Travel advice please

[Polarbear]

Hi everyone, I wonder if anyone can help me out.

I am planning to do some serious travelling in the next 6mths(fingers crossed and house selling).

I have travelled a bit with my Sony A300, but only for a max of three weeks, and usually in dry weather.

Has anyone done anything longer and more dusty, hot, humid, monsoon, weather.
What were common issues?
what is the best waterproof/raincover to practicaly use?
Do the Alphas stand up to rough travel?
Anything else i need to consider.

Any replies would be welcome

[David Kilpatrick]

Get a second body - A200s can be found for £150-200 - and get a couple of spare batteries. While the cameras are not ruggedised or waterproof, they stand up pretty well. It's just a very good idea to have a backup if you are away on such a trip.

David

[Greg Beetham]

I see Sony USA has listed an accessory 12V DC charger for the standard M class battery now, so if you're going by car anywhere when you get there, it might be handy, as well as the spare body and batteries.
I don't think there's a lot you can do for a camera that is not designed too have any water or rain dropped onto it whatever, short of getting an underwater case for it. You could pack a few garbage bags in the camera bag for emergencies, and maybe take one of those little collapsible umbrellas along if there's room.
As for dust, all DSLR's are bothered by dust, if it's dusty and windy try and avoid changing lenses a lot and also using long zooms, the telescoping action of a long zoom act sortof like a dust pump, if dust gets all over the lens and the wiper on the zoom collar isn't as effective as it should be.
Greg

[peterottaway]

A small non-descript backpack to act as a day bag.To hold any extra lenses (on a needs basis), memory cards, local maps and guides and a blower brush. Having a couple of pens with a notebook can be useful plus a small led torch and pocket knife, facial wipes and/or a hand towel, plus having the room for a couple of pieces of fruit / energy bars and a bottle of water or diet soft drink. Some of the max sugar drinks will cause a sugar overload as you try to keep up your fluid levels.

In hot and humid climates you need to be continuously topping up your fluid levels well before you start feeling dehydrated, by then the damage is done. This will also mean taking advantage of " comfort breaks" whenever you can as well.

A string bag for any small purchases you make.

Purchase and test at least one new camera battery a couple of weeks before leaving. A real pain to find out they aren't holding their charge miles from a power socket. In comparison to the cost of your trip, camera batteries and memory cards are cheapand buy recognised brands at sales.

[KevinBarrett]

I can hardly recommend hunting for an extra a200 when you'd be much better served by hunting for an a700. The weather-sealing and rugged build are worth every penny.

[Ossie]

I agree with all that has been said. However I would also suggest you take some means of backing up your cards. I tend to go for belt, braces and a bit of string and take a robust hard disk in my case a 40gb JOBO giga one (although the pins of the CF reader are not so robust) plus a net book with 160gb hard drive. I back up to both at the end of each day. If I am really feeling nervous about losing my storage media and precious images I will also visit a local internet café or film processing shop and get them copied to a CD or DVD.

You don't say where you will be travelling. Condensation can be a problem especially in hot and humid climates when staying in air-condition hotel rooms. I experienced this with my A100 when in Singapore. As soon as I left the hotel the condensation formed inside the camera. The view-finder became fogged and to avoid any problems I did not switch the camera on until the "fog" disappeared about 30 minutes later.

I now have an A700 and the A100 is the spare body. Where I think dust may be a problem, before leaving the Hotel I fit the A700 with my walkabout lens (16-80) and the A100 with another lens being the one that I think might be the next most frequently used. Rarely find it necessary to change lenses in the field.

I haven't had much experience of using the cameras in a wet environment other than standing in a swamp in the Camargue with horses racing up through the water with spray and mud flying everywhere. My A700 and A100 survived but a Nikon users camera failed. Perhaps I was just lucky. I find that most Hotel's provide a useful if not fully protective wet cover free. It is called a shower cap and I carry several in my bag.

With all the electronic gizmo's that we seem to carry around, 'phone, laptop, ipod etc., there are a lot of cables and chargers to carry. If flying I always carry these in my hand luggage and if I run into weight problems and have to place some in the hold luggage the camera battery charger would always be the last to go. When I travelled to India people must have thought I was quite mad when I arrived wearing a heavy winter jacket. What they didn't know was that before checking in at departure its multitude of deep pockets were stuffed with small items to keep the weight of the hand baggage down. After checking in and passing through security everything was transferred to the cabin bag. The jacket was consigned to the suitcase where it resided for the duration of the trip.

[Andy B]

I see Sony USA has listed an accessory 12V DC charger for the standard M class battery now, so if you're going by car anywhere when you get there, it might be handy, as well as the spare body and batteries.

Not sure about other parts of the world, but in the U.S. the Sony 12V DC charger is a $149 accessory. For only $19.95, I bought a Pearstone PECMNPFM Mini AC/DC Battery Charger for the Sony NP-FM Series from B&H photo in New York. It's a single-battery 120-240V wall charger with a built-in retractable plug (no cord needed) that comes with a 12V DC adapter cord for use in the car. A European plug adapter is also included.

Andy

[Polarbear]

Hi everyone who has replied,

some very useful advice in all.

Most of which is all good common sense, I particulaly like the shower cap idea, inexpensive and very practicle!

I have two sony batteries plus plug and charger, the plug also fits the chatging block to my small and rather dated Canon ixus 70, which under emergencies still churns out some decent shots. With of course the basic video which sadly my Alpha does not have.

I must admit I had not thought about purchasing a second body, and will certainly look at the second hand market to see what I can get, I fear the A700 mybe out of my reach.

Excellent advice from both Oligarch & Initiate, re the basics and backing up my pictures with netbook etc. Thank you again for all the useful tips.

[Wes Gibbon]

I agree with all that has been said. However I would also suggest you take some means of backing up your cards. I tend to ... take a robust hard disk in my case a 40gb JOBO giga one (although the pins of the CF reader are not so robust) plus a net book with 160gb hard drive. I back up to both at the end of each day.

If you are using compact flash cards I suggest checking that your card reader really works; many of the recent ones I have seen have a slot that is too shallow - the card is not held precisely as it is inserted and the pins inside the reader (particularly the long one) get bent! Take two reliable ones you have tested, or one and the cable that enables you to download from the camera. As far as is practical (without overloading yourself), try to duplicate every part of the backup process and test it all beforehand!

[Simmondsphotography]

Hi everyone, I wonder if anyone can help me out.

I am planning to do some serious travelling in the next 6mths(fingers crossed and house selling).

I have travelled a bit with my Sony A300, but only for a max of three weeks, and usually in dry weather.

Has anyone done anything longer and more dusty, hot, humid, monsoon, weather.
What were common issues?
what is the best waterproof/raincover to practicaly use?
Do the Alphas stand up to rough travel?
Anything else i need to consider.

Any replies would be welcome

The advice given concerning taking a second body is an absolute "must"!
I did a six week tour of Australia a few years ago and took my trusty Leica D2 as back-up. The last few shorter trips I have only taken a small compact. A few weeks ago I was in Wales photographing Red Kites, arrived a bit late with only my A900 and Tamron 200-500 lens when it happened.......no proper focusing and no recording of images just in the heat of the action!! If this wasn't bad enough, this was just a week before departing for an expensive photography trip to Botswana! The D2 has a maximum reach equivalent to 90mm...not much good for wildlife photography!

Fortunately the problem turned out to be a faulty Transcend 16Gb card (new).

However, the panic mode had already set in and as the A55/A580 were still not available (it was early September) and as I had always regretted not getting the run-out A700's when they were available (great for wildlife!) I decided to start a search for a good used one. Did a google search and up came dear old ARGOS, claiming they had two A700's brand new. A quick call and some anxious days waiting for their delivery system and it is now mine! I now have the perfect back-up system with lenses, batteries, cards totally interchangeable. When I need the longer reach from a lens, a quick change to the A700 gives me an extra 50%, Ok with a loss of pixel power which so far I don't miss too much.

I spent two weeks in the dry and dusty Kalahara desert conditions alternating with the swamps and wet lands of the Okavango without missing a beat or a shot! I used the 70-400G mostly with a trusty old lightweight Minolta 28-105 for the wider views.

Cheers, Dave

[Dr. Harout]

Hi Dave, and welcome to the forum.
Sorry to hear for the faulty card and at the same time am glad that was the problem.
Let that be a lesson for us all. And I guess people at Sony knew this quite well and it's one of the reasons to have a NEX along with the main camera.

[David Kilpatrick]

In fairness to Transcend, we bought two 16GB CF cards when they were first launched and they have been 100% reliable in A900/A700 ever since. Currently using 64GB and 32GB SanDisk and Lexar cards - pretty amazing transfer speeds in the Lexar FW800 reader, but no real difference for shooting. At least for my approach.

David

[Simmondsphotography]

In fairness to Transcend, we bought two 16GB CF cards when they were first launched and they have been 100% reliable in A900/A700 ever since. Currently using 64GB and 32GB SanDisk and Lexar cards - pretty amazing transfer speeds in the Lexar FW800 reader, but no real difference for shooting. At least for my approach.

David

I would have said the same before I experienced the problem as I have also used several other Transcend 16Gb cards without a hitch. However since my problem with a brand new one which initially formatted perfectly, I have since heard of quite a few others who have had similar problems. The difficulty these days I am advised is that there are so many importers of both Transcend and Sandisk named cards that are not manufactured by either company.

I also have Kingston 16Gb cards which have never missed a shot. "Caveat Emptor" as they say in Scotland!!

[Simmondsphotography]

Hi Dave, and welcome to the forum.
Sorry to hear for the faulty card and at the same time am glad that was the problem.
Let that be a lesson for us all. And I guess people at Sony knew this quite well and it's one of the reasons to have a NEX along with the main camera.

Thank you for your very kind welcome...in fact I have been hanging out here for nearly two years and a subscriber to David's excellent "Photoworld" mag but was put off registering with this board by just one hostile but very prolific member who now seems to have gone for good!

So it is high time that I joined in as much as I can. I am an active member of another Sony board and also the Leica (LUF) board.

[Polarbear]

Hi Dave,

Thank you for your input too. Going slightly off topic as sometimes does on these colourful messages, I too have had problems with SD cards, mine being a Sandisk one. Most card manufacturers I think know that every now and then they will turn out a "duff" one. I sent mine back to it's source and got an excellent working replacement.

After consideration I am now saving my money up for a second body. I will of course stay true to the Sony brand(here, here) and would like to get another A300 as a spare. I am afraid I am too attached to my A300, and I have noticed that they are tumbling a little more in price on the secondhand market. Also I am reluctant, and unable to stretch to a A700 at present. Who knows, if I get the pay out from my injury I may well treat myself to one anyway. I shall have to wait and see.

God I hate Lawyers/solicitors and Insurance companies.