Dan Martin

Just picked up a 20GB Smartdisk Fotochute yesterday and I must say I'm pretty impressed. It's super simple to use, yet very flexible in application. It has a standard USB port on it so you can connect a variety of different storage devices for backup. Most photographers would just plug in a standard card reader into the port and back up their flash cards, but it will also allow you to connect your camera directly to the unit and back up that way. Since it's a standard USB port, you can also back up memory keys, or perhaps a MP3 player.

Backing up is as simple as connecting the card reader to the unit, turning it on, and pushing the backup button. I love simplicity. No need for bells and whistles, just backup my card please! Ideally, you would have two cards for your camera, so you can backup one and continue shooting with the other. Backups take between 6-8 minutes for a 1GB card.

There is a little LCD screen that you use to navigate through the directory tree stored on the hard drive and perform some basic copy/paste/delete commands.

Currently there are two versions of the Fotochute. Both are 20GB, the only difference is one has an LCD whereas the cheaper one only has the backup button. The LCD version goes for about $200, and the non-LCD goes for about $150. For the $50 difference you gain the ability to see your directory structure, check disk space, view the charge left on your battery, and watch the status of the backup. I think it's probably worth the extra bucks, but it's nice that they give you a choice.

We're going on a trip to Quebec City at the end of the week so I'll follow up with some field results.

Dan Martin

I'd also like to mention one other similar product that is highly recommended. It's called the Hyperdrive: http://www.hyperdrive.com/shop/index.php?cPath=1

I probably would have gone with the Hyperdrive, but they are on backorder and I wanted something before the end of the week.

They use standard laptop hard drives and take AA batteries which is very convenient. It also has a built in card reader but no usb-drive support. Apparently they are very quick; about 3-4 times faster than the Fotochute. However, speed really isn't too much of an issue if you have two cards. Just shoot with one while the machine does the backup of the other.

The hyperdrive is about the size of a typical external 2.5" hd enclosure, and the Fotochute is about the size of a mini-disk player. Considering the amount of junk I've got in my backpack, every bit counts.

Handruin

Damnit Dan...I'll be copying you again on another cool gizmo. I posted a link in another thread for the non-LCD version of this since I've been keeping an eye on one of these for my trip in April. Buying this thing is cheaper than buying several more 2GB CF sticks! My only concern is if the images will get erased/corrupted if the thing is xrayed at the airport?

Dan Martin

It uses the same technology as a laptop hard drive, so you shouldn't worry about xrays. If I'm going on a long trip, I'll probably back up the drive on my laptop for extra redundancy.

srika

wow this is cool, this is my fav feature:

that is KILLER - it's like having a pocket-sized laptop with you!

srika

so how is this doohicky working out for you? care to share some field notes?

ChodTheWacko

In the past I used a similar device. I've actually used two of them, the last being a 'tripper', which occasionally I loan to someone for use as an external hard drive.

one turn-off of these devices is that you can't easily verify the copy. I had a problem once where somehow the copy said it copied okay, but the directores were somehow getting corrupted.

Luckily, i used photorescue to recover all my pictures. After that I considered using a device with a lcd screen so I can actually see the pictures later, but I ended up just using my laptop so not only can I review previous pictures but actually mess around with them on the plane ride home.

I suspect later that my problems stemmed from someone using it to create chinese directories on it for storing songs, but I was never entirely sure.

Billiam

I have to admit that with the ever increasing size of flash media, I see less and less use for this kind of device unless you do not own a laptop. Either that or you're on a backpacking/rafting adventure of some sort wher a laptop is out of the question.

Street Spirit

Dan used it a few times while we were away to back-up both his and my cards. I haven't used it personally, but it seemed to transfer everything pretty fast, and worked just fine (he'll be able to comment in more detail). I think it's a great product to have while away or mid-shoot. IMO, sometimes much easier and more sensical than having to carry around a laptop, although I can definitely understand the concerns Chod mentioned. The size and portability make it great for when you're hiking and shooting, or even just wandering around for the day, and can't lug anything beyond your gear.

Dan Martin

It has been excellent so far. Zero complaints.

One major benefit that I didn't realize is that because it's a hard drive, its eleventy-bajillion times faster to transfer over the files to your computer compared to sitting at your desk with a stack of CF cards reading one by one. Yes, it takes a few minutes to copy a card onto the drive when your in the field, but really, you just plug the card in, press backup, and keep shooting with the second card. You don't have any down time.

Then when you get home, you just plug the fotochute in and copy off it like you would any other external drive. I think you could empty the 20GB hd in less than 5 minutes, compared to well over an hour if you were doing individual CF cards with a card reader.

One really nice thing is it creates a new folder for every backup it does, so if you're going to multiple locations in a day, you can backup your card at the end of each shoot and it will store the files separately, instead of lumping your whole day's worth of shots into a single folder. It just makes it quicker to sort through them once you have the folders on your PC.

If I was going on a long trip, my backup method would likely be something like this:
1) shoot in the field with CF cards
2) when the card is full, dump it to the fotochute
3) at night, use laptop to burn day's shots onto CD/DVD

I don't trust any one form of media to backup my data, so with this routine I would have both optical and magnetic backups, and possibly even flash memory if I haven't overwriten the cards yet.

ChodTheWacko

How much memory do you burn through in a day?

I do a similar thing, but I generally keep enough CF with me to last me a day, so there's no need to dump during midday.

Dan Martin

The folder from our weekend trip is a little under 6GB. I shoot RAW exclusively which eats up more space.