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Traveling storage solutions
  • disneytoydisneytoy

    I will be going on a 10 day trip away from the comforts of the west. I would like advice on a safe way of storing stills and video shot over the length of the trip. My Uncle will bring a current Macbook. I will be shooting a lot of stills (RAW+jpg). Some timelapse, and video. I was thinking of getting a raw harddrive (2.5 or 3.5) (size?) and some adapter to back up via the Macbook. Would you also bring blank DVDs to copy to? I was thinking of getting a small pelican case to hold the drive.

    Not sure how much data I will generate. I have 2 16gb card and want to get a fast 32gb Extreme Pro.

    Any thoughts?

    Thanks!

  • 14 Replies sorted by
  • TekiTeki

    Depends on how much you think before you shoot. I did okay a few years back on a 19 day road trip with 12 rolls of 135 film and 2 mini-dv tapes.

  • thepalaliasthepalalias

    @disneytoy Optical media (DVDs or Blu-Ray) is easier to keep safe than a hard drive (and in the case of DVDs, their viability for long-term storage has also been tested), so if you have the time to backup frequently, that's a potentially very safe approach.

    If it were me, I'd be a bit more cavalier and bring 2 lower priced hard drives (copying the files to both each night). Pelican case is a good start, but I also wrap mine in clothes, etc. and keep mine in the carry on (with an eye for any warnings on any scanners I encounter, just to be safe).

    So that's me. :)

  • v10tdiv10tdi

    I used a cheapie netbook to store ~110GB of video/stills during the trip. I uploaded them each day so I had a copy on the SD card and the netbook. Worked fine.

  • disneytoydisneytoy

    I went to Venice with 50 rolls of 35mm film, tri-x, kodachrome 64, and some ektachrome 400. Two Nikon F3s, a 6x6. Thank god for digital now. I wonder the practicality of the DVDs though. 4.7GB. Could take 5-6 disks a day to cover video files too?

  • EbachervilleEbacherville

    A netbook with a big hardrive internally or even with a USB external 1tb drive would work, netbooks are great for traveling.. more for just dumping data to also. When I travel I take my netbook, my ipad and camera and a small assortment of the most useful equipment, like my favorite small and fast lenses one fast variable tele, my cowboy shoulder rig, flycam nano stedi-cam and a 50" or so tall super small tripod I found years ago. I can get all that and my clothing and toiletries for a 4 day trip in 1 piece of luggage that could pass as carry on, but is usually checked. Typically I'm traveling for business so my carry on is 2 other work laptops and related items in a backpack. I typically carry the camera and one or two lenses with me in the carry on, and the tripod and other stuff goes in my checked luggage. But my entire normal "camera bag" is actually a pelican style case that was intended for guns, it contains everything I have except the flycam nano and the tripod and would have no problem being checked and traveling. It has 10+ lenses 4 batteries the GH2 the cowboy rig chargers shotgun mic and lavs etc in it. I rarely carry all that with on a trip, but my normal storage and protection for all the equipment. One huge advantage to these small cameras is everything is smaller.. stedi rig is smaller, lenses are smaller etc.. you can pack up a versatile amount of gear in a very small package.

  • mrbillmrbill

    External usb drive - I use the LaCie 'Rugged' series

  • AthirilAthiril

    Bah to digital I say, I carry around a RB67 ProS and use it hand held :P Sometimes with flash attached.

  • MRfannyMRfanny

    i went on a 1 month trip with a netbook and a hyperdrive colorspace. i used the netbook 99% of the time simply because you can review and sort on the fly. battery life is great and size is perfect. if you want to be safe you can dump and sort on the netbook and then back it up again on a 2.5" external hdd and keep the hdd in a different bag.

  • griplimitedgriplimited

    Depending on your ratio of photos to video. I went on a 7 day trip to Canada with three 32gb SD cards. More than enough but I only shot raw and unhacked video. You could pick up two of the sandisk 30mbps cards for $100. Lighter than laptop and external drive.

  • ethan_cooperethan_cooper

    Depending on what you'll be doing on this trip a laptop might be a bit cumbersome. How about a portable multi media storage device? Something like this:

    http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/used/594346/Sanho_SHDCSUDMA120_HyperDrive_COLORSPACE_UDMA.html

  • mattherematthere

    Does anyone have any experience of storage devices that will work with the faster SD cards and storing MTS files without having to take along a laptop or netbook? I am also interested in finding out how quickly these might transfer some of the larger capacity cards? Thanks :)

  • stoneystoney

    I installed 2nd hdd into macbook pro. extra 1TB :)

  • mattherematthere

    Thanks stonebat! I certainly have considered the macbook pro route :) But for cost and ease of travel the Hyperdrive colorspace looks like a good option, just wondered if anyone knows if it supports the SDXC cards and if the transfer rate for a 64gb card is likely to take a long while and drain the battery much?

    Or if there are any other solutions for MTS file storage whilst away from home? I shall be on the road for ten days over Easter ending up at Coachella festival and not sure a new MBP is a good idea, any thoughts appreciated.

  • FrameFrame

    Any Netbooks out there to play hacked /footage fluently?

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