External flashes

[webshark3]

I don't consider flash drives a good backup solution for digital pics because you'll pay about the same amount for an X-sized flash drive as you will for an X-sized memory card (memory cards are flash memory). I would recommend an external hard drive instead, in addition to your CD backups.

I would definitely agree with you (heck, I backup to DVD AND a RAID Drive with copies sent to a third unit ).

But it depends on how much you shoot. My FatherinLaw has a Nikon D50, but shoots so infrequently, that I prefer he just back up his photos to a 2GB USB Flash Drive since rate of failure will be less than a Hard Disk. I then just rip a few CDs for him so he has redundancy. It'll take him a few years to fill up the 2GB ($14.99) USB stick at his rate.

 

[handicap18]

I have thought about the flash drives as an additional backup, but haven't gotten around to it. I don't think its very cost effective compared to CD's and DVD's. Right now I only back up my files on DVD's (though some of my older stuff are on CD's).

Since I got my Nikon D50 in Jan of '06 I have taken approx 7,000 pics (probably a little more actually). I currently have them backed up on 4 different DVD's. A single side DVD can hold 4.7GB's worth of files. I think right now I'm taking up around 11GB with just my JPEG's from my D50. I get around 2,000 JPEG files per DVD. RAW files are another thing and on their own DVD. CD's hold less than 800MB, though they are less expensive than DVD's.

You can buy a 25 pack of DVD's for about $30 or so, maybe less. 4.7 x 25 = 117.5GB. 1 4GB flash card goes for about $30. Lets say you need 3 4GB flash cards to hold your files. Thats $90. For about $20 or so more you can get an external DVD burner (USB 2.0 plug in) and a 25 pack of DVD's. Even less if you get an internal DVD burner.

 

[Groucho]

You can buy a 25 pack of DVD's for about $30 or so, maybe less. 4.7 x 25 = 117.5GB. 1 4GB flash card goes for about $30. Lets say you need 3 4GB flash cards to hold your files. Thats $90. For about $20 or so more you can get an external DVD burner (USB 2.0 plug in) and a 25 pack of DVD's. Even less if you get an internal DVD burner.

You're paying $30 for a 25-pack of DVDs? Ouch! You can often find a 50-pack for $20-25. I usually try to pay no more than $40 for 100, though I sometimes go a few bucks over.

Ultimately, I agree - it doesn't make sense to use flash memory in USB format to back up flash memory in memory card format. Especially when you can pick up a little USB memory card reader and turn your camera's memory card into a regular USB flash drive.

 

[safetymom]

I don't use a flash drive but I do use the Epson photo viewer. It may be more than you want to spend but I like taking it instead of the laptop.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I would strongly recommend using DVDs as backups rather than flash memory. Neither is perfect - both degrade over time. With a properly stored DVD, I think that degredation time is longer than with flash memory.

The main difference to me is that the cost per gig is much, much cheaper with a DVD. After spending $50 on a burner, the discs can be bought for less than $0.30/disc. Ultra-high quality archival discs can be bought for less than $2/disc. That works out to less than $0.50 per gigabyte.

Because the cost of DVDs is so low, I always backup to a pair of discs. That allows me to store the discs in different locations. That protects me from media failure as well as from a local catastrophe.

Either will work. I suppose that some people might find the flash memory cards marginally easier to use. I just think that the difference between spending $0.1 to $0.5 per gig for discs compared with $10/gig with flash makes the discs a much cheaper option.

The main thing is to do it. If you'll back up on flash and won't do it with discs, then use flash.

With either option, I would recommend doing a backup refresh more than once every 10 years. If you intend to leave them along longer than that, I would recommend the archival quality DVDs. And always make two backups and store them in different buildings so that you are protected from fires, floods, etc.

 

[mabas9395]

I have a backup internal hard drive that does weekly backups of my photos plus I back-up to DVD after I get enough shots (and keep them off site).

But I was shopping at a large discount mega-store last night an noticed that I can get a portable external hard drive with as much space as my main drive for less than $100. I am thinking that it might be a good idea to get one and just do a complete c: drive backup and leave it at my MIL's house. That way if something ever happens to my computer desk, my living room, my house, my neighborhood, my town, etc, etc I know my files will be protected.

And its not just my photos, the amount of time it would take to reinstall all of my applications (and trying to find the activation key numbers) and getting it all customized the way I like it, it is worth the $100 insurance policy that an external HD provides.

The problem with me is that I will probably just keep talking about it until something bad does happen, then I'll wish I would have acted.

 

[webshark3]

FYI, If you OS or c: drive fails.

It's not as easy as just "copying your c: drive back" from a backup. At least not with Windows. You'll want to "ghost" it to a backup drive.

 

[safetymom]

Hard drives have been known to fail so I wouldn't just back up to a hard drive.

 

[Anewman]

Hard drives have been known to fail so I wouldn't just back up to a hard drive.

Yes hard drives fail, but if it is a "back up" it implies that it is not the only copy of said files.

I would agree that a single set of files on the main hard drive is asking for trouble, but if you have a second(or external) hard drive with a copy of the files on each it should be pretty safe. IMO it would be a very good solution especially since it takes no real effort to back up this way, while some of us might get lazy burning to DVD or using other methods.


But I do have my raw files on multiple hard drives and I also do a periodic burn to DVD.

 

[safetymom]

I talk with far too many people that just back up to a hard drive because it is cheap and easy.

 

[mabas9395]

Hard drives have been known to fail so I wouldn't just back up to a hard drive.

I wasn't thinking about using an external hard drive to replace my backup internal drive and DVD burning, just adding an off-site external drive backup of my "ghosted" hard drive as an extra layer of backup protection.

 

[gottaluvPluto]

Just bought it, and it occurred to me as I looked at off-brand flashes (Metz 54 and Sigma 500 vs Sony's 56)--where are these things made? With all the quality control issues making the headlines these days, I'm redoubling my efforts to make value decisions, not price decisions.

Having said that, what's the best value? Where are the various flashes made? I noticed my lenses were made someplace that's been having a lot of trouble of late, and would like to avoid any worries.

Comments on effectiveness and how well it plays with the alpha100 are appreciated (feel free to dumb it down, I'm a newbie), as well as guidance on how well (or poorly) the instructions were written (as for comments on using the search function--I did that for several hours yesterday, and not just on this website, so you can skip those comments).

Thanks in advance,

 

[MICKEY88]

Just bought it, and it occurred to me as I looked at off-brand flashes (Metz 54 and Sigma 500 vs Sony's 56)--where are these things made? With all the quality control issues making the headlines these days, I'm redoubling my efforts to make value decisions, not price decisions.

Having said that, what's the best value? Where are the various flashes made? I noticed my lenses were made someplace that's been having a lot of trouble of late, and would like to avoid any worries.

Comments on effectiveness and how well it plays with the alpha100 are appreciated (feel free to dumb it down, I'm a newbie), as well as guidance on how well (or poorly) the instructions were written (as for comments on using the search function--I did that for several hours yesterday, and not just on this website, so you can skip those comments).

Thanks in advance,

I don't have the Sony, but I have a Minolta 7D, ,,I have 2 Sigma 500dg super flashes.

I originally had the Minolta 5600, I bought my first Sigma as a backup flash...

my Minolta died in the middle of a photo shoot so I grabbed the sigma finished the shoot, and was quite pleased with the results,

so pleased in fact that when I found out my Minolta couldn't be repaired, I briefly considered getting the sony 56, which is pretty much a rebranded minolta 5600, but then figure why pay the extra when I knew the sigma did just as good a job for over 100 dollars less, so I bought my second sigma ...

I think they've recently released a newer version that should work well with the new sony dslr.s

 

[gottaluvPluto]

...and the advice. I looked at the new Sigma EF 530 DG Super and the 500 Super, and then saw someone's test photos from a KM3600 (Sony 36), KM 5600 (Sony 56), Sigma 500 Super, and a Metz 54: http://photoclubalpha.com/2007/06/12/flash-choices-for-the-alpha-dslrs/

I didn't want the trouble of figuring out how to mess with the exposure vs. flash power of the Sigma 500, and didn't know if they fixed it with the 530 (no reviews that I could find) and so went with the Sony 56. Several people said to buy the Metz 54 because it gets rid of lazy eye results the other flashes seem to have and because it's such a "great" flash that "you'll be able to use on other cameras if you switch" (like I can just throw $1K+ around on a nice camera and accessories at the drop of a hat); however, the instructions are less than impressive, and it doesn't do HSS off camera (plus it's nearly another $100, even before you find out whether it comes with the shoe adapter for the Sony, which might cost another $100 if you have to order it--it wasn't really clear, and Metz seems to be selling to Nikon and Canon owners anyways--they still refer to their Metz flashes being "for the Minolta").

Nobody ever answered where they were all made, so I'll post that when we receive it. Hope this helps some other photog alpha100 a100 alpha newbie. I'll throw in some more phrases to make this thread come up on your search (I hate searching message forums, the search function always bites, and then some wiseacre always says "Did you even search?"): Sony HVL-F56AM , Sony HVL-F36AM , Sigma EF-500 DG ST, Sigma EF-500 DG Super, Metz Mecablitz 54MZ-4i, Metz SCA 3302 M7 (shoe adapter).

We're looking forward to some nice portraits and landscapes; so far the pictures we've taken are definitely classified under L for learning.

We'll eventually banish the nakedness of our home's walls forever! Cheers!

p.s. Moderator, if search is giving disboards trouble, do what dpreview.com does: limit search to once every 20 seconds! It wasn't too annoying, and probably keeps their servers from getting swamped.

 

[orchjoe]

On average how many compaq flash cards do you bring to Disney??

If you are shooting raw do you bring the big guns (4G or 8G)???

I am trying to deciede what I want to shoot in either raw or jpg....

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Does Compaq make flash cards?

The amount varies a lot from person to person. It depends on what resolution your camera is, whether you shoot RAW, and whether you dump the cards each night. I shoot RAW with an 8mp camera and dump all of my images each night so that I start with clean cards each day. I usually bring a couple of 8 gig cards.

 

[SharonLowe]

Since I have had card failures on all of my 4Gig cards, I no longer use anything larger than 2 gig cards (and they are faster too). As Mark said, it will depend on how many megapixels your camera shoots and whether you do raw, jpeg, or raw+jpeg. I download and back mine up each day but if possible, like to keep them on the card too as a 3rd back-up. So, I have 8 2Gig CF cards, 2 2Gig SD cards (my camera takes both), and 2 1Gig SD cards. My camera is over 16 megapixels and I only shoot in raw, so they take up lots of space. I have filled 16 gigs on a trip; the SD cards serve mostly as back-up but they get used too.

 

[orchjoe]

I am shooting with an canon Xti and I guess I am just worried about having enough room.

Is there a benefit to shooting in raw+jpeg? I mean unless you want to see your pictures right off the bat and be able to process them later.

I have a couple of 1g flash cards but I think I will need an upgrade. I am planning on taking a laptop with me so I can dump the pictures each night I am at the world.

 

[DVC Jen]

I took two 2 gigs, one 1 gig and a 516? does that sound right (something like that). Every night DH dumped all the photos from the day onto his laptop and wrote them to DVD. I don't even want to think about how many cards I would have needed if we didn't dump the files each night.

 

[DarbyB]

I usually take my Rebel with a 2 gig and my Olympus with a 1 gig. But I download each night on my lap top just for safety!

I have been watching the ads and would like to upgrade to a 4 or 8 gig. They are getting less expensive...

My important lesson learned is to bring extra lenses... 2 years ago getting off the monorail at MK a man bumped me and my camera slid off my shoulder and hit the concrete lense first and I spent the rest of the trip shooting with my 75/300 lense. Needless to say I had a lot of fabulous closeups!!