How to store all that 4K footage out in the field?

[Ty Harper]

Yes it's great I've seen it before but is there a way to transfer directly from cards to the drive? I've seen a few drives with SD/CF slots for transfer but they all seem to be very low end, for photos and so on. is there some kind of adapter one could use with a regular USB SSD like the Samung? I am but lost in field storage all I have are in-office SSDs into the edit suite where I simply transfer files through PCs, which is not an option to carry a Laptop on the field really.

​

From comments I made on a similar topic in a different forum:

Personally, I went through the same search when I went on vacation a couple months ago. I finally just bit the bullet and picked up the Nexto DI ND2901 (1TB version) with the external battery. I also brought a 2TB WD passport that could connect directly to the Nexto for mobile/computer-free back up although I never needed it. I was shooting ML raw, not 4K. Also, I haven't really checked this further, but I figure you could probably buy the cheapest Nexto version and put your own larger hard drive in it later (although I'm sure it'll void the warranty).
Anyways, I relied on it daily for 2 weeks, and it never let me down. It does present a new level of file management awareness, bcuz the Nexto drive and the external battery become another piece of equipment you have to make sure are both fully charged the night before + you'll want to know exactly how many transfers you can complete in the field before you run out of power.
All that said, no regrets (yet) and media-wise it takes CompactFlash/SD/SDHC/SDXC cards, so I feel like I'm fairly well future proofed (as long as I don't end up with a CFast camera :-)

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1061094-REG/nexto_di_nese_nd29011t...

[jonpais]

Western Digital My Passport Wireless Hard Drive 

http://m.wdc.com/en/product/1330

​This looks like just what you're looking for, and at a reasonable price, too. What concerns me most is its all plastic construction.

On the other hand, while it may be super-convenient for ingesting media out in the field, I think its slow transfer speeds when connecting to a computer would bother me.

[jonpais]

​

From comments I made on a similar topic in a different forum:

Personally, I went through the same search when I went on vacation a couple months ago. I finally just bit the bullet and picked up the Nexto DI ND2901 (1TB version) with the external battery. I also brought a 2TB WD passport that could connect directly to the Nexto for mobile/computer-free back up although I never needed it. I was shooting ML raw, not 4K. Also, I haven't really checked this further, but I figure you could probably buy the cheapest Nexto version and put your own larger hard drive in it later (although I'm sure it'll void the warranty).
Anyways, I relied on it daily for 2 weeks, and it never let me down. It does present a new level of file management awareness, bcuz the Nexto drive and the external battery become another piece of equipment you have to make sure are both fully charged the night before + you'll want to know exactly how many transfers you can complete in the field before you run out of power.
All that said, no regrets (yet) and media-wise it takes CompactFlash/SD/SDHC/SDXC cards, so I feel like I'm fairly well future proofed (as long as I don't end up with a CFast camera :-)

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1061094-REG/nexto_di_nese_nd29011t...

​This device is cool too, but it has limited functionality, as it only does photos, not video.

[Guest Ebrahim Saadawi]

These reviews about the WD My passport do worry me though, it seems a bit too weak, there are more positive reviews than negative though but here they are:

I got the WD 2TB My Passport Wireless to use to back up video footage while traveling so I wouldn't  have to lug around a laptop. It failed miserably. 

I bought it specifically for a trip to Latin America and tested it before I left, configuring it to automatically copy SDs cards upon insertion. It worked fine before I left but while traveling  remote locations with no access to computers, it failed big time. 

I would turn it on and it wouldn't emit a wifi signal. I only wanted to double check that the SD cards transfered but I couldn't get the wifi to work to check. I would shut it down and reboot over and over again but the wifi would never turn on. Luckily some of the places I was staying had wifi and I got the manual to double check the directions. I was doing everything correctly but couldn't connect. 

I tried doing a manual reset to factory setting to try to start over. After doing that, I got the flashing lights that meant that there was some sort of error with the drive. I did the manual reset a few times and got the same lights everytime. I never got it to work during the trip. Luckily I had enough SD cards to shoot everything I needed without having to delete anything. I had no access to buy more cards and the whole time I was without a backups. If disaster had struck I would've been SOL.

When I got home and could connect the HD to a computer, a few files from only one of the SD cards had transfered. Seriously?! I returned the HD. 

Having an SD card slot integrated into an HD for backups on the road without need for a laptop is such a simple idea that would make life so much better but this implementation is terrible and you could get screwed in the end. It failed me but I was lucky that I had my originals intact. A cautionary tale. I would never recommend this HD to anyone who plans to take it traveling. It's completely unreliable. Hopefully the next generation will actually work, or another company will do it better!

 

No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Waste of money

 

On recent travels, we intended to use the device to download files directly from SD Cards as backup. On the first SD card, it worked on the first download, but on the second, it hung up and seemed to get caught in a loop, wearing down the battery, not copying files and finally ending with the dreaded alternate LED red lights blinking. Of course, I did not have a laptop with me to attempt to reset, so it was a doorstop for the remainder of the trip. On returning home, I attempted to run the test app from the dashboard, but that hung, too, so there was no automated way to report to support what was going on. There is nothing great about the product other than its unrealized concept.

No, I would not recommend this to a friend

unreliable
 

This thing is slow, and crashes so much that I don't trust it at all. It sounds like a good idea, but don't waster your money

 

 

No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Great idea but doesn't work in practice. Dont bother

 

Mine was OK at the beginning, though wi-fi data transmission speed was so-so. But at some point the wireless mode became unavailable. When I turn the drive on the red LEDs flicker and no wi-fi network is created by the drive. I've tried resetting to factory defaults, but it has no effect. It works fine as an external drive when connected via USB, but the whole point of wireless connectivity and SD backup is now unavailable for me, that's a pity. No physical damage has been done to the device, though.

 

 

No, I would not recommend this to a friend

 

[MattH]

I found this, it's not an SSD, it is a spinning harddrive (I have really no problem with that they never failed me with normal use).

​You are lucky.  I bought 2 external hardrives for backup years ago and copied everything to both incase one failed.  They both failed within days of each other.  I will never trust Hard drives again for backup.  Multiple optical disk backups is the only thing I am comfortable with.

 

As for that gnarbox  It only has 128gb storage.  one would probably have to connect an external hard drive to it to get any decent storage, then it becomes a lot more complicated.

Im thinking the best option is to just take loads of SD cards and take good care of them.  Anything that could happen to your cards could also happen to a drive anyway.  The only thing backup would ensure against would be card failure.  Do SD cards even fail?

[Nick Hughes]

​You are lucky.  I bought 2 external hardrives for backup years ago and copied everything to both incase one failed.  They both failed within days of each other.  I will never trust Hard drives again for backup.  Multiple optical disk backups is the only thing I am comfortable with.

Were they both new? ​If a hard drive is going to fail, it is most likely going to happen within the first 30 days. If it lasts beyond that, you can be fairly certain you don't have a dud. Sounds like you had some really bad luck with those two. Although, you're right not to trust- when it comes to backups, you have to assume the worst case scenario to be truly safe.

[Baz]

I've been through all the permutations for back up whilst travelling. At the moment I use a Macbook Air 11 inch with at least three small hardrives that carry identical files on each of them. One of these drives never leaves my body, it's always with me. The rest are distributed in my luggage. Talk about paranoia !  I also have started to leave the data on the SD cards so that is another copy. SD cards are so cheap now cost is not a problem.

I'm kind of hoping this new Gnarbox drive is the answer to my dreams for having something even more simpler and lighter, but I'm not holding my breath.

[dahlfors]

I for one do care tremendously about this. As RAW and higher res cameras become more common place, inexpensive storage solutions become extremely important. I would encourage other members to share their practical storage solutions too. This looks great for the field. Personally I'm interested in a 12-20 TB hard drive for studio storage.

For studio use, some kind of NAS solution with Gbps interface will be the most affordable solution. Thunderbolt or similar faster storage solutions tend to cost more.

[bunk]

Western Digital My Passport Wireless Hard Drive 

http://m.wdc.com/en/product/1330

I have an 1T version. Bought it one day before I left to Australia. First time you use you have to set it up. Password, Admin name, simple stuff. I then checked if I could copy files from the sd card to My Passport. Worked fine. Later I connected the disk to my computer and changed the file structure a bit.

Of course when I was in Australia the card reader no longer functioned as it could not find the correct folder. At that moment I wanted to check how well WD wireless drives float in the ocean.

When I calmed down a bit, it turned out that Photo on my Ipad could sent files over to the drive. With the help of Camera Connction kit, which I had taken with me, I copied the files to my Ipad and next from my Ipad to the drive. Not Ideal but it worked.

Once home I reset the drive including file structure and it works fine again. No complains here.

In my case I could not play 4K files on the Ipad, only a thumbnail of the first frame. Ipad2, don't know if newer version are able to play 4K content.

[MattH]

I've been through all the permutations for back up whilst travelling. At the moment I use a Macbook Air 11 inch with at least three small hardrives that carry identical files on each of them. One of these drives never leaves my body, it's always with me. The rest are distributed in my luggage. Talk about paranoia !  I also have started to leave the data on the SD cards so that is another copy. SD cards are so cheap now cost is not a problem.

I'm kind of hoping this new Gnarbox drive is the answer to my dreams for having something even more simpler and lighter, but I'm not holding my breath.

​Not paranoia........... Sense!

[sanveer]

This lools like an excellent solution apart from all the extras that it offers:

 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1028379103/gnarbox-edit-and-share-hd-footage-in-seconds-lapto

[Mat Mayer]

If using micro SD cards you may be able to put it in your phone and then transfer the files to a compact hard drive like the 1 or 2 TB backup Plus Slim Seagate. I never needed it in the end but was told that it would work with the right cable. Fiddly but a tiny solution.

[TSV]

I haven't try their latest version but I believe that this is the BEST way to store footage on the go for anyone that do not want to carry a computer

http://www.nextodiusa.com/

I used to own their very first model a few year back which only support CF cards (equivalent to their ND2730, but with CF slot only). I used this product when covering Events. It was amazingly fast, extremely reliable (never failed me in 4 years of usage) and let me shoot pictures without worrying. 

I am planning to get another one of this since my last 4 days trip the 2 128GB and 2 64GB SDXC I own were not enough and I did not wanted to carry my computer and an external drive. 

These model apparently support Alexa (UDF file format) Files http://www.nextodiusa.com/product/2525A/nvs25_udf_en.html & http://www.nextodiusa.com/product/2501_UDF/en_nvs2501UDF_feature.html 

When I purchased mine (the company just started business in Korea) they sold the unit without any HDD, today apparently it is no longer the case. 

[Guest Ebrahim Saadawi]

If using micro SD cards you may be able to put it in your phone and then transfer the files to a compact hard drive like the 1 or 2 TB backup Plus Slim Seagate. I never needed it in the end but was told that it would work with the right cable. Fiddly but a tiny solution.

That's actually a great idea but only limited by the capacity of the telephone/tablet on which you'll temporarily store the SD files, and then the speed which the files will travel from the device to an external drive using the OTG USB cable (phones are USB 3 now? maybe Apple's Lightning connector?) 

Micro SDs are more expensive than their SD equivalents but they do have the exact same performance and are smaller, and double as easily shareable media when needed, they are physically weaker and more prone to losing though. 

I am going to try this and report back. I have a high-end Sandisk Extreme Pro 64GB Micro SD, will shoot 5GB of test footage in the a6000, see how long it takes to transfer to a Note 4 Samsung (and a Microsoft Surface Tablet) then how long it takes to transfer to an external drive through USB OTG cable.

If it works then someone could get rich selling a package containing the needed cables for all types of phones/tablets that connect to harddrives bundled with a software app that passes the micro SD card upon insertion straight to the external drive, this could make a phone+cable+drive a great backup storage product for videographers/photographers, essentially replacing the the computer/laptop with a phone, phones are computers nowadays anyway so makes since. 

And if Micro SD isn't wanted, perhaps a USB card reader for the phone/tablet can be added to the kit. 

I'll report back if it works, 

[TSV]

MicroSD Cards is the worse possible media to choose from. MicroSD cards has for a very long period of time be the solution of choice for Android powered devices manufacturer like HTC, Samsung, LG and so on while Apple for example never offer such solution. No let's put a side the fact the Apple want to secure their device for a minute and concentrate on why MicroSD cards are bad. Several studies has been made that MicroSD cards are in fact the cause of many problems with these devices for two major reasons :

1. Speed issue Vs Internal memory
2. High failure rate Vs Internal memory

Because of these two major reasons, Android powered device manufacturer are now moving slowly but surely away from MicroSD cards in favour of internal memory.

Now if such companies are going away from MicroSD cards we should then consider the fact that they may be write about these products.

Personally I tend to agree, I had in the past many faulty MicroSD cards on my phones and since then I try to go away from them.

[Guest Ebrahim Saadawi]

In terms of speed there's no difference between using an SD card vs an equivalent Micro SD card + simple adapter, zero difference, it's just pins relocation. And failure rate, my Extreme Pro 64GB seems to built to the same high standards as pro-video SD cards, just smaller. I think the reason why people are not aware Micro SD cards are capable of being used in professional environments is psychological factors of linking them to phones and their small size, as well as they were crap when firt came out. Now they're just as good as SD and run at the exact same speeds, there even are 265GB Micro SDs available. 

Failure rate, I can't comment on it, this would require me to buy at least a hundred units from each manufacturer and run year-old testing on SDs vs equivalent Micro SDs from the same manufacturers, which is way out of my hands. But for me, Micro SDs never failed on me, neither did SDs, never. Maybe I am a lucky man. One thing is, they are small, very, very, very small, it's astonishing how they can carry a quarter TB in a nail-size device, and that makes them more prone to losing, which zi have done many times. I never lost an SD but lost about 6 Micro SDs, my fault though. 

[dahlfors]

The speed difference between internal memory in phones and using SD cards is mainly due to higher latency and low I/O on memory cards (and partly due to controllers), there's nothing wrong with the speeds of sequential reads and writes. For photography and video sequential reads & writes are the only type of data access performance that matters.