Tech Tuesdays - Epson P-3000

I don't know about you, but whenever I finish a shoot and can't immediately upload my photos to my computer for safe storage, I get a little nervous.  It's not like my memory cards are plotting against me and coming up with evil schemes to delete my photos, but you can never be too safe.  I'd always heard great things about the Epson portable storage devices and had wanted to pick one up for a while, but they are pricey and I'd always had better things to spend my money on.

One day I was perusing Craigslist for some great deals on camera gear and found an Epson P-3000 for a great deal.  After confirming that it worked fine and didn't have anything wrong with it, I grabbed some cash, drove over, took a look at it and soon was headed home with a new gadget.  It turns out the guy had purchased it for a trip to Alaska and hadn't touched it since he got back.  He figured he could use the money more than the Epson, so it worked out well for everyone involved!

My first impression of the P-3000 was very good.  The screen is absolutely beautiful.  Navigation is simple and intuitive.  Backup is as easy as clicking one button.  What a wonderful device!

My primary use has been for off-site image backup.  The P-3000 has an 40GB hard drive, so it can easily hold all of my photos from one event.  Heck, it can hold all of my photos from a long vacation!  As soon as I'm done at a shoot, I pull out my memory card, plug it into the top of the P-3000 and a screen pops up that asks if I want to backup the images from the card.  I click yes, put it away and it silently backs up every image.  When I come back, the entire contents of the card are backed up and I can start reviewing files if I want to.  It automatically creates folders for the images, so I can browse past shoots by date.  It builds image previews from RAW files, so I can check images for sharpness if I want to.  Although it can't beat reviewing photos at home on a large monitor, it's a good way to pass the time in a coffee shop.

While browsing files, it's possible to flag photos as picks and only upload those selected photos at a later date, but I haven't messed with those options.  I only use it as a backup.  I still upload the files directly from the memory cards when I get home.  It just makes me feel better to know that they are backed up until I get home.

So, is there anything I would change about the Epson P-3000?  Sure.  I'd love it if it would rotate an image that was taken in portrait orientation if I rotate the viewer.  As it is, all images are only viewable while holding the device in landscape orientation, which means wasted screen space when viewing portraits.  I'd like it if it built previews a little faster.  It's not slow, considering it's building previews from RAW files, but it could be faster.  I love the size, but the first time I held it (before actually buying it), I almost dropped it because I expected the "grips" on the back to be a little bigger.  I realize that by making the back more contoured the entire device gets bigger, but I still feel like I need to wear the wrist strap every time I hold it just so I don't drop it.

In the end, I am very happy with the Epson P-3000.  It has recently been discontinued, but Epson still has a full line of these products available.  If you want a portable backup solution, I highly recommend one of these devices.  Even when I have a laptop with me, the ease and speed having one of these in my camera bag makes it my go-to gadget for backup duty.