Re: San Francisco Sunset

On Sat, 24 Nov 2007 14:50:30 +1300, Barry Lennox <bt.l.barryl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

On Wed, 21 Nov 2007 18:27:29 GMT, John Navas
<spamfilter1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

From the Paragon deck at the Claremont Resort & Spa, Berkeley
<http://img90.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p1030840filteredkl8.jpg>
<http://img75.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p1030845filteredob8.jpg>

Pretty good,

You are a fan of the FZ-8, It's on my short-list for a new compact
high-end P&S. Are there any weaknesses you have found with it?

I'm a bit nervous about the battery as it will be used for travel, and
sometimes recharging may be a hassle (at least compared with buying
some AAs at the local shop) How many shots can you typically get from
a charge, and has the battery proven reliable?

Barry


I might be able to offer some "power source" information to alleviate fears of
using any dedicated batteries. I sometimes do year-long photo expeditions into
some of the most remote regions on earth. Digital photography has allowed me to
accomplish this. Before digital it was impossible to do anything near as
extensive. But not without some preparation and taking into account all that is
needed.

Think SOLAR.

Depending on what vehicles and transport methods are at my disposal, how long
the trek, determines what I will take along. A larger set of folding
solar-panels to quickly recharge many devices, or even powering a laptop. Or my
most favorite solar panel. A small, nylon covered fold-up unit. It folds up to
the size of 1/2"x4"x8", making it convenient to throw into any backpack, large
camera bag, duffle-bag or whatever. It can completely recharge the Li-Ion
battery on one camera in about 3 hours of mid-day sunlight. Providing over 250
minutes of shooting time per charge on that older camera. That can last a long
time if you know what you are doing.

Unfortunately, those compact panels are no longer available or I'd be happy to
share the source of them with everyone. I bought two at the time. One for myself
and another for a trekking partner. I lucked out when running across them from
an absurd source, a low-cost power-tools company (drills, routers, etc.). They
were in an insert they included in their catalogs. I've not run across those
solar panels since, it's been over 7 years now. They were only $35 each too. If
I knew then what I know now I would have bought several dozen of them.

I only mention this to encourage you to find a similar solar-charging system. If
you can only find a compact solar-panel and not any dedicated electronics just
for your camera or voltage needs, then consider a "Digi-Power" DPS-9000 (they
may have changed since I bought mine). It's an external Li-Ion backup battery.
It comes with an array of patch-cords and DC-DC voltage converters that
adequately recharges any camera that I have when hooked up to a solar-panel's
more typical 17-18vdc output. Surprisingly, in full bright sun that folding
solar-panel is even capable of running a camera by sunlight alone when hooked up
direct to one of the Digi-Power's DC-DC converters. This was a (relatively)
inexpensive, fully adaptable, and compact solution.

So if you dread the idea of dedicated batteries and can't get past your fear of
having no power, a small solar charger might be just the thing you need. Then no
matter what camera you buy, the type of battery they use (as long as they are
rechargeable), it will never be a purchase-decision issue.

I do enjoy the convenience of my latest camera that uses AAs but I also don't
worry about any camera's battery-type because I know that I can recharge
anything that comes my way no matter where I am. (extreme spelunkers and arctic
explorers during certain times of the year need not look for argument)
.

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