Batteries on the river, Arizona sun in the sky...

drdoak

I'm doing a 14 day oar trip down the Colorado this summer and I've got a couple of questions for everyone.

I've been down twice already on 8 day trips and I've always had a grip handy for using AAs in my 40D & Reb XT "just in case." This trip I'm planning to not bring my, ah, "bigger than a breadbox" Pelican Case to avoid a guide rebellion. Since the grips are kind of big and fragile when not in the cameras, they're getting cut. Also the 40D doesn't fit in my SlingShot 100 with the grip .

Previous experience tells me that two 40D batts work fine for the 8 day, so four ought to do me for the 14 days. But, in the summer heat and as time passes in general what percent of the battery life do you suppose I lose over two weeks of pretty hot storage? I averaged about 215 shots per 24hrs with each camera.

Is there any kind of solar solution that will actually charge a Canon batt and is packable? Even as a last resort?

Thanks!

On a different, yet related note: Anyone have a favorite, tried and true dry bag brand?

ziggy53

The only solar devices I've seen that have the ability to charge camera batteries are in the small thousands of dollars. They are derived from military versions and they do fold but they are not super durable and not super light. You also need a pretty good sized area to lay them out and a few hours of direct sunlight to do one battery.

Best bet is to purchase extra batteries. Not that awful expensive and the lithium camera batteries are pretty good about holding a charge for a couple of months.

Check with an outfitter about dry bags. I would also separately seal the spare batteries in a ziplock inside the dry bag.

drdoak

ziggy53 wrote:

The only solar devices I've seen that have the ability to charge camera batteries are in the small thousands of dollars. They are derived from military versions and they do fold but they are not super durable and not super light. You also need a pretty good sized area to lay them out and a few hours of direct sunlight to do one battery.

Best bet is to purchase extra batteries. Not that awful expensive and the lithium camera batteries are pretty good about holding a charge for a couple of months.

Check with an outfitter about dry bags. I would also separately seal the spare batteries in a ziplock inside the dry bag.

I'm most assuredly giving AzRA's opinion a great deal of weight on the dry bags. Mostly I'm just making sure no one has run into any issues involving 100-120 degree heat and battery life over weeks. Man would it be sad to run out a day or two from the end .

ziggy53

drdoak wrote:

I'm most assuredly giving AzRA's opinion a great deal of weight on the dry bags. Mostly I'm just making sure no one has run into any issues involving 100-120 degree heat and battery life over weeks. Man would it be sad to run out a day or two from the end .

If you think 4 will do you, take 8 (at least 6). ("Be prepared", Boy Scout motto)

Best information about battery power/performance and life relating to temperature:

http://www.mpoweruk.com/performance.htm

I don't personally think that the temperatures you describe will be that deleterious to battery life. Direct exposure to water would be pretty bad and I would not leave the batteries or camera in direct sunlight as that can exacerbate the situation.