Solution for large image storage during foreign vacation

[sygyzy]

I am going on a weeklong cruise in the Mediterranean in November. I have a 4MP digital camera. I plan on taking a lot of pictures. I need some advice on how I should best prepare for this. Let's assume I will only be able to charge overnight, not during the day. The batteries for my Canon are proprietary so I cannot pick any up at stores if I happen to run out during the day.

 

Here is what I've come up with:

 

1. My current memory (512 + 256), and single battery - probably not the best choice since I'll run out of batteries during a day. Also, I will fill up the memory by the 3rd or 4th day, I think.

 

2. Buy multiple large memory cards (1GB+) and extra batteries - great idea but unless I plan on taking weeklong vacations any time soon (I don't), I will never ever need 1GB+ cards. This would be expensive.

 

3. Bring my notebook along and download images from the camera each night. I'd prefer not to do this since there is a chance of it getting stolen. Thoug, it'd be store in my room on the ship each day (while we are on shore).

 

4. Buy one of those portable media hard drives that have memory card readers. You push a button and it downloads the images. Great idea, but again, here is $250-500 for a device I might never use again. Any hot deals for these?

 

5. I have a 4G iPOD. Maybe buy one of those adapters that allows me to dump photos to it? I have heard bad reviews about these. And they supposedly take a very long time to transfer. I might need to do a dump and run. I can't sit around waiting for it.

 

Any suggestions?

[RossMAN]

Hi David :)

 

Which model Canon digicam do you own?

[m61376]

If you run out of space on your memory card, most ships have the ability to download and burn cd's in their photoshop onboard. 2 512 cards tunred out not to be enough for me last summer, and for $20 I was able to download the images from one card and have them burnt onto 2 cd's, and then could reuse the card (they use some proprietary imaging software, so it was put on 2 cd's). Although cards are really cheap nowadays, and you might be able to pick up an extra 512 for not much more that that after rebates.

[cronos]

1. get the extra battery anyway. more than one is even better. you can always use it later and it's not going to expire until the next couple of years. it's better to have more backup than you will ever need rather than out of battery when you need it.

 

2. since you already have a 512+256, just buy one 1 GB card and i think you'll be fine. unless you're really crazy taking pictures. but if you said that you will fill the 512+256 in 3-4 days, then an extra 1 GB will last you through the whole trip, right? when you get home and you feel like you don't need all of those cards, you can always sell the 256 and/or the 512 and keep the 1 GB, this way you at least get something back. btw, if it's SD card i might be interested if you are selling for cheap :)

[Ankit]

I think you'd be best off bringing your notebook. Onboard the ship I don't think you need to worry about it being stolen.

 

Which ship are you going to be on?

[steveh]

Just buy a new camera that records directly to the mini-DVDs...

 

(Oh, wait, did you mean a *realistic* solution... Sorry, I was dreaming out loud...)

[sygyzy]

Hi guys. Thanks for the replies!

 

Ross - I have a Canon S45. I am waiting for a deal on the S70. I really like the form factor. I am planning to have 3 cameras (some day). One compact "party, go anywhere" camera (ie SD400), one "regular" sized camera when I want better picture quality (S45, S70), and one digital SLR for serious photography. I got rid of my Sony "party camera" so now it's just the S45. If I end up replacing it with the S70, I am going to seriously have a storage problem since 7MP takes almost twice as much space as 4MP

 

saxguy - I plan on getting extra batteries for sure. I just hope I have enough time to recharge all of them overnight while I am on the ship. You are right, an extra 1GB might be sufficient.

 

m61376 - Are you serious? I had NO clue ships offered this. This is very good news and a good backup solution.

 

AgaBoogaBoo - I am going to be on the

 

 

Insignia on a cruise from Barcelona to Athens

 

I have never been on a cruise so I am not sure how security is. Is it generally pretty safe?