Uploading photos while in Europe

I took a bunch of memory cards with me and took them out when full and kept them separate from the camera.

Stephan, uploading photos (to a website) can be a VERY time consuming process, and not something I'd want to do on a holiday. Without a computer, you'd need to rely on Net Cafés or Hotel computers, which is not the best solution. There are a several options you could consider to safeguard your photos. (1.) Pack sufficient Memory Cards to last for the entire trip. Memory is relatively cheap right now, so that's perhaps the easiest solution. I'd suggest keeping "full" memory cards in your Money Belt (or other safe location) so that if the Camera is lost or stolen, you won't lose any pictures. (2.) When Memory Cards are "full", stop by a photo shop or Net Café and have them burn the photos to a DVD. (3.) Use a portable DVD Burner, such as those offered by * www.ezpnp.com * (4.) Pack along a Portable Hard Drive such as those offered by Epson. These include built in Card Readers and many have good quality displays for reviewing photos. (5.) Although you indicated that you're not taking a computer, Netbooks are very inexpensive and easy to travel with. I believe your Camera uses either Memory Sticks or SD cards, and most Netbooks have built-in SD Card Readers (if you're using Memory Sticks, you'd have to take along a USB Card Reader). Good luck!

I've researched this topic extensively. (I lost all the original photo files of my trip to Maui in a hard drive failure, and am, therefore, hypervigilant with vacation photos.) I originally considered downloading from my SD cards to my iPod which has 32gb memory. I've heard this process is very time consuming. I also researched the card readers to which you can download your photos directly from the camera or card. They are like an external hard drive and don't need a computer. They cost almost as much as an inexpensive netbook. My daughter is lending me her netbook for the trip, which has a card reader and plenty of memory. I will download my photos to the computer, then upload them to Smugmug. They will, therefore, be backed up in 2 places and I will only need one 8gb SD card. I would be interested to read anyone's input on my plan or possible alternatives. I leave Friday, September 3 for Ireland.

Susan.. I would consider bringing 2 cards.. Just in case one get corrupted. That way you have a backup card.

Buy multiple cards- 3 or more, 4 GB cards are less than $20 now. Don't wait until they are totally full to change them. Your best bet is to rotate the cards so all your pictures of one place aren't on the same card. Keep the cards with you if you can in an inside pocket. If you can stop in a place and upload them or copy to CD and send the CD home that is a good idea too. Many people travel with sub $300 netbooks so they can back up their photos and go online with wifi spots that many hotels have but try not to erase the cards as you go for extra protection.

I brought a memory card reader and CDs and burned my photos to them every few days on my trip. You can buy card readers with a USB cord that have built-in software, so there are no compatibility issues, and will work in any computer with a USB port.

Confess I have never heard of Smugmug. Is the upload time consuming? We carry a netbook, upload daily to it, back up on a flashdrive, kept sperately from the computer. So far - about 10-12 trips, it has been foolproof.

SUSAN, regarding your plan to upload photos to SmugMug, that's what I was referring to in my earlier reply when I mentioned that "uploading photos (to a website) can be a VERY time consuming process". If you're only loading a limited number of JPEG images that have been heavily compressed (2-3 MB each), that should work. However, if you're uploading dozens of images of higher file sizes (5-10 MB) it will take a LONG time. You could be spending a lot of time in your Hotel room or at a Net Café! I also use SmugMug, so have a good idea how long it takes to upload images. Cheers!

IAIN, the upload to SmugMug (or other sites) CAN BE time consuming depending on the size of the images, number of images and the data connection. I recently uploaded 30-40 images (each over 7 MB) and the process took 1 - 2 hours even at broadband speeds. There's NO WAY I'd attempt that while on holidays! OTOH, uploading highly compressed JPEG files from my P&S Camera to a Blog was relatively fast (of course that only involved a small number of images). Cheers!

Ken: Thanks for your response. I know uploading takes a lot of time. I have done it from home and I do a limited amount to my travel journal when on the road. From the poster's response I wondered if Smugbug had faster means of uploading.

IAIN, the SmugMUG website is constantly being improved, and I've noticed lately that upload speeds zip right along. However, with a lot of large files (which is typically what I'm using), it still takes awhile. The upload page has a small "window" that shows the total uploading time while this is taking place. Cheers!

Have you checked out Drop Box? This sychronizes all your photos, so they go straight to your home computer.

Whatever the method of uploading to online services is still a slow process so unless you have wifi in your room it seems like you could have to spend an hour or more at a time in internet cafes uploading pics. Best idea is netbook and multiple cards. I travel with a small computer and a back up hard drive to do 2x backups.

My ACER Aspire One has a multicard reader, for SD, Memory Sticks, and I don't know what else.

The guy where I bought the camera (Best Buy) suggested I buy an 8MP memory card. But I also have a 2 mp and a 1 mp card, so I think I'll use each of them until it's filled up and then use the 8 mp one (if I take more photos than that). I use a Mac and don't have a notebook computer. At some point in the future I'll buy an Ipad, which I think will serve some of the same purposes.

Stephan, depending on how many pictures you take, an 8 MB card (plus the 1 & 2 MB cards) should easily last for your trip. When each card is "full", I'd suggest keeping it in your Money Belt or other safe location. Regarding your last sentence, I'm also a Mac user, but found that the iPad is not really a good solution for photo storage (at least for me), so bought an inexpensive Netbook to travel with. Cheers!

It really all depends on how many megapixels your camera is, assuming you shoot at the fine or extra fine (highest) setting and how many photos you shoot. 8GB is a big card but it all depends, should be hundreds on most cameras. I could shoot 8 GB a day like I said above, it's not a bad to spread your photos across several cards for the odd chance something goes wrong you don't lose all your pictures.

I have never used a PC and don't think, with one week until leaving, that I want to start learning now. wish Apple made a netbook! The only other computer I've ever used was a Kaypro, supposedly at portable that ran CP/M, many, many years ago.

Stephan, most of the newer Netbooks use Windows 7 Starter, and it's actually very easy to use (somewhat like a Mac). I got used to it very easily, but had a bit of an advantage as I had to use XP at work. With only one week to go, it's probably not the best time to get used to a new OS. Cheers!