Media Backup Device [recommendations/experiences]

[Neil]

Following my thread of: SD Card - Slide style holder? I've had a re-think about this matter, and decided that SD media is far too expensive to buy in such large quantities.

As a reminder, I am going to be filming my trip down from London to South Africa in HD with a couple of cameras...

So now, I'm after something to back it all up on. Sure, I did originally think: "get a usb hard drive, and do it on the netbook" (which I must say, sounds easiest and most cost effective). However, I am terrified of losing such an amazing trip's footage at the mercy of so many variables to go wrong, the netbook could suffer all matter of problems from a broken screen, battery failure, theft, virus... you name it.. and without it backups and filming come to a halt.

I've seen all manner of toys that can do backup and seen all budgets and frankly as tight as my budget is, the footage is priceless so I'm somewhat flexible.

So far I've read up about:

• LinXcel UB-111A Smart X Copy On-The-Go USB File Sharing Device
• PicPac - 320GB Digital Camera and Camcorder Portable Backup
• Nexto DI devices
• XS-DRIVE Smart 2300

Anyone used any of these toys? If so, tell me about them... was it good/bad? Recommendations??

[beddhist]

Without actually having looked at these links, these are HDs with integrated card reader, right? If your budget is tight don't buy a netbook and use internet cafes, etc.

[pictish]

Hi there,
A few years ago I got something called a digimate off ebay for about 20 quid, its justa simple card reader that has a case which you can put a laptop hardrive in. Its pretty tough and ive dropped it quite a few times, you also have the option to use either large or small drives. It has a usb output for putting it onto any pc so reads like an external drive.
I had an older version which sadly was fat 32 so is no longer in use due to vista not liking fat 32. The newer ones come with a 2.5inch screen which actually lets you view the photos or film which it has stored and are not fat 32.
You can get them on ebay for about 60 quid[digimate 5] witha hardrive already installed swopping that out is a breeze, so you could use it for storage until you get to somewhere where u can do a backup, and send that home or just fedex the drive home after making a copy, then resuse the drive you copied it too when you know its safe. You could also just keep 2 units and use 1 as a backup incase 1 breaks or gets stolen.
For the price of some of these dedicated ones for photographers/vdeo makers ect you could get 1 of these plus several drives or even 2 seperate units if you dont like the ideas of opening them up[its 3 screws] and still save quite a bit. And those units linked above dont even have a view function.

[colebatch]

just to add to the flash card vs HDD debate ... if your flash card fails, the data is typically unrecoverable. Its lost forever. If a hard drive fails, the data can usually be recovered. If a hard drive fails its usually the drive system or head that fails ... the data discs still contain the data. Its not cheap to recover them, but if the data is still there so you dont lose your fotos. If a flash card fails, the data is gone.

If you take a HDD make sure you get a USB powered one ... i.e. USB connection and USB power for the drive. They are much more compact than bulkier power systems, adapters, etc that are needed for non-USB powered systems.

I used a WD passport ... and a 6 quid protection case from ebay

Originally Posted by Neil

Following my thread of: SD Card - Slide style holder? I've had a re-think about this matter, and decided that SD media is far too expensive to buy in such large quantities.

As a reminder, I am going to be filming my trip down from London to South Africa in HD with a couple of cameras...

So now, I'm after something to back it all up on. Sure, I did originally think: "get a usb hard drive, and do it on the netbook" (which I must say, sounds easiest and most cost effective). However, I am terrified of losing such an amazing trip's footage at the mercy of so many variables to go wrong, the netbook could suffer all matter of problems from a broken screen, battery failure, theft, virus... you name it.. and without it backups and filming come to a halt.

I've seen all manner of toys that can do backup and seen all budgets and frankly as tight as my budget is, the footage is priceless so I'm somewhat flexible.

So far I've read up about:

• LinXcel UB-111A Smart X Copy On-The-Go USB File Sharing Device
• PicPac - 320GB Digital Camera and Camcorder Portable Backup
• Nexto DI devices
• XS-DRIVE Smart 2300

Anyone used any of these toys? If so, tell me about them... was it good/bad? Recommendations??

[Redboots]

The simple/obvious answer is to use HD tape cameras.
For instance: Sony-HDR-HC7 or Canon HV30

More robust than any of yer digital stuff... IMPO of course

John

[KTMmartin]

Originally Posted by Redboots

The simple/obvious answer is to use HD tape cameras.
For instance: Sony-HDR-HC7 or Canon HV30

More robust than any of yer digital stuff... IMPO of course

John

Indeed. Finish one tape, stick it in a pannier, post it at the nearest convenience, replace for a few quid with a new one. The killer for me is the tape mechanism's noise being recorded with the audio on low/mid range cameras

It sounds like you have a few options:
1) Use tape
2) Copy from SD to hard disk (& compress?), replacing hard drive when full
3) Copy from SD to hard disk (& compress?), taking all the disk you anticipate you need with you beforehand.
4) Apply RAID to options 2 or 3. G-Technology - G-RAID mini - Portable High-Performance Dual-Drive Storage System

My call in your scenario would be option 4. But you may still need a laptop/netbook to compress the data decently before archiving.

[colebatch]

Originally Posted by KTMmartin

It sounds like you have a few options:
1) Use tape
2) Copy from SD to hard disk (& compress?), replacing hard drive when full
3) Copy from SD to hard disk (& compress?), taking all the disk you anticipate you need with you beforehand.
4) Apply RAID to options 2 or 3. G-Technology - G-RAID mini - Portable High-Performance Dual-Drive Storage System

My call in your scenario would be option 4. But you may still need a laptop/netbook to compress the data decently before archiving.

I dont think you should compress the video data ... its already highly compressed. The codecs used already compress the data as much as the manufacturers feel is sound. DV tape (the least compressed) is already compressed about 5 times. Stuff recorded to flash drives (AVCHD / H.264) is typically much more compressed that that. Raw HD video would be something like 1080 x 1920 (pixels) x 3 (colour channels) x 10 (bits per channel) x 25 (frames per second) bits per sec ... Over 1500 Mbits/sec. Yet many camcorders record it at 7, 9, 15, 24 Mbits sec.... i.e. its already super highly compressed.

USB powered 2.5 inch drives now are available up to 1000 GB ... that's a truck load of footage.
Western Digital My Passport Essential 1TB USB 2.0: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo
At 180 grams its barely bigger than an iPhone

[Mr. Ron]

Originally Posted by Redboots

The simple/obvious answer is to use HD tape cameras.
For instance: Sony-HDR-HC7 or Canon HV30

More robust than any of yer digital stuff... IMPO of course

John

Agreed! you can purchase older used equipment nearly anywhere, tape is easy to find and you have a physical hard copy of everything. I would definately go with miniDv.

[pictish]

I forgot to add the digimate is about the same size as the wd usb drives[a bit thicker but would still fit in a normal sized pocket] and is both rechargable through mains or USB

[Neil]

Hey guys thanks for your great feedback! Alas, I have already got the camera equipment and I do already own a netbook so why get new kit.... right?

I do have a MiniDV camera I am thinking about taking. The quality is good and it's pretty small, however not rugged like the other two HD cameras I have.

Anyhow, the digimate sounds ideal, however, their website seems to be down and not many people seem to sell it (without a hard drive). So I'm wondering if they have gone out of business or something. Also asking my friends in photography, they have never heard of digimate.

Thanks for all your feedback once again, I'll let you all know what I decide.