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Photo Forum / Digital Photography / DSLR Cameras / March 2005What hardware to burn CF card to CD without a computer?
I'd like to travel without carrying a notebook computer and copy the image files from CF cards to a CD, preferable several CF cards to a single CD. I'd then mail the CD home for safe keeping. Is there such a thing as a CF-card-to-CD burner that does not required a separate computer? --David > I'd like to travel without carrying a notebook computer and copy the > image files from CF cards to a CD, preferable several CF cards to a > single CD. I'd then mail the CD home for safe keeping. Is there such a > thing as a CF-card-to-CD burner that does not required a separate > computer? > --David Yep. http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=compact%20flash%20to%20%20cd%20burner&hl=en& lr=&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2004-45,GGLD:en&sa=N&tab=wf From: <David Ellis> | I'd like to travel without carrying a notebook computer and copy the | image files from CF cards to a CD, preferable several CF cards to a | single CD. I'd then mail the CD home for safe keeping. Is there such a | thing as a CF-card-to-CD burner that does not required a separate | computer? | --David Since 1GB CF cards hold more than a CD. I think you would be better own looking for a DVD writer instead since DVD media holds ~4.7GB.  SignatureDave > I'd like to travel without carrying a notebook computer and copy the > image files from CF cards to a CD, preferable several CF cards to a > single CD. I'd then mail the CD home for safe keeping. Is there such a > thing as a CF-card-to-CD burner that does not required a separate > computer? > --David Forget CD's and even DVD's for image storage. A portable drive unit with a 2.5 inch HDD, available from 20 to 80 gigabytes, with direct record from the built-in card reader - CF, SD, etc. - and a 2-inch full-colour screen to view your shots. USB connection to your computer to download when you get back home. I use one myself, a 40 GB model. Good for over 4,000 RAW images from my 300D, at 7 to 8 megabytes each. Cost less than one 4GB CF card. Have a look here: http://www.xs-drive.com/ Colin. While I would use this too (I actually use my digital music player, which hosts my USB card reader), the OP wants to be able to mail the images home... Depending on the kind of adventure, (and what the possibilities of theft) I'd say this is a good thing to do. Al... >> I'd like to travel without carrying a notebook computer and copy the >> image files from CF cards to a CD, preferable several CF cards to a [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > Colin. >> I'd like to travel without carrying a notebook computer and copy the >> image files from CF cards to a CD, preferable several CF cards to a [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > full-colour screen to view your shots. USB connection to your computer > to download when you get back home. Not acceptable to me -- having the only copy of my picture on one rotating magnetic medium is *not* adequately safe. SignatureDavid Dyer-Bennet, <mailto:dd-b@dd-b.net>, <http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/> RKBA: <http://noguns-nomoney.com/> <http://www.dd-b.net/carry/> Pics: <http://dd-b.lighthunters.net/> <http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/> Dragaera/Steven Brust: <http://dragaera.info/> From: "David Dyer-Bennet" <dd-b@dd-b.net> | Not acceptable to me -- having the only copy of my picture on one | rotating magnetic medium is *not* adequately safe. While the capacity is good -- It is a mechanical device and subject to a higher failure rate. That's why I suggested DVD media. SignatureDave > From: "David Dyer-Bennet" <dd-b@dd-b.net> > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > -- > Dave Not so, IMHO. Outboard drives are generally considered to be the most reliable backup system available, better than optical media. But, probably more importantly, if it were me, I would burn at least two copies of my data, just in case the international post loses my disk, and to have backup in case a CD or DVD goes bad. Colin From: "Colin D" <ColinD@killspam.127.0.0.1> >> From: "David Dyer-Bennet" <dd-b@dd-b.net> >> [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] | | Colin I'm sorry I disagree. SignatureDave [ ... ] >> While the capacity is good -- It is a mechanical device and subject to a higher failure >> rate. That's why I suggested DVD media. [ ... ] >Not so, IMHO. Outboard drives are generally considered to be the most >reliable backup system available, better than optical media. That might be so without a readback to make sure that the DVD made a clean copy before flushing the CF card -- and ideally burning two copies on different brands of DVDs just to be sure. However -- I don't think that those reports include the results of trusting the resulting backup to the mails for shipping back home, as was desired by the original poster. Strong magnetic fields, such as might be found in various explosives detectors, X-rays, and the like, could degrade the information on the disk. And -- the shocks of typical mail handling systems, even in the US, would vastly increase the chances that the disks would be partially or completely unreadable once you got home to where they were. I would go for two DVDs -- as mentioned above, of different brands of media -- and ship *one* home, while keeping the other in my luggage. > But, >probably more importantly, if it were me, I would burn at least two >copies of my data, just in case the international post loses my disk, >and to have backup in case a CD or DVD goes bad. Amen! Enjoy, DoN. SignatureEmail: <dnichols@d-and-d.com> | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564 (too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html --- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero --- > That might be so without a readback to make sure that the DVD > made a clean copy before flushing the CF card -- and ideally burning two > copies on different brands of DVDs just to be sure. I think about this and a wave of intense relief washes over me. This is the kind of bullshit that I gladly left behind some time ago. > However -- I don't think that those reports include the results > of trusting the resulting backup to the mails for shipping back home, as > was desired by the original poster. A crazy plan if I ever heard one. > Strong magnetic fields, such as might be found in various > explosives detectors, X-rays, and the like, could degrade the > information on the disk. www.google.com: magnetic coercivity www.google.com: faraday cage All modern harddisks are ensconced in a metal box, and made from magnetic materials can only be tweaked by a very strong field floating micrometres from the surface. Indeed, as capacities have increased, so has this natural "protection" from whatever external fields can make it through the box. Some amusement. http://wipe.sourceforge.net/secure_del.html "[...] In addition, like physical destruction, it requires highly specialised equipment which is expensive and difficult to obtain (one example of an adequate degausser was the 2.5 MW Navy research magnet used by a former Pentagon site manager to degauss a 14" hard drive for 1« minutes. It bent the platters on the drive and probably succeeded in erasing it beyond the capabilities of any data recovery attempts [20])." > And -- the shocks of typical mail handling systems, even in the > US, would vastly increase the chances that the disks would be partially > or completely unreadable once you got home to where they were. I guess if you just mailed the disk alone attached to a post-card or something. But who would do that? I've received delicate instruments, expensive optics, and even HD's in boxes via courier's and the mail. How many packing-peanuts has humanity made to date? > I would go for two DVDs -- as mentioned above, of different > brands of media -- and ship *one* home, while keeping the other in my > luggage. DVD's, CD's, are too small, too finicky, too silly. Buy a pair of 80GB+ laptop disks (I find desktops bulky, but are perfectly fine if you can accept the size/weight/power consumption), enclosures for same with CF ports and do the backup trick. From: <eawckyegcy@yahoo.com> >> That might be so without a readback to make sure that the DVD >> made a clean copy before flushing the CF card -- and ideally burning [quoted text clipped - 52 lines] | you can accept the size/weight/power consumption), enclosures for same | with CF ports and do the backup trick. You are right about magnetic coercivity (meadured in oerstads) However, the mecahnical shock (G-Force) of COTS drives are the delimiting factor. There ar speciality drives that can withstand greater shock and are designed for more extreme mobile applications. However, you are not going to get them through standard outlets. SignatureDave [ ... ] >> Strong magnetic fields, such as might be found in various >> explosives detectors, X-rays, and the like, could degrade the [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >has this natural "protection" from whatever external fields can make it >through the box. They may be enclosed in a metal box, but that metal box is quite often cast aluminum, which offers little in the way of protection against DC magnetic fields -- just high frequency ones, where the induced currents by the AC field tend to buck the incident fields. And a Faraday cage is *not* a continuous shell (as are the drive enclosures), but rather a set of conductors in parallel terminating in a single conductor. And they are good against RFI, not DC magnetic fields. >Some amusement. http://wipe.sourceforge.net/secure_del.html > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > probably succeeded in erasing it beyond the capabilities of > any data recovery attempts [20])." Certainly the bent platters would render it unreadable by anything other than a data-recovery specialist -- and only if it was never put in a drive and spun up with the warped platters -- whether it was degaussed or not. And the fact that there was sufficient force to bend the aluminum platters suggests that there was a significant high-frequency component to the field -- probably at the onset, which did most of the work. That would have been done in milliseconds, and the (much less than) one minute was not necessary. >> And -- the shocks of typical mail handling systems, even in the >> US, would vastly increase the chances that the disks would be [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >expensive optics, and even HD's in boxes via courier's and the mail. >How many packing-peanuts has humanity made to date? And how many are available in the field -- in whatever country you happen to be shooting -- to ensure that the mailing is safe. I have heard of parts of the world where the most available packing material is fresh-popped popcorn -- if the local rodents don't eat into your package to consume your packing material. >> I would go for two DVDs -- as mentioned above, of different >> brands of media -- and ship *one* home, while keeping the other in my >> luggage. > >DVD's, CD's, are too small, Too small compared to the bulk of an external disk drive, with power supply? And consider the mass which you have to carry with you until you are ready to entrust it to the mail system of whatever country you are in, and the various other mail systems between the point of mailing and the intended destination. Or do you mean that the capacity is too low? I think that a 4.7 GB DVD would be a pretty good match for a 4GB full CF card. Also -- how does the cost of the CF cards compare to that of disks in enclosures? Given the bulk question, I would be tempted to stock up on CF cards, and keep them all with me until I returned -- or mail each as it got full, and hope that those at the other end would mail back to you the CF cards after they were safely copied to at least two storage media. > too finicky, too silly. Exactly what is silly about a DVD ROM? As for finicky, I have had no trouble burning them on my unix systems -- though I have heard of Windows systems requiring shutting just about everything which is running to safely burn a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM. > Buy a pair of >80GB+ laptop disks (I find desktops bulky, but are perfectly fine if >you can accept the size/weight/power consumption), enclosures for same >with CF ports and do the backup trick. I have had mere 6GB laptop disks die from a short drop (about 18 inches. I have never had a problem with CF cards dropped from greater heights. And what do you intend to use to write the laptop disks, as the original poster stated that he did *not* want to take a laptop along? Enjoy, DoN. SignatureEmail: <dnichols@d-and-d.com> | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564 (too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html --- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero --- From: "DoN. Nichols" <dnichols@d-and-d.com> | [ ... ] | [quoted text clipped - 101 lines] | Enjoy, | DoN. I agree with everything you said except -- "...DC magnetic fields." It is the AC magnetic fields one must worry about because it is the constant transitioning of North to South magnetic poles the degausses. SignatureDave >From: "DoN. Nichols" <dnichols@d-and-d.com> [ ... ] >| They may be enclosed in a metal box, but that metal box is quite >| often cast aluminum, which offers little in the way of protection >| against DC magnetic fields -- just high frequency ones, where the >| induced currents by the AC field tend to buck the incident fields. [ ... ] >I agree with everything you said except -- "...DC magnetic fields." Thank you! >It is the AC magnetic fields one must worry about because it is the constant transitioning >of North to South magnetic poles the degausses. AC magnetic fields, slowly decreasing in amplitude, are what is needed to *totally* degauss something. But a strong DC field could set all the disk surface to the same polarity, which means no transitions, and thus no data -- which is sufficient to render the data unrecoverable -- *if* you have a strong enough DC field. AC is preferred for erasing most analog recording media (e.g. audio tapes), simply because a DC remanent in the medium, and/or in the heads, increases the noise level (hiss) underlying the desired signal. For digital media, the only thing which really matters is the transitions from one polarity to the other -- and exactly when they occur, so DC erase is sufficient -- and is exactly what is done in computer tape drives. The QIC-150 drives for the DC-600 tapes record 18 tracks, one at a time, shuttling the tape back and forth. But -- when it records the first thing from the beginning of tape, it writes immediately behind a full-width erase head with a DC field. This erases at least part of all tracks on the first write, thus making data recovery difficult. Enjoy, DoN. SignatureEmail: <dnichols@d-and-d.com> | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564 (too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html --- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero --- > It is the AC magnetic fields one must worry about because it is the constant transitioning > of North to South magnetic poles the degausses. Couldja trim your replies? >>> Not acceptable to me -- having the only copy of my picture on one >>> rotating magnetic medium is *not* adequately safe. What about looking for the cheapest laptop with a DVD burner? Then at least you can see the pictures with reasonable clarity as well to judge for sharpness, etc. You could swap out the hard drive for something larger as well. One copy in the laptop, one copy in the mail, another copy burnt on DVDRW's in your possession which you are incrementally backing up. Plus you can use the laptop for other stuff as well. > Not acceptable to me -- having the only copy of my picture on one > rotating magnetic medium is *not* adequately safe. It is permitted to own more than one... >> Not acceptable to me -- having the only copy of my picture on one >> rotating magnetic medium is *not* adequately safe. > > It is permitted to own more than one... That'd work; though at that point a laptop with a burner in it is looking rather more convenient. SignatureDavid Dyer-Bennet, <mailto:dd-b@dd-b.net>, <http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/> RKBA: <http://noguns-nomoney.com/> <http://www.dd-b.net/carry/> Pics: <http://dd-b.lighthunters.net/> <http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/> Dragaera/Steven Brust: <http://dragaera.info/> Kanguru make several portable card to cd direct burners. Haven't tried them but have been tempted to get on for my next trip... As for the portable hard drive option... I agree, I don't want to erase a card until I have 2 copies of my images. But it is all a mater of personal preference. The other nice thing with the cd burner is you can also give copies of your images to friends you meet on you trip. Validating the CD is of course an issue, but if you have tested the device and the brand of Cd your using the risk should be minimal.. Some of the higher Kanguru models suport video out so if you can view your images if you can access a tv set with video in.. I think you face a greater risk going to those photo booths (like at disney) where someone who doesn't know what they are doing takes your card and makes a CD for you.... FWIW Voigt > Not acceptable to me -- having the only copy of my picture on one > rotating magnetic medium is *not* adequately safe. |
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