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Rangefinder
Magazine Digital Storage To Go by Bob Rose
Actually I still shoot film along with digital (for me the final application is the determining factor for which one I will choose). Film is far from dead since it has many benefits, but obviously, so does digital. You just have to think differently when packing to head out on a job. “ Digital film” comes to us in at least a half a dozen different flavors (and many sizes within each flavor). Whether your camera takes CompactFlashTM, SmartMediaTM or the latest xDTM cards, not only do you have to plan to carry enough of them, but you also want to have a good way to work with, and back up, all your images.
Fortunately, digital memory has come way down in price, so it’s cheaper than ever to buy a lot of cards. However, digital camera performance and the resulting file sizes have been increasing, so you will still have to make a big investment in digital memory cards. How do you keep costs down and manage the ever-growing volume of digital data? You need to bring in another new form of digital storage. Actually this new form of digital storage appeared a few years ago—portable hard drives. One company in particular put a memory card reader, a portable hard drive and a rechargeable battery into a reasonably slim little package called a Digital Wallet. That company and product no longer exist, but now there are a half-dozen or so products that fit the bill.
However, I don’t want to simply back up my digital memory cards (and free them up to use again). I also want to speed up the whole process of dealing with files and moving them through my system (streamline my workflow). There are two new categories of products that make more sense for me: PVPs and PCDRs. In English, that’s Personal Video Players and Personal CD Recorders. The PVP is like the digital wallet concept but it also includes a small color LCD so you can view and (with some limited control) edit your files. It’s not a great screen for showing off your photos, but the device can be hooked to a TV monitor for viewing larger images (although they’re nowhere near the quality you could show a customer on your laptop LCD). The real beauty of these devices is not only can you download 20–60 GB of files, but you can also get rid of all the losers before you head home, so you simply download all the keepers when you get there.
PVPs
are starting to add more audio and video capability and probably someday
will be the new “Walkman.” But for me they make great
sense if you have time to edit on the road. Since I like to back up everything to CD anyway, this helps me get the job done while I’m on the road. The only limit is that a CD’s maximum capacity is just a bit more than a single 512MB memory card. So someday when they come out with a PDVD that can burn more than 4.5GB on a DVD, I’ll get one of those, too.
Although the specs would lead me to believe otherwise, all these devices seem to have about the same burn time and can transfer the data from a 256MB CF card in about three minutes. One thing to consider is getting any accessories or upgrades to allow you to connect your computer at USB 2.0 and/or Firewire speeds. These accessories will save time—downloading 512MB of files will take 20 seconds instead of 13 3/4 minutes! If your computer is not quite ready to talk at high speeds, you can fix that with the addition of an OrangeMicro OrangeLink+. It only takes up one PCI slot inside your computer yet provides four USB 2.0 ports and two Firewire ports (plus another one of each internally for high-speed hard drives). Unlike some similar products, it works on current Windows and Mac operating systems (Apple only just announced their own support for USB 2.0 with the introduction of the G5 system). Back to digital storage devices: I recommend that you check the manufactures web sites with some frequency to see about downloadable firmware upgrades to add features and maintain compatibility with different camera file formats (including RAW).
Let’s look at some of the choices: PVP’s
eFilm™ PicturePAD,
Nixvue Vista and SmartDisk FlashTrax. The basic kit includes a simple manual, case, Li-Ion battery, power supply/charger, USB 1.1 cable, TV video cable and a wireless remote control. Although they are configured as USB 1.1 drives, optional modules support USB 2.0 and Firewire connections (note, even though these units look the same there are slight differences and the accessories are not compatible across brands). Additional options include a parallel printer attachment, 12V car adapter, external battery pack and spare rechargeable battery.
If you’re working with CompactFlashTM cards or MicrodrivesTM you’re good to go; otherwise you’ll need to plug in the optional 4-1 Adapter which also accepts MemoryStickTM, SmartMediaTM, Secure DigitalTM and MultiMediaCardsTM (xDTM adapters should be available by the time you read this). Although you’re only viewing on a 1.8-inch LCD, it’s fairly easy to see all the menus and images. Navigation is easy to get the hang of and the information available for each file is more than you could ever use while you’re mobile (i.e., file details, EXIF data and histograms). Transfer of the files from memory cards is smooth and verifiable. The SmartDisk FlashTrax presents itself as a PVP in a different form factor. Only available with a 30GB drive, this 12-oz. unit is 5.6(L)x3.6(W)x1.3(H) inches. But in pure StarTrekian fashion, the top two thirds of the cover flips up to reveal a 3.5-inch LCD. This PVP also comes complete with just about everything you need to get started: a good manual, case, Li-Ion battery, power supply/charger, TV video cable, wireless remote and a USB 2.0 cable for a faster native connection.
In addition to all the standard photographic file compatibility, the SmartDisk FlashTrax also supports JPEG and AVI video and MP3 and WAV audio. Once again the primary interface is through a CompactFlashTM connector, so if you’re using other types of memory, you’ll want to get the optional Media Adapter. The only other accessory is a spare Li-Ion battery. There are two sets of controls. Some are only accessible when the display is flipped open. The rest are side-mounted controls that let you use the SmartDisk FlashTrax in the closed position as a portable audio player. PCDR’s Apacer Disc Steno CP100 and EZDigimagic™ DM220. Both of these units function in the same way. Insert a blank CD-R (or RW), plug your memory card in, press the record button, and stand back. In about three minutes you can burn 256MB of files. Slip in a 512MB card, and it’ll take you about five minutes. (The Disc Steno also has a “Record w/Check” button that has the system verify the data and extends the whole process to about 10 minutes for a 256MB card almost 20 minutes for a 512MB card.)
The Apacer Disc Steno CP100 weighs
in at about 1.5 lbs. with the battery and is 7.2(L)x6.2(W)x1.3(H) inches. A really nice thing about the Disc Steno is you don’t need to buy anything extra (unless you want a spare battery). It has a full-size USB connector, works on multiple power sources and has most of the media card slots built-in (it’s only missing an xD™ slot). The
EZDigimagic™ DM220 is about 2 lbs. with the battery pack and
measures almost 8(L)x5.9(W)x1.5(H) inches. A case and 12V car adapter are options, but it does include a snap-on battery pack that accepts four AA regular or rechargeable batteries and makes the unit portable. You do have to remove the battery pack in order to access the USB connector, so you have to use the power supply when reading and writing to your computer. It’s worth noting that both PCDRs are great external CD drives, especially running at USB 2.0 speed. However, the included burning software is only Windows compatible and somewhat limited (although very easy to use). Fortunately, there’s an easy fix. I loaded in Roxio Easy CD & DVD Creator™ 6 on my PC and Roxio Toast 6 Titanium on my Mac and got full support of all features I needed. Regardless of how you decide to keep track of your memory cards and back up files, create a plan and design a checklist for you and your photographers to follow. Stick to working one way, and you’ll be glad you did. For more information contact the following companies: Apacer Disc Steno CP100 $299.95. Jobo Fototechnic, Inc. Phone: (734) 677-6989 or visit www.jobo-usa.com/. eFilm™ PicturePAD 20Gb $479. 30GB $529.00 40Gb $579.00 60Gb $699.00 Delkin Devices, Inc. Phone: (858) 391-1234 or visit www.delkin.com/. EZDigimagic™ DM220 $295. EZPnP Inc. Phone: (800) 828-6475 or visit www.ezpnp-usa.com/. Nixvue Vista 20Gb $479.00 30Gb $529.00 40Gb $579.00 60Gb $699.00 Jobo Fototechnic, Inc. Phone: (734) 677-6989 or visit www.jobo-usa.com/. SmartDisk FlashTrax 30Gb $499.99 SmartDisk
Corp. Phone: (239)425-4000 or visit www.smartdisk.com/. Roxio Easy CD & DVD Creator™ 6 $99.95 and Roxio Toast 6 Titanium $99.95 Roxio, Inc. Phone: (408)367-3100 or visit www.roxio.com/. Bob Rose joined the photo industry in 1978 after graduating from RIT. Less than ten years later he started working with Digital Products. Rose has been a contributor to a number of publications including the Focal Press Encyclopedia of Photography and has taught at Parsons School of Design. In 1999 he formed his own company, VMI. He can be reached at: vmi-info@earthlink.net. |
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Life used to be simple. It was not uncommon that I’d
go out on a shoot with hundreds of gigabytes of storage tucked away safely
in my camera bag. I used an interesting storage medium that was readily
available. And I never had to worry about whether my batteries were charged
or if I was running out of storage space because it was really quite
economical. This miracle stuff was called film!
