How to store Pics from Digital Camera to External Hard Drive without Computer!

September 15, 2006 2:18 PM

I will be traveling to Japan with my digital camera, but how do i download my pics to a external drive so that my camera doesn't get full?

Are there external drives for downloading pictures from a digital camera without dealing with a computer? I wont be around a computer for some time and i just want to be able to pass my pics from camera to drive so that the camera is always free...

posted by matthelm to travel & transportation (20 comments total)

You put your pictures on an SD drive or somesuch, yeah? You can buy one of them portable harddrives that also read memcards, such as (but certainly not limited to, this is just the first google result) this.
posted by Skyanth at 2:23 PM on September 15, 2006

Errrr.... for drive read card. Ahem.
posted by Skyanth at 2:23 PM on September 15, 2006

I bought one of these portable storage devices for a trip to France, and it worked like a champ. It runs off 4 AA batteries, has slots for both SD cards and Compact Flash, and it transfers very very quickly.
posted by bshort at 2:24 PM on September 15, 2006

Yes, there are lots of devices like this. Google for "portable storage". Here's a comparison site. I'm not sure how old it is.

I went on a long trip with a Vosonic X's Drive II and it mostly worked. I wouldn't recommend it because the times it didn't work caused data loss.
posted by hoverboards don't work on water at 2:26 PM on September 15, 2006

If you're taking a laptop, get a PC Card adapter for the memory card, and use Microsoft's SyncToy to copy the files over.
posted by kindall at 2:34 PM on September 15, 2006

Depending on how much shooting you'll be doing, you may find it's cheaper to simply buy more memory cards.
posted by adamrice at 2:43 PM on September 15, 2006

My iAudio hard drive MP3 player will supposedly do this, but I haven't tested it. I think some other MP3 players will do the same.
posted by LarryC at 3:17 PM on September 15, 2006

Ipod with graphics importing peripheral.
posted by burhan at 3:30 PM on September 15, 2006

I'd just get one big herkin' memory card, I'm a big fan of not carrying a bunch of extraneous crap around. I have a 1gig card in my Powershot, and it holds, depending on resolution, something like 1800 pictures and a whole bunch of video. I've never even come close to filling it up, even when i went to Europe for a month lasy year.

They're pretty cheap, too - Fry's has them for about $40 or so...
posted by pdb at 3:35 PM on September 15, 2006

Nikon made a digital wallet called the Coolwalker, my ex-girlfriend liked hers till it got stolen out of her luggage. So maybe put it in your carry-on. Nikon's site no longer lists the device, but you can find it on ebay.

I remember when I was researching this, I found a number of helpful posts on the forums at dpreview.com. Alas, at the moment, their search facility is busted. Things fall apart.
posted by maniabug at 4:42 PM on September 15, 2006

This Flash HD To Go was the cheapest of it's kind that I found - 40 GB for $120 (although I believe mine was more discounted). There's another one without an LCD that's only $90 for 40GB.

I took mine with me to Europe and did maybe 10 or so transfers with it, with no problems of any corruption or deleted files. My two complaints were that I had no visual cue that the files had been completely transferred (it would have been nice to view them on the screen to make sure), and that it needed to be charged by it's own power adapter, and not batteries like bshort's. If you have a computer you can hook it up to every few days, and have already purchased a travel power adapter, these shouldn't be too big of problems.
posted by chimmyc at 4:49 PM on September 15, 2006

I bought one of these for $8... I can transfer photos to ANY USB storage!

Put those thumb drives to good use!
posted by hatsix at 6:24 PM on September 15, 2006

I second burhan. This iPod camera adaptor or similar is the way to go.
posted by Mr Stickfigure at 8:00 PM on September 15, 2006

I agree with adamrice:

"Depending on how much shooting you'll be doing, you may find it's cheaper to simply buy more memory cards."

Surely, the storage devices referred to in most of the comments so far are a relic of the time when memory cards were expensive and had a low capacity compared to today's?

The only reason I can see for getting an extra device is to view your images (if they have that facility) - and you can always put the cards back in the camera to do that.

I would take several cards to spread the risk of accidental damage, loss, theft, etc. Maybe they're cheaper in Japan than where you come from?

Anyway, have a great trip!
posted by booksprite at 10:51 PM on September 15, 2006

I have to agree with the extra memory cards option. Memory cards are so inexpensive for their capacity and size now that it is more than worth it. That, or just get one of those devices that hatsix mentioned and a large capacity thumb drive. They are pretty inexpensive too.

To put it into perspective, a 5.0 megapixel camera can get about 400-500+ pictures on a 2GB memory card at full resolution. However, at full resolution, a 5.0 megapixel camera will print out photo quality prints at about 20"x16". Other than professionals, who needs photos that big? I use a 2.0 megapixel camera for family photos and the full resolution shots are still way bigger than what I need. I get over 1000 pictures off of my 2GB memory card.

So unless you're going to be printing out posters, get a big capacity memory card, use a setting that give you about 3.0 mega pixel pictures, and don't sweat it too much.
posted by ChazB at 4:06 AM on September 16, 2006

Printouts are not the only reason to go with full resolution, though. If you plan to do serious editing of photos it's always best to shoot in RAW format, which is at full resolution. Howeverl, if you're thinking more of snapshots, then yeah, lower resolution is much better.
posted by lhauser at 10:07 AM on September 16, 2006

Memory cards are a good option.

So is importing to an iPod, if you have a video iPod (or another model that supports this.) It's just $30 for the adaptor, and can be purchased directly from Apple. Make sure your camera is compatible for this, however.
posted by spinifex23 at 10:30 AM on September 16, 2006

I've used an Apacer cp-300 which allows you to burn cds or dvds directly from a memory card. I burn two copies of each days pictures, one for keeping on my person and one for sending back home by mail. This protects you from theft, accidents, loss and the misadventures of airport security, baggage handlers, rent a cops and police everywhere.

pdb writes "I'm a big fan of not carrying a bunch of extraneous crap around. I have a 1gig card in my Powershot, and it holds, depending on resolution, something like 1800 pictures and a whole bunch of video. I've never even come close to filling it up, even when i went to Europe for a month"

That's only 60 pictures a day, not much if you are at all serious. Last serious, once in a life time, vacation I was on I shot 4-5 37 exposure rolls a day and I was restrained by the cost per image. Something like a single panned panarama could take 6-18 exposures to cover 180-360 degrees.

ChazB writes "To put it into perspective, a 5.0 megapixel camera can get about 400-500+ pictures on a 2GB memory card at full resolution. However, at full resolution, a 5.0 megapixel camera will print out photo quality prints at about 20'x16'. Other than professionals, who needs photos that big? I use a 2.0 megapixel camera for family photos and the full resolution shots are still way bigger than what I need. I get over 1000 pictures off of my 2GB memory card."

Shooting at the full resolution available to you allows you to zoom in in photoshop and still get a decent 4X6 picture.
posted by Mitheral at 10:53 AM on September 16, 2006

That's only 60 pictures a day, not much if you are at all serious. Last serious, once in a life time, vacation I was on I shot 4-5 37 exposure rolls a day and I was restrained by the cost per image. Something like a single panned panarama could take 6-18 exposures to cover 180-360 degrees.

This is an important point. On my two week trip I was shooting RAW with a D70 and ended up with nearly 30 GB of pictures. I tend to bracket my shots, and will often try a variety of angles / compositions, so it's possible I'm shooting more than most, but you'll still need to think about what your photographic goals are.
posted by bshort at 1:02 PM on September 16, 2006

Go to any camera store. They'll download your pics and burn them to a CD for a pittance.
posted by Neiltupper at 4:33 PM on September 16, 2006