Hacker Photography-one photo at a time

November 1, 2021, by John Aldred 2 Comments

Over the years, I have gone through various iterations of the location backup workflow. When I started using digital SLR cameras in 2002, I used Super DigiBin, which allowed me to extract files from a 128MB CompactFlash card and then back them up to the (at the time) very large 20GB hard drive.

Since I relied on Super DigiBin, things have made great strides in the past few decades. These days, I use my smartphone to quickly and easily back up the memory card to the SSD on site. OWC recently sent their Envoy Pro Elektron SSD and 5-port USB hub for us to try out, so I think this is a good time to show you my current location backup workflow and provide some thoughts on OWC devices.

Super DigiBin-The height of location backup technology in 2002!

The last iteration of my location backup workflow came when the 1TB microSD card started to become a thing. Except for a few minor issues, it's great. First of all, when I got home and wanted to recover all my files via the phone’s USB socket or WiFi, the file transfer was not that fast. So, when I got home, I still had to copy everything from the card, and the phone backup was "just in case" in case I lost the card.

In addition, after inserting the SD card reader into the only USB port of the phone, you cannot charge the phone while transferring. If you have a lot of cards to transfer, and these cards are full of video files, then it will quickly drain the battery. Therefore, before starting the backup process, you need to make sure that your phone is fully charged. There is also the fact that there seem to be fewer and fewer smartphones equipped with microSD card slots (my OnePlus 7 Pro does not).

You can solve the power problem by using a USB hub, but if you plan to use a USB hub and power bank to keep your phone fully charged, you might as well add an SSD and transfer your files to it instead of (or) Memory card-if it has a slot.

So, this is what I set up now with my OnePlus 7 Pro, USB power bank, OWC 1TB Envoy Pro Elektron USB 3.2 Gen 2 NVMe SSD and OWC USB-C Travel Dock.

The setup is very simple. First of all, you need your smartphone. Although I mentioned my OnePlus 7 Pro before, I am not saying you need this phone-I mean, I do recommend it, it is a great phone ( No gaps! No black spots!) But this process is applicable to all modern Type-C Android devices, so please use the one you own. If you are an iOS user, you may be out of luck even if your device has a Type-C socket, but you can buy a cheap Android smartphone with a Type-C socket to perform this backup process. Just think of it as another tool that is not as big and bulky as a laptop.

You also need a USB power bank to power all devices and keep the phone fully charged during the transfer. You should be able to use any of them, although I suggest you look for products with a Type-C USB socket that supports USB-PD (power supply) and provides at least 10,000mAh capacity. You don't necessarily need USB-PD, but USB-PD mobile power sources usually have the most reliable batteries and technology built in. I have owned the power banks in the photo below for more than two years, and they are still charging as they were when I first received them.

Obviously some kind of storage device is needed. I prefer solid state drives because they are smaller, faster, stronger, more durable, and consume less power than portable hard drives. They are also faster and larger than memory sticks (although this is another option). In this case, I am using OWC 1TB Envoy Pro Elektron USB 3.2 Gen 2 NVMe SSD.

You also need a USB hub to plug in everything. Ideally, you need a built-in card reader for the format you primarily use. For me, this mainly refers to SD cards for DSLR and mirrorless cameras and microSD cards for drones, sports cameras, 360° cameras, etc. If you cannot find a hub that accepts the memory card format you are using, then you will also need a card reader.

Everything is basically plugged into the hub, and then once your phone detects it, you just need to run any file manager app included with your smartphone. Then you can browse to the folder on the SD card you want to copy, select it, and tell it to transfer to your SSD.

I usually start the transmission right after the shooting ends, and then leave it to it when I pack up my gear. Usually, when the equipment is packaged, the transfer is complete. Otherwise, I can start the transfer in the car and let it do its thing when I drive back.

Since each brand of smartphone has its own slightly different file manager format and layout, the transfer process from one Android device to another will be slightly different, but it is very simple on all these devices. To understand the process in more detail, please read my post on SanDisk 1TB microSD card.

There are many potential options for USB travel cradles and SSDs for location backup solutions for photographers and filmmakers. In the past few years, I have tried a lot to find what I really like. However, OWC stands out from the crowd, so let's take a closer look at them, starting with the USB hub-OWC USB-C Travel Dock.

For photographers and filmmakers, one of the biggest benefits of this special hub is that it has a built-in SD card slot. This in itself is not particularly unique. There are many USB hubs on the market, but it is worth noting that the SD card slot in the OWC hub is UHS-II. If you want to read something other than the SD card, you can plug a conventional card reader into one of the two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports at any time.

But the built-in reader means you can get the full read and write speed from those fast UHS-II memory cards, which are the video or fast action photography you often need when shooting original files in Dalian Shooting. Although the UHS-II card reader is not essential for unloading the card, if you have a 300MB/sec card, it may reduce your backup transfer time to one-third of that when using UHS-I Left and right readers.

The short built-in Type-C USB cable is neatly stored under the hub, supports USB 3.2 Gen 2, and transfers speeds up to 10 Gbps. There is also a second Type-C USB port that can provide up to 100W of power pass-through to charge smartphones, laptops or other devices while working.

There are also two Type-A USB 3.2 Gen 1 sockets that provide up to 5Gbps throughput, and a full-size HDMI output for plugging in external displays that support up to 4K resolution. Of course, there is the aforementioned UHS-II SD card slot.

In general, this is a well-thought-out device that can do its job well. Unlike most other USB hubs that provide this performance, it has a very reasonable price tag.

Side note: If you also plan to use the USB docking station with a laptop and want an Ethernet port, OWC also offers the OWC USB-C travel docking station E. It is basically the same as this, but adds an Ethernet port.

Although you will not be able to take advantage of the full speed of the SSD when copying files from the SD card (after all, you are limited by the speed of the card), once you copy everything over and insert it into your computer, you will be able to quickly and easily Drag them to your regular storage.

Or, if you are a travel photographer who leaves your laptop in a hotel, you can also plug the SSD into the laptop and start working directly from the drive itself. Whether you are editing still images or video, this drive is fast enough for everyone but the most demanding user in this example. This is a quick speed test of this drive plugged into the USB 3.2 Gen 2 socket on ASUS ZenBook Pro, using a 16GB file in the AJA system test.

Note: I also ran a speed test on the very popular Samsung T5 and Crucial X8 SSD on the USB 3.2 Gen 2 socket. Samsung T5 advertises a maximum speed of 540MB/sec, while Crucial X8 advertises a maximum speed of 1,050Mb/sec.

OWC 1TB Envoy Pro Elektron on USB 3.2 Gen 2

Naturally, if you plug this OWC Envoy Pro Elektron into a Type-A USB 3.2 Gen 1 socket, the speed will drop because the drive is faster than the port’s 5Gbps limit. Of course, it will still be fast. For comparison, this is the same OWC SSD plugged into one of the USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A slots on the same Asus ZenBook Pro used in the above test. Similarly, I have included Crucial X8 and Samsung T5 tests.

OWC 1TB Envoy Pro Elektron on USB 3.2 Gen 1

A brief description of the speed test. What I found interesting is that the write speed of the OWC drive on the USB 3.2 Gen 2 (significantly improved) and Gen 1 slots is the fastest of all three, making it ideal for this type of application, although The reading speed is slightly slower than Crucial X8 on Gen 2 and slower than the other two drives on Gen 1.

If you are limited by the speed of the USB socket, you will still get a pretty good speed, as shown above. You may not get the speed you need for real-time editing in multi-camera 6 or 8K, but it is certainly fast enough for photography and 4K video editing. If you can only use the USB 3.2 Gen 1 slot, using a slower drive may save some money, but when you finally upgrade your computer to a device that provides USB 3.2 Gen 2, you will find yourself at a loss or more Fast port. In any case, you may end up buying a faster drive, so you'd better buy a faster drive first.

For example: My first external SSD was Samsung T5 SSD (I allowed them to record externally on Blackmagic Pocket 4K). Although they are reliable drives, since I bought the SSD that provides transfer speed, I They are almost no longer used at about 1GB/sec or faster. This is the same reason I rarely use UHS-I SD cards now, because I have a bunch of UHS-II cards, even in cameras that don’t need them. They uninstall faster on the computer, and time efficiency is important. Every second saved in different parts of the workflow is valuable.

OWC Envoy Pro Elektron is available in 240GB, 480GB, 1TB and 2TB capacities, all of which have the same transfer speed of up to 1,011MB/sec. In addition to being fast, they are also very rugged, with an IP67 degree of protection (up to 1 meter and a half hour underwater), allowing use in the harshest conditions-for location photographers, this is crucial Important requirements.

It is also a very small SSD. It is only slightly smaller than the Samsung T5 (although the hair is thicker), and is significantly smaller than the Crucial X8. Therefore, it takes up almost no space in your camera bag or (ideally) your pocket. After all, the whole purpose of creating a backup is to allow you to have a copy if the original disappears, no matter the reason, so it needs to be in your pocket. If your gear is stolen from the car on the way home from the end of the filming, at least you can still carry it with you for work.

Backing up your work is an important part of any workflow, but most people don't think about this until they get home and want to transfer their card to a computer. Personally, I think that backing up the photos and video clips of the shooting location is more important than backing up after going home, because there is a risk of damage, loss or theft of the card during transportation. If you use multiple cards in multiple cameras to shoot, or you are using a second or third photographer to shoot things like weddings or events, then it’s easier to keep things organized if you back up at any time.

Backing up immediately after shooting or whenever I need to change the card is essential to my location workflow, and this process makes it simple, fast and easy. Once I got home, everything was organized in different folders on a fast SSD. All I need to do is drag everything onto my computer and walk away. No need to swap or wait for slower card transfers.

In terms of speed and durability, given my current experience, I would certainly recommend OWC Envoy Pro Elektron. It is very durable and suitable for on-site use-OWC even boasted that it is "built like a tank"-and it is fast and has an IP67 protection rating. Therefore, it can deal with falling into one or two puddles. It is also compatible with Mac, Windows, iPad Pro, Chromebook and Android devices. As for the OWC USB-C Travel Dock...it also feels very solid, providing up to 100W USB-PD power pass-through, a pair of Type-A USB 3.2 Gen 1 sockets, a built-in UHS-II SD card reader and an HDMI capable of 4K output Socket. For its cost, it is much higher than average.

Although it may seem like there are many things to deal with, most of us carry power banks in our camera bags anyway (we always carry them with us). If you usually carry a laptop with you, you may already have a card reader installed there. Therefore, the only additional item is a USB hub. If you want to remove the laptop from the equation, a small USB hub is nothing in comparison.

How do you back up your work in the field? Are you backing up your work on site?

Filing basis: Gears are marked as: backup, on-site backup, OWC, OWC Envoy Pro Elektron, SSD, USB hub

John Aldred lives in Scotland and photographs people and animals in the wild in his studio. You can find more information about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube.

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John Aldred lives in Scotland and photographs people and animals in the wild in his studio. You can find more information about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube.

Dunja Djudjic is a writer and photographer from Novi Sad, Serbia. You can see her work on Flickr, Behance and her Facebook page.

Alex is a commercial photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She mainly photographs people and likes anything related to the outdoors. You can see her work on her website and follow her Spanish adventures on Instagram.

Adam Frimer is the Guinness World Record holder, producer and DOP of Tel Aviv, Israel. Adam owns a production company that specializes in corporate marketing and brand strategy. His total videos have been viewed more than 2.5 billion times

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