Device for downloading photos

[Alexander Hogg]

I'll be going abroad later this year and I don't want to take my laptop with me as it's quite an expensive one  Is there any other devices that are good for downloading photos while away One camera can back up onto another card but the other camera doesn't Any advice will be helpful Not really need to edit photos  while away as I'll be doing that when I'm back

[Alexander Hogg]

Thank you all for the feedback Certainly has been really useful 

[M.Chapman]

12 hours ago, Alexander Hogg said:

I'll be going abroad later this year and I don't want to take my laptop with me as it's quite an expensive one  Is there any other devices that are good for downloading photos while away One camera can back up onto another card but the other camera doesn't Any advice will be helpful Not really need to edit photos  while away as I'll be doing that when I'm back

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gnarbox/gnarbox-20-ssd-rugged-backup-device-for-your-camer ?

A laptop would be cheaper but not as portable. Not sure of the commercial status of Gnarbox now though, perhaps not good.

https://petapixel.com/2021/12/29/gnarbox-may-be-dead-so-buyer-beware/

 

See also

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCHNCAkBNT8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWKWI8R5XBE

https://havecamerawilltravel.com/nextodi-nvs2801-review/

 

Mark

Edited August 1, 2023 by M.Chapman

[M.Chapman]

The Gnarbox and other similar ideas look quite neat, but there seem to be problems with availability.

Personally if I couldn't carry a laptop I'd try a secondhand iPad mini with a decent amount of storage on board and a card reader. The iPad can also be used for web-browsing while travelling too - always useful. You could also possibly do some image review and culling. I wouldn't recommend the Apple photos app though. Better to use an app with more open file storage/access etc. 

 

Mark

Edited August 1, 2023 by M.Chapman

[Alexander Hogg]

7 minutes ago, M.Chapman said:

The Gnarbox and other similar ideas look quite neat, but there seem to be problems with availability.

Personally if I couldn't carry a laptop I'd try a secondhand iPad mini with a decent amount of storage on board and a card reader. The iPad can also be used for web-browsing while travelling too - always useful. You could also possibly do some image review and culling. I wouldn't recommend the Apple photos app though. Better to use an app with more open file storage/access etc. 

 

Mark

I will be having a look and see what I can come up with Thanks Mark 

[Cryptoprocta]

5 hours ago, Alexander Hogg said:

My Cell/mobile isn't that great I wouldn't try Travelling to Australia Looks like more cards just in case 

Thanks Wim 

It might be worth looking at getting your laptop insured - my house insurance covers it while travelling. Might be cheaper than a lot of good branded large storage cards in duplicate.

FWIW, I take my Tablet Pro then back everything onto an external HD, currently a SanDiskSSD.

**Sorry, Surface Pro

Edited August 2, 2023 by Cryptoprocta
Correction

[wiskerke]

Here's one more video about possibly using an iPhone.

 

wim

[StokeCreative]

2 hours ago, Cryptoprocta said:

It might be worth looking at getting your laptop insured - my house insurance covers it while travelling. Might be cheaper than a lot of good branded large storage cards in duplicate.

FWIW, I take my Tablet Pro then back everything onto an external HD, currently a SanDiskSSD.

I tend to agree, I take my (expensive!) MacBook Pro everywhere (writing this from a motel in the US now :)) It's well insured and great for planning en route (Im frustrated doing much at all on the phone, maybe an age thing lol). I do do some editing while on a road trip so we differ there. I guess if I had a more up to date ipad/android tablet I might take that instead.

[RobTeed]

I have used WD My Passport Pro. Works good. https://www.westerndigital.com/en-ap/products/portable-drives/wd-my-passport-wireless-pro-hdd

 

[sb photos]

5 hours ago, StokeCreative said:

I tend to agree, I take my (expensive!) MacBook Pro everywhere (writing this from a motel in the US now :)) It's well insured and great for planning en route (Im frustrated doing much at all on the phone, maybe an age thing lol). I do do some editing while on a road trip so we differ there. I guess if I had a more up to date ipad/android tablet I might take that instead.

 

When I was travelling or for live news I used to carry a 2015 11" MacBook Air, small, light and adequate. Its base was held on by only 2 screws and the internal battery by only the centre screw. I would sometimes carry a spare battery and swap it out as required if away from mains power. I now keep it as a backup machine, it has been superseded by a 2017 MacBook 12" Retina, smaller, very light and the screen is much better. I recently replaced the battery for longer life, a pig to do as it is stuck to the base and its connector fits under the logic board. I haven't used my powerbank since then. If required the powerbank will give it 2 full charges and an adapter in the car will charge it. Both Macs are relatively low value, so ideal for travel. Both have FileVault on for security. Personally I could never go back to an iPad, my wife uses it now and loves it.

Edited August 2, 2023 by sb photos

[M.Chapman]

1 hour ago, sb photos said:

 

When I was travelling or for live news I used to carry a 2015 11" MacBook Air, small, light and adequate. Its base was held on by only 2 screws and the internal battery by only the centre screw. I would sometimes carry a spare battery and swap it out as required if away from mains power. I now keep it as a backup machine, it has been superseded by a 2017 MacBook 12" Retina, smaller, very light and the screen is much better. I recently replaced the battery for longer life, a pig to do as it is stuck to the base and its connector fits under the logic board. I haven't used my powerbank since then. If required the powerbank will give it 2 full charges and an adapter in the car will charge it. Both Macs are relatively low value, so ideal for travel. Both have FileVault on for security. Personally I could never go back to an iPad, my wife uses it now and loves it.

+1

I travel with a secondhand MacBook Air 2020, SD card reader and a 64GB USB memory stick. After a day's shooting I transfer from Camera to MacBook using XnView MP which renames and puts into my standard folder structure. I then take an automated backup of the new images and anything else I've been working on or changed (using FreeFileSync) onto the USB memory stick, which I hide a way. I then reformat the SD card and put back in the camera. Memory stick and MacBook Air both have Filevault on too. 

 

Mark

Edited August 2, 2023 by M.Chapman

[Alexander Hogg]

11 hours ago, M.Chapman said:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gnarbox/gnarbox-20-ssd-rugged-backup-device-for-your-camer ?

A laptop would be cheaper but not as portable. Not sure of the commercial status of Gnarbox now though, perhaps not good.

https://petapixel.com/2021/12/29/gnarbox-may-be-dead-so-buyer-beware/

 

See also

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCHNCAkBNT8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWKWI8R5XBE

https://havecamerawilltravel.com/nextodi-nvs2801-review/

 

Mark

Thanks for the videos Been really useful 

[Alexander Hogg]

9 hours ago, StokeCreative said:

I tend to agree, I take my (expensive!) MacBook Pro everywhere (writing this from a motel in the US now :)) It's well insured and great for planning en route (Im frustrated doing much at all on the phone, maybe an age thing lol). I do do some editing while on a road trip so we differ there. I guess if I had a more up to date ipad/android tablet I might take that instead.

Thanks It was more travel photography that I did before and most of the stuff I've taken before 2020 wouldn't pass QC so didn't need to take a laptop or anything else with me 

[Alexander Hogg]

Thanks everyone this has been really useful and something to check out 

[Allan Bell]

Came across this, hope it helps.

 

Filehub from RavPower   (New version AC750)

The RAVPower Filehub does a few different things, one of which is letting you use the inbuilt card reader to copy files from your SD card to a USB stick or portable drive.

 

Allan

 

Might get one myself.

 

ITMA

 

Edited August 2, 2023 by Allan Bell

[M.Chapman]

I just did a quick test with my iPad (not a mini) and an Apple SD card reader with lightning connector. Instead of using the built in Photos app I used the built in Files app (which gives more transparency and control over what's happening) to copy files from an SD card to the iPad into a folder that I created. It copied 15 RX100 20MB RAW files in about 10 seconds. The files app was able to display the contents of the RAW files (possibly using the embedded jpg). I left the images on the SD card so that the iPad copy was effectively a backup. The Files app is effectively a stripped down File manager (Finder/Explorer) with copy, move, rename and preview functionality as well as allowing new folder creation and naming.

 

A secondhand iPad mini 5 with 64GB of storage is around £200. With 256GB storage they're about £300. The Apple SD card adapter is £35 new.

 

If you want me to "stress test" the setup with many more files, let me know...

 

Mark

Edited August 2, 2023 by M.Chapman

[M.Chapman]

10 hours ago, M.Chapman said:

I just did a quick test with my iPad (not a mini) and an Apple SD card reader with lightning connector. Instead of using the built in Photos app I used the built in Files app (which gives more transparency and control over what's happening) to copy files from an SD card to the iPad into a folder that I created. It copied 15 RX100 20MB RAW files in about 10 seconds. The files app was able to display the contents of the RAW files (possibly using the embedded jpg). I left the images on the SD card so that the iPad copy was effectively a backup. The Files app is effectively a stripped down File manager (Finder/Explorer) with copy, move, rename and preview functionality as well as allowing new folder creation and naming.

 

A secondhand iPad mini 5 with 64GB of storage is around £200. With 256GB storage they're about £300. The Apple SD card adapter is £35 new.

 

If you want me to "stress test" the setup with many more files, let me know...

 

Mark

Mmm... so I tried another test and found a difficulty. There's no easy way (that I could find) in the IOS Files App to select a subset of a large number of files. It's only possible to "Select All" or select manually by clicking on each file in turn. So, if the first day's photos have already been copied to the iPad and also left on the SD Card, what happens on Day 2? It's tedious to select Day 2's photos on the SD card one at a time, so the easiest is to "Select all", copy and then try pasting into the previously created folder on the iPad. But the paste operation complains that Day 1 files are already there and asks what to do (Replace, Keep both, Stop) for every duplicate file it finds, one at a time. There's no Replace All, or Ignore All option. Obviously I could have created a new Folder on Day 2 and pasted in there instead. But then I'd be copying Day 1 files again so the new folder would contain Day 1 and Day 2 photos. I could then go back and Delete Day 1 folder.  But the process becomes slower and slower as the Days go by.

 

Mmm.. anyone know an IOS App that avoids this problem?

 

Mark

[Marianne]

I got a couple of small 1TB USB-C SSDs  - a san disk and and seagate - each(about the size of a stack of credit cards. Using a USB-C adapter/dongle/hub with an SD card slot and two thunderbolt/USB-C slots, I can attach one or both drives to the iPad. Then I can just upload the photos to one or both SSD drives and view and potentially cull them on my iPad using LR (lite-not classic), and also use wifi to upload to Photoshelter. If taking a long trip, I always keep everything on the SD cards until I get home and know they've been backed up to a drive and to the cloud but viewing on the iPad in case I need to re-shoot while I'm away is great if I don't need/want to take along my pricy laptop. 

 

I have a 256GB  iPad, so with my Sony A7riv and A7rii, it would fill up way too fast without the hard drives. 

 

You can buy more iCloud space or buy 1TB from Adobe and then transfer to one of their clouds. Though I try to get my RAW files onto Photoshelter in the first instance, I'm tempted to get that extra 1TB from Adobe since it's a nice option to save to the cloud as you go.  It'd be nice to work in the cloud on the iPad rather than having all those dongles hanging off the iPad. I haven't really explored the iPad versions of PS/LR much but have found them fun on my iPhone when processing photos for *S. I prefer working on my laptop unless I have no other choice, but the speed and styles of the Ipad/iPhone versions are a fun way to process photos fast - for Insta or to share with friends and family.

 

I've had my iPad for less than a year - my four year old grandson probably knows how to use it better - but it was easy to pull the files from each day onto the SSD drives.

 

@M.Chapman Mark - My Sony cameras set up folders for each day's shoot so they are already organized and I can just pull that day's folder. I'm sure my Olympus organizes shoots that way too and my Nikons did as well. Does your camera just pile everything  onto your SD card without any folders? That seems strange. 

 

Files is definitely an easier way to go then using the Photos App. LR/PS are free for the iPad I think even if you don't have a subscription - they're the lite version but are still quite powerful. 

 

[M.Chapman]

2 hours ago, M.Chapman said:

Mmm... so I tried another test and found a difficulty. There's no easy way (that I could find) in the IOS Files App to select a subset of a large number of files. It's only possible to "Select All" or select manually by clicking on each file in turn. So, if the first day's photos have already been copied to the iPad and also left on the SD Card, what happens on Day 2? It's tedious to select Day 2's photos on the SD card one at a time, so the easiest is to "Select all", copy and then try pasting into the previously created folder on the iPad. But the paste operation complains that Day 1 files are already there and asks what to do (Replace, Keep both, Stop) for every duplicate file it finds, one at a time. There's no Replace All, or Ignore All option. Obviously I could have created a new Folder on Day 2 and pasted in there instead. But then I'd be copying Day 1 files again so the new folder would contain Day 1 and Day 2 photos. I could then go back and Delete Day 1 folder.  But the process becomes slower and slower as the Days go by.

 

Mmm.. anyone know an IOS App that avoids this problem?

 

Mark

 

Update - I just found an App that works FE File Explorer Pro (£4.99) includes the essential "Apply to All" check box and "Skip" options when copying. It's a bit slow at rendering the RAW thumbnails though.

 

Mark

 

 

Edited August 3, 2023 by M.Chapman

[M.Chapman]

25 minutes ago, Marianne said:

@M.Chapman Mark - My Sony cameras set up folders for each day's shoot so they are already organized and I can just pull that day's folder. I'm sure my Olympus organizes shoots that way too and my Nikons did as well. Does your camera just pile everything  onto your SD card without any folders? That seems strange. 

 

Mmm. That would work well. Both my cameras (Sony RX100 and Lumix G100) currently pile everything into a single folder. Maybe there's a camera setting I need to change? I'll go check.

 

Update - Yes I can set my RX100 to use a new folder each day, but not my Lumix G100.

 

Mark

Edited August 3, 2023 by M.Chapman

[M.Chapman]

28 minutes ago, Marianne said:

LR/PS are free for the iPad I think even if you don't have a subscription - they're the lite version but are still quite powerful. 

 

Doesn't LR for IOS rely on using Adobe's Cloud storage or can photos be imported and stored locally on the iPad?

 

Mark

[Alexander Hogg]

33 minutes ago, Marianne said:

I got a couple of small 1TB USB-C SSDs  - a san disk and and seagate - each(about the size of a stack of credit cards. Using a USB-C adapter/dongle/hub with an SD card slot and two thunderbolt/USB-C slots, I can attach one or both drives to the iPad. Then I can just upload the photos to one or both SSD drives and view and potentially cull them on my iPad using LR (lite-not classic), and also use wifi to upload to Photoshelter. If taking a long trip, I always keep everything on the SD cards until I get home and know they've been backed up to a drive and to the cloud but viewing on the iPad in case I need to re-shoot while I'm away is great if I don't need/want to take along my pricy laptop. 

 

I have a 256GB  iPad, so with my Sony A7riv and A7rii, it would fill up way too fast without the hard drives. 

 

You can buy more iCloud space or buy 1TB from Adobe and then transfer to one of their clouds. Though I try to get my RAW files onto Photoshelter in the first instance, I'm tempted to get that extra 1TB from Adobe since it's a nice option to save to the cloud as you go.  It'd be nice to work in the cloud on the iPad rather than having all those dongles hanging off the iPad. I haven't really explored the iPad versions of PS/LR much but have found them fun on my iPhone when processing photos for *S. I prefer working on my laptop unless I have no other choice, but the speed and styles of the Ipad/iPhone versions are a fun way to process photos fast - for Insta or to share with friends and family.

 

I've had my iPad for less than a year - my four year old grandson probably knows how to use it better - but it was easy to pull the files from each day onto the SSD drives.

 

@M.Chapman Mark - My Sony cameras set up folders for each day's shoot so they are already organized and I can just pull that day's folder. I'm sure my Olympus organizes shoots that way too and my Nikons did as well. Does your camera just pile everything  onto your SD card without any folders? That seems strange. 

 

Files is definitely an easier way to go then using the Photos App. LR/PS are free for the iPad I think even if you don't have a subscription - they're the lite version but are still quite powerful. 

 

Thanks I'll have a wee look at your suggestions Going to be nearly 3 weeks away to Australia so definitely need to be organised on this trip  

[Alexander Hogg]

1 hour ago, M.Chapman said:

Mmm... so I tried another test and found a difficulty. There's no easy way (that I could find) in the IOS Files App to select a subset of a large number of files. It's only possible to "Select All" or select manually by clicking on each file in turn. So, if the first day's photos have already been copied to the iPad and also left on the SD Card, what happens on Day 2? It's tedious to select Day 2's photos on the SD card one at a time, so the easiest is to "Select all", copy and then try pasting into the previously created folder on the iPad. But the paste operation complains that Day 1 files are already there and asks what to do (Replace, Keep both, Stop) for every duplicate file it finds, one at a time. There's no Replace All, or Ignore All option. Obviously I could have created a new Folder on Day 2 and pasted in there instead. But then I'd be copying Day 1 files again so the new folder would contain Day 1 and Day 2 photos. I could then go back and Delete Day 1 folder.  But the process becomes slower and slower as the Days go by.

 

Mmm.. anyone know an IOS App that avoids this problem?

 

Mark

Thanks for all your help It's much appreciated 

[Marianne]

27 minutes ago, M.Chapman said:

 

Doesn't LR for IOS rely on using Adobe's Cloud storage or can photos be imported and stored locally on the iPad?

 

Mark

 

I'm not really sure -  I think when it first came out, it didn't count toward your 20GB limit - not really sure now - I didn't look into it much because  even then it wanted to do the keywording for you with its AI which is annoying  IMHO -most suggestions I get when uploading to their site still seem to be hit or miss - lots of irrelevant words - but some helpful ones. Sorry I can't help you on that - I guess I really use PS on my iphone - not LR - sorry I was confused - because I go between the two so often on my Mac that I think of them interchangeably. 

 

My computer and all my equipment is insured at home or when I travel under my business insurance marine midland policy but it still freaks me out more to travel with a $4,000 computer (now worth far less I'm sure) than with $6,000-10,000 of camera equipment. Although I bet a thief would rather steal a 2022 iPad than a 2019 MacBook. It's more that my entire life is on my computer and my iPad is mostly something I use for reading the news, email, and browsing the web. A stolen iPad won't even make the deductible ... but it is easier to replace than the laptop. I still travel with my laptop if I plan to work on editing photos while away unless it's just light review and editing. 

[M.Chapman]

The best recent video review about using an iPad or iPhone to help backup SDs I've found is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYohZeXe0pA

It also includes useful info on the pros and cons of using various applications to help transfer the images.

 

I've now tried the FE File Explorer Pro app (£4.99) mentioned towards the end of the review on both my iPhone 7 and iPad with the Apple Lightning to SD card adaptor and it works really well, copies the files quickly and efficiently from the SD card onto my iPhone or iPad. It also has the critical "Skip all duplicates" function to make it easy to backup again without duplicating files already transferred.

 

I think there are several important considerations.

• What volume of backup storage is likely to be needed - would a 256GB iPhone of iPad mini have sufficient storage? (It would for me - shooting stills using RAW files)
• Do you already own a suitable iPhone?
• If an external SSD drive is going to be needed to provide extra storage be sure to get a hub with the right connector. Most iPhones and iPads have Lightning connectors, but some now have USB C.

Mark

 

 

[Rebecca Ore]

13 hours ago, Marianne said:

Although I bet a thief would rather steal a 2022 iPad than a 2019 MacBook. It's more that my entire life is on my computer and my iPad is mostly something I use for reading the news, email, and browsing the web.

 

In Jinotega, I know more people who've had phones stolen than anything else.  Laptops would be second, but often have identifying email or such on them.   A friend bought his back when the computer tech who was hired to reinstall an OS on found my email address and asked first, had I had a computer stolen, second if I knew <name of his wife>.   Yes.  Yes, his foreman got out of the truck when he was supposed to stay in it or arranged the theft.  My friend bought it back for what the buyer said he paid for it.   His farm accounts were on the machine (no backups), so he just paid up and didn't try to find the thief.

 

Easiest resales are for phones.   I've never heard of a tablet being stolen even though I know kids who have tablets.   Phones in pockets go missing on buses all the time.  Most thieves are just going to know major brands and the Apple logo is a dead give away.   Most theft here is snatch and run, not particularly confrontational. 

 

I have the same uses for an iPad as you do,  but do take pictures with it for posting on line from time to time, same as with my phone.