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Memory cards versus portable external hard drives
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Jul 10, 2018 09:27:19   #
Annie Loyd
 
I’m going on a photo shoot to Alaska...
Expect to fill a memory card or two in the two weeks I’m there.
What do you recommend and is the most safe to bring all those pictures home with me.

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Jul 10, 2018 09:36:24   #
bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA
 
Choices:

1. Do what you are doing. When a card is full, use another. SD cards rarely fail.

2. Buy enough SD cards so you can use a fresh one each day. They are cheap. If one fails, you still have most of your files.

3. Buy something like the My Passport Wireless SSD or GNARBOX 128GB Portable Backup.

My personal choice is #2.

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Jul 10, 2018 09:40:19   #
jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY
 
bsprague wrote:
Choices:

1. Do what you are doing. When a card is full, use another. SD cards rarely fail.

2. Buy enough SD cards so you can use a fresh one each day. They are cheap. If one fails, you still have most of your files.

3. Buy something like the My Passport Wireless SSD or GNARBOX 128GB Portable Backup.

My personal choice is #2.


Also, a sturdy case for the cards.

https://smile.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1/138-8965181-3091921?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=sd+card+cases

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Jul 10, 2018 09:44:09   #
charlienow Loc: Hershey, PA
 
I use 2 and 3...

bsprague wrote:
Choices:

1. Do what you are doing. When a card is full, use another. SD cards rarely fail.

2. Buy enough SD cards so you can use a fresh one each day. They are cheap. If one fails, you still have most of your files.

3. Buy something like the My Passport Wireless SSD or GNARBOX 128GB Portable Backup.

My personal choice is #2.

Reply
Jul 10, 2018 09:44:42   #
BlackRipleyDog
 
Purchase a hard-sided card case and a couple extra cards or sets of cards. As you fill up one card, swap it out with a fresh card and take up where you left off. Label the cards with A, B, C or 1, 2, 3.
My D800 uses a pair of cards: a CF and an SD. I have three sets. If you camera allows the use of dual cards, set up the first card as the primary and the second card as a back-up.

This is the most efficient way if you don't want to lug around a laptop and/or an external hard drive.

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Jul 10, 2018 09:45:35   #
peterg Loc: Santa Rosa, CA
 
Recommend you search UHH for similar discussions. I do daily backups from the camera's card to either a Kingston MobileLite or WD My Passport Wireless. Others like RAVPower and GNARBOX models.
On my MobileLite, I usually transfer from the camera card to a flash drive or another SD card, which are inexpensive. The My Passport can be configured to automatically copy & write from the camera card to it's internal drive; no smartphone needed after configuring. Most travelers backup at least daily rather than filling up cards. Others use a new card each day. Store backups separately from originals. There's no single best way to backup. Just backup frequently.

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Jul 10, 2018 09:47:12   #
rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania
 
If you are afraid one or more cards may fail and you loose your photos, don't. The odds of a card failing is slim to slimmer. I've been shooting digital over 20 years and in all that time I've had 1 card fail and it was a cheap card.
How many cards you will need is determined by how much shooting you plan to do and your camera. Good 16g cards are fairly cheap these days.
If your camera has 2 card slots, have the images written to both cards, instant back up. Get a nice multi card sleeve to carry your cards in. Enjoy your trip...

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Jul 10, 2018 09:59:07   #
Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States
 
BlackRipleyDog wrote:
Purchase a hard-sided card case and a couple extra cards or sets of cards. As you fill up one card, swap it out with a fresh card and take up where you left off. Label the cards with A, B, C or 1, 2, 3.
My D800 uses a pair of cards: a CF and an SD. I have three sets. If you camera allows the use of dual cards, set up the first card as the primary and the second card as a back-up.

This is the most efficient way if you don't want to lug around a laptop and/or an external hard drive.
Purchase a hard-sided card case and a couple extra... (show quote)



I have a hard plastic waterproof card case that holds eight cards. So I'd have nine with one in the camera.
(I probably would not take my laptop on a trip like that, so I'd rely on multiple cards.)

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Jul 10, 2018 09:59:47   #
bpulv Loc: Buena Park, CA
 
Annie Loyd wrote:
I’m going on a photo shoot to Alaska...
Expect to fill a memory card or two in the two weeks I’m there.
What do you recommend and is the most safe to bring all those pictures home with me.


I have used both a WD My Passport drive and flash memory cards as backup (SD and CF) on cruises and trips around the world. The hard drive requires that I take a laptop, which can be problematic when traveling by air because cabin weight restrictions can be very problematic. On my trip to London this last May, I had a potentially disastrous issue at the Air New Zealand ticket counter at LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) because my camera roll aboard was over the 7 Kb (16 lbs) limit for carryon luggage in coach. The supervisor reluctantly gave me a waver when I opened the case and she saw the obvious high value of its contents and then had me redistributed a token amount of accessories to my checked baggage. It was very awkward working on the floor in a busy airport terminal where others could see the contents of my carryon.

Since I have a camera with two memory slots, I now keep a 256 Gb CF card in one slot as my main memory and put a new 16 Gb SDHC card in the other slot as my daily backup. This has the advantage that my backup is written when I take each picture and I do not have to transfer pictures to a hard drive at the end of each day.

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Jul 10, 2018 12:24:32   #
Stardust Loc: Central Illinois
 
If you don't have, a dozen SanDisk Ultra 16Gb cards will run you about $100+, then as mentioned you can use one per day (or for 2 days if light shooting for some reason). I don't back up any further on trips and have NEVER lost a shoot even in days of film. If I am looking to carry extra weight I would rather have a spare camera or another lens vs laptops and hard drives.

When we travel our room safe holds two items - our passports (if internationally) and the used SD cards, in a small plastic case. Figure I can replace everything else easier.

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Jul 10, 2018 12:38:33   #
Stardust Loc: Central Illinois
 
BlackRipleyDog wrote:
Label the cards with A, B, C or 1, 2, 3
Simplest way for me is I place a 1/2" round sticker on the small plastic case the SD card comes in and can write day, date or place used. After build up of stickers over time, they easily peel off to start over. This way not trying to number a black card or putting any stickers directly on it to gum up a slot.

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Jul 10, 2018 13:11:34   #
Annie Loyd
 
Thanks.
Great advise...any reason 16s not 64s

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Jul 10, 2018 13:13:56   #
Annie Loyd
 
Oh good insite on the carry on. Had not considered how heavy that backpack is becoming...I’ll weigh it.

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Jul 10, 2018 13:16:44   #
Annie Loyd
 
Love Amazon Prime...some hard cases seem to destroy cards after you pull them out a few times.
I bought both kinds o try for myself.

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Jul 10, 2018 13:17:25   #
BlackRipleyDog
 
Annie Loyd wrote:
Thanks.
Great advise...any reason 16s not 64s

What is your camera? Do you shot video? That will eat up memory quicker. Do you shoot in JPEG or Raw or both?

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