Digital photos on tour: batteries and backup

[Tim Bennet.]

I wouldn't bother with choosing a camera because it would take AA's these days. The latest battery types give incredible life even in an SLR and a spare battery doesn't cost the earth. I bought a AA battery holder for mine as an emergency backup, but have never had to use it. You have to be going somewhere pretty remote if your can't find a power point once every two weeks or so to recharge.

I take enough memory cards so I never have to wipe them (3Gb per week) and then back up to a tiny hardrive Photobank. This and the used cards are then kept in separate bits of luggage.

 

[simoncc]

Just because digital cameras have the ability to easily store thousands of holiday photos doesn't mean we need to take thousands of photos on them with all the battery problems that come with it. Why not just take as many photos as you used to before digital cameras came in. Let's face it, how often would anyone want to sit through a showing of thousands of their own holiday pics, never mind anyone else's?

 

[ufkacbln]

Just because digital cameras have the ability to easily store thousands of holiday photos doesn't mean we need to take thousands of photos on them with all the battery problems that come with it. Why not just take as many photos as you used to before digital cameras came in. Let's face it, how often would anyone want to sit through a showing of thousands of their own holiday pics, never mind anyone else's?

'cos half the fun is the ability to do just that!

I play with churches, poor lighting, sunsets, landscapes and panoramas in a way I would not have done with a film based SLR.

Editing and deleting on an ultramobile PC solves some of the storage problems, and it is surprising how many of the "chancey" shots make the cut!

 

[TheDoctor]

That's the whole point of a digital camera - taking lots of photos and just keeping the good ones.
As far as the original question goes - take a spare battery, a couple of big memory cards and learn how to set the camera up so it uses less power - LCD backlight down, that kind of thing.
And if you're after a portable PC - I'd recommend the Asus Eee 901. Small, cheap (as PCs go - £300 with XP) and the batteries last for about 8 hours. I'm delighted with mine - I now use it as my main PC.