Digital Camera companion

[MacBriar]

Hi all I am looking for some advice from the Pocket PC sages.

Getting back into photography here with a nice Canon EOS 300D, and I am looking for a portable solution for image viewing of Canon RAW files when out on the road.

Here are my thoughts so far;

1 My HX4700 with Pocket Loupe/Resco Photoviewer, a SD to Compact Flash adapter, and a 6GB microdrive. Take photos using SD cards in camera via adapter. Select images for storage using Pocket Loupe and store to microdrive.

2 Same sort of solution but buy FS PocketLoox 720 for USB host capability, use compact flash card in camera and transfer images to USB hard disk.

3 Buy a second hand light laptop and use this for selection and storage.

Any advice from people in similar situations ?

Thanks

MacBriar[/i]

[GSmith]

I don't think an adapter exists that takes a CF card and lets you insert into an SD slot.

If the Rebel can act as a USB client where you can pull the pictures off directly from a USB Host PDA, then you won't need to get the card reader and you could get a Microdrive as you mentioned.

Note that most PDA USB Hosts are 1.1 (the HP iPAQ hx4700 at USB 2.0 is the only exception today, I think), so transferring large files may be slow, you will want to test this (or research Menneisyys's posts for detailed transfer figures).

You can get a 20GB-80GB "digital wallet" that has CF slot and acts as a USB client. Depending on your exact use (transfer ALL photos to disk storage quickly, then process later with USB Host PPC like the Loox 720), this may be a decent option.

There are several manufacturers, Archos I think makes one (GMini 400). Check the USB compatibility list at www.firstloox.org for devices that users have tested with the Loox 720 as a USB host .

The GMini is probably overkill if you've already decided to carry a PDA, but you could find cheaper "disk only" devices. Just be sure to get one with a battery because PDA as USB host usually provide very little current (100mA) and certainly not enough to power up a hard disk.

Let us know what you decide!

[Menneisyys]

Do you already have a Microdrive? If not, your best bet may be purchasing an external 2.5" USB HDD that also has a CF reader. There're several of them and are really cheap - you can get a 40GByte, battery-powered one for around 150 US$. Please also read http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1023 on choosing the best image tank.

Then, you just quick preview your photos on the screen of your VGA device (let it be either the hx4700 or the PL720 - both are very good PDA's) and delete the unnecessary files with PocketLoupe, the best tool for quick previewing (http://winmobiletech.com/PICVIEWERS/)

Please note that battery-operated HDD's are not much cheaper than battery-operated HDD's that also have at least a CF reader (that is, image tanks), so, I'd go straight for an image tank - or, for the next option, if you already have a sufficiently big MD.

If you don't want to buy anything HDD-based because you already own a Microdrive and find its size sufficient to store all your images on, a PL720 is the best solution so that you can hook up your camera to the PL720 via USB and directly transfer your images to the Microdrive.