Photography off the grid

bricklebrit

Hi,

I am currently planning a trip to South America for 10 days where I will be without any electricity for at least 5 to six days in a row.

I am currently trying to figure out how to make sure I have enough power for my camera during this time.

What I will be bringing is a Lumix GX7 wit 14-42mm and 45 -175mm.
Currently I have the original DMW-BLG10 battery (1025mAh) plus two DMW-BLE9 batteries (940 mAh).

I basically looked into three options:

1. Buy two or three more DMW-BLE9 batteries ($13 each on Amazon)
Critical here would be, that I do not know how cold it gets during the nights. $0F or slightly below is not out of the realm of possibility. So I do not know how much of their charge will the batteries loose due to this. Putting the batteries in the sleeping bag at night could help here.
The highlight of the entire trip comes obviously at the end and then having no charge left would be a disaster.

2. Buy a big battery pack:
6000mAh for $23.19 on ebay

Problem here seems to be the 5V USB output of these devices. I could not find any USB charger yet. Plus from what I read these batteries need 7.2V to charge.

3. Buy a solar panel

Most of them have the same issue as the battery packs, but I found one that has a 12V outlet as well. With an adapter I could connect a charger that plugs into the 12V outlet in the car as well. According to Amazon you can charge 7V batteries with it and it takes around 2 hours.
I was looking into the Goal Zero Nomad 7 solar panel pad. v1 is still available and quite a bit cheaper than the new v2. It should do the job as well I believe.

v1: http://www.amazon.com/Goal-Zero-12301-Nomad-Solar/dp/B00452EO7Y/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8
v2: http://www.amazon.com/Goal-Zero-11800-Nomad-Solar/dp/B00D2SPZAM/ref=sr_1_1?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1447188462&sr=1-1&keywords=nomad+7&pebp=1447190687958&perid=1VAVTZ46D0XP87FZ49P7

In addition I could get something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Pack-Panasonic-DMW-BLG10-Replacement-Lithium-Ion/dp/B00GLL1T98/ref=sr_1_1?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1447190726&sr=8-1&keywords=DMW-BLE9+car+charger&pebp=1447190728349&perid=1AQSSFDGQDD3HERZ2GF9
or
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-Lumix-DMC-FZ300-Digital-adapters/dp/B013RL481K/ref=sr_1_5?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1447190726&sr=8-5&keywords=DMW-BLE9+car+charger

Hopefully that would do the job.



Is there anyone around that has experience in this or has been in the same situation?

I think option 2 is not gonna work or the risk is too high that it is not gonna work.
If 3 works, I would be willing to put in the extra buck, just to make sure I am on the safe side and I can reuse the solar panel for a lot of other stuff, since I am in the outdoors pretty often.



Any input or advice is highly appreciated!

Thanks!

radhak

I have not done this myself, but I'd think any of these options could be made to work with some diligence.

For one, what are the specs on the charging adaptor cable for the GX7? The output voltage on that is the needed voltage to charge the batteries for this camera. From what I can gather from pictures on the 'net, for some third party GX7 batteries this seems to be 4.2V, which is manageable by USB battery packs.

If the OEM batteries need more voltage, you could try this Anker battery pack. (I have an Anker battery pack of 16000 mAh and I swear by them. ) It seems to have a higher voltage output.

You could also try the Anker solar panels. Seem to have a wide variety.

ziggy53

Solar power is rarely a practical option when weight, size, purchase price and utility are considered. Generally, they have to be positioned in direct sunlight and pointing at the sun for the duration of the charge.

Since the charge tapers off from maximum rated during lesser hours, times other than the two hours either side of true noon sun, and it's also less with months outside of the middle of summer, you need to purchase a unit several times the rated output in order to achieve practical charge times.

The solar unit in consideration, the Goal Zero Nomad 7 Solar Panel, is rated at approximately 6.5 watt-hours at peak output; roughly enough to power an incandescent night light, i.e. not much power at all. Reading user comments,

"Doesn't work, even in the hot Florida sun: Living in Florida, I placed the solar panels in direct sun on a hot and sunny day. ... With the Goal Nomad, it couldn't charge my phone. My phone would only show a couple of times that it was even attempting to charge. With no bars, the solar panel couldn't even add a single bar in the hot Florida sun."

"Save your money - not enough energy to do the work: ... the Nomand 7 the worst choice. The only item that it seemed to fully charge was an IPOD nano. Anything else using the USB charging port was a JOKE. ... On one such day with nothing but brilliant sunlight and 4.5 hours on the panels it would not fully charge the [cell phone] battery."

With solar power it's best to charge a large storage battery optimally designed for the unit, and then charge other devices from the storage battery.

From the same Amazon reviews:

"Only works under OPTIMAL CONDITIONS! Actually need $100 more in accessories to work properly! Bait and Switch!: When I called for the replacement, I was denied and told instead that the Nomad 7 only works under "perfect, strong sunny conditions"! ... I was advised that I needed to purchase additional accessories, the Guide 10 battery pack and charging cable for more than an additional $100!"

I believe that if you do your due diligence and properly specify a solar system you will find that you need products ranging in the high hundreds for a practical and reliable solar system for camera power.

---

Purchasing additional batteries for your camera and then saving several for the trip highlight is the most pragmatic solution in terms of practicality and cost. The batteries will also serve you well in other situations too, so not dedicated to travel or a single trip.

Kafn8td

my first post here, but I've had good luck with small solar panels. Some take a looooong time to recharge a small battery, but others do it very efficiently.

When I go boondock camping, I have a small 6w charger that works for my tablet, phone and camera...one at a time of course. I live in Minnesota, so not the hot spot of solar use, but it still works fine. It takes about 5 hours or so for a 100% charge on my Canon battery, but I have spares, so I can leave on all the time.

There are also solar chargers that will constantly charge a small battery and then you can use that small battery to recharge your devices. I personally have not used one, but I do have a small battery that is recharged from the wall and it will charge 2 DSLR batteries and my phone before it dies.

Edit - the other thing I have is a couple of spare Wasabi batteries. You can buy 2 for about $30 with a charger from Amazon. They are as good as my Fuji and Canon batteries and the charger that comes with it has a DC input with a car charger. The DC input is required to go directly to the backup battery or the solar panel.

JonaBeth Russell

Buy the spare camera batteries and move on. Don't waste your time on solar panels and other doo-dads, you'll only become annoyed with them.

I took my Canon 7D on a 19 day whitewater trip. Brought 6 high capacity batteries and used 5 of them to shoot over 3,000 images. Never worried about chargers and the like.

Thelensspot

JonaBeth Russell wrote: »

Buy the spare camera batteries and move on. Don't waste your time on solar panels and other doo-dads, you'll only become annoyed with them.

I took my Canon 7D on a 19 day whitewater trip. Brought 6 high capacity batteries and used 5 of them to shoot over 3,000 images. Never worried about chargers and the like.

There's no better piece of mind than knowing you have the batteries.

ian408

Typically, solar only works by charging something, not the camera and it also means you have to leave it somewhere it can charge. Solar is a viable option but requires panels larger than most want to carry. For devices like tablets or phones, pickup a good sized Anker battery-they're designed for USB charging devices. If you'll be traveling by vehicle, a small 120W inverter will plug into a cigarette lighter and should be adequate to charge most batteries. There are larger inverters but they usually require permanent installation.

I use a 400W inverter to charge while traveling to other locations.

staggerlee

cheep inverter
if youre car based for any of the time away a small coke can size inverter works well ive used that system on 6 month trips into the deserts here {4wd remote travel} that and extra batterys worked for me