Can I Back-up Pictures to Mini-DV Tape?

[rubiocesar83]

Does anybody knows of a way to back up
Picture files like Nef (Nikon Raw) and Jpegs to
a Mini-DV tape via a camcorder?

The DLT,DDS,etc drives are kind of expensive...
Thanks,Cesar.

[cheezweezl]

pointless, as you will be limited to dv res which is only 720x480 plus the compression sucks. CDR or DVDR is the way..... or if you're like me and hate burning discs and then having to track them down when you need them, just keep buying hard drives. when one fills, buy another. they are so cheap now they can almost compete with tape backup prices. plus there is no transfer necessary to pull the files back up later.

[bfischinger]

I saw some 40 Gig pocket drives for 99 bucks at best buy the other day. That would work great for storing pictures, and if you do film, storing dailies too.

[cheezweezl]

250gb lacie for $139 at macmall

http://www.macmall.com/macmall/shop/detail~dpno~588341.asp

[rubiocesar83]

Thanks guys for the info...
I am looking for a long,long time storage capability...

HD's,DVD's and CD's...who really knows if
you can retrieve data from those in 30 years..

I've heard that a kind of tape storage do better over time.
Cesar.

[cheezweezl]

dv is high maint though. they need to be wound every so often or they mess up. i know my old audio tapes that have been shelved for years have lost something along the way.....

[egproductions]

pointless, as you will be limited to dv res which is only 720x480 plus the compression sucks. CDR or DVDR is the way..... or if you're like me and hate burning discs and then having to track them down when you need them, just keep buying hard drives. when one fills, buy another. they are so cheap now they can almost compete with tape backup prices. plus there is no transfer necessary to pull the files back up later.
I have heard that there is a hack to allow you to back up data to a mini-dv tape much like a backup tape drive (sony ditto etc.) I think this is what rubiocesar83 is talking about. Either way i dont think it is worth it because tape prices arent even that competative cd-rs dvd-+r or even physical internal hard drives are just as affordable if not more for backup (do the math per gigabyte - tapes hold 14 roughly) Aside from this there is the archival factor with tapes not holding up as well. They do not deteriarate over time like cheezweezl mentioned with audio tapes (audio tapes are analog recorded) but when they do go bad there can be drop outs and when talking about data this can result to the loss of a whole file (scary).

[Petrus]

There used to be tape backup drives using DAT tapes, and maybe also drives using miniDV. Basically a good idea, 13 GB of data storage for a few dollars.

Broblems: drives cost a lot, you have to rewind the tapes annually.

My solution: pick the best shots and convert them, store on two physically separate drives as highest quality JPGs. THROW away the RAWs!!!! This cuts your storage needs 99%...

But I do photography professionally, no sentimental artistic issues here. Get the job done, pass the result to the payer...

[Owen]

Check it out:
http://www.dvstreamer.com/
http://www.cristalink.com/fs/Default.asp

From the 2nd link:


Contrary to the popular belief that VCR-based backup solutions are unreliable, Firestreamer-DV offers superior data protection.
Thanks to the advanced technology used, Firestreamer-DV can recover up to a second of erroneous data every 32 seconds. In other words, even if two out of every 64 centimeters of videotape are damaged, Firestreamer-DV is still able to correctly restore your files (the numbers are approximate and apply to the NTSC SP mode). The restore process will take somewhat longer, though.
You can do a simple test yourself:
Back up a few files to videotape.
Wind the tape to any position containing the recorded data.
Press the record button on your video recorder for a moment to overwrite the recorded data.
Restore files from the tape to another folder on your computer. As long as the damage you made to the video data does not exceed one second, Firestreamer-DV will correctly recover your files.
In spite of the above, please remember that consumer video recorders are designed to handle video, not computer data. They cannot offer the same level of data protection as professional tape drives. Because of this, always make several copies of important files and folders on different media types (videotapes, CDs, DVDs, flash drives etc.) and store the copies in different physical locations.
For best results, please read and follow the recommendations listed on the Tips and Tricks (http://www.cristalink.com/fs/help/tips.asp) page.

[rubiocesar83]

Owen:
This is what I was looking for...
Thanks for the excellent info...
Cesar.