Hi all and this is my first post in 11 years!! Quick intro Shane (42) Maureen (42) Lucy (10) and Harry (7)

I used this forum in 1997 to plan a 3 month Europe trip when it was just my wife and I, wow long time ago. Now I have 2 children and we are off to London (5 days) then France and Italy for the next 2 months (leaving the 2nd of May).

I'll have many questions but the first is what is the best way to store digital pictures and Video during the stay?

I have a Digital Camera and I'll purchase a DV Camera before I leave. The digital camera uses an SD card and I think I'll be a DV camera with the same storage.

My main concerns are losing the camera and the memories..

Thanks in advance

Shane

Just take plenty of memory. It is dirt cheap now.

Most folks just buy several SD cards (memory) as so cheap nowadays. However as I recall, it was easier to keep track of exposed rolls of film than the teeny cards. However that is what most all of us do, rather than burning CD's, etc. Have a good time. Halfpint

If you’re a sparse shooter, a handful of cards will suffice.

If you shot a lot, consider these:

Do you use an internet shop now and then to catch up on email and to plot your course? Then take along a small USB card reader in case they don’t have one, slide the write-protect tab on your card (so no malware or corrupting dreck can be written to your card while it is connected), and upload your pix to whatever website you’ve signed on to that will store them for you.

If you shoot even more, or larger files like RAW, look for the many batery-pwered portable storage devices from Epson, Wolverine, Jobo, Digital Foci, Hyperdrive Space etc.

Some also display your pix so you can delete as you go, seeing more detail than on the camera itself if the screen is bigger (depends on model).

They are card readers and hard drives in one, when you get back home you transfer the contents to your computer, or if you stop by a reliable computer place in your travels, you can burn a data DVD of all files, or whatever.

In 2 months you'd possibly use a lot of SD cards, even if they are cheap. A lot depends on whether you shoot jpeg or RAW and how many MPs your camera has. RAW + bigger files, as does lots of MPs.

If you go the lots of SD cards route, make sure you lock them once they are fullish (try not to completely fill them) and keep them in a separate SD card holder. keep the unused ones in another box, so you never end up writing over anything.

You could consider maybe a netbook computer with a small (size not capacity) additional harddrive. Or an image tank - check that an image tank could store your DV files too though.
Netbooks are slow but useful for checking and storing your photos. You can always throw off the really duff ones immediately to save space, though I prefer to keep everything.

I copy my photos and videos to the notebook each nite, then burn to DVD every three - four days.

Perhapos a little overkill, but I like the idea of having the min at least two places

Brilliant , Brilliant !!! cannot believe the speed of the replies and depth, simply amazing, thank you all.

cheers

Shane

Shane...whatever you decide, have a great time of it...enjoy it all.

stu t.

(I have a grandson named Shane!..he's 28)

We don't bother with video but have 2 digital cameras and between me and my other half, take loads of pictures. We'd been after some sort of viewer/backup device for some time but most camera backup devices seemes inflexible and expensive. When we saw the new netbooks, we decided that would be ideal.

We bought an Acer Aspire One netbook - the one with 1Gb memory and 100Gb drive. It is small and light enough to carry about (1 kilo) and the 9 inch screen is big enough to review the pictures as we go. It runs XP (some run Linux) so we were able to install some of the camera software. It has the added advantage of being a fully functional PC with wi-fi, so we were able to check email, internet, etc, as well. It worked great for us on our last holiday.

A friend who shoots a lot of stills and video visited recently. He had along a newly acquired Archos 7... very small yet a 320 gig drive. Can not only store files but act as a 7" video player and web browser as well.

http://www.archos.com

A question for these netbook/notebook users or storage bank users.
I have a 10 MP DSLR camera and take approximately 800 photos on an 8-10 day trip. The memory cards, SD, that I use are usually 2 GB, and often use all of one and part of another one. I'm not sure what sort of capacity I'd need to store them.
I'm not so worried about buying extra cards as I am about somehow losing the camera or card. I always take extra cards, but I do worry about somehow losing the photos through some sort of camera malfunction or loss.
Good luck Shane and family, how wonderful to be able to spend that much time in Europe.

Whoops, didn't see the length of time. Burnig on CDs along the way would probably be the way to go. You could take a small computer with you to download to. They come so small now. It would also be great to keep your notes and journal on.

And also didn't read that I was echoing others.
Our son and family are in the Galapagos right now, and have the small notebook with them, for internet, and photos and journalling.

I have two of these memory card holders and they are GREAT!

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...eme_Gray_.html

It holds 4 SD cards and keeps them waterproof, shockproof, and more importantly, keeps them in something big enough to keep track of!

I highly, highly recommend them. And they come in lots of colors.