[DigiNoob]

Well, not really, but I've been thinking...

Apple is coming out with a new 160gb iPod and if you already are familiar with iPods, you know they can work as a storage drive, holding JPEGs and even other data (I wonder about RAW files).

Anyway, I'm wondering about the feasibility of a pict bridge/iPod interface cable (if one does not already exist)! Wouldn't it be cool if you could carry around one of these new iPods in your camera bag and when your memory card fills up, hook the pict bridge to your iPod and move your images from the camera to the iPod and have your mem card ready for more?!

Just getting the ol' creative juices flowing! Feel free to post thoughts, both pro and con!

[davemdsn]

There is a camera cable attachment for the iPods, but I don't know what cameras/file formats it supports. It is capable of having many file formats stored on it, so I don't know why not.

[Chocolar]

Well, most of the basic hardware and firmware is already there. Not only Apple but there are a bunch of mp3 player out there with hd of all sizes (20gig, 40gig, 60gig, etc...) and allowed storage of images. Pentax need to have firmware that let cam act as master and the mp3 players as ext. devices and voila.

[Entropy]

Well, most of the basic hardware and firmware is already there. Not only Apple but there are a bunch of mp3 player out there with hd of all sizes (20gig, 40gig, 60gig, etc...) and allowed storage of images. Pentax need to have firmware that let cam act as master and the mp3 players as ext. devices and voila.

Having a device act as a USB master is often far more than just firmware. It's quite difficult.

That said, as someone mentioned previously, someone (previously Apple although I'm not sure if they make it any more) offered a device that would move files between two slave devices (such as a camera or SD reader to an iPod). I think it was only $30-40.

I have seen a similar device in Best Buy but it is far more expensive - something like $80-100.

[Peter Zack]

I looked at this Ipod storage idea as my son was working for Apple support while going to college last spring. He found the part(s) needed to make it work. When all was said and done the cost would have been about double that of a Wolverine or other similar devices. So it didn't seem worth it.

[LeoTaylor]

I've never owned any Apple hardware (though I did have a Mac 500 emulator for my Atari ST). If your iPOD battery goes dead during your photography vacation, don't you have to send the iPOD and your only copy of the photos to Apple for repair?

[AlexL]

It's called the iPod Camera Connector, but if I remember the reviews, people said that it was kinda slow and sucked the battery life out of the iPod. Word on the street is that the newest iPods don't seem to support the Camera Connector anymore

Seems like the Wolverine FlashPac might be a better option, anyway.

-Alex

[Peter Zack]

I've never owned any Apple hardware (though I did have a Mac 500 emulator for my Atari ST). If your iPOD battery goes dead during your photography vacation, don't you have to send the iPOD and your only copy of the photos to Apple for repair?

True In My son knew everything there was about those things and if the battery was worn out, it is not user replaceable. It has to go to Apple and they don't return te original unit. To speed up return times they send a refurb back the same day (they assume you have all you music still on the computer). So when the wedding shoot is over ot the once in a lifetime trip to Iceland you now have no pictures....

It's called the iPod Camera Connector, but if I remember the reviews, people said that it was kinda slow and sucked the battery life out of the iPod. Word on the street is that the newest iPods don't seem to support the Camera Connector anymore

Seems like the Wolverine FlashPac might be a better option, anyway.

-Alex

That's why I didn't go that route. His price was well below wholesale but they had given up on the product so It was a one shot deal and it was basically a single download on a fresh battery. Transfer rates were very slow as well.

[mattdm]

The future here is bluetooth or wifi in the camera over which pictures will be sent in near-real-time to your laptop (or small "smart" storage media) in your camera bag.

[Toshi]

The future here is bluetooth or wifi in the camera over which pictures will be sent in near-real-time to your laptop (or small "smart" storage media) in your camera bag.

I believe this is already done isn't it? I think I heard that F1 photographers do this at events to have their photos available for sale immediately during the event.

[PDL]

After all the moaning about how Pentax stopped using AA's and went to the big/heavy have to carry a charger around with you L-Ion batteries. You guys want to add in the power drain of running a USB 2.0 at full speed to your camera?

Remember - the more goodies you put on the camera - the bigger/heavier/bulkier it is going to get. It is much easier to go get a independent card reader/HD like the Wolverine (I have one) or other "Photo wallets". When I put my SDHC card into the Wolverine - the battery in my K10D / *ist Ds just powers the fresh SD/SDHC card I put in it. As for Wi-FI - there are a lot of different devices out there - and they can interfere with each other, plus in the suggested scenario - now you have to have another "thing" that eats batteries in your bag.

If I really wanted to carry around a 8 lb camera and a 10 lb camera bag everywhere - I would have bought a Ca*on.

PDL

[DigiNoob]

I've never owned any Apple hardware (though I did have a Mac 500 emulator for my Atari ST). If your iPOD battery goes dead during your photography vacation, don't you have to send the iPOD and your only copy of the photos to Apple for repair?

Well, that battery IS rechargeable! I have an ac/dc charger and a car charger. I've owned my current iPod for over 2 years and it still recharges fine. Furthermore, you can buy battery/installation kits to replace the batteries yourself. One of my coworkers replaced his with one he bought on eBay. My response of the potential of loosing photos with a completely dead battery is that if you're noticing your 8 hour iPod battery isn't holding but an hour or two charge, you may not want to risk it.

For those pointing to the Wolverine as an alternative, first, I've not heard of that before so that sounds like a viable option. Second, I was thinking of the iPod for this as a multipurpose tool (i.e. If you have an iPod for music handy when your SD card fills up, it'd be nice to offload the photos to the iPod you already have. I suspect such a cable to do so is cheaper than this Wolverine but I may be wrong. Anyone got details on this thing, including price?