Travel Technology - IPod/Photo Adapter vs. Laptop vs?

So I have a nice new nifty Nikon D50 with two one gig SD cards. I went away for the weekend and shot 1.5 GB of pics. So I have this big trip to Buenos Aires coming up and am thinking that they 2 Gigs will not do- and I dont want to buy 14-15 more SD cards. I was thinking about buying a new Ipod (I have an original one, with the click wheel) and the usb camera adapter- instead of lugging my ibook all over creation- has anybody used this combo- any thoughts? how are the speed of transfer? any other alternative?

chris

I don't know about the camera adapter transfer speed, but the USB transfer from laptop to iPod for photos is very fast. I carry around lots of photos on my iPod. I don't know WHY, but sometimes it's fun to have all my photos available to show someone at the spur of the moment.

I think this sounds like a good idea for you if you don't want to bring your laptop down there to store your photos so you can clear your card. Obviously an iPod is a lot smaller and lighter.

Try http://www.ipodlounge.com for reviews of all things iPod. Their conclusion about the camera adapter was that the transfer speeds were much slower than downloading to a computer and that it used up a lot of battery power. I think there are portable hard drives with built in card readers that might prove to be cheaper alternatives, but if you were going to upgrade to a new iPod anyway the camera adapter is a cheap investment. Definitely go for the 60gb model for just a bit more than the 30gb.

So I have a nice new nifty Nikon D50 with two one gig SD cards. I went away for the weekend and shot 1.5 GB of pics. So I have this big trip to Buenos Aires coming up and am thinking that they 2 Gigs will not do- and I dont want to buy 14-15 more SD cards. I was thinking about buying a new Ipod (I have an original one, with the click wheel) and the usb camera adapter- instead of lugging my ibook all over creation- has anybody used this combo- any thoughts? how are the speed of transfer? any other alternative?

chris

I'm assuming you were shooting RAW (NEF) format for that. Otherwise, you're just a shutterbug - by my crude math, that would be ~800-1000 JPEG Fine shots for a weekend. I thought I was nuts shooting 600 over 2 weeks in Australia. :)

But, from what I've read, the iPod Photo Connector isn't really well suited to high-volume shooters due to the slow speed (USB1.1 for transfers from the camera to the iPod), and it's even less useful if you shoot RAW, since you won't be able to review the image there.

The Powerbook would probably be preferable with a card reader.

Another option would be something like the Epson P2000 unit - it's got a 40GB drive, can transfer something like 10GB per battery charge, and can display raw formats like NEF on a nice screen (~3.5"?). Costs about the same as a 60GB iPod (~$400).

On the other hand, you can load the pictures back into your iPod through iTunes, which is a bit quicker. It takes some time upfront to convert the image (the iPod carries three versions - TV sized, screen sized, and thumbnail-sized), but syncs fast. From what I've read, figure 750KB per image, assuming you don't attach the high-res original.

but the photo adaptor does work well. I don't think it is as slow as USB 1.0, it seems to transfer pretty fast. I would put it at camera speeds even shooting RAW with a 20d.

It is nice to have, runs of batteries (which haven't run out yet) and means I don't have to take the laptop with me in the bush.

then, you just transfer back at 2.0 or FW speeds to the laptop. Did this all last month in China, worked great.

I like my photo adapter. It comes in handy when I may travel without a laptop. But I found download times from a Canon digital rebel to be very slow. And as pointed out, it really sucks the battery.

So, if you wouldn't normally lug a laptop, I would give it serious consideration. Also, if you have a Mac, iPhoto will import pcistures off of it, and do so very quickly (mine is, as my dock is connected via Firewire). For the Windows crowd, I'm not sure exactly what it's like to get pics off of it and onto a PC.

So I have a nice new nifty Nikon D50 with two one gig SD cards. I went away for the weekend and shot 1.5 GB of pics. So I have this big trip to Buenos Aires coming up and am thinking that they 2 Gigs will not do- and I dont want to buy 14-15 more SD cards. I was thinking about buying a new Ipod (I have an original one, with the click wheel) and the usb camera adapter- instead of lugging my ibook all over creation- has anybody used this combo- any thoughts? how are the speed of transfer? any other alternative?

I justified getting a 60GB iPod Video for just this purpose (I already had a CF-based MP3 player, so music alone wasn't enough). I have a Canon D20 with a 2GB CF and I can get a comparable number of RAW files as I did on my Canon G1. I've not bought the camera connector yet, but will be doing so in the next few days.

I've traditionally taken a laptop with me and have regretted having to lug it around (and worried when I'd coat check it in museums because I couldn't bring in my shoulder bag).

Another thing to consider is how you'll recharge the iPod. With concerns about batteries (and Apple not including the A/C adapter with the Videos), and not intending to carry the laptop which could charge it, I had an excuse to buy an Airport Express. While it is a bit heavier than the basic USB charger, it is small enough to take on vacation, should be inconspicuous enough to leave in a hotel room, and (most importantly :) ) work paid for it for the rest of the time I'm travelling.

I need to clarify,

I am using the photo memory card adaptor from Belkin, NOT the camera adaptor thing that allows one to hookup a camera directly to the adaptor that hooks up to the ipod.

I think this last item, which is newer than the photo memory card adaptor, is SLOWER than the card reader.

I find the card reader to ipod, fast as the camera to laptop over usb 2.0

It's worth noting since you mention the Belkin adapter that it does NOT work with the very latest iPods. They may be coming out with a revision (haven't heard about it), but the unit that was shipping at the time of the new iPod intro only works with the earlier one.

Maybe I'm overly paranoid, but I would never take a scenic trip without the laptop. I carry (2) 1Gb memory cards for the day trip then download & burn to a DVD each night at the hotel (adding to an existing disc if there is space remaining). Would hate to think if the iPod/laptop was lost, stolen or a stray cosmic ray at fl350 corrupted the directory. Have also mailed a copy of the final DVD(s) with the JPGs back home on the last day in-country. Retentive, yes to the point of being able to turn a charcoal briquette into a diamond, but I do sleep well on the flight home.

I have a Canon D20 with a 2GB CF and I can get a comparable number of RAW files as I did on my Canon G1. I've not bought the camera connector yet, but will be doing so in the next few days.

I picked up Apple's Camera Connector yesterday and just completed my first try using it. It's slow and it does seem to burn through the batteries quickly, however it did get the pics copied.

I did need to set the Canon's communications mode to PTP before the iPod recognized it, but that was it for setup.

I had 117 RAW files (802MB) to download. On my first try, the batteries in the camera died before the download completed. I could see the images that were copied on the iPod through the network drive, but they did not appear on the iPod's import folder. Trying to import a second time resulted in an error message. Not knowing (and still not) the proper process for recovering from an interrupted download, I just deleted all of the folders and files through the network drive and tried the download again. Downloading again resulted in the same error message, however after resetting the iPod (toggle the Hold switch, then press the Menu/Select buttons) it worked fine.

The iPod (60GB) started with a full charge minus ~90 minutes of music use from a few days ago. After both downloads (~170 files total, maybe 1.2GB), the batteries were in the red.

Total transfer time for the successful download was 17 minutes (less than 1MB/s).

I don't mind the transfer rate too much, as I can plan to download at the end of the day. I do need it to download a full 2GB at once though, and will keep my fingers crossed (we leave for CDG on Thursday) that it will do so on a full charge.

If you haven't already done so, check out PD-70X from allstorage.

I forget how the Apple camera adapter works: couldn't you just plug a card reader in there instead of the camera? Or am I missing a spec about the power it provides to that USB port? If it could power a card reader that would be the way to go instead of plugging in the camera itself. Otherwise you might want to consider having an AC adaptor for the camera for this process. Should still be smaller than toting a laptop. This is an annoying case where it would be really nice to plug in the iPod (to AC power) at the same time as plugging in something else to the dock connector, but you can't.

I forget how the Apple camera adapter works: couldn't you just plug a card reader in there instead of the camera? Or am I missing a spec about the power it provides to that USB port? If it could power a card reader that would be the way to go instead of plugging in the camera itself. Otherwise you might want to consider having an AC adaptor for the camera for this process. Should still be smaller than toting a laptop. This is an annoying case where it would be really nice to plug in the iPod (to AC power) at the same time as plugging in something else to the dock connector, but you can't.

There are a few card readers which do work. There's a list of them on the "Ipod Camera Connector" article over at wikipedia.

Still, I think when I get my D70s after Christmas, I'll be going with the laptop + portable hard drive route.