Backup SD cards during travel?

[goo0h]

Just curious, what do folks do when they travel?  I'm not terribly inclined to bother with the laptop for backing up the SD cards.  Though, haven't ruled it out completely.  I'm noticing perhaps a trend in folks saying that with the current crop of named-brand SD cards, failure rates aren't too much of a concern, and they just pack plenty and that's it.  Then there's devices like this one:

 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1191265-REG/sanho_shdcsudma3500_500gb_colorspace_udma_3.html

 

So what are folks on here tending to do these days?

 

Amos

 

 

[Chris Crumley]

I'm not ready to give up the MacBook Pro because I'm working and doing more than just image storage. Also, I think the level of backup depends on the how important the images are. From a space point of view, some big SDs (i.e. 64GB+) as backup to whatever you shoot in the camera would be enticing if the images are vacation-oriented and the travel didn't cost a fortune.

[tiltshift]

I like the idea of having a laptop as I could then backup the images to the cloud. but that depends on the internet connection.... I am less worried about a card failure then just "losing" the card. 

[Guest Colin Scott Johnson]

I travel to SE Asia ever year to shoot for a month or so.

Backups are essential.

 

I carry an 11" MacBook Air with me because it is light and can run all day on the battery.

I use it to move files from SD cards to 2x 2TB WD drives.

I don't use RAID because it is easy to raid in Mac OS if you want, but just as easy to copy twice.

 

2 separate drives are kept in separate bags in case of theft or disaster.

I also backup RAW file to the cloud once I get to civilized places and get a hotel with decent Internet.

 

I also carry 12 or more SD cards. 

I'm heading to Thailand and Laos in early January and I'm taking 8x 128 GB cards because I'm shooting a pair of A7r II bodies, mainly uncompressed. I'll bring some 64 GB cards as backup.

 

The best policy is to not delete the SD cards for the duration of the trip and have 2x copies with me and 1 in the cloud.

 

I'm investing heavily in my shooting so I don't want to lose the images...

 

I also work in data protection, so I'm very familiar with the best practices.

 

 

HTH

[steve of stonehenge]

My main reason to convert from the Canon 70D (APS-C) to Sony A7 Mk II was to move to full frame and lighten my load when traveling.  I have a 30L fStop camera bag that will easily hold everything including a 13 inch MacBook Pro.  But I will only take the A7 body, Sony 50mm f1.8, and Sony 35mm f2.8 when I travel overseas.  I use Wi-Fi to transfer a few images to my iPhone and edit them with Enlight app.  This allows me to have carry-on luggage only.  When I purchase the Zeiss 25mm Batis soon, I will swap the Sony 35mm for the Zeiss.  Too much camera gear gets in the way of my travel enjoyment.

[Dougb]

I do something similar to Colin Scott Johnson, but not quite as thorough. I bring an 11" Macbook Air and a 1TB Seagate SSD. Any processing that I do on the road is stored to icloud and on the 1TB SSD. I also take several spare SD cards, but I do delete files from my cards as they get full. I have three sony action cams each with a 64gb miniSD (that I take into the water), a6000 and A7 plus a 2yr old Olympus Toughcam also for in the water. I take timelapse photos and lots of video so backing up is essential. I process the timelapse using LRtimelapse and lightroom using my MBair and then backup the final video. Last trip to Hawaii I skipped taking the A7 because of kids and sand. I had one 128gb SD in the a6000 and three spare 64gb SD's, plus one spare 32gb miniSD. I used around 450GB for storage.

 

I will probably buy several more 128gb SD cards and at least three more 64gb miniSD's after Christmas but am not in a hurry so I can look for sales.  The miniSD cards get full quickly when taking hi-res video so having extras will be better.

 

Really, I can't imagine not taking a small laptop plus an external 1 or 2TB SSD for processing and storage while on the road.

[goo0h]

ok, to those that take their laptop, what bag do you use?

 

I have an Ona Union Station that I use for work, sometimes taking my camera too just in case. However, if taking my 13" 2015 MBP, I'm thinking either a backpack or a sling would be better for my back. The one thing I don't like about backpacks is that I don't tend to feel safe with them in risky areas. I instead like something I can have in front of me.

 

 

Sent using Tapatalk

[Golem]

This is really not on my radar, but

if laptops are too cumbersome, aren't

there small tablets that could handle

backup chores [in addition to their

other useful functions] ?

[addicted2light]

If you don't do any work on your files while on the move (or if Snapseed and the likes are enough for casual travel use) you could just carry one of these and a couple of 2.5" hdd:

 

http://www.amazon.com/iUSB-Port-Wireless-USB2-0-HUB/dp/B00CTTLAO0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451143984&sr=8-1&keywords=B00CTTLAO0

 

I can't find anymore the original article, but a guy is using this solution and apparently works a treat. Basically you then can use your phone or tablet (IOS or Android for sure, maybe Windows as well?) to transfer the files from the SD card to any external drive connected to the hub.

 

I have yet to try this, though.

 

Alternatively, now the Surface 2 tablet is selling for peanuts and it could well play the same role as the hub I mentioned before, with the added benefit that I'm pretty sure you would be able to run the full fledged version of Lightroom on that.

[rapazolla]

A simple solution is an OTG hub and card reader. You have a lot of them on the market, just search "MicroUSB OTG 3-Port Hub with Card Reader" on amazon and see a bunch of them:

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s/ref=is_s?k=MicroUSB+OTG+3-Port+Hub+with+Card+Reader

 

Basically, you just connect it to your phone (android OTG supported phone/tablet - Don't know about iPhone)

 

You can connect your Sd-card and an external drive and just copy from one to another.

 

There are lots of videos on YouTube demonstrating the setup - i.e;

 

Enjoy!

 

P.s - just read addicted2light's post - similar device and idea

[mkg3]

Copy raw files from a card onto MBP and HDD (I've found internet access to be inconsistent, depending on the location).  I work on the images while on travel and not wait until the return.

 

My last extended trip (pre a7rii) Nikon DSLR, f4/24-120, f2.8/80-200, 1.4x teleconverter, MBP, G-Drive mini and monopod.

 

My next extended trip Sony a7rii, f4/70-200G, Nikkor f4/24-120, F to E adapter, MBP, G-Drive mini

 

I always carry MBP and external HDD on longer travel (more than an extended weekend).  Since I'm not a pro photog, if on biz travel, its laptop only and no camera (other than my iPhone).

 

I hate to check bags so usually travel with a roller board luggage and personal item carryon only.  In my case, the personal item carry on is a backpack camera/laptop bag (Kata).

 

Obviously, if traveling by a vehicle, then one can bring whatever is needed/wanted.... 

[jm2004]

Hi All,

 

I found this thread to be very useful as I too will be going on a trip, and not that keen to carry the laptop.  I wonder if since the last post (5 Jan 2016) there have been more using the OTG cable and if that means we can connect the Android tablet with the camera (i.e. not having to purchase a separate device to read the SD card which then needs to be taken out from the camera).

 

Sorry if Goo0h prefers not to address this matter on this thread, but I thought rather than creating a new entry, we might as well pool this requirement here.

Regards,

[Meestar]

Well I am not an extensive traveller, but recently went on an extended holiday and wanted to back up my images without a laptop. I ended up with one of these: https://www.wdc.com/products/portable-storage/my-passport-wireless.html I configured it so that as soon as I put the SD card in, it makes a backup of the contents automatically. You can then connect your phone or ipad whatever, to the device to view/edit the images, or use it as a conventional external HDD. It's rechargeable, so you can use it in the middle of nowhere if needed (assuming you have charge) It certainly worked for me. I just saw also that there is also a "pro" version, not sure what extra that adds, but  if this concept appeals to you, I think is well worth checking out

[Notred]

When travelling (pro or leisure), I always got this http://www.apotop.net/en/goods.php?act=view&no=5 with me

 

Got it since 2 years and it's great piece of hardware...

 

It's:

- a Power bank (5000mA)

- Wifi hotspot (with an ethernet RJ45 plug, ideal for the hotel with wired access but no wifi...)

- Wifi relay (when the coverage is not complete or only one device is allowed...)

- Media (SD and USB device) "streamer" over wifi

 

It's working with an app allowing you to copy from one media to another... (SD to USB hard drive)...

 

Plug the SD and the USB hard drive and start the copy with the app... it's done...

[cuums]

Wow! This thread just keeps on going...

I traveled to Madagascar last month and found Rapazolla's suggestion worked well. A cheap, tiny, lightweight Android tablet with a microSD slot (Lenovo A2), OTG SD card reader and a matching microSD card for each SD card the camera uses. You could probably even use an Android phone. I took one 64Gb SD and a couple of 32's which was enough for me - casual stills, no video. Each night I backed up the current SD card using a free file sync app on the tablet. Didn't erase any SD cards, so I ended up with two copies of each image (actually 4 if you count raw and jpg's)! A simple, ultra-lightweight solution that worked perfectly.

cheers

Peter

[rapazolla]

Wow! This thread just keeps on going...

I traveled to Madagascar last month and found Rapazolla's suggestion worked well. A cheap, tiny, lightweight Android tablet with a microSD slot (Lenovo A2), OTG SD card reader and a matching microSD card for each SD card the camera uses. You could probably even use an Android phone. I took one 64Gb SD and a couple of 32's which was enough for me - casual stills, no video. Each night I backed up the current SD card using a free file sync app on the tablet. Didn't erase any SD cards, so I ended up with two copies of each image (actually 4 if you count raw and jpg's)! A simple, ultra-lightweight solution that worked perfectly.

cheers

Peter

 

Good to know! happy to help :-)

[Dark09]

Here's a rassberry pi solution to backing up SD card to a portable HDD: https://chiselapp.com/user/dmpop/repository/little-backup-box/home

 

I'll let you guys know how my implementation goes (once I receive all the hardware).

 

Current Hardware list:

 

 - AmazonBasics 4-Port USB 2.0 Hub .................................................... $ 6.50

 - Rocketek 11-in-14 Card Reader ......................................................... $10.00

 - TeckNet Universal 16750mAh 3.4A Output Dual USB PowerBank ...... $30.00

 - Pi version 2 .......................................................................................... $35.00 (may not need to USB Hub if using the Pi3)

 - WD 1TB Elements Portable USB 3.0 HDD ........................................... $55.00

[cuums]

Looking forward to hearing how this goes. I'd really like a solution that uses the Wifi or NFC capabilities of the camera so I son't have to take the SD card out of the camera. The flexibility of a dedicated computer is appealing.

cheers

Peter

[Dark09]

Here's an update to my testing, and so far it works... unfortunately it took a lot of troubleshooting to get to the point of being usable.

 

Ran into many issues with the script(s), then ran into problems with write performance to the portable HDD. Lets start with the install script, there was some errors/type-oh's in the install script that caused initial issues: 

 - For example line 2, installing using apt did not work for me, but apt-get did. All I had to do was change the "apt" to 'apt-get'.

 - Also noticed that the setfacl command wasn't available, but found I needed to install 'api' from apt-get to have that functionality.

 - Next I noticed the backup.sh script wouldn't run, so I did a chmod +x to the backup.sh script, so it would have execute permission to run at boot.

 

 The backup.sh script would run at boot, but didn't do anything, so I checked that script out and found some problems there was as well:

 - Noticed the variables used for Storage (STORAGE_DEV="sda"), and Card (CARD_DEV="sdb") device paths were pointing incorrectly, so I manually corrected them (for me my HDD was device /dev/sda1, and my SDCARD was device /dev/sdb1)

 - The backup script was running correctly now (slow), but after it finished the backup, there was zero files (only folders) on the HDD... I found out that the switches used for rsync, and specifically the -a option was causing the problem. -a does multiple options in one, and two of those items is to copy the owner (-o)/file (-p, -g) permissions to the destination drive. I believe this was causing the the copy process to not fully place the files on the drive. In the end I change the rsync options to '-rltDvvh'. After this change the files were created on my HDD without problems.

- I also added logging to the script, so I could see what it was doing if connected to a monitor.

 

 Last thing I found was the write speed to the HDD was slow (2 MB/s). 

 - Initially I expected it to be related to the USB ports on the Pi 2, but found once I plugged in a 3.5inch 1TB 7.2k HDD that wasn't the case (4-5 MB/s). I found it was the filesystem was causing half of the slowness. Changing the filesystem from exFat to ext4 (for the HDD) gave me up to 5MB/s write speed (which is still slow, but i'm alright with this). Sony camera's SDCARD will not work with ext4, but only FAT, exFAT...etc, so there's no point in testing performance between ext4 SDCARD, and ext4 HDD.

 

Make sure to unplug the SD card reader, and HDD before powering on the Pi, so the devices are consistently created for sda, and sdb (card reader could get sda if your not careful).

[magicklens]

I've been using the WD Passport wireless HD lately. It has an SD card slot and backs up a 32GM sd in a few minutes without a computer.  The HD has a rechargeable internal battery that makes completely independent of a computer or external power supply for backup.

[cuums]

Dark09

Thanks for the extensive writeup. When I get around to doing something similar, I'll keep it in mind.

I hope you can iron out the problems and let us know how you solved them.

cheers

Peter