tonyw3026
25th of October 2004 (Mon), 13:18
I am sure this issue has been discussed before and there seem to be a range of opinions on the subject. Here is my summary based on what I have learned and comments would be appreciated. Our trip will be to SE Asia for three months and access to the internet will be uncertain at times. I reckon we will need about 20Gb of storage for RAW and "large fine" files.
1) Use a portable mains/battery CD burner with a built in card slot like a Microsolution Roadstar or Apacer. Pros - the CD's are cheap and once burned the files are relatively safe. The burner should be reliable but is not too expensive and at least you know it has worked before you clear your card. Cons - CD's only hold 700Mb so we will need about 30 CD's. The burner is another piece of equipment to carry and keep safe and fuss over batteries etc.
2) Use a hard drive device with an LCD screen like a Coolwalker or Flashtrax. Pros - can view the images off the camera (the Flastrax has a nice 3.5' screen) and don't have to mess with 30 CD's. Cons - Another piece of equipment etc, like the CD burner, PLUS we could lose all our images if the hard drive fails in a big way.
3) Buy lots of cards and spend time deleting unwanted images with the card in the camera. I assume we would also be able to burn some CD's at internet cafes as a way reducing the number of stored on cards. Pros - less dependent on equipment that can fail or be stolen. Less weight to carry around. Cons - would cost 3-5 times option 1) or 2) even if I assume some CD burning on the way. Relies totally on the camera to view images except at internet cafes. I don't like deleting images too hastily to make room. Sometimes the bad ones turn out to be keepers.
I am leaning towards 3) but the equipment based solutions 1) and 2) are seductive especially having another screen to view our images. Any thoughts or comments? Has anyone managed this issue for a long trip to the third world?
1) Use a portable mains/battery CD burner with a built in card slot like a Microsolution Roadstar or Apacer. Pros - the CD's are cheap and once burned the files are relatively safe. The burner should be reliable but is not too expensive and at least you know it has worked before you clear your card. Cons - CD's only hold 700Mb so we will need about 30 CD's. The burner is another piece of equipment to carry and keep safe and fuss over batteries etc.
2) Use a hard drive device with an LCD screen like a Coolwalker or Flashtrax. Pros - can view the images off the camera (the Flastrax has a nice 3.5' screen) and don't have to mess with 30 CD's. Cons - Another piece of equipment etc, like the CD burner, PLUS we could lose all our images if the hard drive fails in a big way.
3) Buy lots of cards and spend time deleting unwanted images with the card in the camera. I assume we would also be able to burn some CD's at internet cafes as a way reducing the number of stored on cards. Pros - less dependent on equipment that can fail or be stolen. Less weight to carry around. Cons - would cost 3-5 times option 1) or 2) even if I assume some CD burning on the way. Relies totally on the camera to view images except at internet cafes. I don't like deleting images too hastily to make room. Sometimes the bad ones turn out to be keepers.
I am leaning towards 3) but the equipment based solutions 1) and 2) are seductive especially having another screen to view our images. Any thoughts or comments? Has anyone managed this issue for a long trip to the third world?