Extended Memory directly from Camera

I'm not a hard drive/memory guru by any means. I tried searching a few terms here and came up with nothing, no luck.

I know you can plug the camera in to your PC and files will record right into a folder on the PC. Can this be done with an external hard drive directly into the camera?

Only reason I ask is because I was shooting a football game a few weeks ago and thought, man that would sure be handy since I have a spare one sitting around at home. Instead of switching memory cards very hour or so, ya know? If not, I asked.

If there's a thread out there just post it, I'm always down for reading.

There is a way, using the Canon WFT-E3A Grip, but its a pretty expensive accessory for such a seemingly simple functionality. LINK

It is more marketed to adding WiFi to the camera body, but it also has USB port that can accept USB storage devices and GPS modules as I understand. It also has an ethernet port which can also be used to transfer images.

Sorry, not without the wireless grip WFT-E3A for your 50D. At $719 from B&H, using a computer would be cheaper.

Yea for what that thing costs you could literally buy a netbook and shoot tethered to it AND have $400-$500 left over!

Jeeze! Thats pricey.

I have a MB pro, but if I shut it and shoot tethered will it still record the files? I'd be a little nervous since its not a solid state drive...wouldn't that be a bad idea?

As long as it doesn't go to sleep when you close the lid it should record them just fine.

Whether it's in a computer or a stand-alone housing isn't going to make a big difference to a hard drive that gets bounced. If you're worried about losing the Mac to a drive crash, clone the drive and use the clone for shooting to.

Taylor02GT wrote in post #13332897
Jeeze! Thats pricey.

I have a MB pro, but if I shut it and shoot tethered will it still record the files? I'd be a little nervous since its not a solid state drive...wouldn't that be a bad idea?

Yea Im not sure you can do that as Macs automatically go to sleep once the lid is closed unless its on AC power. And was the USB hard drive you were originally thinking of using an SSD?

it depends on your power settings your mac book would most likly be set to turn hibernate on lid close you can set them so that closing the lid will have not change on function but really would do you much better to get bigger cards and use something similar to a hyperdrive to backup...

also what size card are u filling?

Honestly at the pain and expense youll face in either direction, just get a decent size mem card and shoot accordingly(i.e. RAW/JPG)

Rolfe D. Wolfe wrote in post #13332960
Honestly at the pain and expense youll face in either direction, just get a decent size mem card and shoot accordingly(i.e. RAW/JPG)

This is my advice as well. OP, you mentioned you are switching cards every hour or so, what size cards are you using? You can get yourself a 32GB Sandisk Extreme UDMA for around $130.

ben_r_ wrote in post #13332935
Yea Im not sure you can do that as Macs automatically go to sleep once the lid is closed unless its on AC power. And was the USB hard drive you were originally thinking of using an SSD?

No it wasn't, the SSD thing just kind of crossed my mind midway through that last post.

SpeedyGoo wrote in post #13332954
it depends on your power settings your mac book would most likly be set to turn hibernate on lid close you can set them so that closing the lid will have not change on function but really would do you much better to get bigger cards and use something similar to a hyperdrive to backup...

also what size card are u filling?

I just upgraded to a 50D and all I currently have is a 4GB Ultra II CF.

The instance I was talking about I had my Xsi with a 4 and 8 GB SD card. I was able to dump them at halftime into my macbook luckily.

Whats this hyperdrive you're talking about?

Rolfe D. Wolfe wrote in post #13332960
Honestly at the pain and expense youll face in either direction, just get a decent size mem card and shoot accordingly(i.e. RAW/JPG)

ben_r_ wrote in post #13332987
This is my advice as well. OP, you mentioned you are switching cards every hour or so, what size cards are you using? You can get yourself a 32GB Sandisk Extreme UDMA for around $130.

Yeah, it sounds like it will be cheaper just to save for a larger CF card.

My thought process was that it would have been cool to use my MB or something so I could unload pics while I shot into folders so they were easy to proccess later. Like at the game I dumped images after pregame, first qt, second qt, halftime, third qt, fourth qt post game. I had to visit my macbook set up in the lockerrooms each time to dump files.

Taylor02GT wrote in post #13333046
No it wasn't, the SSD thing just kind of crossed my mind midway through that last post.

I just upgraded to a 50D and all I currently have is a 4GB Ultra II CF.

The instance I was talking about I had my Xsi with a 4 and 8 GB SD card. I was able to dump them at halftime into my macbook luckily.

Whats this hyperdrive you're talking about?

Yeah, it sounds like it will be cheaper just to save for a larger CF card.

My thought process was that it would have been cool to use my MB or something so I could unload pics while I shot into folders so they were easy to proccess later. Like at the game I dumped images after pregame, first qt, second qt, halftime, third qt, fourth qt post game. I had to visit my macbook set up in the lockerrooms each time to dump files.

In a perfect world, that would be the ideal solution.

The problem is the tethered shooting(from my 10 mins playing with it) seemed better suited to a studio setting so that people could see IMMEDIATE results...

Setting up to shoot tethered at a sporting event is just risking more gear for the sake of organization.

You have to decide if lugging extra crap and risking damage/theft is worth it to you.

Rolfe D. Wolfe wrote in post #13333083
In a perfect world, that would be the ideal solution.

The problem is the tethered shooting(from my 10 mins playing with it) seemed better suited to a studio setting so that people could see IMMEDIATE results...

Setting up to shoot tethered at a sporting event is just risking more gear for the sake of organization.

You have to decide if lugging extra crap and risking damage/theft is worth it to you.

Well, that last post was just for the sake of the thread. I def. think the wise choice here is just another memory card and more time on my couch organizing!