Digitalfoci's Photo Safe II digital archive Photo by Doug Bardwell
This is part four of my veritable TOP TEN THINGS TO PACK WHEN TRAVELING list. Today, I want to focus again on traveling safer.
Whether out on assignment for a photo story or just traveling for fun, we are shooting digital photos by the hundreds. With digital cameras, we no longer have the possibility of our film being trashed by x-ray machines but there are two other big dangers. Losing a flash card or possibly erasing it are the modern day equivalents.
A back up methodology is required if the photos are of any importance to you. The more important the photos, the more back-ups you should have.Photo Safe II is a very reasonably priced portable hard drive that doesn’t need a computer to back up your cards. Just put your card in and press Copy to back up any CF Type I (including Sandisk Extreme III, IV), SD (including SDHC), miniSD, MMC, MS, MS Duo, MS PRO Duo, or xD-Picture card. Models are available in either 250 GB or 500 GB.
I try to ideally have three copies of my files before I get on the plane to come home. I keep the original copies on the flash cards which I keep in my carry-on bag. A second copy of the cards is made on the way back to my motel on the Photo-Safe II, which I will put in a second bag for the trip home. When I get to the motel, I immediately load the photos into Lightroom on my laptop, which creates the third copy of my files. My laptop then goes in yet another bag for the trip home. When I board the plane, one or two copies are in the luggage hold and the other one or two are with me under the seat or in the overhead bin. I’ve had luggage stolen before, but they didn’t get the only copy of my photos.
While your card is downloading to the Photo Safe II, the LCD screen shows you percentage completed and number of files copied. I was able to copy over 15 GB on one charge of the internal battery pack, which takes two hours to fully recharge after the first time. The device charges by plugging into your computer or external power adapter, like the Belkin Mini Surge reviewed here. Back at the office/home, the Photo Safe II plugs into your computer with a standard USB 2 cable and shows up on your PC or MAC as a standard harddrive. It acts just like an additional drive so you can use it to transport other files as well as photos. Final word, shop around at the vendors listed below. Prices vary.
idox iPhone holder Photo courtesy of idox360.com
Our second item is called the idox360. It’s the simplest of all the gadgets we’re reviewing here in this series. In a nutshell, it wraps around your iPhone or iTouch or Nano 4G or 5G and provides a horizontal (or vertical) stand for the device on your desk. Your device clips in securely and is set at the perfect viewing angle. All the controls are still accessible and a power cord can be attached as well as headphones without removing the device from the idox360.
When you are ready to travel, you can flip the lip around to the front and it becomes a protective carrier, sort of like a clam shell. Answering the phone with the idox360 is easiest done in the handsfree speaker mode. If you want to just take your iPhone without the idox360, you can merely rest the phone on the idox360 without snapping it into place. That way, it’s ready to go on a moment’s notice. See the photos in the slide show below.
If you missed part one, two or three of this series, you can go back by clicking on the links. Since this report will continue for the next week. You might want to "Subscribe" above, so you don't miss any of the posts. You can easily unsubscribe at any time if you want and I guarantee you won't be spammed. Check out the slideshow for more pics of the products featured in this series.
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Doug Bardwell, based in Cleveland, OH, writes about interesting new travel and photography topics across the country and around the world. Feel free to drop him a line at travel.dougbardwell@gmail.com with suggestions for future stories.
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