Home · Register · Join Upload & Sell

Moderated by: Fred Miranda

New fredmiranda.com Mobile Site

New Feature: SMS Notification alert

New Feature: Buy & Sell Watchlist

FM Forums | General Gear-talk | Join Upload & Sell

File Transfer Without A Laptop?

deke4774
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · File Transfer Without A Laptop?

Hi,

I'm looking for some information regarding file downloads while traveling.

I have a trip coming up and did not want to take a laptop due to extra weight.
I will have a good number of cards with me; however, I would like to download the cards each night so I can start each day with empty ones.
I was considering taking an iPad, but I'm not sure if it could be used to transfer files from cards to a portable SSD, or how.

Is this even possible without a laptop?

When I travel, it is normally for 2 or 3 days, and I can normally accommodate all the images on cards until I return home.
This is an 8 day photography trip and I'm hoping for a lot more image opportunities and I don't want to run out of card space.

Any help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Derek

Aug 10, 2024 at 01:37 PM

sjms
Online
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · File Transfer Without A Laptop?

an ipad can but not anywhere as efficiently via a single port. needs an appropriate amount of memory too. i don't know what you have for a laptop but mine is a 13.5" that has enough power and juice to perform a whole lot of stuff and really isn't that much bigger.

UPDATE BELOW

Edited on Aug 10, 2024 at 08:19 PM · View previous versions

Aug 10, 2024 at 07:15 PM

mitesh
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · File Transfer Without A Laptop?

Backups to an external SSD via an iPad are absolutely possible and I’ve used that method on a couple of trips myself. You won’t even need to use your iPad’s onboard storage in order to transfer your files to the external drive. iPad mini plus SanDisk 4TB Extreme Portable SSD + card reader all connected via USB-C hub. Just used Files app to select images on card and copy to folder on SSD. IIRC, transfer rate was about 6GB/min.

Pictured along with 14” MBP for scale.

Edited on Aug 10, 2024 at 07:51 PM · View previous versions

Aug 10, 2024 at 07:39 PM

sjms
Online
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · File Transfer Without A Laptop?

boy do i stand corrected.

in addition, with my setup i can still supply external power.

i had tried it before and it did not work well at all.

it does not like my 2TB external NvMe though.

basic stupidity on my part

Aug 10, 2024 at 07:43 PM

deke4774
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · File Transfer Without A Laptop?

Thanks Mitesh,

That's exactly the kind of information I was hoping for.
It will all help to save some weight and at that kind of speed, it will be pretty efficient for travel purposes.

Derek

Aug 11, 2024 at 08:29 AM

deke4774
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · File Transfer Without A Laptop?

Thanks for your input sjms,

It looks like the power maybe the only issue I might have.

I will have to test this out before I leave and see how much battery power a large file transfer uses.

I will have charging methods with me though.

Derek

Aug 11, 2024 at 08:34 AM

Bobg657
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · File Transfer Without A Laptop?

Hi Mitesh, does the files app provide sequential back up or do you have to select the new files yourself? I’ve been looking at an app called Offshoot that does that automatically.

Thanks!
Bob

Aug 11, 2024 at 09:55 PM

Tom Nevesely
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · File Transfer Without A Laptop?

I use my phone (with a 256GB micro SD card in it) with a card reader and a short USB cable for all of my on the go back-ups. I also don't reuse my cards and have my 5Dmark4 set up to write to 2 cards simultaneously.

Aug 11, 2024 at 10:29 PM

mitesh
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · File Transfer Without A Laptop?

Bobg657 wrote:
Hi Mitesh, does the files app provide sequential back up or do you have to select the new files yourself? I’ve been looking at an app called Offshoot that does that automatically.

Thanks!
Bob

Hi Bob,

You'd have to select the files to be backed up yourself. I found the easiest way to manage this was to create a new folder on the card for each day of shooting (easily done in-camera). Once the day's shoot is over, you can simply copy/paste the contents of that day's folder onto your backup drive.

Aug 12, 2024 at 08:12 AM

Bobg657
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · File Transfer Without A Laptop?

Thanks Mitesh, good to know.

Aug 12, 2024 at 10:20 AM

Flowernut
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · File Transfer Without A Laptop?

I will have to use exfat32 file system I guess. Anyone have problems with that?

Aug 12, 2024 at 02:33 PM

apb80
Offline
•
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · File Transfer Without A Laptop?

I recently found a setup that I like, it consists of:

USB hub
Portable SSD
Card reader
CF Express card (Type A bc I'm Sony)
Pixel 8 Pro Android phone

You can use other brands, this is just what works for me. What's important is that all hardware and cables support USB 3.2 Gen 2 for maximum transfer speeds. I was first using a hub that was only a year or two old and was getting transfer speeds of 25mb/s, which would take forever if you're transferring gigs of images. I'm now getting almost 10x that.

The hub needs to be powered - I've done so with an outlet, have not tested with a portable power bank but should also work. Into the hub I connect the SSD, card reader, and power cable, then hub is connected to my Android phone. Because it's Android, the SSD, or atleast a partition of it, needs to be formatted for ExFAT, otherwise the phone will not recognize it. I then use an app called Cx File Explorer to transfer files from the memory card to the SSD. With a CF card I've gotten transfer rates over 200mb/s, meaning 100gb should take less than 10 minutes. With a high-end SD card my transfer rates were around 100mb/s, so transfer would take twice as long.

Aug 13, 2024 at 10:57 AM

newhaven
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · File Transfer Without A Laptop?

apb80 wrote:
I recently found a setup that I like, it consists of:

USB hub
Portable SSD
Card reader
CF Express card (Type A bc I'm Sony)
Pixel 8 Pro Android phone

You can use other brands, this is just what works for me. What's important is that all hardware and cables support USB 3.2 Gen 2 for maximum transfer speeds. I was first using a hub that was only a year or two old and was getting transfer speeds of 25mb/s, which would take forever if you're transferring gigs of images. I'm now getting almost 10x that.

The hub needs to be powered - I've done so with...Show more →

I just tried this system and it works great!

Aug 18, 2024 at 10:17 AM

Flowernut
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · File Transfer Without A Laptop?

newhaven wrote:
I just tried this system and it works great!

with android or iphone

Aug 19, 2024 at 02:42 PM

ajamils
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · File Transfer Without A Laptop?

Considering the similar setup for upcoming trip as I don't want to lug around the laptop and much prefer Samsung S9 Ultra tablet.

Anybody has any experience with this SSD? Looks like a good deal.

Aug 19, 2024 at 02:53 PM

newhaven
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · File Transfer Without A Laptop?

Pixel 8 Pro Android phone

Aug 19, 2024 at 03:28 PM

Flowernut
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · File Transfer Without A Laptop?

newhaven wrote:
Pixel 8 Pro Android phone

anyone tried ipad or iphone?

Aug 19, 2024 at 03:37 PM

deke4774
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · File Transfer Without A Laptop?

Hi Flowernut,

I tried my iPad and it works great, just as Mitesh said it would.

I then tried my iPhone 14 Pro, and couldn't get it to work.
My iPhone does not provide the power to the card reader or the SSD, whereas, the iPad does.
It may be possible with newer iPhones.

Derek

Aug 21, 2024 at 06:06 PM

Flowernut
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · File Transfer Without A Laptop?

Mine is a 14 too but I also have an iPad

Aug 21, 2024 at 10:53 PM


FM Forums \| General Gear-talk \| Join Upload & Sell

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.