…And how to back up your memory card to an SSD without a computer.

Photography, motorcycling and travel are three of my favourite pastimes, but the big downside of travelling on two wheels is the lack of space for carying luxuries, so you soon become the master of travelling light.

One of the items I like to leave behind is the computer, even though laptops are pretty useful, most of what I need to do can be achieved with an iPad. More recently I discovered that I can back up my camera memory cards to an external solid state drive with just the iPad, a card reader and a couple of USB-C cables thanks to the use of a small USB-C cable splitter, I’ll try to explain…

Instructions:
1. Connect the USB-C cable splitter to the iPad USB port, connect both the card reader and the SSD to the splitter.
2. Insert the memory card into the card reader.
3. On the iPad, open the Files app, (the icon looks just like a folder).
4. In the lefthand column you will see both the Card and the SSD.
5. Tap on the Memory Card name to open the folder and navigate to the folder containing your images.
6. Tap om the word “Select” in the top right hand corner of the screen, then either tap on “Select All” to choose all images or tap on each individual image that you wish to transfer.
7. Tap om “Move” at the bottom of the screen, tap on the name of the SSD in the left column of the new window and navigate to the destination location, then tap “Copy” in the top right corner of the window and Voila! Your files will be copied.
8. When it’s time to dismount the devices, just be sure all copying has finished and no activity is taking place, then you can simply unplug all devices.

A bit of troubleshooting!
If you don’t see either the card or the SSD in the left column of the files app, first ensure the card is entered into the card reader. If there’s still no joy then you may need to track down a new USB-C cable, usually the one supplied with the device is the best one to use. If it’s a USB-A to USB-C cable you may get away with an adapter, but it’s unlikely. The cables need to be good quality rated for fast data transfer. If all else fails, you may need to try a different card reader. As far as I know, most USB-C compliant devices should work.

Paul Hibbert
Freelance Photographer

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