Marsh

Do you really think it is easier to travel with a digital camera rather than a film camera for a trip of several weeks? I am thinking about the recharging of the camera battery for digital and maybe taking a portable storage device for downloading the media cards. It seems to me that it could get complicated. Opinions?

sandi

Marsh - This is my first trip to Africa that I'll be going with a digital, but my 35mm film will be coming along as back-up. I never travel without a second camera - previously it's been film. So regardless the media, consider a back-up camera. But if you're looking for information regarding cameras, there's a very long thread on the Africa/Middle East Board which you might find beneficial. Check it out.

wally34949

I was in South Africa for Christmas with a Digital Camera. Sometimes the animals don't come very close so you will need the extra resolution and a good optical zoom helps here. The charger plug in South Africa is different from any other country so even the universal chargers don't work. You can either purchase it there or just buy more batteries. I had no problem getting a CD made with my photos in South Africa. They can do it almost everywhere, cheaply.

sandi

I have a standard Franzus Converter(1)/Adapter Plug (4) kit, and both the converter and plugs worked find in South Africa. At the time we visited, in 2001, my partner's battery charger wasn't dual voltage, so we had to use the converter and an adapter plug - no problems.

marshacarlin

Just returned from 3 weeks trip to Ireland and Scotland, traveling with a digital for the first time---bought a 512 MB memory card which held about 430 pics and we got a CD made twice while traveling for about $8-12 US (most phot shops ieven in small towns had the machine to do it however my son's fiancee had one made for her camera and came home to an empty disc. We thought to put it into the machine and check that the pictures had transferred before we hit the delete all pictures button---luckily)
Took an extra battery and charged one each night. Our sons traveled with SLR cameras and for some reason the film in both of their cameras was spoiled so they had no pictures on return. My brother-in-law had a disposable and his pictures came out fine. It was great having the disposable, I took pictures with the disposable in pubs in very low light, even videos of trad music and they were great. I edited as I went and tried different exposures on various shots to see what worked best and then I could look at them right away and dispose of the bad shots. I was really opposed to the digital before we went but my husband wanted one and then he had trouble getting it out my hands! I was used to a SLR and doeing manual exposure, setting depth of field,etc and thought I'd miss that but I was wrong. I bought a Canon Power Shot SD 300 and now that I'm going through the 900 picutres I'm very happy with the results.

dsm22

I just bought a digital camera and I am taking it on vacation for the first time to Florida with me to my Grandparents.

I have two other work related trips this summer, and I think it will be a good test for my trip overseas next year.

My friend had her digital with her while we went to England and Scotland last year. We had trouble with the battery charger while there. Then we were looking all over for batteries for her camera and could not find them easily. When we finally did she bought a bunch.

I guess it can get complicated. I will need an adapter for the charger, i suppose. I am going to Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg next year.

marshacarlin

Just realized that I refered in my last post to taking pictures with "a disposable" in pubs, etc. when i really meant digital!!! It was the digital that gave lots of freedom to try out exposures, delete, etc. Sorry for the confusion.

Statia

I travel with both so that I have a backup if need be. I start out using both cameras, and by day two or three typically end up sticking with only one medium for the remainder of the trip. Uusually it's the 33mm since I really like to print all my photos. However, I now have a better digital so perhaps I will end up using it more often and forego the 35mm.

amyb

I don't bother with rechargeable batteries. For my Nikon Coolpix, I buy Maxell 3 volt batteries. One lasts about 400 pictures with the preview screen on. I take one in the camera and one as a backup, that way I'm not toting all the recharging gear with me too. My local wholesale club has the batteries in a two pack for $12. I don't bother to download the media cards; I have one 512 card and a back-up 256, which suit me fine on a ten-day trip.

So in that sense, carrying a spare battery and a spare memory card is a lot easier than my bag of film and having to switch rolls every 36 pictures!

Marilyn

Marsh, how much film do you shoot on a 2-week trip? If you only shoot a half dozen rolls, then film may be just as convenient. If you shoot 3 dozen rolls, then lugging the film or buying it there at premium prices is a huge hassle and takes up valuable carry on space/weight.

Digital is fabulous is many, many ways, and the convenience just increases all the time as storage devices get smaller and the ability to burn a back up CD anywhere in the world increases.

But only you can decide if you like shooting digital vs film -- I find it a VERY different experience, but as I get used to it, I'm liking it a lot. I sure am happy with my photos (after they've been through photoshop, of course).

Marsh

Marilyn, I take anywhere from 200-300 pictures with my film SLR camera on a trip of 3 to 4 weeks. I think if I get a digital I will want to take more!

Do you find it necessary to manipulate most of your photos with Photoshop? Does it take a lot of time?

Thanks!

Marilyn

Marsh, you WILL shoot more with digital! But that's one of the great things about it. You never have to think about whether you're going to have to change film in the middle of something and miss a great shot.

Yes, I do feel it is necessary to do at least a minimum amount of photoshopping (another new verb for the English language) on my pix. I say this only because every time I think I have a fantastic shot and I wouldn't change a thing, when I get it into photoshop I inevitably find that it CAN be improved.

It might be as minor as a small exposure adjustment and a little sharpening, or it might be a lot more.(I've been known to intensify some colors so that they look the way I remember them, for example.)

It's really up to you, but once you know the tools are there, it's difficult to ignore them. It is kind of the equivalent of what you might do in a darkroom developing and printing your own film, except lots more available tricks and without the nasty chemicals.

If you want to see my first real foray into digital photography, with my minimal photoshop skills applied, you can take a look at my photos from Oaxaca. www.rgb3d.com/Oaxaca (Be sure the O in Oaxaca is capitalized.)

polly229

We learned the hard way from our first digital camera to look for one that isn't a battery eater. We have never had any problem with using our charger in Europe, but we always buy a spare battery (can usually be had reasonably cheaply online) and take it with us whenever we leave the hotel. Memory is cheap, too - watch the ads in the Sun. paper - so we always have way more than we need and don't have to transfer till we get home, even taking a few AVIs, which eat up space. (Usually shoot at med to high resolution, high compression for the typical "snapshot" photo and change to best quality if we think we'll want an enlargement of something.) If the pics are really bad, I delete them at the time or at night at the hotel.

The advantage I see to digital is that you know right away whether you have an acceptable photo. None of those bad surprises when you get home and find out your camera was on the fritz, you did something wrong, or the subject moved. (Or that the corner drugstore should have changed the chemicals the day before and your pics aren't quite as snappy as they should be.) No x-ray worries, either.

The disadvantage is the number of photos you're likely to have. My first trip with our second (better)digital camera, two weeks in England and Scotland, resulted in about 450 kept shots. In May we returned from Greece with 700 photos on my little pocket-sized Elph and about 300 on the new 12X optical zoom camera. I still hadn't finished going through 150 from the Grand Canyon in April or a couple hundred from London last Dec., so I'm way behind.

But Photoshop is certainly another advantage. Sometimes just auto levels or auto contrast are all you need. For some reason, when I travel, it's always a "dark and stormy night". To be expected on the five trips to the UK in the last 7 years, but we had a few drab days in Venice, it was overcast in the Grand Canyon, several days in Yellowstone, etc. Greece was pretty murky the whole time we were there. They were burning the fields around Cairo and even in '93 in Cairns they were burning the cane fields, so it would have been nice to have digital there. So it's good to be able to enhance the contrast and saturation a little. I leave the originals as is, or at least just auto-leveled, and make a few "postcard" shots with Photoshop.

I have also stopped printing individual pictures except for other people. I do mine in Pagemaker, putting several pictures on a page (size depending on the importance or quality of the photo) and can do the captions right on the page. Then print on 8 1/2 x 11 photo paper and assemble in notebooks. A lot easier than making albums if you want captions.

MrsKiss

I agree to take a back up. When we travel, I have my 35mm, digital, and underwater camera!! In fact, I have two digital and usually take both! One is very tiny and slips into my purse or even my pocket. Our vacations usually include water...beach, swimming pool, and the underwater camera becomes my main camera because I don't want to get the others wet. Enjoy!

canonElura

I think film camera is outdated. Digital camera is much much better. Buy a AC DC charger when you travel, then you can get all you want and lose nothing. I bought my Canon BP-511 charger @ http://ebuybatteries.com/product/bat...AC-charger.htm. It is portable, good for traveling.

Keith

canonElura, I think you are over stating your case. There applications where digital cameras are better, and I think these apply to most people.

But if for example: someone wants the highest quality; or they need to take very quick photos of moving objects such as at a sporting event, film still has the edge.

Keith

worldcom

Digital all the way. I used to do the film thing and especially with security ..yuk. I bring two cameras, and a lap top. If that is too much for you can get a high memory 2 gig storage chip and have CD’s burned almost anywhere. I bring a 35 SLR Nikon D70 and a little Sony which I bring *everywhere* I would have missed some of my best shots without thet little thing. I will say I am glad I brought two when my Sony was dropped by a friend on day 2. Nice to have a back up.

The chargers take hardly any space. It just works better than 30 rolls of film to deal with. Everything fits nicely in my carry on camera, 2 lenses, and the smaller camera) I shoot high res and no issues wit enlargement. Best of all is you can see if you got the shot you want.

I have to say though that you need to avoid the temptation to review the photos in your hotel room at night. I have seen people vanish after dinner to do that and miss the rest of the evening ..not good. check your stuff quickly when you take it then save it and set to download while you sleep. If you have internet upload to a photo site hi res such as snapfish or Costco you then have a back up. If not just burn a disk and off you go.

Hope this helps.