When I first heard about the Power Monkey I thought what a great idea, but then discovered that since my canon batteries fit into a charger that plugs into a normal mains lead (like a radio or DVD player), the power monkey won't connect to the mains charger. Other brands seemed similar. I think they're mainly for compacts and mobile phones, BUT I didn't do an exhaustive search. The batteries aren't so heavey compared with the rest of my gear so I carry 3 - plus the charger If away for say 3 months (I wish).

As an alternative to my suggestion of sending a battery charger on ahead (with other stuff) in a parcel.......

Given 500 shots per battery charge on a DSLR, and if you were getting a parcel sent out from home every couple of weeks, it might be best to get a (charged) battery and memory card sent out with every parcel.

Depending on number of shots taken per day, and frequency of parcels, this could be two batteries per parcel. Send the two you've used home to get charged.

On the other hand it would be good to be able to charge mobile phone, GPS, mp3 player etc if such a charger was available. However, I do worry about the weight. As far as I can see you would need (at least) a solar panel, a 12v charger for the DSLR battery, and a 12v charger for AA batteries, and hopefully just 12v adaptors for the phone and mp3 player. You might need something to connect the solar panel to those chargers/adaptors too.

A bit heavy to lug around maybe, but okay to send on in a parcel.....


www.selectsolar.co.uk/downloads/06003IT03a.pdf

www.energyenv.co.uk/PowerfilmBatteryCharging.asp

That's funny. When you make a new post you are able to have bold and italic type, make links and insert images; but no smilies.

When you edit a post none of the serious editing tools are there, but smilies are.



Edited to add smilie...:)

Edited again to say it didn't work..

Hi ,

Assuming we are still in a lightweight backpacking forum, the question what to do if you would go on a 3 month trip is easely answered. Simply apply the same reasoning you use for your hiking gear, to your photo gear:

Why did we go digital? Answer: because of costs of image processing. (Costs as in money and costs as in time/effort)

What is the trade off? Answer: the need of energy (again in money and time/effort as in the weight and burden to supply battery power.)

Still assuming you have 1. the time 2. the money to go on a 3 month lightweight backpacking trip, it comes to (my) mind that this trade off is not valid anymore. The weight and burden involved to get the needed battery power out weights the original reasons to go digital. So go back to old fashioned analog photography. If you are able to spend 3 months worth of time and money on a backpackingtrip you sure can spend some time and money to do your image processing afterwards. And if you need digital output there are plenty of methods to do your analog/digital conversion afterwards without loss of quality. It will cost you a bit of time and effort and maybe money, but that was the original trade off, wasn't it?


Regards


Rolf

Rolf, I didn't go to digital because of the costs of image processing. Digital costs more! At least once I factor in hard disks and software. I find many advantages to digital, but cost hasn't been one of them.

I don't think reverting to film necessarily saves any weight. Films weigh far more than memory cards. For a while I used both film and digital cameras. On a three week trek in Nepal the weight of films was far more than the weight of spare batteries for the digital camera. On a 3 month trip the key would be how often you could resupply. I would send a charger on ahead in a "bounce box" and recharge batteries at town stops. Doing that would make digital much lighter than film.

Hi Chris,

My point was not going analog, but using the same reasoning as with other gear:

- establish why you want to use the gear in the first place, then find the trade off to determine if it is worth it.

To do this proper I specificly tried to point out that the term 'costs' is not te be seen only in the financial way, but also in the terms of weight, burden, time needed and what else you can think of that bothers you.

I feel this is exactly the way your argument goes. I'm happy we seem to agree on this.

Regards

Rolf

I'm kinda stuck with digital because that's what editors want (Grrrr Cameron and Emily), but the power issues are a major headache for longish trips. Sometimes I long for the days when I'd put a battery in my Pentax MX, and wouldn't have to think about it for a year. Later EOS cameras were a little more power hungry, but nothing like DSLRs.

However I really like the fine control that's put in my hands when using digital, and even if I didn't have to consider the editorial trade I'd still use it probably. I've TGO to thank for nudging me that way (esp. Mr Manning)

Ian, I don't find the power issues of digital a problem for longish trips (3 weeks is the longest I've done). I just carry more batteries. The weight and bulk of batteries is far less than that of film. For a 3 week trip I'd have carried about 50 rolls of film!

I use DSLRs because they produce the quality required by editors but I'd still use digital if I wasn't taking photos for publication - only it would be a small zoom compact not a DSLR.

Rolf, I hope we are in agreement! However I understood you to be suggesting that film was the way to go for long trips whilst I think digital makes more sense.

Hi Chris,

Don't worry we do agree.

Regards

Rolf

Chris that's good to know, and I agree about batteries being less weighty (and bulky) than film. When I first got my DSLR I was shocked at how expensive batteries were (about £50 from canon). Eventually I bit the bullet and got a pair of 3rd party ones for £10. They work perfectly, but I was worried they might cause damage at first. So I have 3 batteries now. Still haven't been brave enough to leave the charger behind though.

By headache I meant the possible reliance on civilisation. I prefer to camp rather than stay in accommodation, and the need to charge up may one day take me away from my wildcamp option. I'll downscale "major headache" to niggle though :)