Storage Device?

[skphoto]

Any recommendations for a storage device for me to take on my travels this summer? I am looking at the Colorspace brand, but I haven't really looked into any others. Any advice or suggestions? I have decided not to use a netbook.

[bob_r]

I take an Epson P-5000 with me when I go on vacation rather than a laptop. This is an older model that I've had for a few years. Epson now has a P-7000 with twice the storage capacity. The screens on these devices are terrific and they allow you to enlarge areas so you can view fine details in your images.

[Bonish Photo]

I'll second Bob's suggestion. We have the Epson-P4000 which only has an 80gig hard drive, I think the latest is double that.

It works phenominal and makes transfering the images to another hard drive lightening fast. I've found that if we carry the Epson with us while hiking or out shooting, once we're done, we pop in the cards and by the time we're back to the camper, they're usually all downloaded. Then it only takes a second to transfer to our big hard drives and we're good to go on the editing.

This past weekend we shot a horse event for the entire weekend that had races, runs and events going on non-stop from early morning to late in the evening. It wouldnt have been possible without this portable hard drive to clean the cards and keep us out shooting. Well we could have accomplished it if we we would have brought 25 8 gig cards

I know there are other brands that do the same thing, but I have never seen or heard of anyone who actually uses them, so I cant comment on them. I know what sold me on the Epson is the size and clarity of the screen. It helped in selling many of our images by being able to show the riders the shots on something bigger than the LCD on the back of the camera

[Mitchell]

When you transfer the pictures off of the card to the drive how do the raw pictures work?
becuase when ever i have downloaded raw pictures WITHOUT the canon software it just shows as a JPEG,
so ive allways used the canon software.

[Bonish Photo]

The Epson software has a built in RAW viewer so you see both sets of images like you're looking at Jpegs.

We always shoot in RAW + Small Jpeg so I always have a reference to browse through. The Epson shows both images and once you copy them over to your hard drive or cpu, its back to normal with just showing one RAW file and one Jpeg.

There is no editing software in the Epson, it's just simply a storage device. But man does it make moving large amounts of files easier

[skphoto]

This is very helpful. The Epson is just so expensive, especially since it only goes up to like 150 gb. I am wondering how many RAW photos I will be able to hold with only 150 gb of space...

[gldiana]

This is very helpful. The Epson is just so expensive, especially since it only goes up to like 150 gb. I am wondering how many RAW photos I will be able to hold with only 150 gb of space...

That really depends on your camera and, on a minor extent, on the photo. How large is your average RAW file?

[gldiana]

I just looked at the Epson P-7000, 160GB, and, wow, it costs more than a laptop ($800). I don't think I'll be able to justify that purchase even if it seems like a cool device (B&H has a P-6000 with 80GB for $599 and a $100 mail in rebate). I think I'd rather buy a bunch of 8GB cards. The new Western Digital 400GB external hard drive that I bought fits in my shirt pocket, it's really slim, and I payed only $120. Today one can purchase a netbook with a 10" screen for less than $400.

[bob_r]

I just looked at the Epson P-7000, 160GB, and, wow, it costs more than a laptop ($800). I don't think I'll be able to justify that purchase even if it seems like a cool device (B&H has a P-6000 with 80GB for $599 and a $100 mail in rebate). I think I'd rather buy a bunch of 8GB cards. The new Western Digital 400GB external hard drive that I bought fits in my shirt pocket, it's really slim, and I payed only $120. Today one can purchase a netbook with a 10" screen for less than $400.

Luca,

They are more expensive than a netbook and today a netbook may be a better option. When I'm on vacation, I'm just looking for something that will hold all my images, allow me to view them without squinting and is still small enough that I can put it into a hotel safe or a glove compartment. I don't know if a netbook would meet the size requirement, but if so, it would probably be a better option.

[sjarrett]

I'm contemplating the Digital Foci Photosafe II with 250gigs for $160 at Adorama. No view screen, but I just want back up and to clear my cards when I can't have my laptop along. I will chimp out the bad ones first and then transfer. Or buy more 8gig cards????? That is my question on the snother part of this forum.

[Bonish Photo]

I've never used that device you mention, but I'd go with one of the bigger drives like you're talking about rather than buy a bunch of 8gig cards. Then you need to have a carrying spot for all these cards, keep track of which ones have what info and make sure you keep them safe while traveling.

For me, one simple device is much easier and photographer friendly to use and keep up with. But that's just me.

Like I mentioned, keep an eye out for a used Epson. We bought ours for around $300 used and it has the 80gig hard drive in it. So worth the cost

[ProPhotoInsights]

Depending on your budget I prefer to keep all my images on my CF cards plus back them up on my laptop.You also have the opton of burning DVD's as extra security.
Just my paranoid preference !
Simon

[rogerwillson]

When you transfer the pictures off of the card to the drive how do the raw pictures work?
Because when ever u will download raw pictures WITHOUT the canon software it will just show as a *.JPEG,
So you should always use the canon software.

[gldiana]

Hi,

if you download a Canon RAW picture to your hard drive it will not show as a *.jpg because those two are entirely different format. A Canon RAW shows as a *.CR2 Windows 7 is capable of displaying them, so is Vista with a plugin.
If a picture is *.jpg then the OS has no problems at all displaying them, just have to make sure that the folder is set to "show ** icon" (** being the size) and not "details" or "list"