Travelling to Thailand and need advice....

Oakley · September 5, 2005

My wife and I are going to Thailand for 44 days in Novemember. We're going to be backpack'n it so I need to travel light.

OK, here's what I've got so far:

Canon Powershot A95 - good camera for a newbie. The swivel screen almost makes me look like a pro.
1 GB card - alows me to take about 400 pictures on highest resolution with no compression.
Smugmug Account - will be what I use to photo journal my trip.

What I'm concerned about:

Storage Space!

I dont' think my 1 GB card will be enough (I shot 250 pictures over 2 days for a friends wedding). Options I'm thinking include:
- buy more memory cards...like 10GB worth. yikes
- change my camera settings to Medium Rez, Medium Compaction - and still buy more memory cards
- trust that I will be able to get to a computer cafe every week or so to upload all my pictures to the computer hardrive and then onto smugmug....risky?!?!
- buy a i pod photo - 20GB or 60GB with a screen for viewing. Too expensive?
- buy another portable storage device - with no screen if it's cheaper. Anyone have any suggestions here?

Right now I'm leaning towards the i pod photo idea, but that's a lot of money. I suppose I'm looking to you guys to tell me why I should or why I shouldn't buy one....

Other Issues:

What else should I be concerned about?
- change in humidity? Is this a problem and how would I solve it?
- please post anything that I haven't thought about...and any advice you may have.

MUCH APPRECIATED!!!!:thumb

Ann McRae · September 6, 2005

Hi Ryan
(first, let me say I needed to close my eyes to your Flames avatar!!!

)
WRT storage,
1. do not choose a lesser photo quality - you just never know when you are going to take the shot of a life time. Not worth the risk of not having a big enough file for later printing large IMO.

2. recently my local Costco had 1 gig memroy for under $100 cdn, so a few extra memroy cards might be the cheapest way to do what you need.

3. I did a small amount of research on portable storage devices and thought I would buy a 60 gig iPod photo (in the late spring, just as the new models were being released). It would have cost me about $500cdn. I've since heard that the battery life is not good on these - transferring a gig of photos might kill your battery.
I originally purchased the Nikon coolwalker for about $450cdn. It was pretty good, but I really need a good display due to the fact that my eyes are old and tired (okay so I need bifocals, but you get the point). I used it for a few days and then returned it and got the Epson P2000 - it is really the cadillac of units right now, but pricey. My main purpose is to have portable storage for soccer tournaments and travel, so the soccer makes it a kind of business expense... that is how I justified it anyway. The coolwalker might be a good compromise for you.

Now, in terms of other things to expect - well,
be careful of sand damage to your lens(es). I ruined a polarizer in a wind storm on a beach in the DR. Really glad it was the polarizer and not the lens. Really glad I had a fixed lens camera in that situation - would not have wanted sand inside my dslr.
Humidity could be an issue - going from humid outside to air conditioned inside - might want to treat the camera the same way you do when you bring it in from the cold (wrap in a plastic bag) to minimiize condensation.

Battery life and the ability to charge them.

that is what I can offer right now.

ann

Oakley · September 6, 2005

Ann McRae wrote:

Hi Ryan
(first, let me say I needed to close my eyes to your Flames avatar!!! )
WRT storage,
1. do not choose a lesser photo quality - you just never know when you are going to take the shot of a life time. Not worth the risk of not having a big enough file for later printing large IMO.

2. recently my local Costco had 1 gig memroy for under $100 cdn, so a few extra memroy cards might be the cheapest way to do what you need.

3. I did a small amount of research on portable storage devices and thought I would buy a 60 gig iPod photo (in the late spring, just as the new models were being released). It would have cost me about $500cdn. I've since heard that the battery life is not good on these - transferring a gig of photos might kill your battery.
I originally purchased the Nikon coolwalker for about $450cdn. It was pretty good, but I really need a good display due to the fact that my eyes are old and tired (okay so I need bifocals, but you get the point). I used it for a few days and then returned it and got the Epson P2000 - it is really the cadillac of units right now, but pricey. My main purpose is to have portable storage for soccer tournaments and travel, so the soccer makes it a kind of business expense... that is how I justified it anyway. The coolwalker might be a good compromise for you.

Now, in terms of other things to expect - well,
be careful of sand damage to your lens(es). I ruined a polarizer in a wind storm on a beach in the DR. Really glad it was the polarizer and not the lens. Really glad I had a fixed lens camera in that situation - would not have wanted sand inside my dslr.
Humidity could be an issue - going from humid outside to air conditioned inside - might want to treat the camera the same way you do when you bring it in from the cold (wrap in a plastic bag) to minimiize condensation.

Battery life and the ability to charge them.

that is what I can offer right now.

ann

An Oilers fan, I suppose?

Ann, thank you for your post. The information you provided is great...and very useful. I'll look into that Nikon you talked about. I wish I had the money to buy the Epson - everyone who's anyone in this board seems to have one - or want one.

Who knows, maybe I'll have to buy myself an early birthday present. (c:

I hope you enjoy the hockey season - the Battle of Alberta should be alive and well again.

Ann McRae · September 6, 2005

Oakley wrote:

An Oilers fan, I suppose?

Ann, thank you for your post. The information you provided is great...and very useful. I'll look into that Nikon you talked about. I wish I had the money to buy the Epson - everyone who's anyone in this board seems to have one - or want one.

Who knows, maybe I'll have to buy myself an early birthday present. (c:

I hope you enjoy the hockey season - the Battle of Alberta should be alive and well again.

I gave up being a pro hockey fan several years ago, pretty much when my kids started playing sports and the combo of a night at the game plus dinner plus babysitter would cost us $150cdn. However, I am from Edmonton and cannot look at a Flames logo without being blinded

Glad I could help. Hope you have the vacation of a lifetime. Bring back lots of pics to share!!

ann

digismile · September 7, 2005

Oakley,

I have been using a non-Photo iPod since Christmas for storing my photos. Although I really LOVE my iPod, I probably wouldn't pick it first as a photo storage device if I didn't have anything else. Yes, I can drain the sucker with a full 1Gb card full of raw photos, so I need to make sure I charge it before. It is important to note the the earlier 4G (4th generation) iPods were criticized for their overall battery life and the newer ones are supposed to have much better stamina.

The iPod solution is good if you want to have one of the best portable music devices on the market. It is also important to note that they do not display RAW photos and at least in the earlier iPod Photo version, could not preview the jpeg photos unless they had been loaded by Photoshop Elements or the equivalent Mac Photo editing program. When I bought my 40G iPod, I chose not to buy the Photo version because the ONLY time I wanted to view them was after I first offloaded them. I wasn't interested in carrying around a bunch of photos to display on a TV at a later date.

So my advice is go big (the Epson) or really cheap, without a lot of bells and whistles. The Epson supports RAW files, should you ever upgrade your camera to a DSLR.

Ann's advice on batteries and power is critical. Power for any electronic device can be a challenge in other countries. If your camera uses AA's, by a case of 40 at Costco. It will be worth it. If you plan on using chargers, make sure you know the voltage and plug requirements.

When I travel, I carry a small canvas accessory bag that I bought at Mountain Equipment Co-Op to carry all my power cables, adaptors, cell phone chargers, etc. and I have a check list inside for when my wife and I travel. The checklist is really good to have, because you'll never leave home without one of your absolutely necessary cables, and you won't accidently leave a charging cable stuck in the socket of the hotel room .... I learned the hard way years ago when I left my Canon G2 charger behind. I cost me $120 to replace ... OUCH.

And last, fore sure, have extra memory cards. They RARELY fail, but you should have a backup plan just in case. Having just one could be a disaster waiting to happen (kind of like when the Flames come to Edmonton next week

).

Have a wonderful (and safe) trip and take lots of photos!

Brad

Oakley · September 7, 2005

digismile wrote:

Oakley,

I have been using a non-Photo iPod since Christmas for storing my photos. Although I really LOVE my iPod, I probably wouldn't pick it first as a photo storage device if I didn't have anything else. Yes, I can drain the sucker with a full 1Gb card full of raw photos, so I need to make sure I charge it before. It is important to note the the earlier 4G (4th generation) iPods were criticized for their overall battery life and the newer ones are supposed to have much better stamina.

The iPod solution is good if you want to have one of the best portable music devices on the market. It is also important to note that they do not display RAW photos and at least in the earlier iPod Photo version, could not preview the jpeg photos unless they had been loaded by Photoshop Elements or the equivalent Mac Photo editing program. When I bought my 40G iPod, I chose not to buy the Photo version because the ONLY time I wanted to view them was after I first offloaded them. I wasn't interested in carrying around a bunch of photos to display on a TV at a later date.

So my advice is go big (the Epson) or really cheap, without a lot of bells and whistles. The Epson supports RAW files, should you ever upgrade your camera to a DSLR.

Ann's advice on batteries and power is critical. Power for any electronic device can be a challenge in other countries. If your camera uses AA's, by a case of 40 at Costco. It will be worth it. If you plan on using chargers, make sure you know the voltage and plug requirements.

When I travel, I carry a small canvas accessory bag that I bought at Mountain Equipment Co-Op to carry all my power cables, adaptors, cell phone chargers, etc. and I have a check list inside for when my wife and I travel. The checklist is really good to have, because you'll never leave home without one of your absolutely necessary cables, and you won't accidently leave a charging cable stuck in the socket of the hotel room .... I learned the hard way years ago when I left my Canon G2 charger behind. I cost me $120 to replace ... OUCH.

And last, fore sure, have extra memory cards. They RARELY fail, but you should have a backup plan just in case. Having just one could be a disaster waiting to happen (kind of like when the Flames come to Edmonton next week ).

Have a wonderful (and safe) trip and take lots of photos!

Brad

Hey, thanks for the tips Brad. I think I am done my research now and have decided my best bet is to get the CompactDrive PD70X. http://www.jaldigital.com.au/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=27_100&products_id=349
It's fast, it's affordable, it has a really good battery life (probably because it doesn't preview images), and at 60GB or 80GB it will be able to double as my hard drive back-up on my computer at home!

As for the "checklist"...I'm on it. I am the king of lists. lol

As for the Oilers beating the Flames next week.

That's funny stuff...

Thanks again for taking the time to help me out.

digismile · September 8, 2005

Oakley wrote:

As for the Oilers beating the Flames next week. That's funny stuff...

Thanks again for taking the time to help me out.

I think the new CBA is going to be good for hockey. I'm really luvin' Edmonton & Calgary's team this year. I think Iginla is going to have some good guys around him. Should really be great for the battle of Alberta.

And for what it's worth, although I'm a die hard Oilers fan, I definitely cheered for the Flames when they made it to the finals. Here was a local picture ...

ttyl

Oakley · September 8, 2005

digismile wrote:

I think the new CBA is going to be good for hockey. I'm really luvin' Edmonton & Calgary's team this year. I think Iginla is going to have some good guys around him. Should really be great for the battle of Alberta.

And for what it's worth, although I'm a die hard Oilers fan, I definitely cheered for the Flames when they made it to the finals. Here was a local picture ...

ttyl

That is awesome! Actually, I've a die hard Flames fan for a long time...and it was certaintly hard to watch through the "dark 90's" when we missed the playoffs year after year after year. And then....along comes Daryl Sutter...and BAM! we have a team just like that. I'm living in BC right now and it was cool to watch all the Canuck fans (after the Detroit series, perhaps) chear for the Flames...and I heard that *gasp* even the Oiler fans were in there chearing too. Sweet. I'll be sure to return the favor the next time Edmonton or Vancouver make it further than the Flames.

But yeah, the new CBA is certaintly good for Western Canadian hockey. I'm excited for this season to start. Should be like the old days when a road trip though Alberta meant two loses for any team....

Yahoooooooooo!!!

Later,

Travelling to Thailand and need advice....

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