File transfer on hols

[zou]

Normally I just take my pictures and when I am home I transfer to the computer/NAS, but for my upcoming trip to Japan I am thinking about getting a USB OTG cable for my phone so I can copy over some jpgs to the phone for email/social media etc. My camera doesn't have wifi transfer options, obviously. Anyone done this and is there anything I should be wary of before trying it?

[squeamishossifrage]

You clearly have a 'bigger' 'phone than I do! (Or you don't have as much junk on it as I do!) On a short holiday, up to a week, I have used OTG with a Samsung 8" tablet quite happily, backing up each night, and archiving the card when full. For longer trips I usually take a small laptop. More recently, however, I have been using a windows 8" tablet with a miniature Bluetooth keyboard, so I can run some specific Windows software for viewing Sony output, and also do some editing with tools I am familiar with. Again I connect using OTG - it works!

The one caveat I have is that I will not use a USB output on the camera to connect directly to OTG -  I always (now!) use a card reader connected via OTG. Doing a direct transfer once corrupted some files, and, even worse, locked up the camera. I think it was probably a power problem, which would be solved by an OTG cable that also has a connection for a charging source wired in, but they're rarer than hens teeth out here.

[zou]

I was thinking just a few pics I wanted to share, not the whole lot. But now you mention corruption that is something to watch out for. A card reader might be a good idea.

[dreampolice]

Take separate social media photos with your phone and use the camera ones as you need when you get back.

[zou]

Jan 8, 2023 16:54:39 GMT dreampolice said:

Take separate social media photos with your phone and use the camera ones as you need when you get back.

The phone pics are shite though. Well, it is possible to get some half decent ones in good light but if it's good light I'll be too busy using proper cameras to want to take any phone B roll. Could always do the photo of the photo on the screen in playback thing, but that's going to get boring quickly.

[dreampolice]

I'm really jealous of you going to Japan. I wish I was going back there. How long are you off for?

[stevewmh]

I've always used a USB card reader plugged into a tablet to transfer files.
I May be being a bit over cautious, there just seems less that could possibly go wrong when there's no direct link to the camera. Also if your dealing with lots of files, the transfer tends to be faster

The card gets changed and I keep the used one as a temporary backup

[squeamishossifrage]

The problem with a direct connection is that, under normal USB specs, when the camera is connect to another USB device,  it expects power to come over that connection. The phone may not (read usually can't) deliver that amount of power. It all depends on the circuitry of the camera. If the USB interface draws enough power from the camera battery then all is usually well,  but if not, and the phone can't provide enough power,  then a corrupt - or no - transfer takes place. A card reader draws so little power, there should never be a problem, but it is still a good idea to monitor the phone battery during a transfer session.

[zx9]

Can you still get wifi SD cards and if so would that be an option?

[zou]

Jan 8, 2023 18:32:21 GMT zx9 said:

Can you still get wifi SD cards and if so would that be an option?

Had completely forgotten about those. Just checked prices though and can't beat the £5 for the OTG card reader.

[zou]

Here it is, a handy little micro sd reader. Just took the photo on my camera, popped out the card, into the pictured device, inserted in phone, browse files, open with snapseed, tweak, export, close snapseed, eject storage, done. Perfect for what I wanted to do.

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[zou]

Jan 8, 2023 17:06:03 GMT dreampolice said:

I'm really jealous of you going to Japan. I wish I was going back there. How long are you off for?

Sorry, missed this. 16 days.