Using iPad Mini to back up SD cards? How?

[Fatamorgana]

How, whilst I am travelling, can I manage to back up the camera’s several 128GB SD cards when all I have is a 16GB Mini iPad?

Is there some logical way, not using a Mac or PC, and just the Mini, that I can back up the SD cards onto a couple of off board hard drives?

Likewise, is there any way I can use the Adobe Lightroom app to work on my iPad Mini whilst having a off-board Hard Drive plugged in? Is that even possible?

Thanks

 

[chscag]

Apple still sells the camera attachment for the iPad which will work with either the older connector or the newer lightning connector. (with adapter) However, there is no way that a full 128 GB SD card can be backed up to an iPad. And likewise you can not connect a hard drive to an iOS device.

But, if you pay extra for iCloud storage or another cloud storage, you could upload the contents of the SD card to the cloud storage and use it from there while on the road. That also goes for other data that you might need to work with. Cloud storage is convenient because it's there whenever you need it and wherever you might be. Assuming of course that you will always have a connection either WiFi or cellular.

 

[Fatamorgana]

Thanks.

Not strictly so-ish, as some HD's have built in WiFi, and so I have watched a movie on an offboard HD equipped with WiFi on my Mini with no attachments.

However, this was via some movie-watching software from Seagate Media, the manufactures of the HD.

I could not see a way to do this and view my images on the HD though. Maybe I am missing some software that would allow this?

A Cloud: I will likely have 2TB of info / images. Is that possible? At what cost I wonder? How do I transfer the data to the Cloud in the first place?

 

[chscag]

There are drives with WiFi capability but they are powered. I don't know if that would work for you and it seems to me a rather inconvenient way if you're on the road. You would have to check the various cloud providers to see how much additional storage over the free amount you can buy and what would it cost. Apple gives you 5 GB for free. As for transferring the data to the cloud storage, you would likely use your Mac while at home before traveling.

 

[Fatamorgana]

Yep, just posted a question to the good folks at Seagate / Licie, and will let you know their thoughts should they have a workable solution.

I am planning on being on the road for 6+ months, hence the desire to do my post production whilst still on the road. I will be travelling by bicycle.

 

[RadDave]

Yep, just posted a question to the good folks at Seagate / Licie, and will let you know their thoughts should they have a workable solution.

I am planning on being on the road for 6+ months, hence the desire to do my post production whilst still on the road. I will be travelling by bicycle.

BOY - 6 months on the road w/ a bicycle - just curious about where you will be traveling and whether you will even have Wi-Fi or celluar available (i.e. is your Mini cellular)? Of course, you will need some type of 'wireless' connection to even use the cloud for that purpose and would have to first transfer your images to the Mini - google 'Dropbox' & 'Apple iCloud' to read descriptions of what these services can do and the cost for additional storage - might be quite prohibited if talking about a TB or more?

Concerning an external HD, there is no way to cabled one to the 'stock' Mini via the lightning adapter port but many 'wireless' HDs exist (as you already know); unfortunately, most of their features seem to be for streaming media rather than file storage; now, a jailbroken iPad might be able to connect, but I have no experience w/ those devices (check the iPad Forums where I'm also a member - there is a subforum on the topic).

Now, there is a device called AirStash Adapter which sets up its own Wi-Fi network and can transfer files, including images between an iDevice and a SD card; large capacity cards can be used, e.g. one could transfer a 'day's work' to the Mini, and then insert a backup SD card in the AirStash device and copy the images back - I own one and the process does work; however, GBs to several TBs of images would seem like a daunting task. Dave

 

[Fatamorgana]

I did something similar in the UK this summer, 5 months and 4000 miles plus.

The issue was the 30,000 images I had on my SD cards, which cost me 5 weeks of backing up and post production.

I am off to the US in the new year and want to do the PP as I travel, there's always WiFi in hostels and cafes etc, so that's what I'll be using.

I'll check out the Amazon product.

Thanks
Tim

 

[Fatamorgana]

An answer from Seagate:

"Thank you for your email. We have a fully wireless product called the Fuel, but it won't be able to accept an SD card. You would need to send the information from the SD card to the Fuel via a computer or wireless device that can accept an SD card. I believe (not 100% certain) that Apple sells an SD card reader that works for the iPad. So if you could transfer the information from the SD card to your iPad, it could then be added to the Fuel. It is also possible that you could transfer directly from the SD card to the Fuel if the SD card is connected to the iPad but I am not 100% certain of this either. Our Technical Support team can potentially provide more information about working with an SD card through an iPad and how it would interact with the Fuel.

Once the content is on the Fuel you can access it on your iPad via the LaCie Media App.

LaCie Fuel: https://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?id=10618

Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Best regards,

LaCie USA Direct Sales"

 

[chscag]

And if you lose that fancy WiFi hard drive or it breaks down, then what? What's wrong with using the cloud? Out clouds work just as well here in the US as they do in the UK.

 

[Fatamorgana]

What if that fancy Cloud is hacked or fails, then what?
What's wrong with proven technology?

I've never used a Cloud which sounds expensive, limited in its capacity, slow and only available in areas of good reception.

Once images are uploaded onto an offboard HD, I can work on them absolutely anywhere, regardless of connectivity.

 

[chas_m]

1. The various uptime record of "clouds" is a order of quantum magnitude higher than any physical equipment you have ever bought. It's polite to remove your (tinfoil) hat when you come in here.

2. The only thing "proven" about "proven technology" is that is proven TO FAIL at some point, usually the worst possible moment. Murphy's Law hasn't been rescinded.

3. You're right that for large amounts of data, a cloud solution is likely too expensive and time-consuming to be practical for the OP, but as an off-site backup it's pretty hard to beat (and again, more reliable than the hard drives you rely on).

There is the IDrive service, that will send you a 1TB or 3TB portable drive for you to copy your data onto and then you ship it back to them and they put it on the cloud for you (free with the storage -- 1TB of storage is $60 per year, yes that's right YEAR). Obviously the delivery part takes a bit of time, but it's probably the fastest way to get 1TB+ worth of data into the cloud, and on top of that the data is end-to-end encrypted using 256-bit AES with the option of a private key that IDrive won't know. I'll wager your backups aren't anywhere near that secure.

I'd personally suggest that the OP look at a method of backing up his SD cards onto an external drive (I think I recall some drives that can read SD cards directly) and locking the SD cards and storing them securely. Or he might consider the IDrive service I mentioned, which I'm sure you'll agree sounds like a very reasonable solution.

 

[Fatamorgana]

Only by exploring the options will I garner the optimum working solutions - so your contribution is valued since not knowing about any Clouds, this info is worthy of further consideration.

As you rightly observe, the Cloud will be hacked or sabotaged, so having both media forms to prevent Murphy from ruining my day is wise.

Receiving postage whilst on the move may be a bit o' a pig as this pre-supposes I am stationary for a few days or I know where I am going to be at any given date and thus can plan ahead, but it is another option and one I will consider given the amounts of data to be backed up. Thanks.

I have looked at WiFi enabled HD's with onboard SD card readers, a USB3 port & I have ordered one accordingly. They're retailing at under £30.

There seems to be an option also of a simple plug-in SD card reader for iPads, or a iPad to USB cable too utilising pre loaded iPad photo software to assign where images are to be stored.

Keep the ideas a rolling in, I'm getting there!
Thanks