I'm hoping for some suggestions from folks who shoot RAW & have to deal with the large file sizes. I've done some research online & haven't really found a great  answer. Please bear in mind that I am not a professional photographer, nor am I independently wealthy - which is my subtle way of saying that I'm looking for a cheap, yet reliable & easy solution. I'm not asking for much, am I?

Before I had RAW capability, I used two 16GB memory cards & each one could hold a little over 3,000 jpgs, which was more than enough. When I got my new camera & started shooting RAW (actually RAW + jpg), I quickly found that wasn't going to be enough, so I bought a reasonably fast 32GB card, which holds about 1,200 RAW + jpg shots. For every day use, that's plenty, but when I travel somewhere scenic, I usually shoot between 200 - 300 photos per day. Which could be over 4,000 on a 2 week trip or over 6,000 for a 3 week trip. I used to lug a laptop around (which would have been a good place to back up my photos), but this past year I got rid of it & now use a tablet, which is much easier to travel with, but has a miniscule amount of storage. So my question is: What's a good strategy for storing up to around 6,000 photos (roughly 160GB) while traveling? I don't like to spend time reviewing & deleting while I'm traveling, so that's not an option for me.

I could buy four more 32GB cards or two 64GB cards or one 128GB card. Cost  would probably be a little over $100. If I do that, any thoughts on which option would be best? Are the larger capacity cards as fast & as reliable? I've never had a memory card go bad on me, but I'm a little concerned that if I get a single 128GB card, I could lose an entire trip's worth of photos.

Another idea I had was to buy a 128GB thumb drive (also known as a jump drive or flash drive). My tablet has a full size USB port & SD slot, so I could use it to transfer from memory card to thumb drive. This is a cheaper solution, as I can get one for about $50, but I'm concerned about it failing. I've read a lot of reviews of them on Amazon & the number of failures reported is disturbing. So, again, I could lose an entire trip's worth of photos & I'm thinking they're probably riskier than memory cards. Does anyone use these for photo backup?

I don't think saving to the cloud is a realistic option because I can't count on having a fast or reliable enough connection while traveling to upload that volume of photos & I'd also have to pay a monthly subscription fee, which I don't want to do.

Thanks in advance to anyone who's had the patience to read this far. Have I overlooked some obvious or not so obvious solution? Any suggestions would be welcome. And Happy Holidays to all!

Until recently I have been backing up raw files on DVDs yielding about 4.4 GB for around 70 cents. Now my file sizes are making that a bit more time-consuming to burn the DVDs but it is still a good way. If you have a DVD failure, and I never have, you lose perhaps 300 photos. If you go with a 1 TB USB drive (that's one terabyte, or 1,000 GB) you can hold much more. If it fails you lose much more. So use two of them to each store the same stuff. One of these drives will mbe under $100. If you do use DVDs, do not write on them or apply labels. write only on the clear part near the center. And inks or glues can alter the chemical layer on the top of the disk (where the memory is stored) and destroy data, and it might take 10-15 years, no one knows.

Wayne

Thanks, Wayne, but I don't have access to DVD writers or hard drives while I'm traveling, as I traded in my laptop for a tablet. Seemed like a good idea at the time, as I had no idea I would start shooting in RAW & needing more storage capacity, but now seems like it may have been short-sighted. Hindsight is 20/20, right? Anyway, I'd rather not go back to a laptop, so I'm looking for alternate solutions. I likely will go with multiple 32GB SD cards, but wanted to see if anyone had a better idea.

I guess it depends on what kind of tablet, with an iPad you're stuck, but I have a Microsoft Surface which has a USB port so I can run anything into it. Now I need to get rid of my iPad.

Well, actually Wayne, I had dismissed the idea of a USB attached portable hard drive because I thought it would be too awkward to haul around, but after I saw your comment, I did some checking & there are some very small portable hard drives at very reasonable prices. I saw a 1 TB Toshiva Canvio drive that's about 3 inches x 5 inches & weighs about 8 ounces for $59 on Amazon. Doesn't even need to be plugged into an outlet - it's powered through the same USB port that connects to the talet. Definitely something to consider, so thanks for the suggestion. 

Wow, even cheaper down there!

Just use external HD's as suggested. Small (as in size, not storage capacity) USB powered ones. But most importantly, be redundant. Don't store it just on the external HD (of memory cards). Use at least 2 drives. I only process images on my main computer so I store my photo's there and back them up to a 1TB external HD.

3DGuy - I'm definitely with you on redundancy. On my home PC, my photos (actually my entire hard drive) are being backed up to an external drive. But my issue is what to do while traveling. I switched from laptop to tablet for ease of traveling, so I'm not going to lug around two hard drives & taking the time to switch them & do backups while on vacation, no matter how small they are.

I was just wondering, and before I ask, this is in NO WAY meant as a criticism mate in any way. But it may be a way to help with your storage problem. My question is: Would you be shooting 200-300 photos a day if you were using film? A serious question. The reason why I ask is that 'spraying and praying' eats up a massive amount of storage, and also takes away from your role as a photograher. Being deliberate in the way you compose and expose a photo before pushing the shutter button would not only hugely cut down on storage size needed, it would massively cut down on your post production time. As I say, it's just a thought. I know that when you are traveling, things happen on the spur of the moment and you want to capture everything while you can! Anyway, good luck. It's just a thought to consider. There are some great pocket sized hard drives out there, but whether you want to carry them or not is another thing. I definitely agree that whatever you do, don't store them all on the one stick/drive. You may lose the lot! Good luck.

Andrew

Andrew make a good point but I can say there are times taking lots of shots pays very well. Birds in flight is one of the best examples because you cannot tell what you have when you press the shutter, and by the time you look it is too late.

Another for me recently was with a model who struck a new pose about every ten seconds and was constantly aware of the strobe recharging. It resulted in over 2,000 shots during a four-hour shoot. Of course they are not all winners but I have so many to select from for editing and I am amazed at how many warrant editing. Whenever I suggested poses or gave direction, it slowed down quite a bit.

As a challenge, I have suggested to various people that they take 5 portrait shots of any one person within 60 seconds. Then, pick out the best one of those five. They do this fairly quickly. Then ask yourself if that would have been the shot you got had you only taken one. I win with this every time!

One of the challenges with digital photography is to cast off the old habits of film photography. It no longer costs you a dollar every time you squeeze the shutter, so why not take a few more? And why not look to see what you got? I am amazed at how many people take digital photos and never check to see what they got, then later say they didn't turn out. Well, why didn't they look at them before they left? Why not adopt a strategy of taking lots of photos, and tossing out the ones that are not so good? That way your storage cost also decrease...if you can actually throw them out, and I do have trouble doing this myself, LOL!

I see that photographers have created the word 'chimping' to describe someone who constantly checks the photos they take. It is definately used in a negative connotation by elitists that think they know that every photo is coming out just fine...but are they? Of course not everyone is being elitist or negative but many surely are. I would rather be thought of as a fool and check, than to not look and find out 25 shots later that I forgot to turn the focus back from manual to auto.

I'm not putting down any of Andrew's comments, they do work! I find the variable is whether the subject is possibly moving or not. I do agree taking a shot of the Grand Canyon and looking at it can easily allow you to just take one and be happy with it, but if you are pushing your friend over the side of the canyon you will want to take several shots.

☺ Wayne

Andrew - No offense taken from your suggestion & I hope you don't take offense from my honest response:

The answer to your question is no, I would not be taking 200-300 photos a day if I was using film. And for that very reason, I consider the use of digital memory as a photographic recording medium to be a great liberator. I don't have to be stingy about how many shots I take. I can shoot portrait & landscape versions, I can shoot from multiple angles, I can try different exposure settings, I can zoom in really close, I can shoot very wide panoramas, I can get a shot with a person in it & without. Also, I'm usually traveling with other people & taking the time to set up the perfect shot isn't always practical. Another factor for me personally is that my eyesight isn't really good enough to tell whether I've gotten a good shot on a 3 inch LCD screen. And, finally, I don't want to cut down on post production time. I consider the photos I take just the beginning of the process & I really enjoy the creative aspects of postworking with software to create the best possible final image I can.

And, Wayne - I will NEVER take a trip to the Grand Canyon with you!

Yeah, no one wants to go anywhere with me...sigh!

Well, not if you're willing to hurl them over precipices to get a great action shot!

Gosh, I hope we're safe when we go visit Wayne next fall!  LOL!

I love my tiny 1TB drive, but when I travel I take my whole house, never mind a laptop or extra cards.  It's all here with me.  That being said, when we travel without the motorhome, I do take my little external drive with me.  The extra peace of mind is worth the trouble of backing everything up.  I have a laptop bag where all my "portable" electronics live, which makes it easy to access my backup medium. 

Perhaps if you had a 128GB card and backed everything up to a small external drive (not erasing the card) those two could be your redundant systems until you got home. 

Whatever you do ... good luck!  And have a great time.  Whatever you do, do NOT lose those pictures.  You're my travel guide to new places!  :)

Dang ... now I'm worried about that trip to Edmonton!  :P

I think you are pretty safe, I'm not one to venture too near the edge of anything, LOL! Aerobatics don't bother me at all but get me up to the third step of a stepladder and my knees start to shake.

Wayne

Oh good.  There's four steps up into the motorhome, so if you get cocky I'll just push you out!  LOL!  :P

At my age I'd probably need help getting up there, LOL!

We'll give you a push.  :P