security unit somewhere away from normal security area. I would imagine that there isa good chance that they would not allow a Leica on board unless you could demonstrate its functionality. Good Luck! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted October 9, 2009 Share #12 Posted October 9, 2009 I used to travel regularly to Tel Aviv and also used to get rigorously searched, quizzed etc although I would not say singled out for harassment. That said the security people certainly are interested in things that have magnesium cases like a Vaio or Toschiba top model laptop or a La Cie large external Hard disc or a LEICA M8, M9. (M7, M6 etc also I believe) They tend to scan these a few times and then "sniff them" in special equipment as magnesium is apparently also used in explosives. They for sure will want you to show that the items work.....so HAVE YOUR BATTERIES CHARGED. It was difficult in my case to show a HDD functioning so they confiscated it and sent it on the next day flight, not very well packed I may add. Tel Avi security would not allow it to go in my checked baggage. They eventually did allow my Vaio on board after an additional one hour of examination at their special security unit somewhere away from normal security area. I would imagine that there isa good chance that they would not allow a Leica on board unless you could demonstrate its functionality. Good Luck! Sorry Bigsplash, but that is not the general situation. I have gone through (I've lost count how many!) frequently airport security checks with M8's, some in 'dodgy' countries. Note the the inverted commas on dodgy, as I don't wish impolite implications to any country, but rather imply difficult situations from my POV. The only time I had a worrying experience was with film cameras. M6's and an M7. Customs wanted to see the cameras work, fine! Then they wanted to see the bloody pictures. On another occasion, I had 4000 images, on film, 'disappear' going through customs. I suspect your Tel Aviv experience was akin to my Morocco/Paris experience. In my case, they believed I was 'not who I was', but that's a long story. So don't try to convince me about suspicious 'gear'. More likely watch out for suspicious customs officers. I will probably never travel with film again, for a number of reasons. At least with digital there are a number of options according to how paranoid one wants to be. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bo_Lorentzen Posted October 9, 2009 Share #13 Posted October 9, 2009 Erl, I found UPS does a wonderful job of delivering both film and stuff which I don't want to lug through customs. . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted October 9, 2009 Share #14 Posted October 9, 2009 Erl, I found UPS does a wonderful job of delivering both film and stuff which I don't want to lug through customs. . Thanks Bo. Another of my problems is I am a poor delegator! I hate entrusting my film, images, anything to anyone else. That's why I set up my own coloue and B&W lab years ago. Makes a rod for my own back I know, but I put up with it. Sending originals to someone elses care makes me shiver. I have to live with it. If something goes wrong, I prefer it to be my fault rather than someone else's. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.