Forums > Photography Talk > Tablet with USB Recommendation?

Photographer

Laubenheimer

Posts: 9317

New York, New York, US

I'm looking for a Tablet with USB so i can be away from my desktop and transfer my Memory Cards Raw Files to the Tablet in order to be able to reuse them.

my budget is maybe $250 at the top end.

Nov 13 14 01:08 pm Link

Photographer

Jay Leavitt

Posts: 6745

Las Vegas, Nevada, US

This is what I use: http://www.amazon.com/Transformer-TF103 … b_title_ce ($250 with dock)

16GB onboard + SD card exapansion + usb port on the dock.

Nov 13 14 02:19 pm Link

Photographer

Pictures of Life

Posts: 792

Spokane, Washington, US

I know you asked about a tablet, but if data transfer/storage is what you really want there are now external hard drives with USB 3.0 that transfer files without a computer. Perfect for you if you don't need to view the pics. Huge capacity and fast transfer. I can't find it now, I researched it a bit 2 months ago, and the folks at Best Buy hadn't heard of it even though is was on their site.  I was really hopeful cause it's a perfect fit for a photographer, but it's a niche market.  In the end it's probably better to just buy more memory cards.
   If you want a tablet for viewing and rapid transfer, good luck. I would really question transfer speeds with any tablet. 

The product linked below is designed for downloading memory cards.  But it's slow, 1gb in 3.5 minutes which means over an hour for 20gb. Not a real useful tool unless you only shoot jpg.  $150, 500gb.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1 … ii_on.html

    **********Edit ***************

I found the hard drive. It has a built in SD card reader, so not ideal for photographers, but do-able.  It does have a micro USB 3.0 port, so maybe it will read a memory card, but most tablets with USB ports won't.

It may actually be ideal since it will connect with other gizmos wirelessly, like your phone or a cheap tablet.  And it works as a wi-fi hub, and has a built in battery. It's on backorder, but has several reviews already.

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/620187 … ard-reader

http://www.cnet.com/products/wd-my-passport-wireless/

Nov 13 14 02:27 pm Link

Photographer

Laubenheimer

Posts: 9317

New York, New York, US

i definitely need a screen so i can view my images. i want it to double as a way to show people my portfolio (when i don't have my printed portfolio with me).

Nov 13 14 02:46 pm Link

Photographer

Pa A

Posts: 87

Bandung, Jawa Barat, Indonesia

I have a Samsung Note Pro 12.2 which has a Micro USB port, as is also found on eg the Samsung - Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 16G (MSRP US 249.99 on Best Buy)

In addition I also got a USB to Micro USB plug (Verbatim, which came along with a 8 GB memorystick for just 9 Euro's) and can now without a problem transfer files from things like memorysticks,  and CF and SD cards (via a standard card reader) and even a Lacie Rugged portable harddisk through a USB cable

Don't know how fast the transferspeed of the Tab 8.4 would be, but on the Note 12.2 it's reasonably fast with a USB 2.0 device, and very fast with a USB 3.0 device

Nov 13 14 03:14 pm Link

Photographer

Laubenheimer

Posts: 9317

New York, New York, US

Nov 13 14 03:23 pm Link

Photographer

Phantasmal Images

Posts: 690

Boston, Massachusetts, US

L A U B E N H E I M E R wrote:
i definitely need a screen so i can view my images. i want it to double as a way to show people my portfolio (when i don't have my printed portfolio with me).

The Samsung Tab S 10.5" has the best screen of any tablet currently available (94% of Adobe color space, 138% of sRGB).
http://www.displaymate.com/OLED_Tablet_ShootOut_1.htm

If you want something to show clients, this is the tablet to get. But it's more than double your budget...

Nov 13 14 03:38 pm Link

Photographer

photoimager

Posts: 5164

Stoke-on-Trent, England, United Kingdom

Phantasmal Images wrote:
94% of Adobe color space, 138% of sRGB

I'd be very dubious of a report that claims more than 100% of a colourspace. You can have less than 100% coverage but not more. Any 'additional colours' will not be in the colourspace.

Nov 13 14 10:14 pm Link

Photographer

photoimager

Posts: 5164

Stoke-on-Trent, England, United Kingdom

The WD device mentioned above by a couple of people does look interesting for times when away from base for a few days but working intensely each day. I'd need to have a few of them though so that I've got bakckups whilst on the move.

If you already have an iPad with a Lightning connector the SD card reader works well at transferring images and viewing them. Having both high capacity and viewing screen would tend to rule against a slate ( technically iPads etc are slates not tablets, like Adobe misusing 'editing software' in its marketing so Apple misused 'tablet' when the nomenclature of earlier generations of tablet and slate is taken into consideration ). Those that have expandable storage tend to not be able to read cards.

Nov 13 14 10:22 pm Link

Photographer

Boudoir Studio

Posts: 322

Santa Clarita, California, US

You might see if you can find a used Epson p-5000 or p-7000.  Adobe Color Space LCD, SD and CF slots, USB Connectivity.  Used my p-5000 in the field even if I had a laptop available. (files were destined for an office workstation) Not sure if there is a current replacement on the market.

https://www.epson.com/cmc_upload/0/000/079/549/P5000_216x144.jpg

Nov 14 14 12:57 am Link

Photographer

Phantasmal Images

Posts: 690

Boston, Massachusetts, US

photoimager wrote:

I'd be very dubious of a report that claims more than 100% of a colourspace. You can have less than 100% coverage but not more. Any 'additional colours' will not be in the colourspace.

If you're dubious, I'd suggest reading the report, and following all the links describing the testing methods and results.

Nov 14 14 03:19 am Link

Photographer

Michael Fryd

Posts: 5231

Miami Beach, Florida, US

L A U B E N H E I M E R wrote:
I'm looking for a Tablet with USB so i can be away from my desktop and transfer my Memory Cards Raw Files to the Tablet in order to be able to reuse them.

my budget is maybe $250 at the top end.

If your primary purpose is to enable you to take more photos on location, you should consider buying more memory cards.   

I just picked up some 64GB Sandisk Extreme  SD cards ( 60MB/s Read; 40MB/s Write) for about $38 each.     Your budget will cover 6 of these.   That's 384 GB of storage.   You could probably double that if you don't mind slower cards.


If you are looking for a portable portfolio, the iPad's builtin photo software works very well.   There are also a number of third party iPad apps specifically designed for showing off a photographer's work.    Apple's iPad SD card reader is about $30.  Third party readers start at around $10.

Refurbished iPads (with full Apple warranty) start at about $250.


Personally, I have my portfolio on my phone.  I always carry my phone so I always have that version of my portfolio with me.   When on location, I bring enough memory cards with me to handle the job.   I don't want to reuse a memory card until I have made multiple copies of the files.   

I already had an iPhone, so that didn't cost me extra, and I bought two 64GB SD cards for $76 delivered.  If I didn't already have a phone, a 32GB iPhone 5s runs about $150 with a 2 year contract.

Nov 14 14 03:47 am Link

Photographer

Michael Fryd

Posts: 5231

Miami Beach, Florida, US

Phantasmal Images wrote:

The Samsung Tab S 10.5" has the best screen of any tablet currently available (94% of Adobe color space, 138% of sRGB).
http://www.displaymate.com/OLED_Tablet_ShootOut_1.htm

If you want something to show clients, this is the tablet to get. But it's more than double your budget...

I would think that claiming "138% of sRGB" is claiming that the colorspace of the tablet's screen encompasses all of sRGB, and the color space is 38% larger than sRGB.

Nov 14 14 03:58 am Link

Clothing Designer

GRMACK

Posts: 5436

Bakersfield, California, US

I've done card-to-card in the field and you may as well end the day as transfer times are super slow.  A tablet isn't a speed demon for doing that stuff, especially to another card like a micro-SD inside it.  Plus, it eats a lot of battery power.

Someone above mentioned "Get more (camera) cards."  That's what I do now.  Get a couple of Pelican hard card cases, label them "Unused" and "Used" (Since CF has no safety 'Lock' like SD does) and go that route.  And one never knows when a card will tank-out and refuse to read or write in the field.  Recovery is super slow, and when it happens it's time to go home unless you have more cards.

A tablet is good to show final results, except bright sun.  Maybe a tether device to a CamRanger too.  But storage is another matter as you'll need huge micro-SD cards if you are transferring a lot.  Plus, you may need to plug it into an outlet if the battery tanks.  May as well invest in more camera cards and get rid of the excess stuff to haul around.

Nov 14 14 05:14 am Link

Photographer

photoimager

Posts: 5164

Stoke-on-Trent, England, United Kingdom

Phantasmal Images wrote:
If you're dubious, I'd suggest reading the report, and following all the links describing the testing methods and results.

I do not need to read any links or reports since I understand what 100% means. The size of a colourspace is fixed. It is possible for a screen to show less than 100% of a colourspace. However, without expanding that colourspace it cannot show more. in which case it is no longer in sRGB.

It is a bit like people saying they'll give 110% effort, you cannot. Get to 100% and that is the limit of the effort you can put in since 100% is all of it.

Nov 14 14 06:38 am Link

Photographer

Muskopf Photography

Posts: 278

Dayton, Ohio, US

I carry a small netbook for just this reason while traveling.  It's small enough to fit in a pocket of my camera backpack.  It traveled all over Ireland, England, and the US with no problems. I also like it for keeping track of email because I type a lot faster on a keyboard than my one finger pecking on a tablet.

Nov 14 14 06:51 am Link

Photographer

Light and Lens Studio

Posts: 3450

Sisters, Oregon, US

L A U B E N H E I M E R wrote:
I'm looking for a Tablet with USB so i can be away from my desktop and transfer my Memory Cards Raw Files to the Tablet in order to be able to reuse them.

my budget is maybe $250 at the top end.

So far, all the replies have just recommended transferring the data to magnetic media or getting more cards (magnetic media).  If you are only away from your desktop for a few hours, simply getting more cards would seem far less expensive than some sort of tablet or pad device.  If you are away from your desktop for days, then you might want to consider a small laptop.  There are a few pretty good ones in the $300 range that have DVD burners built in.  You could then transfer your images to DVD's especially if you are using the screen of the (fill in the blank) device to pre-sort/cull images to reduce storage.  Of course a small laptop would also allow you to transfer images to small HDD's like a passport which will hold up to 2 or 3 TB of data.  A WD Passport is $109 at Costco for a 2 TB version.  They work on PC or Mac.

Nov 14 14 07:25 am Link

Photographer

Tony Lawrence

Posts: 21526

Chicago, Illinois, US

OP, if you don't mind a older tablet check out the Toshiba Thrive.   Full sized USB and SD slot and with a custom rom can be updated to Kit Kat:   http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/22/tosh … ve-review/   The Thrive isn't super thin but is nice and has a decent screen and goes for less the $100.00 on Ebay.   The XOOM 2 is also bargain priced along with some of the ASUS tablets.    I use a Eye-Fi card and the pro version of that card transfers a JPEG plus RAW file to the tablet.   If your camera uses a CF card rather then a SD card then you can always transfer images with a card reader to the tablet.

Nov 14 14 07:50 am Link

Photographer

Laubenheimer

Posts: 9317

New York, New York, US

Snyder Studios wrote:
You might see if you can find a used Epson p-5000 or p-7000.  Adobe Color Space LCD, SD and CF slots, USB Connectivity.  Used my p-5000 in the field even if I had a laptop available. (files were destined for an office workstation) Not sure if there is a current replacement on the market.

https://www.epson.com/cmc_upload/0/000/079/549/P5000_216x144.jpg

a while back i found a used p-5000 at goodwill of all places. in perfect condition. but it was soooooooooo slow. sooooooooooooooooooooo slow.

i sold it.

Nov 14 14 08:30 am Link

Photographer

Michael Fryd

Posts: 5231

Miami Beach, Florida, US

Light and Lens Studio wrote:

So far, all the replies have just recommended transferring the data to magnetic media or getting more cards (magnetic media).  If you are only away from your desktop for a few hours, simply getting more cards would seem far less expensive than some sort of tablet or pad device.  If you are away from your desktop for days, then you might want to consider a small laptop.  There are a few pretty good ones in the $300 range that have DVD burners built in.  You could then transfer your images to DVD's especially if you are using the screen of the (fill in the blank) device to pre-sort/cull images to reduce storage.  Of course a small laptop would also allow you to transfer images to small HDD's like a passport which will hold up to 2 or 3 TB of data.  A WD Passport is $109 at Costco for a 2 TB version.  They work on PC or Mac.

If price is a concern, transferring to DVDs may not be the way to go.

Blank DVD's are about 50¢ each, and hold 4.7 GB.  That's about 11¢ a GB.

A Transcend 32GB class 10 is about 13$ on Amazon.    That's about 40¢ per GB.

Although SD cards are 29¢ more per GB, you don't need to spend the upfront $300 for the laptop and DVD burner.   At today's prices, you would have to burn 220 DVDs before the DVD option costs less. 

I believe that DVD prices are relatively stable, but cost per GB of SD cards is still dropping rapidly.  If SD prices drop to 11¢ per GB before you burn those 220 DVDs, then the SD option will be cheaper.

The SD option also saves you the time and effort of transferring files to DVD.  Also you need less space to store 100GB of SD card vs. 100GB of DVD.



If you are looking for an inexpensive way to store lots of photos while on the road, it's hard to beat the option of buying more memory cards.

On the other hand, if you are looking at long term storage, then a computer and multiple copies on multiple hard drives may be a better option.


It all depends on your needs.  For small size, low cost, ease of use, and portability, I would suggest more memory cards.   If these are not your needs then a better solution may be in order.

Nov 14 14 08:40 am Link

Photographer

LeWhite

Posts: 2038

Los Angeles, California, US

photoimager wrote:

I do not need to read any links or reports since I understand what 100% means. The size of a colourspace is fixed. It is possible for a screen to show less than 100% of a colourspace. However, without expanding that colourspace it cannot show more. in which case it is no longer in sRGB.

It is a bit like people saying they'll give 110% effort, you cannot. Get to 100% and that is the limit of the effort you can put in since 100% is all of it.

Lightening Bolt can run 400% as fast as me. Do the math, read the descriptions of color space. You can understand this, I know you can.

Nov 14 14 08:47 am Link

Photographer

Kelvin Hammond

Posts: 17397

Billings, Montana, US

A tablet will be very slow for live preview or transfering. If you're just trying to preview while shooting, a 7" battery powered monitor is in that budget.

If you had a bigger budget, I'd recommend an ipad and a camera that is wifi enabled, because thats the fastest way to check images on the fly. Or, Camranger

But more cards is probably the most practical idea.

Nov 14 14 08:47 am Link

Photographer

Laubenheimer

Posts: 9317

New York, New York, US

transfer speed is not an issue as i can just transfer everything at the end of the day.

i do have several WD portable hard drives, so i will likely use those in conjunction with the tablet.

Nov 14 14 09:58 am Link

Photographer

T Smalls Photography

Posts: 143

Bakersfield, California, US

Why do you need to transfer the raw files to the tablet? Most tablets in the $250 range are not going to allow you to do anything substantial with the raw files.

Nov 14 14 10:18 am Link

Photographer

Laubenheimer

Posts: 9317

New York, New York, US

T Smalls Photography wrote:
Why do you need to transfer the raw files to the tablet? Most tablets in the $250 range are not going to allow you to do anything substantial with the raw files.

i don't need to transfer the raw files to the tablet. i will most likely use the tablet to transfer the raw files from my memory cards to a portable hard drive. also, the tablet will be used as a means of showing my portfolio.

Nov 14 14 10:27 am Link

Photographer

4 R D

Posts: 1141

Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

L A U B E N H E I M E R wrote:
i don't need to transfer the raw files to the tablet. i will most likely use the tablet to transfer the raw files from my memory cards to a portable hard drive. also, the tablet will be used as a means of showing my portfolio.

Most tablets have a rather limited capacity. You would run out of space fast. For your storage needs I would rather recommend buying wifi SD cards and store in the cloud. Then buy whatever tablet fits your budget and view your stuff there. This of course would require you to have internet access wherever you are shooting.

Nov 14 14 10:59 am Link

Photographer

Laubenheimer

Posts: 9317

New York, New York, US

4 R D wrote:

Most tablets have a rather limited capacity. You would run out of space fast. For your storage needs I would rather recommend buying wifi SD cards and store in the cloud. Then buy whatever tablet fits your budget and view your stuff there. This of course would require you to have internet access wherever you are shooting.

again, i will most likely be transferring my files to my portable hard drive. i would use the tablet just to verify a few files.

i can't imagine transferring 30GB to a cloud.

Nov 14 14 11:46 am Link

Photographer

Maxximages

Posts: 2478

Los Angeles, California, US

Look into the ASUS Transfomer with the docking station/key board. The key board has 2 USB ports and extra battery. I have hooked a card reader to one USB port and a portable HD to the other to xfer from the camera card to the HD.

The pad alone has a slot for the micro sd card and adapters for the charging port to a USB port.

All in all it is a pretty versatile pad.

Nov 14 14 07:27 pm Link

Photographer

photoimager

Posts: 5164

Stoke-on-Trent, England, United Kingdom

Phantasmal Images wrote:
94% of Adobe Colour space, 138% of sRGB

photoimager wrote:
I do not need to read any links or reports since I understand what 100% means. The size of a colourspace is fixed. It is possible for a screen to show less than 100% of a colourspace. However, without expanding that colourspace it cannot show more, in which case it is no longer in sRGB.

It is a bit like people saying they'll give 110% effort, you cannot. Get to 100% and that is the limit of the effort you can put in since 100% is all of it.

LeWhite wrote:
Lightening Bolt can run 400% as fast as me. Do the math, read the descriptions of color space. You can understand this, I know you can.

In darts the 3 dart maximum score each turn is 180. You cannot get more than 180 so anything more than 100% of 180 is not possible.

In a confectionary multi-pack of 4 bars you can eat 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% of the bars in the pack. You cannot eat more than 100% of the pack without getting another pack.

Both of the above are finite sets each with their own fixed cardinality so there is a maximum of 100%.

If I have two cameras and buy a new one I'll have 150% of the number of cameras that I had. It is not a finite set, the cardinality can change, so percentages greater than 100% are possible.

Colour spaces are finite sets, you cannot have more than 100%. If you do then you have gone outside of the cardinality of set of the colour space so you are no longer in that colour space.

Yes, I can do the mathematics.

Apologies for going off topic but it was started by an erroneous statement quoted from a review which did not make sense.

Nov 15 14 07:30 am Link

Photographer

Michael Fryd

Posts: 5231

Miami Beach, Florida, US

photoimager wrote:
In darts the 3 dart maximum score each turn is 180. You cannot get more than 180 so anything more than 100% of 180 is not possible.

In a confectionary multi-pack of 4 bars you can eat 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% of the bars in the pack. You cannot eat more than 100% of the pack without getting another pack.

Both of the above are finite sets each with their own fixed cardinality so there is a maximum of 100%.

If I have two cameras and buy a new one I'll have 150% of the number of cameras that I had. It is not a finite set, the cardinality can change, so percentages greater than 100% are possible.

Colour spaces are finite sets, you cannot have more than 100%. If you do then you have gone outside of the cardinality of set of the colour space so you are no longer in that colour space.

Yes, I can do the mathematics.

Apologies for going off topic but it was started by an erroneous statement quoted from a review which did not make sense.

You are arguing a fine point of semantics.   Yes instead of saying the monitor is 138% of sRGB, they should have said that the size of monitor's color gamut is 138% of the size of the sRGB color gamut.    When writing advertising copy, people sometimes take liberties, and the results are not always grammatically correct.

Mathematically, talking about more than 100% of something can make sense in many contexts.  My height is 110% of the height of my wife.   It's not that there is more of her, it's that we are using her height as a reference, and we are comparing my height to that standard.


I see nothing to indicate that the "138% of sRGB" claim is intended to deceive.  I think it is merely a choice of wording that would not pass muster in an academic mathematics paper.


I apologize in advance if I have misunderstood the nature of your objection.

P.S. It makes perfect sense to say "if we added a 90 point area to a dart board, the maximum dart score would be 150% of the current maximum score".   It also makes sense to say things like "He has lost the game, he would need to score 180% on the next round in order to win".

Nov 15 14 08:39 am Link

Photographer

Laubenheimer

Posts: 9317

New York, New York, US

hey! i don't give a fuck about colorspace.

Nov 16 14 12:40 am Link

Photographer

Michael Fryd

Posts: 5231

Miami Beach, Florida, US

L A U B E N H E I M E R wrote:
hey! i don't give a fuck about colorspace.

If you want to use the tablet as a portfolio, the colorspace of the screen is an issue.

If the screen on the tablet is bad, then your photos will look bad.

Nov 16 14 03:46 am Link

Photographer

Phantasmal Images

Posts: 690

Boston, Massachusetts, US

L A U B E N H E I M E R wrote:
hey! i don't give a fuck about colorspace.

You should... especially if you want to show your portfolio on it. Many tablets are only able to display 70% or less of sRGB.

Nov 16 14 04:15 am Link

Photographer

Robb Mann

Posts: 12327

Baltimore, Maryland, US

L A U B E N H E I M E R wrote:
i definitely need a screen so i can view my images. i want it to double as a way to show people my portfolio (when i don't have my printed portfolio with me).

L A U B E N H E I M E R wrote:
hey! i don't give a fuck about colorspace.

Ummm, OK...

One of the reasons many photographers go with the iPad air over the iPad mini is that the mini has a pretty terrible screen, from a color-quality point-of view. The mini screen has a very narrow sRGB Gamuet and it really over-saturates the Reds. Not at all a natural look.

Nov 16 14 04:27 am Link

Photographer

Art Silva

Posts: 10064

Santa Barbara, California, US

^^^Wrong! it's VERY slightly IF compared side by side.^^^
Terrible is a harsh word and not at all true, I wouldn't have bought one if I saw this when comparing them at the apple store before hand. The retina screen on the Mini is amazing and more true to life tones than you think, sorry.

I've been using a iPad mini retina for a year now (going from an iPad2) and that has never been an issue when displaying my work, never even crossed my mind in real stand alone viewing. In fact I am more than happy I made the purchasing decision.

To answer the OPs question; my bag always has my iPad mini retina in it BUT I also make sure I have multiple SD cards. I don't worry about transferring until I gat back to my laptop at the end of the shoot. Save your money for a lens instead.
Now with the new Fuji X offerings (and other camera makers), you have the wifi feature to view images live and stored in camera on your tablet or phone, even control the camera from them.

Nov 16 14 08:17 am Link

Photographer

Robb Mann

Posts: 12327

Baltimore, Maryland, US

^^^^^
I guess terrible is subjective? It's very noticable to me. This is comparing a first-gen iPad air to a first-gen iPad mini retina.

Nov 16 14 09:57 am Link

Photographer

ChadAlan

Posts: 4254

Los Angeles, California, US

Light and Lens Studio wrote:


So far, all the replies have just recommended transferring the data to magnetic media or getting more cards (magnetic media).
If you are only away from your desktop for a few hours, simply getting more cards would seem far less expensive than some sort of tablet or pad device.  If you are away from your desktop for days, then you might want to consider a small laptop.  There are a few pretty good ones in the $300 range that have DVD burners built in.  You could then transfer your images to DVD's especially if you are using the screen of the (fill in the blank) device to pre-sort/cull images to reduce storage.  Of course a small laptop would also allow you to transfer images to small HDD's like a passport which will hold up to 2 or 3 TB of data.  A WD Passport is $109 at Costco for a 2 TB version.  They work on PC or Mac.

http://www.techhive.com/article/116572/article.html

Fortunately, most modern storage devices, such as SD and CompactFlash memory cards, are immune to magnetic fields. "There's nothing magnetic in flash memory, so [a magnet] won't do anything," says Bill Frank, executive director of the CompactFlash Association. "A magnet powerful enough to disturb the electrons in flash would be powerful enough to suck the iron out of your blood cells," says Frank.

Nov 16 14 10:18 am Link

Photographer

Laubenheimer

Posts: 9317

New York, New York, US

CHAD ALAN wrote:
http://www.techhive.com/article/116572/article.html

Fortunately, most modern storage devices, such as SD and CompactFlash memory cards, are immune to magnetic fields. "There's nothing magnetic in flash memory, so [a magnet] won't do anything," says Bill Frank, executive director of the CompactFlash Association. "A magnet powerful enough to disturb the electrons in flash would be powerful enough to suck the iron out of your blood cells," says Frank.

irrelevant.

Nov 16 14 10:50 am Link

Photographer

ChadAlan

Posts: 4254

Los Angeles, California, US

CHAD ALAN wrote:
http://www.techhive.com/article/116572/article.html

Fortunately, most modern storage devices, such as SD and CompactFlash memory cards, are immune to magnetic fields. "There's nothing magnetic in flash memory, so [a magnet] won't do anything," says Bill Frank, executive director of the CompactFlash Association. "A magnet powerful enough to disturb the electrons in flash would be powerful enough to suck the iron out of your blood cells," says Frank.

L A U B E N H E I M E R wrote:
irrelevant isn't it?

No, because it seemed to me that the repetition of the word "magnetic" implied that the medium was more susceptible to becoming corrupt due to magnetic fields.

Also, it was misinformation, and could have led some to think that SD and CF cards were a less desirable method of backup.

Nov 16 14 10:56 am Link

Photographer

DougBPhoto

Posts: 39248

Portland, Oregon, US

Light and Lens Studio wrote:

So far, all the replies have just recommended transferring the data to magnetic media or getting more cards (magnetic media).
If you are only away from your desktop for a few hours, simply getting more cards would seem far less expensive than some sort of tablet or pad device.  If you are away from your desktop for days, then you might want to consider a small laptop.  There are a few pretty good ones in the $300 range that have DVD burners built in.  You could then transfer your images to DVD's especially if you are using the screen of the (fill in the blank) device to pre-sort/cull images to reduce storage.  Of course a small laptop would also allow you to transfer images to small HDD's like a passport which will hold up to 2 or 3 TB of data.  A WD Passport is $109 at Costco for a 2 TB version.  They work on PC or Mac.

CHAD ALAN wrote:
http://www.techhive.com/article/116572/article.html

Fortunately, most modern storage devices, such as SD and CompactFlash memory cards, are immune to magnetic fields. "There's nothing magnetic in flash memory, so [a magnet] won't do anything," says Bill Frank, executive director of the CompactFlash Association. "A magnet powerful enough to disturb the electrons in flash would be powerful enough to suck the iron out of your blood cells," says Frank.

Thank you for the very helpful correction of misinformation.

I will keep watching the thread with interest.

Now, I know that iPads seem to be utterly worthless at having file-names for photos and seem like a total nightmare for trying to identify images on there and match them up to other places, like a desktop.

I'm curious how the other tablet OS perform, obviously the Win 8 ones will be fine with file names (or at least I assume so), but what about Android for preserving file names.

For anything other than a larger screen for tethered shooting, the preservation of file names of photos is an absolute necessity for me.

Nov 16 14 11:10 am Link