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Photographing Where No Electricity Source



 
 
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  #1  
Old July 7th 08, 06:52 PM posted to rec.photo.digital,rec.photo.digital.slr-systems
Jake
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Posts: 70
Default Photographing Where No Electricity Source

Anyone had any experience with photographing for over a week where there is
no electricity.

I am guessing that the two main options are to take a lot of charged
batteries, or maybe the safest way would be to take film bodies instead.

Are there any other viable solutions to be able to shoot digital without
worrying about power, such as solar charging devices, etc?


  #2  
Old July 7th 08, 07:46 PM posted to rec.photo.digital,rec.photo.digital.slr-systems
Dave Platt
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Posts: 53
Default Photographing Where No Electricity Source

Are there any other viable solutions to be able to shoot digital without
worrying about power, such as solar charging devices, etc?


You can buy roll-up and fold-up solar panels intended for portable /
field use applications. Typically they are intended to recharge a
12-volt lead-acid battery, but you could also use them to run a
charger for a different battery voltage (a buck-mode switching-type
charge regulator will probably be the most electrically efficient)

Most brands seem to come in a panel size rated for around 5 watts in
full sun - around .3 amperes at 15 volts or so. Sizes / capacities /
prices go up from there.

I've seen one type which has a split solar-panel arrangement, where
each side of the system produces around 6-7 volts nominal in full sun.
The two sides can be hooked in series (to recharge a 12-volt battery),
or can be reconnected in parallel to provide a higher current at a
lower voltage (allowing faster charging of a battery in the 3.6 - 4.8
volt range, with a suitable charger).

You can buy soft-side backpacks which have thin-film solar cells on
the back surface. One of these might be a good solution for carrying
camera accessories and solar-charging a spare battery at the same time.

--
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Friends of Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will
boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!
  #3  
Old July 7th 08, 08:02 PM posted to rec.photo.digital,rec.photo.digital.slr-systems
Joe Doaks
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Posts: 2
Default Photographing Where No Electricity Source

Jake wrote:
Anyone had any experience with photographing for over a week where there
is no electricity.

I am guessing that the two main options are to take a lot of charged
batteries, or maybe the safest way would be to take film bodies instead.

Are there any other viable solutions to be able to shoot digital without
worrying about power, such as solar charging devices, etc?


Read Thom's ideas

http://www.bythom.com/solar.htm
  #4  
Old July 7th 08, 08:56 PM posted to rec.photo.digital,rec.photo.digital.slr-systems
Tom D
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Posts: 18
Default Photographing Where No Electricity Source

"Jake" wrote in message
...
Anyone had any experience with photographing for over a week where there
is no electricity.

I am guessing that the two main options are to take a lot of charged
batteries, or maybe the safest way would be to take film bodies instead.

Are there any other viable solutions to be able to shoot digital without
worrying about power, such as solar charging devices, etc?


Will there be a place to buy batteries near where you will be? If so, you
could see if there is a battery grip available for your camera that allows
you to use AA batteries in addition to the rechargable batteries that the
camera takes. I have a battery grip for my 40D that takes two camera
batteries, or an insert that holds 6 AAs. Have not had to use it with AAs
so I don't know how many shots I would get, but if I was going on a trip
where I would not have a power source, I would take a couple of charged
batteries, and a few sets of AAs. I would take less AAs if I could buy them
locally. Let us know what kind of camera you have and what type of trip you
are taking.

-=- Tom


  #5  
Old July 8th 08, 12:34 AM posted to rec.photo.digital,rec.photo.digital.slr-systems
Alan Browne
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Posts: 12,640
Default Photographing Where No Electricity Source

Jake wrote:
Anyone had any experience with photographing for over a week where there
is no electricity.

I am guessing that the two main options are to take a lot of charged
batteries, or maybe the safest way would be to take film bodies instead.

Are there any other viable solutions to be able to shoot digital without
worrying about power, such as solar charging devices, etc?


Shoot film on a mechanical body or an SLR with long battery life.

(Note: I'm doing exactly that next week. 1 DSLR, 2 SLR's. 1 SLR
doesn't have batteries of any kind. (Well I'm bringing a meter too with
batteries...).


--
-- r.p.e.35mm user resource: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm
-- r.p.d.slr-systems: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpdslrsysur.htm
-- [SI] gallery & rulz: http://www.pbase.com/shootin
-- e-meil: Remove FreeLunch.
  #6  
Old July 8th 08, 01:18 AM posted to rec.photo.digital,rec.photo.digital.slr-systems
Morton
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Posts: 70
Default Photographing Where No Electricity Source

Jake wrote:
Anyone had any experience with photographing for over a week where there
is no electricity.

I am guessing that the two main options are to take a lot of charged
batteries, or maybe the safest way would be to take film bodies instead.

Are there any other viable solutions to be able to shoot digital without
worrying about power, such as solar charging devices, etc?


Will you have access to a car or truck? If yes, and the vehicle has no
power outlet, then you can buy aa unit that plugs into the cigarette
lighter socket, and converts to 110 volts A.C..

Morton
  #7  
Old July 8th 08, 01:39 AM posted to rec.photo.digital,rec.photo.digital.slr-systems
jazu
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Posts: 129
Default Photographing Where No Electricity Source


"Jake" wrote in message
...
Anyone had any experience with photographing for over a week where there
is no electricity.

I am guessing that the two main options are to take a lot of charged
batteries, or maybe the safest way would be to take film bodies instead.

Are there any other viable solutions to be able to shoot digital without
worrying about power, such as solar charging devices, etc?

Will you have your car there?


  #8  
Old July 8th 08, 01:45 AM posted to rec.photo.digital,rec.photo.digital.slr-systems
[email protected]
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Posts: 3
Default Photographing Where No Electricity Source

On Mon, 7 Jul 2008 18:52:29 +0100, "Jake" wrote:

Anyone had any experience with photographing for over a week where there is
no electricity.

I am guessing that the two main options are to take a lot of charged
batteries, or maybe the safest way would be to take film bodies instead.

Are there any other viable solutions to be able to shoot digital without
worrying about power, such as solar charging devices, etc?


You need to answer 2 questions...

How many pictures are you taking, with what digital camera?

How much weight can you take with you?


If you use a DSLR, you can get 500 or 700 or maybe more pics on 1 charge... A
P&S camera will only take a few dozen...

If you can carry a fair amount of weight, you can bring a big battery and an
inverter to run your cameras charger. Search for camping equipment! I've seen a
package that has everything in one, turn it on and get 120vac, weighs around 20
lbs or so I guess, has gell cells I think.

  #9  
Old July 8th 08, 01:54 AM posted to rec.photo.digital,rec.photo.digital.slr-systems
SMS
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Posts: 2,312
Default Photographing Where No Electricity Source

Jake wrote:
Anyone had any experience with photographing for over a week where there
is no electricity.

I am guessing that the two main options are to take a lot of charged
batteries, or maybe the safest way would be to take film bodies instead.

Are there any other viable solutions to be able to shoot digital without
worrying about power, such as solar charging devices, etc?


"http://www.amazon.com/Brunton-SolarRoll-14-charger-external/dp/B000FKQJP0"
would probably work in conjunction with 12V charger. However I'd try the
charger _before_ buying the solar panel, limiting the DC input to the
charger to 1A with a series resistor (the charger may not work with such
a low current, however you could always charge a 12 volt lead acid
battery with the solar charger, then charge the Li-Ion cells from that.

There are some hand cranked 12V dynamos but it would take a LOT of cranking.

Note that it would probably be cheaper to buy a bunch of Li-Ion
batteries, depending on the type of body you have and how much the
Li-Ion packs cost. The days of AA batteries being less expensive than
Li-Ion are long gone for the mass market digital cameras. I.e., for my
D-SLR, I can buy 20 2000mAH Li-Ion packs for $8.40 each, or $168, with
free shipping. "http://sterlingtek.com/20xcabp18bap.html." I can't buy
six eneloop AA cells (about the same voltage and mAH) for $8.40.

Alternately, I could buy 120 eneloop AA cells and use six of them at a
time in the battery grip (7.2V * 2000mAH), but this would be a little
more expensive to achieve the same mAH.

See the web site on battery information for digital cameras for more
information, it's at "http://batterydata.com/".
  #10  
Old July 8th 08, 01:58 AM posted to rec.photo.digital,rec.photo.digital.slr-systems
nospam
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Posts: 24,165
Default Photographing Where No Electricity Source

In article ,
wrote:

If you use a DSLR, you can get 500 or 700 or maybe more pics on 1 charge... A
P&S camera will only take a few dozen...


that's on the low side. many dslrs get 1500-2000 photos per charge,
some even more.

if the original poster has access to a vehicle, then get a car charger,
or get an inverter and use the normal charger.
 




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