JCCharles Loc: Ormond Beach, FL

I am going to South Africa for 2 weeks and I want a better back-up solution. Typically, for shorter trips I back up my pictures to my iPad (256GB) and keep the cards intact until I get home. I can also do my initial workflow through LR Mobile. However, I am going to be away from civilization for most of the trip and need something more solid. I have a 36GB SanDisk Media drive with the SD card reader, but that seems too small. Any suggestions from experience?

WayneT Loc: Paris, TN

A WD Passport would probably fill your needs. They have all kinds of sizes and colors from 1Tb to 4Tb. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=wd%20passport&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&sts=ma&Top+Nav-Search=

rwilson1942 Loc: Houston, TX

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

The WD Passport with built in WiFi and an SD slot that will automatically back up your images is the way to go.

Mustang21

I would get a flash hard drive for a computer then put it in one of these USB Adaptor cases. I did this its 500GB.

dck22

peterg Loc: Santa Rosa, CA

I use:
WD My Passport Wireless Pro. Pros: High capacity, up to 4TB. Programmable to automatically copy photos from a SD card, and/or flash drive, to it's hard drive. Need smartphone app to program and do other functions.
Cons: Heavy since it has a real hard drive and big battery, not cheap. Mechanical hard drive, don't operate while riding a camel .
Kingston MobileLite Wireless G3 and Pro Pros: Less expensive. Small and light, 1/2 weight of My Passport Wireless.
Cons: Lower capacity, may have to backup to flash drives. Unless this new model has changed, must always control via a smartphone.
My choice is My Passport Wireless. High Capacity and brain-dead automatic backups. Just plug in SD card. Turn on. Wait 'til (transfer) lights stop flashing. Keep originals on SD cards while traveling. For redundant backups, copy photos through/from My Passport to either high-capacity flash drives or SSD drive. I use Lexar Portable SSD 512GB drive ($125 at Costco).

Bullfrog Bill Loc: CT

Try the LaCie rugged. They come in many sizes https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1296181-REG/lacie_stev1000400_1tb_rugged_usb_3_0_thunderbolt.html

GENorkus Loc: Washington Twp, Michigan

As mentioned prior, there are several large capacity portable drives available. The only thing I question is the time it will take to view and/or edit all those photos.

Wake me up when you get through! LoL

SusanFromVermont Loc: Southwest corner of Vermont

You definitely need a good back-up system when away for 2 weeks! I agree with the OP who suggested the WD passport. They come in different sizes and types.

The wireless one with the SD card slot is a good idea, but I have heard the wireless can take a long time. Also, it needs to be re-charged when the battery [long-running but not 2 weeks!] needs it. It goes up to 2TB

The Passport Ultra is the one I use, and it does not need charging. These come in sizes from 1TB to 4TB, and I don't think the size changes with increased capacity. For this one, you need to plug it into an appropriate device, such as your iPad or a laptop, and upload the images from there.

I don't know what camera you have, but if it has two slots for memory cards, you could set it to make two sets of the same images. It would require many more cards than if you only made one copy, but would be less complicated and lighter in weight than any of the above. Just have to make sure you have some good storage containers for the cards to keep them safe. [Small = Easy to Lose]

Here is my suggestion for using a passport: Take plenty of SD cards with you so you can follow your usual protocol of keeping them intact until you get home. Daily backups to your iPad ought to work, because you can then copy/move the images from there onto the Passport Ultra. The next day you clear out your iPad images from before, to make room for that day's images, then copy/move them onto the Passport Ultra.

I'm not familiar with the capabilities of an iPad, but if you can create a new folder for each day, that would save you some work when you get home. This is a way to pre-sort by day, saves a lot of time and trouble later. Depending on your preference, you could have one large Passport or two smaller ones. Just have to make sure they are safe! Do you have carriers for your cards? I'm not a fan of putting them all loose in a box or plastic bag. They make them to hold different numbers of cards. I only have one, a hard-case that carries 4 cards, and has a key-ring on it so I can attach it to something when taking it in the field. If I were to go on a trip like yours, I would have a small one to keep handy and a larger one/two to keep packed safely away until a new one is needed and to contain the filled cards.

Do you have a power pack to use when you cannot get to electricity for re-charging? Something to consider!

Hope this helps.
Susan

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Several of my students have these. You can't monitor file transfer progress.

I like the RavPower Filehub Plus - WD03. It has an SD slot and you can transfer a file to any connected USB device. I use a pair of 256gb memory sticks, primary and secondary backup. The Filehub is $40, and USB memory is not that expensive. Works like a charm and extremely portable. Has other useful features as well. I don't care for portable mechanical drives which are far more susceptible to shock, moisture and temperature extremes than memory sticks.

StevenG Loc: Long Island, NY

I am interested in something like this as well, as I will be traveling for nearly 3 weeks this summer. I checked this out on the B and H website, and it gets many mixed reviews. Many love it, others not so much. The complaints include: difficult to set up, USB fails, and card reader unreliable. You obviously like it. Have you had any difficulties? My camera only has one card slot, and I would like an easy and reliable daily back up for shots.
Thanks

Cheryle

Hi, I am new here, so maybe my opinion doesn't count, but here it is! I avoid anything WD that says "secure" I do not and will not ever buy another WD hard drive, internal, external, or portable. WD hard drives have a small separate motherboard stashed inside it's casing that encrypts your data, and if that individual motherboard goes bad? It has encrypted all your data, all your photos, and unless you find an identical motherboard for that drive, you cannot unencrypt your photos or even try to recover all data/photos. Had this happen to me. It was an external 500gig backup drive for all my photos. I only quit using it because it was almost full. Then when I needed to find baby photos for a graduation slideshow, it was dead. Sent off to recovery specialist, they could not recover, but they were at least able to tell us it was the encryption motherboard that was bad. Luckily for me, my husband is an IT guy. He did happen to find the exact motherboard that had encrypted the data, installed it, and we immediately got all our photos off the drive and have never bought another WD drive! That was a close call. I did lose some photos, like my son's 1st birthday, but...at least I didn't lose 500 gig worth of photos. They are family photos, sports photos, graduations... they do not need to be encrypted! So now, when we are considering purchasing an external drive for photos, WD isn't even in the running, and we look for key words like "secure" We did not even know WD did this until we had a problem. The drive was only about 2 years old. Imagine if it had been 10 years later, what are the odds of finding that identical motherboard? Just sayin...

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Problem is, there are two main drive manufacturers - WD and Seagate. Due to market demand, cost per gb is the driving force, and you will never see a premium drive installed in one these portable devices. They all have consumer grade drives, with 1 or 2 yr warranties. Point in fact, the 2,3 and 4 TB wireless passport drives have only a 2 yr warranty. You won't see a WD Black or RE, or a HGST Ultrastar - all of which come with 5 yr warranties and are intended for 24/7/365 duty and are considered the best in the business by gamers, video production guys and enterprise/datacenter sysops.

Sir Motley

I read Cheryle's horrific experience with WD. Is this an anomaly or have other UHHers experienced similar problems? Is this problem isolated to WD? What do people think about Seagate? Are there any other alternatives?