Ipod Camera Connector Alternative...

[acearchie]

Hi Just bought a Nikon D40x but I wont something to off load the pictures from the memory cards on to similar to the iPod and card reader,

Although it doesnt need to play music or even playback the photos just a handy screen to tell me transfer is complete. I also dont need a very large one, this is only for things like weekends away were a 4 gb card may not do! Ha

Sorry to ask for your help but I dont know the first thing about where too look!

Thanks

 

[Grimace]

Epson and a few other companies make them -- but at a price. Expect to pay $400 or so for a 30-50GB device. They put a big screen on the unit to justify the price... Epson P-3000

 

[JeffTL]

The obvious solution, unless you have a circumstance of which we are unaware that precludes this, is a spare memory card or two.

 

[acearchie]

Epson and a few other companies make them -- but at a price. Expect to pay $400 or so for a 30-50GB device. They put a big screen on the unit to justify the price... Epson P-3000

Youve been a great help but I would really like to have a look over the market before I purchase. But could you help me by telling me the technical term for these devices so I can try and find some myself?

Thanks

 

[OreoCookie]

I think either an iPod + iPod connector or additional memory cards are the cheapest alternatives. There are other storage devices, but they are more expensive than iPods (e. g. an iPod classic + connector cost less than $300).

 

[acearchie]

I think either an iPod + iPod connector or additional memory cards are the cheapest alternatives. There are other storage devices, but they are more expensive than iPods (e. g. an iPod classic + connector cost less than $300).

Oh I heard that this doesnt infact work..

And previous owners of the camera connector have said for light digital work its fine but with the large camers the battery goes on the ipod before the transfer is complete!

 

[Lovesong]

This is cheaper than the iPod and dock solution, and it actually works.

http://www.wolverinedata.com/index.php/site/quicklinks/C13/

 

[Westside guy]

I've heard really good things about the various Epson devices, and I've thought about getting one. The main thing that stops me is my photo budget is not infinite; so what money I have to spend ends up going toward items like new lenses or (near future hopefully) a better tripod.

 

[compuwar]

Youve been a great help but I would really like to have a look over the market before I purchase. But could you help me by telling me the technical term for these devices so I can try and find some myself?

Thanks

Start around image bank, digital wallet or photo wallet, that should get you some good hits. I've tried the CF->iPod route and it didn't work for me, it was way too slow and after a card or two I was out of battery. Portable hard drives are delicate and you have to worry about altitude if you go anywhere seriously high like Pike's Peak- so keep that in mind if you're looking to travel at altitude. At this point, it's probably a better investment to buy more cards unless you're specifically looking for backup.

 

[freebooter]

Check out the Hyperdrive Space. As much as 160GB for under $200.
I just got one for a two month trip I'm about to take because buying enough cards would be very expensive unless I went for really slow ones. With the Hyperdrive, I need take only, say, three or four cards and the storage device. The people on the DPReview Media and Storage forum http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1023 seem to rate it highly. Very fast and durable, blah, blah, blah...and not nearly as expensive as the Epson.
The Epson is great if you want to view/show your photos (or watch movies and listen to music) but it's in the $500 plus range I think for only 80GB.
To search for similar things use terms such as digital photo image storage device. Nexto, Jobo, Wolverine are some other brands to consider, but Hyperdrive seems to get the nod overall in the aforementioned forum. Hyperdrive also has a new ColorSpace model with a small review screen that that older, cheaper Space model lacks.
Oh, and I tried the iPod Camera connector method. Very slow (40-45 min for a 2GB card) and ~75% battery power consumed. It would alright in a pinch but only on a full battery. Apple should have made it USB-plug-in-able and faster, like a card reader/dock.

 

[Clix Pix]

I second the recommendation of the Hyperdrive. I don't have one yet, but I have seen so many enthusiastic comments about them that this is on my list of things to buy fairly soon.

The Epson P-2000, which I do have, is very nice and has a lovely screen for display, but it is VERY slow in uploading and displaying, especially if one has large image files. I'm not sure, but I think it does not work well with RAW images. The last time I used it (quite a while ago now!) I was still shooting .jpg, so don't really know for sure how it handles RAW images. As noted earlier in this thread there is now the Epson P-3000, but I have not used one so don't know if it is any faster or what the differences between the P-2000 and P-3000 would be aside from extra memory.

When I travel I take my 15" MBP and an external LaCie "Rugged" hard drive, along with plenty of memory cards. Having been shooting digital for a fairly long time, I've accumulated cards in all memory sizes through the years, which helps! I upload the images to the MBP and then copy them right to the external HD and only then, if I need to do so, will I clear off the CF card for re-use. This method works fine for me as far as being able to review my images, etc., but is not as convenient for showing to others when out in the field without the laptop.

 

[acearchie]

Check out the Hyperdrive Space. As much as 160GB for under $200.
I just got one for a two month trip I'm about to take because buying enough cards would be very expensive unless I went for really slow ones. With the Hyperdrive, I need take only, say, three or four cards and the storage device. The people on the DPReview Media and Storage forum http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1023 seem to rate it highly. Very fast and durable, blah, blah, blah...and not nearly as expensive as the Epson.
The Epson is great if you want to view/show your photos (or watch movies and listen to music) but it's in the $500 plus range I think for only 80GB.
To search for similar things use terms such as digital photo image storage device. Nexto, Jobo, Wolverine are some other brands to consider, but Hyperdrive seems to get the nod overall in the aforementioned forum. Hyperdrive also has a new ColorSpace model with a small review screen that that older, cheaper Space model lacks.
Oh, and I tried the iPod Camera connector method. Very slow (40-45 min for a 2GB card) and ~75% battery power consumed. It would alright in a pinch but only on a full battery. Apple should have made it USB-plug-in-able and faster, like a card reader/dock.

Absolutley fantastic suggestion! Would have never found that myself but do you know anywhere that will ship to the Uk (without rediculous prices say from the US!) I could only find US and AU based????

Thanks again

 

[Regis27]

Macally

Although it doesn't have a screen, another, cheaper alternative would be the Macally PHR250OTG.

I couldn't find it on their site, but some retailers still have them available.

http://www.amazon.com/Macally-PHR25...?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1193861328&sr=1-11

Basically it's a driven enclosure that has the necessary circuitry to copy your photos from the camera to whatever drive you put in the enclosure (these are small, 2.5" laptop drives).
It would probably be considerably cheaper than some of the other options. and you could always upgrade the drives as they become cheaper. (e.g. start with a 30GB, and later when you upgrade your laptop from 80GB to 160GB you could put the 80GB in the enclosure.)