Help - need camera gurus advice
 

I will be leaving on a trip to South Africa in a few short weeks and I am totally lost about what to do about photos.

I have a Nikon D50 with 2 1Gig SD cards. My husband owns (but neither us really know how to use for photos) a RCA Lyra RD2780A. (It was a gift)

There isnt an obvious way to connect the Lyra to D50 or the SD card. Ive done a search on the net and found nothing. Any ideas?

ANyone have any suggestions? Should I just break down and buy an IPOD? If so, how do transfer photos to the Ipod?

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

I have an ipod video (30 gig) which I use for this purpose. These can be had for under $300. Works fine and has the advantage of also providing lots of music for the flights. You could also get one of the Epson devices, but they are much more expensive. For my upcoming trip, I'm bringing 4 gigs of memory cards + the ipod. Hope this helps.

Hello Stef:

Unfortunately, the D50 uses SD cards, while the RCA Lyra RD2780A only uses CompactFlash (CF) cards.

You may have the option of buying a CF adapter that will accept SD cards and copying the files from the SD through the adapter to the Lyra, but there is no mention of being able to successfully do so in the Lyra manual.

This would be similar to the approach that Nikon uses to copy SD card contents to their Coolwalker storage device. You'll find this basic setup on Page 15 of the D50 Brochure.

If you do not have the Lyra manual, you can get it at

http://www.rcaaudiovideo.com/NR/rdon...0/RD2780IB.pdf

but be aware that this file is about 7MB in size.

The Lyra manual explains how to copy images from CF cards starting on P 32. You will be forced to use JPEG format, because the Lyra only accepts this format.

I much prefer to shot in Nikon RAW format due to better image detail.

I use a Nikon D70S and an Epson P-2000. The D70S uses CompactFlash and the Epson has card readers for both the SD and CF cards.

I wish you well on your trip to South Africa. I have many fond memories from the various places I have visited there.

You may want to post a short trip report on your return. My wife, LyndaS, organizes these on the Fodor Africa board.

we're off to Kenya and Tanzania in a couple of months.

Hopefully, you'll find the above information helpful.

Cheers!

Jim

I recommend you look into the "Hyperdrive" (at www.hyperdrive.com). I bought one specifically for my upcoming trip to Tanzania.

It has found a lot of fan in the photo community.

Hello Again Stef:

With egg dripping slowly from his chin, Jim turns ...

Lynda read my original response and told me that you are authoring a thread on South Africa; while Lynda, handles East Africa.

So much for my suggestion you file a trip report that Lynda can use ;-)

Jim

Thanks James. My husband got a CF to SD adapter but it seems that we got the wrong kind of CF since it doesnt fit. So now with just a few weeks left, Im started to sweat.

Marty - how do you transfer your photos to the ipod? Ive read about the camera connector accessorie but it seems that both the ipod and the camera must be fully charged for it work (and even then its a major drain). Should I be concerned that my power outlet options on safari wont get these pieces charged enough?

Boomer - thanks for the suggestion. Looks like it gets good reviews but Im loathe to purchase anohter device that I wont have much use for. It may come down to that but I'd love to figure a way to get the job done without having to spend too much more.

Anyone else with the D50 or a camera that uses SD out there? What have you done?

Hi there!

I have questions as a response: If you have a total of 2 Gigs for your camera, and if your husband learns the other one, wouldn't it be cheaper to buy memory for his camera? Would you need more than, say, 4 Gigs of memory total? How long is your trip?

At what setting do most people take their pictures?

Karen

StefR:

With regard to the ipod and camera adaptor. Yes, it is draining of the ipod battery if you have say more than 1 gig of photos to download. You should start with a fully charged ipod. You also must make sure you're using a newer usb 2 camera or use a card reader if your camera is the old usb 1. You attach the camera usb cord from the camera (or card reader) to the photo adaptor. The camera adaptor fits into the bottom of the ipod which automatically recognizes the device and asks if you'd like to download. Then you just let it go. You can view the photos, etc. You must have the newest 5th gen. ipod (video ipod) to use this.. Hope this helps.

My husband thinks that I shouldnt need more than 2 1gig cards for the whole trip. I think he is crazy. Not so much b/c Ill end up with more than 500 great photos but b/c I want the option to snap away without having to worry about filling up my card, etc..

I think we are just going to break down and buy the Ipod. I already have an mp3 player but I think Ill switch it for the new ipod anyway. So its not a total waste.

Worse case - if it ends up that I dont use it at all , I'll return it.

(My trip is not that long but Im going to London first so Ill be taking photos there. Plus a day in Joberg, 4 days in Cape Town and 3 days on Safari.)

Thanks again for everyones help. I hope I dont sound like too much of an idiot but I dont know how anyone figures this stuff out.

I was just investigating the IPOD photo adapter my self(I have a D50) and decided against it.
After doing a search I found a lot of bad reviews, and on apples website the D50 is not listed as one of the compatible cameras.(now the D70 is, so the D50 might work). A one Gig card at Medium size and Fine resolution gives you about 500 shots.At the moment they cost about $50. I would rather invest in a few more cards. You can always review your pictures afterwards and delete the bad shots. If you really think you need more storage the "Hyperdrive" mentioned here seems like a better way to go. Do a search for "IPOD Camera Adapter" to find reviews.