DSLR Battery solution wanted..
 

I am visiting Kenya, Africa in October for a 2 week safari vacation, and
very much looking forward to taking my Canon 400D along for the ride :-)

However, i have a challenge...my accomodation in Kenya will be a tent camp
(at varying locations) and as such, there isn't any access to electrical
power points etc ( or showers and toilets for that matter!)

So, I now need a solution as I realise my 2 batteries for the 400d are NOT
going to be enough..I am hoping to take around 200-ish jpg photos a day for
9 days, and even storage is a problem, as I have an acrchos 500 media player
I was going to use to back up my photos onto, but using it would be a HUGE
drain on power for both the camera and the media player.

I have friends kindly willing to loan me CF cards, so storage isn't a HUGE
problem, but what should i do about the battery problem?

I am willing to buy a further 2 MAYBE 3 more canon batteries, but these
things are not cheap at around £45 each.

All help appreciated



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

DSLR Battery solution wanted..
 

the_niner_nation wrote:
I am visiting Kenya, Africa in October for a 2 week safari vacation, and
very much looking forward to taking my Canon 400D along for the ride :-)

However, i have a challenge...my accomodation in Kenya will be a tent camp
(at varying locations) and as such, there isn't any access to electrical
power points etc ( or showers and toilets for that matter!)

So, I now need a solution as I realise my 2 batteries for the 400d are NOT
going to be enough..I am hoping to take around 200-ish jpg photos a day for
9 days, and even storage is a problem, as I have an acrchos 500 media player
I was going to use to back up my photos onto, but using it would be a HUGE
drain on power for both the camera and the media player.

I have friends kindly willing to loan me CF cards, so storage isn't a HUGE
problem, but what should i do about the battery problem?

I am willing to buy a further 2 MAYBE 3 more canon batteries, but these
things are not cheap at around £45 each.

All help appreciated



You can get the Canon BG-E3 battery grip, it will take 2 Cannon
batteries or 4 AA batteries. Load up on AA's.

Scott

DSLR Battery solution wanted..
 

"the_niner_nation" wrote in message
.. .

I am visiting Kenya, Africa in October for a 2 week safari vacation, and
very much looking forward to taking my Canon 400D along for the ride :-)

However, i have a challenge...my accomodation in Kenya will be a tent camp
(at varying locations) and as such, there isn't any access to electrical
power points etc ( or showers and toilets for that matter!)

So, I now need a solution as I realise my 2 batteries for the 400d are NOT
going to be enough..I am hoping to take around 200-ish jpg photos a day...

If I was visiting somewhere this exotic I'd find it difficult to limit
myself to 200 shots per *day*! maybe 200 per hour if I was pushed...

cheers adrian www.boliston.co.uk

DSLR Battery solution wanted..
 

Hi,

I'll be doing the same sort of things in a few weeks - Nakuru - Masai Mara - Ngorogoro - Serengeti. I'll be using an EOS 30D, with
8Gb storage and two batteries, plus a laptop, but I plan shooting somewhat more conservatively than you, so I expect to get by just
fine.

You could get some more batteries, or perhaps a voltage inverter to run your charger *and* media player from, via the safari
vehicle's battery.

Cheers
--
cmyk
PS: jpegs are SO limiting for a trip like this. I recommend shooting RAW.

"the_niner_nation" wrote in message .. .
I am visiting Kenya, Africa in October for a 2 week safari vacation, and very much looking forward to taking my Canon 400D along
for the ride :-)

However, i have a challenge...my accomodation in Kenya will be a tent camp (at varying locations) and as such, there isn't any
access to electrical power points etc ( or showers and toilets for that matter!)

So, I now need a solution as I realise my 2 batteries for the 400d are NOT going to be enough..I am hoping to take around 200-ish
jpg photos a day for 9 days, and even storage is a problem, as I have an acrchos 500 media player I was going to use to back up my
photos onto, but using it would be a HUGE drain on power for both the camera and the media player.

I have friends kindly willing to loan me CF cards, so storage isn't a HUGE problem, but what should i do about the battery
problem?

I am willing to buy a further 2 MAYBE 3 more canon batteries, but these things are not cheap at around £45 each.

All help appreciated


--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

DSLR Battery solution wanted..
 

"cmyk" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I'll be doing the same sort of things in a few weeks - Nakuru - Masai
Mara - Ngorogoro - Serengeti. I'll be using an EOS 30D, with 8Gb storage
and two batteries, plus a laptop, but I plan shooting somewhat more
conservatively than you, so I expect to get by just fine.

You could get some more batteries, or perhaps a voltage inverter to run
your charger *and* media player from, via the safari vehicle's battery.

Cheers



Ahh..I am in 2 minds about taking my lap top..my safari is on the
rough'n'ready side...more rough than ready :-)

I also think i ought to shoot some RAW...I don't leave until october, so I
have plenty of time to learn :-)

This is a dumb question....but where might i buy an 'inverter' ( i dont even
know what one is!!) ??

Thanks!



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

DSLR Battery solution wanted..
 

On 2007-05-07 16:30:17 -0700, "the_niner_nation"
said:

I am visiting Kenya, Africa in October for a 2 week safari vacation, and
very much looking forward to taking my Canon 400D along for the ride :-)

However, i have a challenge...my accomodation in Kenya will be a tent camp
(at varying locations) and as such, there isn't any access to electrical
power points etc ( or showers and toilets for that matter!)

So, I now need a solution as I realise my 2 batteries for the 400d are NOT
going to be enough..I am hoping to take around 200-ish jpg photos a day for
9 days, and even storage is a problem, as I have an acrchos 500 media player
I was going to use to back up my photos onto, but using it would be a HUGE
drain on power for both the camera and the media player.

I have friends kindly willing to loan me CF cards, so storage isn't a HUGE
problem, but what should i do about the battery problem?

I am willing to buy a further 2 MAYBE 3 more canon batteries, but these
things are not cheap at around £45 each.

All help appreciated

Will you have access to a vehicle? You can get an adapter that has an
ordinary electrical outlet that you can plug into the cigarette lighter
while the vehicle is under way (which should be a fair amount of the
time). Canon also makes a battery charger that fits in a car accessory
outlet. If a car is not available then you could possibly use one of
those portable batteries used for jump starting cars. Some of those
have cigarette lighter outlets or even electrical outlets on them. I
don't know how long they last, but they could renew your batteries for
at least a couple days. Very heavy, though.

Military units use things like this to recharge batteries:

http://www.baproducts.com/asccustomp...p?ProductID=72

One would think that safari guides would have solved this problem long ago...

Otherwise you are really stuck with taking a bunch of batteries with you.

Or you could just use that old Boy Scout stand-by, the current bush. :-)

--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor

DSLR Battery solution wanted..
 

On 2007-05-07 17:11:51 -0700, "the_niner_nation"
said:


"cmyk" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I'll be doing the same sort of things in a few weeks - Nakuru - Masai
Mara - Ngorogoro - Serengeti. I'll be using an EOS 30D, with 8Gb storage
and two batteries, plus a laptop, but I plan shooting somewhat more
conservatively than you, so I expect to get by just fine.

You could get some more batteries, or perhaps a voltage inverter to run
your charger *and* media player from, via the safari vehicle's battery.

Cheers



Ahh..I am in 2 minds about taking my lap top..my safari is on the
rough'n'ready side...more rough than ready :-)

I also think i ought to shoot some RAW...I don't leave until october, so I
have plenty of time to learn :-)

This is a dumb question....but where might i buy an 'inverter' ( i dont even
know what one is!!) ??

Thanks!

Radio Shack, for one.
--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor

DSLR Battery solution wanted..
 

"the_niner_nation" wrote in message
.. .
I am visiting Kenya, Africa in October for a 2 week safari vacation, and
very much looking forward to taking my Canon 400D along for the ride :-)

However, i have a challenge...my accomodation in Kenya will be a tent camp
(at varying locations) and as such, there isn't any access to electrical
power points etc ( or showers and toilets for that matter!)

I've gotten batteries from ebay in the past. Much, much cheaper than OEM.
I've not done any tests to see if they perform as well as the Canon
batteries. Since you have a while, maybe buy one and try it out. If it
performs sufficiently, then order a few more from the same supplier. Good
luck!

-=- Tom

DSLR Battery solution wanted..
 

the_niner_nation wrote:
"cmyk" wrote in message
...
Hi,
I'll be doing the same sort of things in a few weeks - Nakuru - Masai
Mara - Ngorogoro - Serengeti. I'll be using an EOS 30D, with 8Gb storage
and two batteries, plus a laptop, but I plan shooting somewhat more
conservatively than you, so I expect to get by just fine.

You could get some more batteries, or perhaps a voltage inverter to run
your charger *and* media player from, via the safari vehicle's battery.

Ahh..I am in 2 minds about taking my lap top..my safari is on the
rough'n'ready side...more rough than ready :-)

I also think i ought to shoot some RAW...I don't leave until october, so I
have plenty of time to learn :-)

This is a dumb question....but where might i buy an 'inverter' ( i dont even
know what one is!!) ??

Several things:

You can get a small inverter with a single AC plug that is smaller
than your fist that plugs into a standard cigarette lighter plug.

I assume you will be very weight limited on your flights to
Africa (mine were). So carrying a car battery type device
is probably not an option. Another option is a solar cell
charger. A small one could charge a battery in a few hours or
less.

I would urger you to take multiple batteries, at least 2 days
worth of heavy shooting (4+ batteries?)

Plan on tripling your photo count per day; more if conditions
are great. I encourage you to shoot raw as much as you can.

On my January safari to Tanzania, I shot about 8,000
images in 2 weeks; four other people shot about 5,000 each.

Try and get out at sunrise and sunset. On my safari with
2 vehicles (2 photographers per vehicle),
we always left well before sunrise so we were
among the animals before sunrise. It was rare to see other
vehicles at these times; usually we saw vehicles a couple
hours after sunrise, when the heat of the day was upon us,
the animals were bedding down in the shade, and the light
was harsh, and we were heading back to the lodge!
In that case, a couple of CF cards might be fine
for the whole trip ;-).

I would think most tent camps will have a generator and
power for a brief time each day. Check with your outfitter
and see if they will have it, and if not, would they add it?
(and if not maybe a different outfitter?)

You need some device to review your images. This is necessary:
1) to check for dust, 2) to examine your results so you
can see what works and improve. A laptop is great but
something like an Epson P5000 will work too but is slower.
For such a costly trip, have a second backup (like a USB
drive; arrange with a friend to help each other with
laptops/viewing devices if one breaks).

For the total cost of a trip, why scrimp on batteries and
CF cards that will last long beyond the trip?

FYI, I took 2 camera bodies, multiple lenses, 3 batteries
for my 1D Mark II, and 6 batteries for my backup 10D, along
with 74 GBytes of CF cards, and 1 laptop, an Epson P5000,
and a USB drive (4 backups including the CF cards). Results:
http://www.clarkvision.com/galleries/gallery.africa

Roger

DSLR Battery solution wanted..
 

C J Campbell wrote:
On 2007-05-07 17:11:51 -0700, "the_niner_nation"
said:


"cmyk" wrote in message
...

Hi,

I'll be doing the same sort of things in a few weeks - Nakuru - Masai
Mara - Ngorogoro - Serengeti. I'll be using an EOS 30D, with 8Gb storage
and two batteries, plus a laptop, but I plan shooting somewhat more
conservatively than you, so I expect to get by just fine.

You could get some more batteries, or perhaps a voltage inverter to run
your charger *and* media player from, via the safari vehicle's battery.

Cheers




Ahh..I am in 2 minds about taking my lap top..my safari is on the
rough'n'ready side...more rough than ready :-)

I also think i ought to shoot some RAW...I don't leave until october,
so I
have plenty of time to learn :-)

This is a dumb question....but where might i buy an 'inverter' ( i
dont even
know what one is!!) ??

Thanks!


Radio Shack, for one.

That's where I broke down & got mine. It's worked fine for several
years, won't run powerful things like a vaccume or skillsaw but fine for
charging laptop,, cell, batteries, lights simultaneously etc. I also got
a spare car battery, your driver will be mad if you drain his battery by
morning. It's about the size of a portable hard drive & makes a fan
noise. Maybe close to $100. Nice thing to have in the car for
emergencies. This was for my camper van. Don't cheap out, get a decent
one. Sell it to the driver when you're done if you don't need it! :-)

http://www.radioshack.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=inverter&origkw=inverter&sr= 1
I seem to recall something like 250 watt $120

--
Paul Furman Photography
http://www.edgehill.net/1
Bay Natives Nursery
http://www.baynatives.com