Moving to the Cloud

Moving to the Cloud

2014

Cloud storage options have expanded exponentially in the last year or two. Social media sites, video-sharing sites and image-hosting sites—ranging anywhere from simple storage sites to complete operating environments—are all part of that cloud.

Many are free, and those that aren’t usually offer an introductory free option. Some will take any type of digital data; others specialize in certain types of data, such as images or video. The fundamental factor that links cloud services together is that everything is accessed, delivered and stored somewhere on Internet servers.

Most companies dealing with online activities, including major camera manufacturers, have created cloud storage capabilities for their customers. It’s a very effective way for companies to keep customers engaged. Canon has its Irista cloud service; Nikon has Image Space; Sony has the Media Cloud Service; Olympus, ib on the net; and Leica, Fotopark, just to name a few.

Clouds of a Different Color
One of the most popular cloud storage options is Apple’s iCloud (icloud.com). The company has sold more than 500 million iPhones. That makes for an extremely large potential cloud customer base. It is probably the most cloud-like out there, since it’s more a collection of different applications and services than a single service. With iCloud, it’s possible to store photos, music, apps, contacts, calendar items and more, and sync everything across multiple devices.

Cloud storage is not only a way for camera manufacturers to keep their customers engaged. It is also a potential added revenue stream. Irista (irista.com) provides up to 10 gigabytes of free storage, but it charges up to $160 per year for its premium 100GB service. The free service option is available worldwide. Paid service options, however, aren’t available in the U.S. quite yet. They’re only available to European residents at this time, where the service is actually based.

Irista makes it possible to automatically add, back up and browse image collections by related themes and timelines; manage photos with filters and unique tags; and sync with social networks, making it possible to quickly share images and store comments with the collection. Unlike some services that take all types of digital data, at this point Irista only takes images. (Video capabilities are expected to be added.) And the service isn’t limited to storing images captured with Canon cameras. It will take a variety of file formats, including RAW files from competing companies.

Nikon also has an online storage option: Image Space Cloud Service (nikonimagespace.com). Its previous online service, my Picturetown, was replaced by this incarnation about two years ago. It also lets users of competing equipment onto its service, but it differentiates between Nikon shooters and photographers who use other companies’ equipment by the amount of storage space it provides. Nikon users get up to 20GB of free storage through special accounts that can be set up through camera verification. Others get basic accounts that are limited to 2GB. Unlike Irista, besides still images, it also handles video.

Olympus has ib on the net (ibonthenet.com), which provides 2GB of free space. Ib on the net makes it simple to work with and share cloud-based images. It lets users import contact lists from their e-mail service, which really makes it easy to share shots. It also simplifies generating output.

Leica unveiled Fotopark (leica-fotopark.com), a photo-sharing, cloud storage and printing service, at the 2014 photokina in September. It’s the photo platform, as the company says, that brings everyone and everything together. Supposedly, it will let photographers discover images and be inspired by them. It will let users get connected with like-minded photographers and exchange images with them. And it will let users create Leica-gallery-quality display prints. However, the site isn’t fully functional yet.

Sony’s Media Cloud Service (sonymcs.com) is structured a little differently than some of the other cloud image services. It has three different levels, but they’re broken down into Personal, Team and Company. A 5GB Personal account is free. There are various levels of higher capacity Personal, Team and Company accounts, which are priced at $1 per month per GB. A 50GB Team account, for example, costs $50 per month. But Sony’s service is much more of an operational environment that features shared workspaces and collaborative capabilities.

Apple’s prices are more affordable than the sites that some of the other manufacturers have. Like many other companies, it provides 5GB of free storage, but then only charges $.99 per month for 20GB, $3.99 for 200GB, $9.99 for 500GB, and $19.99 for 1TB. It’s important to remember, though, it’s targeted at a different customer base and serves a somewhat different purpose than most camera manufacturers’ sites.

While most cloud services were designed to do somewhat the same things, each has its own certain feel to it. Nikon and Canon’s cloud services feel somewhat like working in a higher end image editor. Olympus’s service, on the other hand, isn’t quite as sophisticated looking. It works well enough for what it does, but it has more the look and feel of older web pages. (That’s probably because it’s one of the oldest. It’s been around since 2010.) As might be expected from Leica, Fotopark looks more stylized, more sophisticated. Sony’s has very strong production values.

While not a camera maker, we should mention Eyefi’s new service. The Wi-Fi memory card pioneer recently launched its Eyefi app and cloud photo management & syncing service. Eyefi takes its features beyond storage and backup to helping consumers organize their image and video collections regardless of what capture device was used. The combined app/cloud service enables photographers to enjoy instant photo organization, editing and sharing as soon as they take a photo. All their photos, regardless of whether it was taken with a smartphone or digital camera, are organized in a unified, always-accessible library. Eyefi Cloud syncs the entire photo library to all devices so photographers can access it on any device.

The Benefits of the Cloud
There are numerous advantages of using cloud services. One of the main ones is image backup. Before the ready availability of cloud storage services, everybody knew someone who lost all their images on their phone or PC when the device was lost or crashed. Consumers and casual photographers frequently rely on the cloud for all their storage requirements. That works very well for them, since, generally speaking, they don’t back up images they have on their cameras, cell phones, tablets and computers.

Along with backup capabilities is the virtually limitless storage capacity. While there may be costs involved, there’s no worrying about running out of space or the storage location. If the camera supports it, images can be uploaded as they’re being captured. If it doesn’t, or there’s no cell service or Wi-Fi, images can be uploaded in bulk, once they’re transferred to a computer or tablet with online access.

Cloud services provide an added level of security with storage redundancy. These services go out of their way to ensure their customers’ content is safe, by operating data storage centers in multiple locations in diverse geographic regions. In the event of some major catastrophe, such as an earthquake in Southern California or a tornado in the Midwest that might destroy a storage facility, this precaution ensures the images would be safe and accessible from a secondary location. And storage isn’t limited to the U.S.; many cloud services use international sites in Europe and Asia to store their images.

Another advantage is instant access, worldwide. If there’s cell service or Wi-Fi, it’s possible to upload or download images. There are ways to set up personal image storage systems that permit access to home or business systems remotely. But, for most people, unless they’re sitting at their computer or utilizing a device that has the required images stored on it, images just aren’t readily available. With cloud storage, however, regardless of where one might be or what device they might be using, their images are there to view, retrieve and share.

There are, however, also potential problems with cloud storage. A recent episode involving the iCloud service illustrates one. Several celebrities recently had compromising photos that were stored on iCloud hacked and released. Several of those celebs blamed Apple. Since a number of individuals were affected, there had to be some sort of systematic hacking. But Apple assured users that its systems weren’t compromised and the data breach was not a result of unauthorized access to iCloud accounts.

Another disadvantage is that cloud-stored data is more susceptible to scrutiny. All computer data, whether stored locally or in the cloud, is subject to government review. For U.S.-based cloud services, anything that’s retained locally can only be accessed with a warrant. That’s not always the case with online images and data. It’s not whether you’re doing something illegal or not; rather, it’s important to know that rights are different when images are stored in the cloud then when stored locally.

Things get even more complex when the cloud storage site is being hosted internationally, since those sites fall under the laws and regulations of the country they’re based in. Nikon’s service, for example, is based in Japan, so the Personal Information Protection Act of Japan, rather than U.S. law, governs site usage. Along the same lines, Canon has multiple redundant sites in Europe, so laws there govern site usage and privacy policies.

Virtually every individual who has some form of online presence has some images stored somewhere in the cloud. So it’s really not so much a matter anymore of whether a photographer will use the cloud or not. It’s more a matter of to what extent, and for what purposes, the cloud will be used.

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