Portable SSD Card Reader vs Memory Cards: Currently I may use two or three SD memory cards a day, even if the cards are only half filled. I do not use the cards again until after I...

charles brown Loc: Tennesse

Currently I may use two or three SD memory cards a day, even if the cards are only half filled. I do not use the cards again until after I have downloaded the photos onto my hard drive at home. Afterwards, I format the cards for reuse. Consequently, I may have to have several cards with me if I will be gone for several days at a time. My thinking is that if something goes wrong with a card, I will lose just a small number of the photographs taken. A friend, however, has suggested that I use a portable SSD card reader to store my photographs until I get home. Thereby saving me the cost of having to have a large number of cards with me on a trip. I use 32 and 64 GB San Disk Extreme Pro cards. Does anyone use portable storage, and what has been your experience? Any other comments on my friend's suggestion are appreciated.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

This was discussed in a topic a week or so ago. The consensus seemed to be that nobody made a good portable SD card reader and storage device at a reasonable price. The 64 GB San Disk Extreme Pro cards are only about $15 currently. So getting a few extra isn't hard.

Multiple people posted they had phones, tablets or "travel computers" that would go on any trip. With the right adapter, dongle or card reader they copies there camera cards to those devices.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Ok, since you are paranoid, why concentrate your cards onto one device when the separated cards will not be all bad at the same time?

As to the card cost, really? Have you checked the price lately?

A waste of $$$ if you ask me.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

charles brown wrote:

Currently I may use two or three SD memory cards a... (show quote)

I just take my laptop.
Real easy to do, has PSE if I want to edit and also allows for immediate culling of photos.
Of course I perhaps do 40 shots a day at most generally when traveling as I am selective as to what I shoot.

charles brown Loc: Tennesse

Rongnongno wrote:

Ok, since you are paranoid, why concentrate your cards onto one device when the separated cards will not be all bad at the same time?

As to the card cost, really? Have you checked the price lately?

A waste of $$$ if you ask me.

Ah paranoid, thy self be true. Yes, don't have a clue what that means but sounds good. Anyway, thank you for the response. After reading your and everyone else's comments and am starting to think that I am over thinking the whole issue. You are right, cards are cheap.

charles brown Loc: Tennesse

Thank you all for the quick responses. At today's cost will stick with the current method of using multiple cards each day. KISS will be adhered to as it should be.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

bsprague wrote:

This was discussed in a topic a week or so ago. The consensus seemed to be that nobody made a good portable SD card reader and storage device at a reasonable price. The 64 GB San Disk Extreme Pro cards are only about $15 currently. So getting a few extra isn't hard.

Multiple people posted they had phones, tablets or "travel computers" that would go on any trip. With the right adapter, dongle or card reader they copies there camera cards to those devices.

In our hobby, what is a "reasonable" price?

niteman3d Loc: South Central Pennsylvania, USA

I checked around and B&H has the 64gig/200MB/s version Extreme Pro on sale for $14.99 ea and if you buy four you get the free shipping and then put it on the Payboo card for the tax refund, they're $14.99 each total delivered price. Add to that a nice card wallet to keep track of them. A decent laptop and an external SSD would come in at approx $600 or so. The laptop is way more flexible, but that buys a lot of SD cards.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

niteman3d wrote:

I checked around and B&H has the 64gig/200MB/s version Extreme Pro on sale for $14.99 ea and if you buy four you get the free shipping and then put it on the Payboo card for the tax refund, they're $14.99 each total delivered price. Add to that a nice card wallet to keep track of them. A decent laptop and an external SSD would come in at approx $600 or so. The laptop is way more flexible, but that buys a lot of SD cards.

I found them at $8.00 on Amazon.

niteman3d Loc: South Central Pennsylvania, USA

Rongnongno wrote:

I found them at $8.00 on Amazon.

Link? The only Sandisk Extreme Pro I can find is at the $14.99 price with no tax refund and paid shipping if you don't have Prime.

delder Loc: Maryland

rgrenaderphoto wrote:

In our hobby, what is a "reasonable" price?

Cheaper than a roll of Film?
My 12mp Lumix gets 6300 shots on a 32GB SanDisk card. Fast, Quality SanDisk cards are under $10.
That is more capacity than 100 ea. 50 shot hand loaded rolls of Film.

Boris77

charles brown wrote:

Currently I may use two or three SD memory cards a... (show quote)

How many memory cards have you had fail?
I have shot digital over 20 years and never had a card fail.
I have damaged cards while they were out of the camera; not their fault.
I even push my luck taking a card out of the camera, downloading files, color marking the files downloaded, putting the card back in the same camera days later, eliminating some pictures, and shooting more until the card overflows (2 cards in the camera). Did you miss the part about having a camera that takes two cards?
Boris

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Boris77 wrote:

How many memory cards have you had fail? br I have... (show quote)

"I have shot digital over 20 years and never had a card fail."

Same here.

jdubu Loc: San Jose, CA

I don't look at downloading cards as a way to free up cards for continued use. I download my cards to have viable backups of what I shoot.

In your post, you aren't too concerned with losing a few pictures should a card go bad. So that's why you use multiples and don't fill your cards. If that strategy works for you, then having a lot of cards is what you should continue to do. Using a card reader to free up cards and using one to make backups are really 2 different strategies.

I agree that cards do not fail often, but after many years of digital shooting I have had only one CF card go belly up. Unfortunately, it was a single slot camera in 2005 and on my first family trip to China. Now, my cameras use CF/SD card slots and I shoot raw to both. Personally, I am paranoid about losing my files when I cannot easily recreate a trip or a photoshoot. So I download all my cards to hard drives because I would rather come home with more copies than I ultimately need than be missing a set altogether.