what's the best way to back up footage?
 

...I use a Z1 and obviously try to keep an archive of all the important tapes...

but what digital format do you use to create a digital back up?
would you save them in some lossless codec to your PC?

in other words: how do you save raw footage to your PC in the best possible way?

I have a Z1 but also the MRC1K so my workflow process is:

Record onto CF and Tapes. Tape is in a cycle of about 50 tapes so if something goes wrong with the digital copy I'll have a backup for a while.

Edit the M2T that comes off the MRC1K. Output to H264 normally.

Then my entire project is moved on to my Windows Home Server with folder duplication switched on so if one of the disks failed I wouldnt lose everything. You should always have another backup though so

For my last backup I use Nero Backup and Burn and burn the entire project folder with everything in onto bluray discs. This program will span the project over discs and rebuild it if you need to put the discs back into the PC.

the original tapes, and

a. DVD if you don't want to spend too much
b. DIGIBETA for standard resolution
c. HDCAM SR for HD

Spinning Hard disks are dangerous. Solid state is better, but their long term performance is unknown. Tape is still the best medium. Of course, if you can really spend, there are backup tapes that are almost fail-proof. But do you have that much data?