Bus Trip - Need Suggestions

Thread view:

Enable EMail Alerts

Start New Thread

Thread rating:

bworthey - 22 Feb 2007 03:55 GMT

Okay, I'm getting ready to go on a trip, just stick with me. This is a
youth trip with my church. The basic premise is going to be is that we are
going to be on a charter bus for a week, so I'm not going to have access to
a computer or wall outlets or things like that. (I don't know what they got
on charter buses anyway). My question(s) is/are this.....what do I do about
my camera (digital), baterries, and memory cards? Is it going to be just as
simply as I need to stock up on memory cards and batteries? I've thought
about one of the bigger batter packs, but I don't know what the life of one
of those are, or how expensive they are. I am going to get another memory
card, probably and 1 gig or possibly 2 gig. I'm thinking I'll be good with
memory cards, but I don't know where we are going (that's part of the "fun"
of the trip, so I may be snapping pictures like crazy). I'm thinking I
could just pull out my film camera that way, I know along the way and stops
along the way I can buy batteries and film, but this is why I bought the
stinking digital camera, this is the camera I wanted! Anyway, I don't think
I mentioned, it may not matter either, but I have a dSLR, Canon Rebel XTI.
Any suggestions or am I just way overthinking things here?

B-Worthey

Reply to this Message

ray - 22 Feb 2007 04:05 GMT

> Okay, I'm getting ready to go on a trip, just stick with me. This is a
> youth trip with my church. The basic premise is going to be is that we are
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
>
> B-Worthey

You should be able to get a battery charger that will work from the
'accessory jack' (formerly cigarette lighter) on the bus. If not, then a
small inverter would work with a standard charger. I would be thinking of
several memory cards, and probably (mostly at least) be shooting jpeg
rather than raw. That should take care of the problems.

Reply to this Message

bworthey - 22 Feb 2007 04:12 GMT

> You should be able to get a battery charger that will work from the
> 'accessory jack' (formerly cigarette lighter) on the bus. If not, then a
> small inverter would work with a standard charger. I would be thinking of
> several memory cards, and probably (mostly at least) be shooting jpeg
> rather than raw. That should take care of the problems.

Where would I find a batter charger like that? See, I've been wondering
about stuff like that for everything. Its sad that I'm so dependent on
electronics, but I"m thinking cell phone, IPOD, everything. I do have a
converter that I used with a laptop previously and have used with my cell
phone wall charger. It plugs into a cigarette lighter and then I can just
plug in whatever, I've got. You think that the battery charger for my
camera would work with this? I wasn't sure that the charter bus would have
acessory jacks/cigarette lighters, whatever you want to call them. If
that's the case, then my only worries should be the memory card, and I can
just pick up another one or two of those and be okay!

B-Worthey

Reply to this Message

ray - 22 Feb 2007 16:20 GMT

>> You should be able to get a battery charger that will work from the
>> 'accessory jack' (formerly cigarette lighter) on the bus. If not, then a
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
>
> B-Worthey

Depends on what type batteries. If they're AA rechargeables, then
OfficeMax or a similar store should have an 'auto charger' kit or
something like that. In you situation, I think I'd try to talk to the bus
company and see about their standard procedures - maybe even talk with the
driver if (s)he is assigned before hand. If you have a number of devices
to charge, then a small inverter would seem to me to be the best plan.

Reply to this Message

Joel - 22 Feb 2007 18:29 GMT

> >> You should be able to get a battery charger that will work from the
> >> 'accessory jack' (formerly cigarette lighter) on the bus. If not, then a
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
> driver if (s)he is assigned before hand. If you have a number of devices
> to charge, then a small inverter would seem to me to be the best plan.

Actually most of the questions are unclear to me, so I did give some
general info. Like

- Battery, I am guessing camera battery which is a special Lithium Ion
battery that require around 1 hour (or even less) for full charge, and one
charge would last for more/less 1,000 shots. IOW, I don't think it's a
problem.

- Memory is probably the only problem, or where to store the photo after
each day photographing (at night). I don't think they have to stay on bus
for the whole week with no access to electrical.

So I am guessing these are about all he may need.

- Get a 4GB or 8GB memory and it would last for long time. I don't think he
need RAW for outdoor, but even with RAW the 4-8GB should be enough for one
day shoot.

- Or getting a portable storage, and he may be able to get some cheap one
with 40-60GB for $50-100. Or the more expensive one for $200-500+ range,
and this may need more researching before spending the money.

- Or just dump the photos to his laptop, and recharge at hotel, restaurant,
and probably some public place with outlet. Just don't spend too much time
staring at the photos then it should give plenty of battery for thousand of
photos.

Reply to this Message

bworthey - 23 Feb 2007 04:40 GMT

>- Battery, I am guessing camera battery which is a special Lithium Ion
>battery that require around 1 hour (or even less) for full charge, and one
>charge would last for more/less 1,000 shots. IOW, I don't think it's a
>problem.

Yes, it is special lithium ion battery, and I'm sorry, its late, I don't
remember, what is IOW?

>- Memory is probably the only problem, or where to store the photo after
>each day photographing (at night). I don't think they have to stay on bus
>for the whole week with no access to electrical.

Someone mentioned in another post below that we would be stopping to eat
obviously, but other than two nights of the trip we are not staying in hotel
rooms. Its sort of a Road Rules sort of trip where we are traveling like
3500 miles and just going, we don't know where we are going either. Anyway,
that's why I'm wondering about batteries and storage and all of that.

I won't be shooting in RAW format, so I won't need huge storage space, and
I'm trying to think realistically how many pictures I might actually shoot.
I have a 1 GB card now and I know adjusting the quality settings for the
images I can get up to like 1300 pictures, but I don't wan to necessarily
sacrifice that much in terms of quality per se.

All the information has been helpful though. Oh, I appreciate the info abot
the portable storage devices, I didn't realize those existed. Someone
mentioned laptops, I don't have one of those right now! I'm technologically
advanced in some areas, some areas I'm not.

B-Worthey

Reply to this Message

Joel - 23 Feb 2007 10:57 GMT

> >- Battery, I am guessing camera battery which is a special Lithium Ion
> >battery that require around 1 hour (or even less) for full charge, and one
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> Yes, it is special lithium ion battery, and I'm sorry, its late, I don't
> remember, what is IOW?

I don't have your camera model to know how many shot you can get per
charge, but I am guessing it should get at least 800 shots. And you can
google (www.google.com) for the cheap 3rd party battery, and it probably
cost around $5-6

IOW = In Other Word

> >- Memory is probably the only problem, or where to store the photo after
> >each day photographing (at night). I don't think they have to stay on bus
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> images I can get up to like 1300 pictures, but I don't wan to necessarily
> sacrifice that much in terms of quality per se.

I hope you have good lens as good lens does capture sharper and better IQ
(Image Quality), some cheap poor lens may end up with blur and noise. In
good day light, RAW won't be necessary so you should be ok with JPG, and I
have never tried any lower than the highest JPG to know the difference

I did few tests with some earlier Point & Shoot digital cameras way back
(around 8-10 years ago) and it wasn't so bad. But 1300 photos with 1GB
seems way too low for my taste.

> All the information has been helpful though. Oh, I appreciate the info abot
> the portable storage devices, I didn't realize those existed. Someone
> mentioned laptops, I don't have one of those right now! I'm technologically
> advanced in some areas, some areas I'm not.

Laptop is way too big for the enjoyment, portable storage is usually the
size of 2.5" hard drive inside enclosure (with built-in memory cards reader
and battery) that small enough to carry in pocket.

And like I have mentioned in other message that some can download faster
than other, and the faster it downloads the better the bettery, and the more
photo you can copy to. And I still go for a 4GB card (I usually use 8GB
card and have few 4GB as backup)

> B-Worthey

Reply to this Message

Paul Furman - 22 Feb 2007 04:15 GMT

>>Okay, I'm getting ready to go on a trip, just stick with me. This is a
>>youth trip with my church. The basic premise is going to be is that we are
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
> several memory cards, and probably (mostly at least) be shooting jpeg
> rather than raw. That should take care of the problems.

Turn off the automatic LCD review to save battery power & it'll last a
long time.

Reply to this Message

bworthey - 22 Feb 2007 04:16 GMT

"Paul Furman" <paul-@-edgehill.net> wrote in message news:nN8Dh.119

> Turn off the automatic LCD review to save battery power & it'll last a
> long time.

Thanks for the tip.

B-Worthey

Reply to this Message

Joel - 22 Feb 2007 04:18 GMT

> Okay, I'm getting ready to go on a trip, just stick with me. This is a
> youth trip with my church. The basic premise is going to be is that we are
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
>
> B-Worthey

    I don't have XTi to know how well it does with battery, but you should be
able to get more/less 1,000 shots, so tagging the charger along would do the
trick. If you have enough time to order a spare battery then you should be
able to get 3rd party battery for around $5-7 a pop (because battery is
cheap and I don't wanna go with dead battery so I have 3 of them).

    CF is also very cheap these days, you can get 8GB at online store like
www.newegg.com (or similar) for under $90. Me, because I can't afford to
lose some important photo like wedding or funeral etc. photos, so I have 2
portable storages to backup the photos (just incase one may go bad, even I
never have any problem yet)

    I don't know how well it works, but I believe I saw local ads (either
CompUSA, Best Buy, Office Max etc.) carries cheap portable storage and it
sells for under $90. Also, with portable storage you may do some research
about the battery life (one of ine is PD70X which is very fast and with (4)
AA batteries I can download somewhere more/less 100GB (I never used up this
much but no problem with 60-80+GB).

    If you are going to get memory card, I would go with 4GB (cuz most people
don't need more than 4GB, unless you shoot sport, events, or some
professional).

Reply to this Message

Robert - 22 Feb 2007 06:05 GMT

> Okay, I'm getting ready to go on a trip, just stick with me. This is a
> youth trip with my church. The basic premise is going to be is that we
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
>
> B-Worthey

From Digitalsalesonline on I got a targus grip with two extra batteries
for $113.98. It has an adaptor that will take 6 AA batteries or two canon
xti batteries.

Below is the same grip, but it has a charger for $139.99 + 14.99 sh. They
have the grip by itself for 94.99 + 18.00 sh.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Battery-Grip-2Batteries-Charger-For-Canon-EOS-Rebel-XTI_W0QQ
itemZ130082373112QQihZ003QQcategoryZ50489QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem?h
ash=item130082373112

CF cards a 1g card formatted shows 52 shots available shooting raw+jpeg, but
depending on lighting and content of photo you may get more. I average
between 55-60 per card.

You should be stopping for meals at a restaurant or truck stop. That should
give you around 30min to hour to use an outlet for your laptop to download
your cards to.

Robert

Reply to this Message

William Hathaway - 23 Feb 2007 14:57 GMT

I have a Digital Rebel XT which I believe uses the same battery at the
Digital Rebel XTi. I get about 300 shots with the bilt in flash on a battery
charge. I have read reports of getting 600 or 700 shots without the flash.

Inorder to extend battery life. Turn off the automatic LCD review function.
Do not review your pictures more than necessary on the LCD.

The camera battery is a lithium-ion therefore on a charge holding point of
view. A one week trip is not a problem for any batteries to matain a charge.

Rather than a DC battery charger (I think Best Buy has them), how about a
small 150W DC to AC inverter. They are commenly available in the $20-30 in
most department stores. Check in the Electronics and/or Automotive
Departments. Try it in your car to make sure it works.

73 William

Reply to this Message