# How awesome would it be if you could use the USB C port for backups with a USB stick or hard drive?



## Felix (Feb 10, 2022)

Who would also like to use it on the go, for example on vacation?


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## privatebydesign (Feb 10, 2022)

You could do that with the 1Ds III. It really didn't work well and wasn't practical, also the attached drive becomes a liability.


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## Felix (Feb 10, 2022)

privatebydesign said:


> You could do that with the 1Ds III. It really didn't work well and wasn't practical, also the attached drive becomes a liability.


In 2007? Wow! Nowadays with USB C and fast storage I would find it interesting, especially since the FTP connection to my NAS is significantly slower and may use up data volume


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## neuroanatomist (Feb 10, 2022)

I’m just happy I can use it for charging the battery. Means I don’t have to bring the R3 double battery charger, or any dedicated charger since I can just use the AC adapter for my MacBook Pro.


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## Felix (Feb 10, 2022)

neuroanatomist said:


> I’m just happy I can use it for charging the battery. Means I don’t have to bring the R3 double battery charger, or any dedicated charger since I can just use the AC adapter for my MacBook Pro.


This is a great feature on the go! I think it's a pity, at least with the R5/6, that you can no longer charge the batteries in the batter grip yourself like you can with the R and you always have to let the charge run through the camera. I also always take the power plug from my 16" MBP, how many watts do you actually need at least to charge it? I'm considering buying a smaller charger for on the go. Especially if I only have the ipad pro with me…


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## AlanF (Feb 10, 2022)

Felix said:


> This is a great feature on the go! I think it's a pity, at least with the R5/6, that you can no longer charge the batteries in the batter grip yourself like you can with the R and you always have to let the charge run through the camera. I also always take the power plug from my 16" MBP, how many watts do you actually need at least to charge it? I'm considering buying a smaller charger for on the go. Especially if I only have the ipad pro with me…


If you are taking your iPad Pro with you, you can download to that and transfer from there to an SSD.


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## Felix (Feb 10, 2022)

AlanF said:


> If you are taking your iPad Pro with you, you can download to that and transfer from there to an SSD.


I don't like the solution because I always need a USB C hub for SSD and SD card. Most of the time I only use the upload to my Synology NAS with the DS files app, but I also find the solution unsatisfactory. There are hard drives like the LaCie BOSS, but I find the solution at >500€ too expensive. Of course I can also use the FTP upload, but this is too slow for me when I'm on the go directly from the camera. Plug and play with an ssd from the camera with around 250mb/s would be perfect. It is just a simple software feature and would not require any additional hardware (in camera).


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## neuroanatomist (Feb 10, 2022)

Felix said:


> It is just a simple software feature and would not require any additional hardware (in camera).


Are you sure about that? I believe there are different USB-C control chips for data, power, or data + power. Certainly there are different cable standards, because the charge cable that comes with Macs doesn’t carry data.

If a power-only controller is a lower cost component (and it probably is), it’s likely that’s what Canon uses in these cameras.


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## Felix (Feb 10, 2022)

neuroanatomist said:


> Are you sure about that? I believe there are different USB-C control chips for data, power, or data + power. Certainly there are different cable standards, because the charge cable that comes with Macs doesn’t carry data.
> 
> If a power-only controller is a lower cost component (and it probably is), it’s likely that’s what Canon uses in these cameras.


As a computer science student with dangerous half-knowledge, I would only see the problem with different file systems. The USB C ports on all EOS R System cameras support internal card sharing. To transfer a few photos, I usually plug the USB C cable directly into the camera without removing the SD card. You can also connect the camera to the computer via USB C and use it as a webcam for zoom (EOS Webcam Utility). 

The 2 meter cable from my 16" MBP also supports data transfer to my SSD. The only problem with the USB C cables is that you can't tell straight away whether it's USB 2.0 or USB 3.x or USB 4


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## neuroanatomist (Feb 10, 2022)

Felix said:


> As a computer science student with dangerous half-knowledge, I would only see the problem with different file systems. The USB C ports on all EOS R System cameras support internal card sharing. To transfer a few photos, I usually plug the USB C cable directly into the camera without removing the SD card. You can also connect the camera to the computer via USB C and use it as a webcam for zoom (EOS Webcam Utility).
> 
> The 2 meter cable from my 16" MBP also supports data transfer to my SSD. The only problem with the USB C cables is that you can't tell straight away whether it's USB 2.0 or USB 3.x or USB 4


Thanks, makes sense.

I did misspeak about the Apple charge cable – it does support data (at relatively low speeds) but not video.


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## Felix (Feb 10, 2022)

neuroanatomist said:


> Thanks, makes sense.
> 
> I did misspeak about the Apple charge cable – it does support data (at relatively low speeds) but not video.


In my case it works. However, the EOS Webcam Utility can basically only support HD. I can't say how it looks with 4K and the MBP 2 meter cable.


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## AlanF (Feb 10, 2022)

Felix said:


> I don't like the solution because I always need a USB C hub for SSD and SD card. Most of the time I only use the upload to my Synology NAS with the DS files app, but I also find the solution unsatisfactory. There are hard drives like the LaCie BOSS, but I find the solution at >500€ too expensive. Of course I can also use the FTP upload, but this is too slow for me when I'm on the go directly from the camera. Plug and play with an ssd from the camera with around 250mb/s would be perfect. It is just a simple software feature and would not require any additional hardware (in camera).


You are a computer science student so you will know a lot more than me. This is how it works for me on the iPad without using a USB-C hub but just the camera , its cable and an SSD drive.
1. Connect the R-series camera to the iPad with the Canon-provided USB-C cable.
2. Download to Photos.
3. Share the photos to a folder in Files.
4. Plug in SSD to iPad with the USB-C cable
5. Select folder in Files and Move to SSD.
Either keep or delete images from iPad.

I agree that plugging in the SSD directly to the camera would be better. But, a small iPad that you have anyway is useful,


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## Felix (Feb 10, 2022)

AlanF said:


> You are a computer science student so you will know a lot more than me. This is how it works for me on the iPad without using a USB-C hub but just the camera , its cable and an SSD drive.
> 1. Connect the R-series camera to the iPad with the Canon-provided USB-C cable.
> 2. Download to Photos.
> 3. Share the photos to a folder in Files.
> ...


Yes but I only have 128GB of which I only have 18GB available so anything else would be cumbersome


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## Bennymiata (Feb 11, 2022)

Personally, I use a 1TB card in my R5.
I haven't run out of room yet even at large events.


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## AlanF (Feb 11, 2022)

Bennymiata said:


> Personally, I use a 1TB card in my R5.
> I haven't run out of room yet even at large events.


The OP wants to have back up on the go. One way would be to have some cheap SD cards to use in the second slot and transfer to those via the menu.


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## kaihp (Feb 11, 2022)

Felix said:


> As a computer science student with dangerous half-knowledge, I would only see the problem with different file systems. The USB C ports on all EOS R System cameras support internal card sharing. To transfer a few photos, I usually plug the USB C cable directly into the camera without removing the SD card. You can also connect the camera to the computer via USB C and use it as a webcam for zoom


Unfortunately, the USB-C port of the R3 does not support USB On-The-Go (USB-OTG), a standard that is merely 20 years old, but as far as I can tell mostly used in phones.

It's been a long while since I looked into USB Host & Peripheral design, but at least at that time, you needed some hardware support to do OTG.


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## Felix (Feb 11, 2022)

AlanF said:


> The OP wants to have back up on the go. One way would be to have some cheap SD cards to use in the second slot and transfer to those via the menu.


Wait a minute, how is that possible? Buying a cheap large (slow) SD card would also be an option as a backup on the go


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## Felix (Feb 11, 2022)

kaihp said:


> Unfortunately, the USB-C port of the R3 does not support USB On-The-Go (USB-OTG), a standard that is merely 20 years old, but as far as I can tell mostly used in phones.
> 
> It's been a long while since I looked into USB Host & Peripheral design, but at least at that time, you needed some hardware support to do OTG.


GnarBox and LaCie BOSS is too expensive for only 500GB


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## AlanF (Feb 11, 2022)

Felix said:


> Wait a minute, how is that possible? Buying a cheap large (slow) SD card would also be an option as a backup on the go


Dead easy: Go to the blue menu (the play sign one, 3rd along), page 1 bottom Copy Image. It will give the instructions for copy from card 1 to card 2.
Glad the the suggestion was helpful.

I had thought over all of these possibilities before the trip of a lifetime to the Galapagos. It was lucky I did have a back-up as my laptop failed to recognise my camera or card reader. But, I had taken an iPad and downloaded to that and was able to connect my iPad to my MacBook.


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## Felix (Feb 11, 2022)

AlanF said:


> Dead easy: Go to the blue menu (the play sign one, 3rd along), page 1 bottom Copy Image. It will give the instructions for copy from card 1 to card 2.
> Glad the the suggestion was helpful.
> 
> I had thought over all of these possibilities before the trip of a lifetime to the Galapagos. It was lucky I did have a back-up as my laptop failed to recognise my camera or card reader. But, I had taken an iPad and downloaded to that and was able to connect my iPad to my MacBook.


Thank you very much! I've never used the blue play menu. I have now ordered a (cheap) SanDisk Extreme PRO 512 GB memory card 170 mb/s, UHS-1 and then used it for backups and leave the card at the hotel in case my camera should be stolen or something else.


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## neuroanatomist (Feb 11, 2022)

AlanF said:


> Dead easy: Go to the blue menu (the play sign one, 3rd along), page 1 bottom Copy Image. It will give the instructions for copy from card 1 to card 2.
> Glad the the suggestion was helpful.


When I mentioned doing this a while back in the context of the R3 (if the slower SD card limits my shooting speed in writing RAW to both cards, I planned to write only to the CFe then copy images to the SD during down time), it was also met with surprise by some.

No disrespect to @Felix intended, but it’s surprising to me that people don’t RTFM.


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## Felix (Feb 11, 2022)

neuroanatomist said:


> When I mentioned doing this a while back in the context of the R3 (if the slower SD card limits my shooting speed in writing RAW to both cards, I planned to write only to the CFe then copy images to the SD during down time), it was also met with surprise by some.
> 
> No disrespect to @Felix intended, but it’s surprising to me that people don’t RTFM.


This is of course also clever and can save money, because UHS-II also costs more. I am very satisfied with my Kingston Canvas React Plus, which offer good value for money.

I actually read the user manual, but I skipped the blue part. I was more interested in everything else


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## neuroanatomist (Feb 11, 2022)

Felix said:


> I actually read the user manual, but I skipped the blue part. I was more interested in everything else


Then it seems you skipped something important to you. One of those ‘if you don’t know it, you don’t know you need it’ things.


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## Felix (Feb 11, 2022)

neuroanatomist said:


> Then it seems you skipped something important to you. One of those ‘if you don’t know it, you don’t know you need it’ things.


It was a lesson for me


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## AlanF (Feb 11, 2022)

neuroanatomist said:


> When I mentioned doing this a while back in the context of the R3 (if the slower SD card limits my shooting speed in writing RAW to both cards, I planned to write only to the CFe then copy images to the SD during down time), it was also met with surprise by some.
> 
> No disrespect to @Felix intended, but it’s surprising to me that people don’t RTFM.


I confess that I discovered how to copy by browsing the menus not the manual. I tend to subscribe to the school of "When all else fails, read the menu" and like learning by experience. It all began with going from an IBM PC to an Apple Mac+, for those who are old enough to remember the introduction of windows and logically intuitive software.


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## neuroanatomist (Feb 11, 2022)

AlanF said:


> I confess that I discovered how to copy by browsing the menus not the manual. I tend to subscribe to the school of "When all else fails, read the menu" and like learning by experience. It all began with going from an IBM PC to an Apple Mac+, for those who are old enough to remember the introduction of windows and logically intuitive software.


I tend to read manuals for relatively complex hardware items, like new cameras and new cars. There are often new features that weren’t on previous models, and the manual is a good way to learn about them.

The first Mac I bought was an SE. Instead of dual floppies, I upgraded to the ‘massive’ 20 MB hard drive – today even a single RAW file would not fit on it.


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## Del Paso (Feb 11, 2022)

Felix said:


> Who would also like to use it on the go, for example on vacation?


I would love it (LaCie Boss is unsatisfactory in my opinion)


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## Del Paso (Feb 11, 2022)

AlanF said:


> Dead easy: Go to the blue menu (the play sign one, 3rd along), page 1 bottom Copy Image. It will give the instructions for copy from card 1 to card 2.
> Glad the the suggestion was helpful.
> 
> I had thought over all of these possibilities before the trip of a lifetime to the Galapagos. It was lucky I did have a back-up as my laptop failed to recognise my camera or card reader. But, I had taken an iPad and downloaded to that and was able to connect my iPad to my MacBook.


The solution to my little problem was so simple, and just didn't know (despite always carefully reading the manual...)


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## AlanF (Feb 11, 2022)

neuroanatomist said:


> I tend to read manuals for relatively complex hardware items, like new cameras and new cars. There are often new features that weren’t on previous models, and the manual is a good way to learn about them.
> 
> The first Mac I bought was an SE. Instead of dual floppies, I upgraded to the ‘massive’ 20 MB hard drive – today even a single RAW file would not fit on it.


RTFM is useful, to say the least - especially for driving a car when learning by experimentation can have rather unfortunate consequences! It's just I've always liked learning by osmosis, picking up bits and pieces here and there and working out things for myself rather than going through a textbook from A to Z. It has allowed me to do new things in research because of not having a preconceived approach. But, it's a very dangerous path.


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## hachu21 (Feb 12, 2022)

When backpack travelling, i took another option. My eos M do not support usb on-the-go, but my phone could.
- One big microSD in the phone
- one mini sd card reader
- one small usb-c OTG adapter
This way, i could backup my sd cards on my phone. And then to my cloud service when i found available wifi.

Quite fast (much faster than wifi), no pc needed, affordable.


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