Flash Drives

Its probably been asked before, but...

Can one hitch up the camera (in my case *istD) direct to a USB flash drive, out 'in the field' to copy CF card data to it, and so free the card up for more piccies if needs be?

Andy

to my knowledge it has no USB host function. Personally I have never seen the direct need for this. flash memory is getting cheaper and cheaper.
If you look at SD cards, the 1GB versions are getting very affordable since the 2GB versions are available. Personally I prefer carrying a couple of smaller cards instead of one big card. If I loose one card then I do not loose of all my pictures. 1GB CF cards are very affordable as well.

Well, firstly, most USB flash drives have limited storage (I have a 2Gb card in my *ist-D).

You can get little USB adapters that link two USB devices to do a transfer. But, I think you're better off investing in one of the little hard-disk based card readers devices. They will let you copy the entire CF card to hard disk, and have something like 20Gb storage.

I use a Phototainer / Flashtrax storage device with 40Gb storage which has a built in colour LCD and allows me to view the images.

Alternatively, something like the Jobo GigaOne costs around £99 for 30Gb and just allows a straight copy of the card (with no graphical view of the images). (here: http://www.ephotozineshop.com/photo/flashcards/mass.html?cd=1061114 )

Hope that helps,
Matt

Thanks for your replies. it looks like probably the answer is 'no'.

One day I probably will go for 20Gb HD or similar portable device. However it was just a thought more whether one could use a USB flash drive in emergency

Andy

Ipod, Ipod, Ipod.
I've even resorted to giving my customers thier wedding albums/corporate shoots on Ipods.....
Requires a seperate adaptor though.
Did I mention I like Ipods?

If I were going to be away from my PC for a long trip, I'd invest in something that would transfer my pics to a CD or DVD, e.g. the Apacer Disc Steno. Hard disks crash far far too often!

We have two approaches to this. The first is an Epson P-2000, which is the best portable HD I have seen so far. Superb build and a terrific 3.8 inch screen. 40GB.

The second approach is our new laptop, which we will use both to store images on the move and also to burn back-up CDs as we go. This makes the Epson a bit less essential, but that's progress!

My solution is the Apacer Disc Steno, never skipped a beat, I have it in my bag with a number of CD's and I have 3 512MB memory cards. It takes but a short time to make a CD, which then acts as an archive. Simple to import the images and work with them at home, knowing the originals are on CD.

I like the Apacer.

Having said that I have seen recently DVD-writers, but the price is too high. I am happy with my solution and do not envisage a change for quite some time.

Another advantage. Having to stop and make a CD, allows one to relax before starting shooting again!

When in Morges for the annual Swiss British Classic Car meeting, this year I recorded several times to CD, eventually having 1 and a half CD's worth of photos - the Apacer knowing very well how to do multi-session recording.

I feel good because it is easy to lose a card and even though the price is continually dropping, I don't want to be on a continous "buying" conveyor belt!

There's now a DVD version of the Apacer

I do have one beef with the Apacer. Not sure it is my own fault or not.

Today I forgot and made a recording onto a previously Apacer recorded CD. Result is that the latest files are there, but the previously recorded files are not.

Any ideas as to whether or not I am at fault?

When you write files to a CD in several different operations, you create a "multisession" CD. Some older computer CD drives cannot read multisession disks, and only show the files from one session. Try using the disk in a different PC.

I am not familiar with the operation of the Apacer, I just looked at it as an option for backup "on the road".

On a PC, you sometimes have the option to "finalise" the disk, which makes it compatible with older CD's, is there anything similar in the Apacer manual?

Here's a tip for those that have the right epson printers my r300 and I believe(not 100% certian as i've had no reason to test)my925 both have usb ports on the front and card readers. I've tried my r300, plugging an inexpensive cd burner into that port and cf/sd cards into the card reader.
The printer was able to print a contact sheet, and burn a cd off the memory cards.
My reason for posting this here? I ran it off an ac inverter in my van.

I looked in my manual but cannot see any mention of Finalizing. I do know through experience that if I write a CD on the Apacer, and then later write to it on my desktop, I cannot get at the previous sessions.

So, I usually just write until the CD is full and then write no more. I am not sure if that leaves the disc "open".

Maybe I send Apacer a mail and see if I can get some more knowledge on the subject.

How old is your PC? What Operating system are you using and what make/model of CD drive is in the PC? I'd expect that newer PC's should handle multi-session CD's without problems. I think from hazy memory that for older OS's there were additional programs you could run to enable multi-session CD's to be read. I'd hope that Apacer Tech support would know.

SPB,
If your Apacer can keep adding to the CD, then it isn't finalised
(Once a CD is finalised, nothing can add to it.)

On the PC you have to tell your burner software that you are continuing a multisession CD and then it should import all the file names for the previous session.

Each session has it's own directory, and if you wish to keep files from an old session, the new session has to have the directory entries pointing back to the previous session(s).

Incidentally, Nero allows you to "rewind" and access any session on the CD, thus retrieving the old data. (www.nero.com)

Hope that helps,
Matt