Camera to hard disk connection

[James Pilcher]

Hi folks,

I'm contemplating another African safari. Possibly five weeks in the bush. I shot film last time. Now, in this digital age, is there any way to attach a USB external hard disk directly to a DSLR body and download photos sans computer? I anticipate having electrical power, so I won't need a battery-operated PSD. I'm thinking a 320-750GB drive.

I think this direct download capability would be way useful in the E-3, if we don't already have it in the current cameras.

[Bob&Glennie]

Jim, have I got the answer for you! Epson P3000 or P5000 40gb and 80gb battery operated hard drive that reads and stores the contents of your CF or SD card. They will also read and transfer image files, video files and MP3 files to and from any USB external drive and to and from your windows box via USB.
Some limitations you should know about.

1) They will not transfer to and from your computer or any external USB device UNLESS the AC power supply is connected.

2) They support RAW (including .org from E500 and E1) and .jpeg only ... no tiff. Not sure about E510 or E410 RAW.

They will, however, load from your CF or SD card on battery power only.

I have one that I take with me into the Canadian wilderness with one spare battery. I often go out with my canoe and my camera for 1-2 weeks at a time. They have a very nice 4" viewing screen and I use it to free up my CF cards at the end of a day and to view my days images on the nice big screen.

Bob

[mckennma]

I use a Wolverine MVP-9000 device. It is a battery powered card reader with hard drive from www.wolverinedata.com . They have other decent devices. A hard drive directly off the camera would be impossible because of the battery life. I like the MVP device. I plan on putting in a Seagate 7200.1 100GB hard drive in it.

[First Light]

Hi Jim,

Sorry, but what you want to do is not yet possible. You cannot connect your camera directly to an external storage device of any kind.

You'll have to use one of the suggestions posted by Bob or Michael and remove the flash memory card from your camera and transfer your images directly from it to the external storage device of your choice.

[NVD42]

Since I stay in Africa.. where are you planning to go ?

If I can help - please ask ? I don't look at PM's on the site (or rather forget 2) my e mail is : nvdiemen @ law . co .za (ex spaces) Don't mind if you discuss things here might just be easier on e-mail for some stuff..

I use a vusonic like Ozray in the field workd very well - but agree that a usb hook-up direct from Cam would be very nice indeed - Batt life the HDD just needs own power/batt but it means not removing CF card and even if it "draws" from camera it means that you only take extra cam batt.. and one charger - I think the Camera makers are missing a trick - They would prob overcharge but a dedicated with advantages back-up device I think will sell ?

Enjoy
Nico

[mckennma]

I like the Wolverine devices. The error correction can detect a bad media card and prevent loss of pictures. They are slower. I am looking at installing a Seagate 7200.1 ATA100 100GB hard drive to improve performance over the Toshiba drives they use.

[Johnmcl7]

Hi Jim,

Sorry, but what you want to do is not yet possible. You cannot connect your camera directly to an external storage device of any kind.

That's not the case at all - there have been external storage devices with USB host capability for a while now, it's one of the reasons I like Archos devices as I'm using mine(Archos 504) while away on holiday to back up pictures as I didn't want to take a PC. It's only 160GB but if needed, it can also manage other higher capacity storage devices.

The main issue with USB host external storage implementations is that they have to be FAT32 which can be an issue for some devices but I can't really see it being a problem for a camera.

There are small dedicated devices which allow you to connect two usb slave devices together (such as a camera and hard drive) but they look a bit simple to me, I personally prefer being able to check the data afterwards to make sure it's ok.

John

[HKRZ]

Hi!,
I'am new to this forum so first of all I would like to say hello to everyone.

I think that a simple solution to this problem could be this
http://www.welland.com.tw/html/otg/940ao.html. It's very basic, but it's main advantage that it works only on four AA bateries (can copy around 4GB on that) and works with any hard disk. It's cheap.

[First Light]

That's not the case at all - there have been external storage devices with USB host capability for a while now, it's one of the reasons I like Archos devices as I'm using mine(Archos 504) while away on holiday to back up pictures as I didn't want to take a PC. It's only 160GB but if needed, it can also manage other higher capacity storage devices. ...

Hi John,

Have you actually done what you describe with an Olympus 4/3rds camera? If "yes", then please provide the details (which camera model have you successfully used with your Archos 504?). Unless the new Olympus E-series cameras are different than an E-1, then I don't understand how they could work. Here's why neither of my E-1 cameras can connect directly to an external storage device without a computer: Both the USB and 1394 (firewire) interfaces provided in the camera require an Olympus driver. The USB interface in my PC can act as a "host" and it still will NOT connect to either of my cameras until the Olympus driver is installed in the computer. Unless the external storage device is running a compatible version of Microsoft Windows or Apple OS/X, you won't be able to install the required driver. Remember, that Jim is asking about using an external storage device without a computer.

I'm not familiar with the Panasonic and Leica models. Their USB interfaces may be different than the Olympus cameras and they may be able to work with a device like you described. Are you using one of them?

[James Pilcher]

Hi folks,

I'm contemplating another African safari. Possibly five weeks in the bush. I shot film last time. Now, in this digital age, is there any way to attach a USB external hard disk directly to a DSLR body and download photos sans computer? I anticipate having electrical power, so I won't need a battery-operated PSD. I'm thinking a 320-750GB drive.

I think this direct download capability would be way useful in the E-3, if we don't already have it in the current cameras.

Having read all responses, it appears that the August, 2007 state of the art is not quite where I was hoping. The most promising solutiuon appears to be the Epson PSD as an intermediate step in getting the files from a CF card to a larger hard disk attached to the main power grid. Essentially, the Epson acts at the PC between the camera and external USB drive. AND it gives me a visual confirmation that my images really are on the disk. That's a big plus IMO.

I want more space than a PSD currently offers so I don't have to think or worry about editing while in the bush. The two-step process of CF card to PSD nightly and then PSD to hard disk every few days would not be so onerous as long as power is reliable on that second leg of the journey. Hmmm...I'll have to think about that.

What I really want is to eliminate the PSD and use the LCD on the camera as my visual confirmation that files get to the large hard disk. Maybe 2008 or ???? will bring that capability.

Thanks all for your thoughts.

[mckennma]

Power is your problem. Most 3.5" hard drives need 5-11W to work due to size of the platter and servos. Laptop hard drives are much smaller in size so they take 1.1W to work. I would suggest getting a portable device that can use the new 2.5" laptop 160GB hard drives and buy 5-6 hard drive that you can remove and replace. They are not that difficult to do. How many pictures were you planning on taking? Are you shooting in RAW or JPG? My Wolverine with 60GB hard drive can store around 3900 RAW E-500 pictures. A 100GB hard drive on E-500 can do 6487.

[Michael Meissner]

Hi folks,

I'm contemplating another African safari. Possibly five weeks in the bush. I shot film last time. Now, in this digital age, is there any way to attach a USB external hard disk directly to a DSLR body and download photos sans computer? I anticipate having electrical power, so I won't need a battery-operated PSD. I'm thinking a 320-750GB drive.

I think this direct download capability would be way useful in the E-3, if we don't already have it in the current cameras.

One product that sort of meets your needs is wi-pics.com. The disk drive with wi-pics is rather small (20 gigabytes, might as well use a 16 gigabyte CF card), but you could use Wifi connection to upload to a laptop in real time:
http://www.wi-pics.com/index.html

There is a competitor for wi-pics that I'm blanking on right now.

[jonr]

I have one of these, and like it very much.



Just pop in the CF, press a button, and the gizmo copies everything off the card to a lap top HD.

It is cheap, runs on a cellphone battery, charges either through USB or dedicated charger. Just add 2.5" drive of your choice.

http://www.task.is/?prodid=2441

[NVD42]

Hi James
I use a inverter when out in the bush - 12V to 220/240V they are freely available in South Africa and thus power can be had from any vehicle - I have also experienced that a lot of the pvt bush operators have these built into their game drive vehicles...

In SA you can make DVD back-ups if you are not planning to bring Laptop with ???

What are your plans ? Kenia/Tanzania or more to our South Side of the Continent ?

Well pop me an e-mail...

Nico

[Johnmcl7]

Hi John,

Have you actually done what you describe with an Olympus 4/3rds camera? If "yes", then please provide the details (which camera model have you successfully used with your Archos 504?). Unless the new Olympus E-series cameras are different than an E-1, then I don't understand how they could work. Here's why neither of my E-1 cameras can connect directly to an external storage device without a computer: Both the USB and 1394 (firewire) interfaces provided in the camera require an Olympus driver. The USB interface in my PC can act as a "host" and it still will NOT connect to either of my cameras until the Olympus driver is installed in the computer. Unless the external storage device is running a compatible version of Microsoft Windows or Apple OS/X, you won't be able to install the required driver. Remember, that Jim is asking about using an external storage device without a computer.

I'm not familiar with the Panasonic and Leica models. Their USB interfaces may be different than the Olympus cameras and they may be able to work with a device like you described. Are you using one of them?

It works fine with the E-1, E-330, L1, E-500 and E-510 - the latter being the camera I was using when on holiday. The E-510 supports both standard mass storage and PTP (or MTP which I think is the general abbreviation), each evening when I came back in from shooting for the day I simply plugged the E-510 into the Archos, fired up the file browser and set it to copy all files to a location of my choice on the Archos.

I don't know why your E-1 needs specific drivers as mine does not, it simply uses the Windows generic USB mass storage device driver - I've just plugged it into a PC with no Olympus software on it, Windows identified it as a mass storage device and loaded it with the standard driver. The only difference with the L1 and Olympus models is that it's a single port which uses a standard mini USB cable unlike the E-500 and later which use a combined port. Also unlike the E-500/E-330, the L1 is full USB2 speed as unlike the E-1 the E-500/E-330 are only USB 1.1 speed. From a software point of view it also uses the Windows mass storage device driver.

I'm rather ashamed to admit I was cursing the Archos as I couldn't seem to get it working with the E-510 just before I was going away and when I couldn't get any more CF cards. I was getting various errors so it was off on the hunt online to find a solution as I assumed there must be something up with the E-510 interface. In disgust I ended just whipping the E-510 usb cable out, resetting the E-510 back to standard shooting mode showing 'no card' error in red...that explained why it wasn't working I plugged the CF card in and sure enough the Archos straight away found the E-510 and had no trouble finding the pictures. In my defence you'd think the E-510 wouldn't let you select USB storage/MTP when there's no card there but it does.

John

[mckennma]

Does the Archos have a 3.5" full hard drive or just smaller laptop hard drive? I believe he wanted 750GB drive for pictures.

[Johnmcl7]

The Archos is my solution - my post above was simply to demonstrate the Olympus cameras use a standard mass storage device driver. Additionally, although the Archos only Archos has a laptop drive (which is user replaceable and are up to 300GB now) it can also work as a go between allowing you to copy data to it, then an external hard drive. While this may seem like a bit of a clumsy setup, the other systems I've seen for allowing direct connection between the camera and hard drive don't allow you to verify the data. With the Archos, if I'm shooting raw+jpg I can view the jpegs and their exif information to check the data has transferred across successfully.

John

[Duchie]

I have the 504 Archos 30GB, and I use it to also record from my satellite dish with the optional dock.....it is awesome. I was wondering if it could be used to download photos directly from the camera. That is fabulous news....any particulars I should know for taking the photos off my camera?

[Johnmcl7]

Is this the dock you have?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Archos-DVR-S...6698579&sr=8-1

If so, then hooking the camera up is a breeze - on the lower right hand side you'll find a standard USB port under a sliding metal cover (below the mini USB port). With the Archos docked it should automatically be powered up, plug the Olympus USB cable into this USB port and power the camera up choosing storage if needed. At this point the Archos should recognise the camera and after a brief delay it will launch the file browser with the Olympus data on the left and your Archos file system on the right - you can use to the two arrowed button (with two right angle arrows, looks like a refresh button) to skip between left and right. Once you've chosen a directory to copy to, move back to the left and choose the menu option 'copy all files', it's a fairly useful copy system in that you have the option to skip existing files if you're copying a card which has new pictures alongside existing ones.

If you find the feature useful I'd recommend having a look at the travel adapter:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Archos-Docki...6698579&sr=8-3

It's irritating that the Archos doesn't come with this functionality onboard but at least it is an option - with this small adapter you get the USB host capability as well as being able to use a standard mini usb cable (rather than the custom Archos usb cable) and charge from the mains.

John

[Duchie]

Yes, that's it, John! I am considering the travel adapter now that you've pointed it out to me......thanks for the instructions!

[Johnmcl7]

Glad to have helped, try out your main dock first and see if you're happy with the way it works with the camera hooked in - it's a little clumsy without a touch screen but it works well, you just need to browse to the pictures on the left then the folder of the choice on your right, hit menu and copy all files. It's not that fast especially when copying a four gig CF card but I don't mind the slightly longer time for the convenience of it.

I'm pleased with the travel kit, although I think it should really have been bundled with the Archos at least the docks are a reasonable price for what you get - many companies these days give you a good price for the mp3 player and then completely fleece you on the accessories.

John

[jtsmall]

It's not that fast especially when copying a four gig CF card but I don't mind the slightly longer time for the convenience of it.

Is the speed on par with a typical CF to PSD transfer?

Would the Archos 404 with the 3.5" 4:3 format screen be a viable alternative if using for photos mostly? If so, could one pull out the 30gb hd and replace with a larger drive if the need arose?

Thanks.

[Johnmcl7]

I didn't time the transfer but it seemed to be around two seconds per picture which I would say is slower than the E-510 connected directly to the PC. I'll try some measurements later to get some more accurate figures if that would be helpful.

The Archos 404 uses a different type of hard drive to the 504 - the latter uses a standard 2.5 inch hard drive hence the larger size of the device and the higher 160gb capacity. I haven't looked into upgrading mine as it has the biggest IDE drive already.

The 404 and 604 use a physically smaller 1.8 inch hard drive which currently go up to around 100GB or possibly more now. However they tend not to be easy to upgrade as there are two different types and some manufacturers solder them into the device so I'm not sure if you can upgrade. I honestly have no idea though as it's not something I've looked into at all.

The Archos doesn't support ORFs so you you can only view the pictures if you're a jpeg shooter, I think some of the dedicated photo devices are better in that respect although they seemed a lot more pricey to me.

John

[jtsmall]

So the 504 seems the best deal in terms of storage capacity. I current dump the CF (RAW plus jpeg) to a Digimate II (currently with 60gb drives that I dump periodically to 3.5" 500gb drives) and then plug it into my notebook USB to review and edit. But it would be nice to review the shoot sans notebook ... and the other things one can do with the Archos.

Thanks.