Back up of XQD to Samsung Tablet (Nikon Z - Tablet) (success at last)

[sanfairyanne]

I have watched various YouTube videos showing wireless transfer from the Nikon Z to a Tablet, but they always leave me with questions and invariably on YouTube nobody answers them.
I would like to know if it's possible to connect the Sony XQD card reader directly to a USB C port on a Samsung Tablet. I assume if you had Lightroom Mobile on the Tablet you should be able to transfer images. This would purely be a short term way of backing up images. I don't yet own a Samsung Tablet, so I am trying to check this before purchase. If this is impractical can anyone tell me if there are drawbacks to using the wifi connection as a method of backing up images directly from the Z to the Tablet, my guess is that this is very slow. I am also unsure whether you can fill a card then tell the Z to back up all the images at once to the Tablet.
I would greatly appreciate help on this.

[Joe Towner]

Check out the Gnarbox - you can do it via your phone, and the box has internal storage.

[sanfairyanne]

Joe why would I spend hundreds on an item like that, I am sure I should be able to do it with my cell phone. Besides once the files are on the cell phone I have the benefit of uploading them to Google Drive. I could rent a lot of GD space for the price of Gnarbox

[mcbroomf]

I have watched various YouTube videos showing wireless transfer from the Nikon Z to a Tablet, but they always leave me with questions and invariably on YouTube nobody answers them.
I would like to know if it's possible to connect the Sony XQD card reader directly to a USB C port on a Samsung Tablet. I assume if you had Lightroom Mobile on the Tablet you should be able to transfer images. This would purely be a short term way of backing up images. I don't yet own a Samsung Tablet, so I am trying to check this before purchase. If this is impractical can anyone tell me if there are drawbacks to using the wifi connection as a method of backing up images directly from the Z to the Tablet, my guess is that this is very slow. I am also unsure whether you can fill a card then tell the Z to back up all the images at once to the Tablet.
I would greatly appreciate help on this.

I was able to get my Samsung tablet to connect to a regular SD card reader ... but it wanted to format the card 1st.  OK. I let it do that and then put it back in the camera.  The camera (Sony) automatically created an image dB.  I took a couple of photos then put the card back in the reader and plugged it into the tablet, and it wanted to format the card again.  So on the surface not much use, but when I have time I will take a look at what format the card is in coming from the tablet, and then from the camera.  No help from me for a Nikon Z though.

[sanfairyanne]

Just after placing this question on the forum I ordered a cable to connect the XQD reader to usb c. I should have it within a few days so I will test it and see if I get anywhere.

[mcbroomf]

All seems to be OK. 

The card was formatted ExFAT, as was another card I checked from my Sony camera.  What confused me was a google link that said to go to Storage on the Android to access files.  This does not allow you to get to files, only display space and format (I thought it meant that it could not access the files and had to format the card).  Instead go to MyFiles and you should see USBStorage underneath Internal storage.  The images are inside DCIM as usual and can be selected and copied.  A bit laborious but may be quicker than WiFI (if raw files can even be transferred by wifi, I don't think they can on a Sony).

Good luck.

[sanfairyanne]

That's fantastic news, thanks very much indeed.  You'd think if you can do it with an SD card it should work with XQD

[mcbroomf]

I would expect so.  The only thing you will have to verify is that the card is a format that Android can read (an article said that it cannot read NTFS), but it has to be a format that both PC and Mac can read so most likely ExFat.

[sanfairyanne]

Thanks mcbroomf,

I'll remember this, I'll post a reply on here when I try it. I'm not on Amazon Prime, so I'm likely going to have to wait a few days for the cable.

[Joe Towner]

Joe why would I spend hundreds on an item like that, I am sure I should be able to do it with my cell phone. Besides once the files are on the cell phone I have the benefit of uploading them to Google Drive. I could rent a lot of GD space for the price of Gnarbox

I took your question as relating to making a backup of images on your XQD card.  Yes, you can copy everything to your phone or tablet, but then what? Upload it to Google over cellular?  Ouch - that'll take for ever and consume your battery.  Products like the Gnarbox or the old HyperDrive work when you have cell coverage or not.  Gnarbox also has an app that'll let you mount it for editing an image across what ever tool you like to use on your cell phone, tablet or laptop. 

Doing the smallest Gnarbox & adding a SD card for additional space to copy from your XQD's onto a second medium.  Depending the conditions you shoot in, it may be a better option. Since you hadn't purchased the tablet yet, I suggested an alternative.

[sanfairyanne]

Thanks Joe,

I think the XQD to Cell phone idea will work for me. Assuming it works and I can copy the files to the removable micro sd card. As long as this works I can buy a bunch of 128gb micro SD's. I can pick up a 128gb micro sd for peanuts compared to XQD. I'm not a spray and pray shooter, so 2 or 3 128gb micro sd's will keep me going a good while. Once I have access to a computer I can then back them up to the Cloud at my leisure. Again this is all dependent on it working! I'll report back as soon as I have the necessary cable.

[mcbroomf]

On my Samsung It's actually a pain to get to the card port to replace it.  I keep a 400gb card in mine and would recommend you go with a large one and just leave it in, depending on the tablet you have or get of course.

Also I would recommend only using the tablet for backup storage, ie keep the images on full size SD cards until dumped onto your computer or the cloud.  I now use 256GB cards on the Sony and rarely use more than 2 on a 4 day shoot.

[sanfairyanne]

Thanks mcbroomf,

That's definitely really good advice. It would be wise to consider the original card (XQD) as the safest back up. Not only are they more secure they're also physically bigger and less likely to get lost.

[sanfairyanne]

mcbroomf

You wrote: "go to MyFiles and you should see USBStorage underneath Internal storage"

I have attached the XQD card with the new cable to my Android phone. I have two Files apps on the phone one is a Google app called Files, the other a standalone app called Astro, neither of them have anything showing USB storage.

I double checked and the card is formatted as ExFat, plus I've also checked and my Realmex2 phone has OTG connection, so I'm at a loss for now. 

[sanfairyanne]

Yay success!!!!!! 

I have just successfully uploaded 13 RAW Nikon Z7 files, plus a few jpegs to my phone in about 1 minute. This compares with nearly 15 minutes to upload just 10 RAW files via wifi.

Total success wow, the £4 cable was money well spent.

The irritating thing is I don't know why it didn't work the first time I plugged in the XQD card. I'll play with it some more but all seems good so far.

[mcbroomf]

It seems like your phone and my Samsung tablets have a slightly different app for file management, but glad it worked out.

[sanfairyanne]

Thanks mcbroomf,

Your advice was still highly relevant, there's nothing better than having one device do all. If money was no object I might have dumped $1000 on a XQD card reading hard drive device but this way I have just the cell phone and the cable only cost £4.

I am very grateful to all the help from members of Luminous Landscape. Best of luck with the light folks.