So... what solutions are out there for transferring and backing up media out in the field?
I'm looking for a dock-type device that doesn't require any more power than what is provided from either the USB 3.0 or Firewire 800 port.
What are you'all using?
Probably not going to be much help as I don't know the names or anything.
Philip bloom uses a tool which is just about the shape and size of an external hard drive, you simply put your cf card in and it transfers all of the data directly onto the drive. You can then put it back into the cam and delete the media off the card. No computer needed. Check Philips site for further info. I could be wrong, but I think it's battery operated. No wires(except when charging
For max portability without a laptop, you can buy a device like aaphotog recommended (e.g. Hyperdrive).
I'm planning to use a Nexus tablet with a USB hub to transfer between CF and USB hard drive. It's a cheap solution, but the downside is that most if not all Android devices are USB 2.0, meaning slow transfer speeds... Not so great when transferring raw video files. This will be a viable option once USB 3.0 becomes more common.
I use this and it's very convenient.
http://www.nextodi.com/product/en_nd2730.html
It doesn't have to be something that doesn't require a laptop. To be honest... you can get a netbook with USB 3.0 ports that is faster than these CF hard drives and a bit cheaper.
I just meant is there a hot swappable drive cassis that people are using?
Is anyone using ML Raw religiously enough to necessitate one of these in the field? How's the battery life on these things?
I was going to wait for the CF -> some sort of storage developments, but this makes me want to jump on starting to shoot raw now
I use the Sanho Hyperdrive Colorspace UDMA 2, it is their latest version and can read the high speed and high capacity SD and CF cards with their latest firmware update. The user interface is not as friendly as an Apple product, but after messing with it for 20 minutes before my trip it was a snap. It has an LCD which allows you review the photos after they are transferred (for confirmation). The LCD is not a touch screen UI, the controls are four buttons + four direction toggle switch w/ center button. I used it on my recent trip to the 24 Hours of Le Mans and it worked flawlessly. I bought the unit used ( no media) on ebay and added a 1 TB drive from amazon, install was super easy. That was much cheaper than buying the unit w/media from Sanho.
It has a good sized internally battery and did not let me down ( I downloaded photos from my cards 3-4X each day). It does have a DC jack that can also be charged with one of those snow leopard or other battery packs used for reserve power and charging if needed.
The only recommendation I have is to purchase a carry case to give it more protection when carrying it around in case of drop due to using spinning media.
I bought a case on Amazon for 11.99 that fits like a glove: The "USA Gear" Hard Shell Carrying Case for for Western Digital My Passport , Transcend StoreJet , Toshiba Canvio....
Tom
You're better off with a USB 3.0 netbook and 2TB USB 3.0 hard drive.
Went with 1TB USB 3.0 drive for immediate DL, and USB 3.0 drive dock with 2 x 4TB bare drives for backup. It all went fairly smoothly.
Quote from: AnotherDave on July 22, 2013, 05:24:53 PM
Went with 1TB USB 3.0 drive for immediate DL, and USB 3.0 drive dock with 2 x 4TB bare drives for backup. It all went fairly smoothly.
I did enjoy your last creation, links to the items you used in this post?
Hi, I use two different devices. Archos 5 with 250Gb HDD and an Archos 48 with 500Gb HDD. These were both manufactured by a company called Archos (they have now gone into the tablet market). Although they are both USB 2.0 they are able to store lots of data but unfortunately neither are still in production. However if you check eBay you can still find new Archos 48 and plenty of SH Archos 5 about
The main advantage of both of these units are: Big storage capacities, built-in batteries and screen portability...
Does the archos see the cf card when plug into it via USB so u can drag files off then
Did anybody have the possibility to try NextoDI Extreme ND2730 for raw (or mlv) files backup?
I am worrying if this has ability to "see" such formats and just copy them. 1TB costs around 320 pounds on amazon, if it is fast enough maybe it would be good alternative for buying more CF cards.
Just have two cards - one in camera, second in NEXTO.
I use a WD 2TB HDD USB 3.0, Lexar Card Reader USB 3.0, Windows Surface Pro (USB 3.0), and Orico 4-Port USB 3.0 4-port hub. All running at USB 3.0 so, a 64 GB card can download to my external hard drive in 8-10 min and it can hold about 4+ hours of footage. I have two 64 GB cards so I can swap while one is being transfered. A 64 GB card holds about 8-10 min so, it works out just fine for time effeciency. I have tried to use BATCHelor while off loading my footage and compress it to 'lossy' (cuts the size in almost half and converts to .dng) which I have yet to see any difference in quality, but it is too slow. I save that for when I get back to my desk. I haven't had a project where I require 4+ hrs of footage in the feild in one day but, just have extra hard drives and use the open slots on the hub. Also, this method runs on batteries! No external power source required, just watch your bettery life though! ::)
Equipment links:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA1DS0HF2994
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236187
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=845797&is=REG&Q=&A=details
I have just ordered nexto di 2730 with 500gb HDD. It seem so be the guite comfortable solution for in-field backup, especially when i have two cards: 32 and 64 gb. 500gb should take about an hour of raw video, theoretically it should offload 32 gb of fast CF card in about 8 minutes. We will see. Current firmware version does not accept files larger than 4gb (fat32) but this should change in the end of september as they promissed firmware update.
I get Nexto di 2730
- initial testing -
offloading 64GB of data from komputerbay 64gb 1000x took about 15min (after copy clock dissapeared, checked again:) 12 min (fast copy mode) :)) . With bit to bit data veryfiing it will take 2 times more. Seems that having 2 KB 64GB cards would give almost continous shooting up to 500GB, 1TB, or even 2TB of HDD space (2TB is maximum what 2730 can support). According to user manual internal battery shoud be enough for copying about 400 gigs (~ 2 hours), device can be charged also via USB so it is possible to use any cheap power bank.
One problem now is that HDD is FAT32 (so accepts files not larger than 4GB so 1920x1080p 25fps ~45sec). On the NEXTO website there is an information, that firmware update with exFAT shoud be available this month so we will see.
Today Nexto introduced ND2730 firmware update (2.0) - exFAT is here!!! :D
2730 is a great device, i was using it in a couple of shots and it was brilliant. With two cards (32 and 64) gave me ability to shoot almost continously up to 500GB (i have such an HDD inside, when empty it shows 465GB of free space). FAT32 only was a big issue, i had to watch out not to exceed 4GB in single file (even one file out of say 100 over 4GB was making card unreadable for the nexto). Now the problem is gone, i checked and succesfully copied couple of 10GB files. Device is able to copy about 500GB on single battery charge so additionally with full cards i can bring almost 600GB of data with me. It is about 1,5 hour of raw 1080p footage.
Nexto 2730 500HDD - ~300 pounds
Komputerbay 2-pack 2x64GB - ~190 pounds
In this way for around 490 pounds we can have 600GB of usable space. 600 GB in KB cards (9x64GB) is 850 pounds. It is really worth to take this into consideration.
Quote from: kgv5 on November 01, 2013, 11:05:49 PM
Today Nexto introduced ND2730 firmware update (2.0) - exFAT is here!!! :D
Sound interesting but it needs usb 3.o
Unfortunatelly 2730 doesn't have USB3.0 but firewire and USB 2.0. Transferring via usb2.0 is about 35MB/s so 500GB would be about 4 hours.
Quote from: kgv5 on November 02, 2013, 12:03:04 AM
Unfortunatelly 2730 doesn't have USB3.0 but firewire and USB 2.0. Transferring via usb2.0 is about 35MB/s so 500GB would be about 4 hours.
I don't like the CF>>>2730 USB 2.0 speed, but copying from 2730 to PC can be done faster - just put the hdd out and insert it into the 2.5 hdd rack (google:)
I usually copy from 2730 to HDD overnight so 3 or 4 hours is not really a problem. Firewire is much faster but i didnt buy such a PC card yet. Opening nexto every time could be a problem though, i will do it only for replacing 500GB to 2TB is some time :)
I would love to run around all day without the trouble of dumping footage on a laptop. This is now on my shopping list.
Then a backup at night. Perfect.
G-Drive 2.5" Mini! Bus-powered and very reliable.
I haven't shot much raw footage, and when I do it's for relatively small projects and since I plan out my shots I don't overshoot. I carry a Lacie 256gb SSD connected to my rMBP through thunderbolt to transfer footage from a Kingston USB3 card reader. I also carry a 1Tb USB3 drive either for further storage or for backup purposes.
I get Nexto di 2730
Update to firmware (2.0) and initial testing
Full card from komputerbay 64gb 1000x took 16min on fast copy mode. Try again with a different card (also komputerbay 64gb 1000x ) and it was over 26min.
I am concerned that it not very reliable for what I was looking for :(
@kgv5 how did you able to get 12min ? Thanks!
Copying 64GB from my KB64 1000 to nexto 2730 with firmware 2.0 is taking10-12 min, almost the same speed with Sandisk udma7. Do a benchmark test and check wheather your card gets its normal speed. Firmware doesnt change copying speed, it just added exFAT support.
As for battery life with the nexto: the battery packs I've made for my Zoom H4N audio recorder also works with the nexto. Four c-batteries in series.
I'm testing it now before taking it on a short tour next week.
If only I could find the option to auto-delete the footage on the card after transferring. Rebooting the thing is a stupid extra step.
@kgv5, @KurtAugust
Hi there,
do you guys experience slow transfer rates when using nexto 2730 without external charger/battery?
When I have charger plugged in, I can copy full Transcend 64GB card to nexto 2730 in ~13 min. But if I start to copy without external charger then it copies well only about 14Gb (with ~80Mb/s) and then slows down completely, to about 1Mb/s :o
Also if I plug the charger while transferring, the speed increases to ~10Mb/s (but not ~80Mb/s)
So there is simply no way for me to transfer a 64GB card normally without a charger :(
May be it's because of my 1Tb WD drive, may be internal battery can't handle this HDD without additional power source, I don't know :-\
Quote from: core_32 on December 01, 2013, 10:35:10 PM
@kgv5, @KurtAugust
Hi there,
do you guys experience slow transfer rates when using nexto 2730 without external charger/battery?
When I have charger plugged in, I can copy full Transcend 64GB card to nexto 2730 in ~13 min. But if I start to copy without external charger then it copies well only about 14Gb (with ~80Mb/s) and then slows down completely, to about 1Mb/s :o
Also if I plug the charger while transferring, the speed increases to ~10Mb/s (but not ~80Mb/s)
So there is simply no way for me to transfer a 64GB card normally without a charger :(
May be it's because of my 1Tb WD drive, may be internal battery can't handle this HDD without additional power source, I don't know :-\
Thats weird, i didnt notice any copy speed change with/without charger. In fact i have never copied any card to nexto with charger plugged in, i always do it only with internal battery. 64GB (kbay 1000x) -> ~12-13 minutes
I have stock 500 GB HDD inside.
I just came back from a shoot in Tokyo. Only problems I ever had were failed transfers, prop ably because of shocks while walking with the camera in a bag in a bad position. Loved this little thing. Running around all day with just the camera, this, lenses and batteries.
Using the 1tb version with either internal battery or external self made battery pack.
Only gripe was that it lost connection sometimes while copying to my laptop over FireWire 800. Not a clue why. Perhaps it overheated or something.
Ps. My 5d3 setup was like this, but without the follow focus: http://twitter.com/HetRovendOog/status/403547284321091584/photo/1
Update: seems the laptop was the problem. Just to be correct.
Let's bring this up from almost year ago.
What DIT transfer tools people are using today?