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Different Socks
11-09-2010, 00:24
I am not as computer savvy as I'd like to be. How do hikers that are out for a good length of time empty their SD cards? What/How do you save the pictures for your return? Let's say that you send the card home or to a base of operations, do you have that person store the pictures on your pc, their pc, or is their another way I'm not familiar with? Do you always carry a spare?

aaronthebugbuffet
11-09-2010, 00:30
If your camera supports it there are high capacity cards that will hold a few thousand images.
Or you can take multiple cards and just send them home when full.

Iceaxe
11-09-2010, 00:39
Hey D. Socks!
You share a trail name with a hiker friend of mine from the PCT in '09.
Anyways, I wondered the same thing. On the PCT I carried several 2 GB SD cards and even went to the trouble of having CD's made in towns along the trail, mailing them home for safe keeping.
But then I found I could not bring myself to delete the cards anyways so I just kept them being sure to flick the lock on the SD cards as I filled them.
For the CDT I purchased 2- SDHC 4 GB memory cards and never backed them up. I think I filled the first one somewhere in Wyoming and half filled the second by the time I reached Canada.
Be aware there is a difference between SD and SDHC cards. If you have an older camera it might not support the SDHC's.
Anyhow if you do decide to back up your cards you can do so many places in towns where there is a drug store with a photo lab.. target.. etc. It was something like 20 bucks when I did it on the PCT plus I shipped the CD home.
One amazing thing about these little SD cards it that they are nearly indestructible. I washed one by mistake and it suffered no ill effects and kept all it's photos intact. Now someone is going to post about how they lost all their pictures cause the relied on one card! I guess it could happen.
YMMV:D

Johnny Thunder
11-09-2010, 00:44
SD cards are really cheap on Ebay (aka. SD cards that fell off the back of some truck in china sold for 10 cents on the dollar). Depending on the size of your camera and the amount of pictures you'll take you should be able to get enough memory to last a thru-hike (or more) for less than $40. I saw an 8 gig card for $40 on sale at staples once which is enough for me and my camera to go up the AT and that was retail price.

Personally, I'd never send anything that important through the mail.

4eyedbuzzard
11-09-2010, 00:52
I picked up a few 4gb sdhc cards at W-M for 9.99 ea. on black friday last year. Watch for deals this month at W-M, Staples, etc.

strollingalong
11-09-2010, 00:55
I'd never send through the mail and don't buy cheap rubbish. youll lose data that way. not worth it, get the decent brand.

BrianLe
11-09-2010, 03:02
I did the "mail CD home" thing this year too, deleted the photos off my smartphone after my wife confirmed that the CD had made it home intact and was readable. Took a bit of time during a Nero at a local drug store, but ultimately not that difficult.

I'm not sure if the process works the same at all of these places, but in my case it was an employee that did the file transfer, not me doing it directly. So I didn't end up 100% certain that all of the files got onto the CD, so a suggestion would be to take a count of total photos that you think are on the resulting CD, and then if you have someone at home that can look at the CD contents, ask them how many photos they actually received --- only deleting files if the counts match (!).

Apart from freeing up space, I felt happier when I good chunk of my photos were safe at home so that if my phone were later lost or damaged I would at least not lose all the trip photos as a result.

M1 Thumb
11-09-2010, 06:56
I would just go with the highest capacity SD card your camera will support. I have a 14M pixel camera with a 32 G SDHC card and it will hold over 5,000 pics at the highest resolution. For me that is more than enough for an entire trip unless I start shooting video on the camera. Multiple cards will be necessary if you shoot much video.

Bucherm
11-09-2010, 07:09
Dunno, I'd rather have a lower(4GB say) capacity card that writes faster than cheaper high capacity cards. It just frustrates the hell out of me taking pictures and watching it pause while it writes the image to the card.

swash
11-09-2010, 08:27
If your camera supports SDHC the highest capacity you can get is 32GB. If you find one cheap on sale go for that, it'll last you a life time. It's easier to just get the biggest one your wallet can afford so that you do not have to worry about sending them home, or running out of space. Now if your lucky enough to have a camera that takes SDXC memory cards you can go all the way up to 2TB

bigcranky
11-09-2010, 19:22
Costco sells reasonably fast 8GB SDHC cards from Sandisk for about $50 for *two* cards -- these are often on sale for $40 or so for the pair. A couple of sets of these might cover an entire thru-hike.

bus
11-11-2010, 16:48
get a few 4 or 8gb cards, just tuck them away as they fill up. They are so light weight will be negligible.

I say use more than one in case one fails. Which, if you have more than one wont happen, but, if you just take one, will happen ;)

FlyPaper
11-11-2010, 17:08
If your camera supports SDHC the highest capacity you can get is 32GB. If you find one cheap on sale go for that, it'll last you a life time. It's easier to just get the biggest one your wallet can afford so that you do not have to worry about sending them home, or running out of space. Now if your lucky enough to have a camera that takes SDXC memory cards you can go all the way up to 2TB

My take on all this...

A 32GB card can certainly hold enough pictures, but it's kind of putting all your eggs in one basket. One single malfunction, or one camera dropped in a mud-puddle in Maine and all your pictures are gone.

As far as mailing priceless memories go, I am in my 40s and can not think of a single time the USPS has lost anything mailed by me or to me when mailed to the right address. I would think mailing an SD card would be relatively safe, especially if you use less capacity and mail one once every couple of weeks (not risking a total loss by losing a single 32GB card with 5000 pictures on it). Seems like you're 50 times more likely to drop your camera into a creek than you are to have your SD card lost in the mail. In light of that, it seems overkill to worry about the actual risk while in transit.

Now if you're relying on the Post Office to correctly forward your letter to the right place, or you don't put sufficient postage on it, all bets are off. But that is completely in your control.

I would get a few 1 to 4 GB cards and mail them to someone every few weeks. If you have mail drops planned, you can have someone empty the SD cards and mail them ahead so you don't have to buy too many SD cards.

Blissful
11-11-2010, 17:21
I used one card for my trip. I'd never mail them, many have lost cards in the mail that way.

Marta
11-12-2010, 08:13
I mailed cards to a friend. Didn't lose any, though I've heard of people who have. I've heard of lots more people who have lost cameras, though, so I'd be wary of having all my photos on one card.

4eyedbuzzard
11-12-2010, 10:07
FWIW regarding USPS, I've lost more photos to hard drive crashes, had data in other formats corrupted, and e-mail attachments messed up than I've ever had pieces of snail mail lost. But I'd just back-up and/or transmit the photos at convenient intervals along the way. Burning them on two discs at a drugstore or uploading them to 2 different web storage (make sure the resolution is kept intact) sites would be my plan.

art gypsy
11-12-2010, 18:15
I say don't put all your eggs in one basket. As a pro, I have been known to fill an 8 gig card or two a week when actively shooting. I plan on taking several of these on the trail next year. I thought of getting bigger cards, but was hiking to Katahdin Stream Falls in the rain when the cardholder broke off of the camera strap. I was halfway to Portland when I realized it was gone. I lost and found at Baxter and was amazed 3 days later to get a call that my cards had been found by the stream and turned in. Those pictures are priceless to me and having them returned was the best trail magic ever for me.

walkin' wally
11-12-2010, 19:18
If your camera supports it there are high capacity cards that will hold a few thousand images.
Or you can take multiple cards and just send them home when full.

How do I know if my camera will support a higher capacity card? I have an 8 GB SDHC now in my camera which is a fairly new Canon A2000. Will my camera support a 16 GB card? What are the reasons not?

I would like to shoot a little video on my thru this coming March.

Thanks

4eyedbuzzard
11-12-2010, 22:01
How do I know if my camera will support a higher capacity card? I have an 8 GB SDHC now in my camera which is a fairly new Canon A2000. Will my camera support a 16 GB card? What are the reasons not?

I would like to shoot a little video on my thru this coming March.

Thanks
SDHC cards are available from 4GB up to 32GB. Your Canon will work with any SDHC card because it supports the SDHC 2.00 specification. There is also the issue of data transfer speed, and there are 3 classes - Classes 2, 4, and 6 with transfer rates of 2, 4, and 6 MB/sec respectively. This is the theoretical speed limit your camera will write to the card at. An hour of 640 x 480 video will consume about 8 GB.

chris948
11-14-2010, 19:02
Will my camera support a 16 GB card? What are the reasons not?


Your camera will, just a warning, a lot of cheap SD card readers that you see on sale online and in some electronics stores still don't read SDHC, which amazes me.

Not a problem if you're like 90% of the people that plug the camera into your computer, but if you try a reader, keep it in mind.

leaftye
11-14-2010, 19:09
I bounced a computer. I'd copy my pictures to the computer and use the computer to upload the pictures when I had a chance. I may use a different computer next time. The HP Slate 500 is looking good.

Wise Old Owl
11-14-2010, 19:15
I don't get it - I slip the cards into the laptop - move the pics to the PC - Fix them - burn the pics to CD - PRICELESS!


Call a freind, do a poll of the Audience - get someone to show you how its done.... It not.....

http://www.beendeleted.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/rocket-science.jpg

kayak karl
11-14-2010, 19:27
Cuffs posted way back, somewhere, some site, some place that she takes a pic of her business card and locks that pic on the chip so it can't be erased. ive always done that since i read that. i left a chip in a hostel puter and they returned it to me.:)

C Seeker
11-15-2010, 10:35
Depending on how photogenic you are and how many photos your card holds. I am planning on have 1 or two cards with me. Once I fill it up, I would mail it home and have it ripped to a flashdrive. Then already have one waiting for me in a mailbox. It take a little of planning but I think it will work.

FarmerWastson
11-27-2012, 02:19
Depending on how photogenic you are and how many photos your card holds. I am planning on have 1 or two cards with me. Once I fill it up, I would mail it home and have it ripped to a flashdrive. Then already have one waiting for me in a mailbox. It take a little of planning but I think it will work.

Yeah, its good idea. I think it will work!
But you need to have perfect planing for that.

fredmugs
11-27-2012, 07:52
If you taking video at 720p or higher you need a Class 10 card. Period. Two of these are pretty much all you'll need.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003VNKNEQ/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i01

When I hiked the JMT in Sept I took some amazing 1080P video. I have also taken videos at concerts that were good enough to have the artist post them on their YouTube page. You have to have a card that writes fast enough if you're using a higher quality camera.

If you have an old camera and you're not sure of the specs check out a site called Steve's Digicams. Or even if you're looking for a new one.

atraildreamer
11-27-2012, 13:54
Got a 4 G memory card for my SD phone... $4 on Amazon.com.