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Buying Guide: Digital Photography Travel Tips
There are many great reasons to have a digital camera with you when you travel. First and foremost, you can instantly see how your pictures turned out, and know whether you need to adjust your settings or technique or take the shot again. If you're photographing children, being able to show them their picture on the LCD is a big winner and can get you a tireless group of models eager to ham it up for the camera. If you have access to e-mail, you can send your images to friends while you're still on your trip. Many digital cameras let you take short movies or add voice annotations—great ways to remember a dance, song, or other special event.
Not having to carry film through X-ray machines is an often-touted benefit. A downside, less frequently mentioned, is the rat's nest of cards, readers, cables, and batteries needed to replace those film canisters. But by choosing your equipment carefully and thinking about your travel needs, you can simplify what you bring to what's essential for your enjoyment. Speaking of luggage, I make sure to carry my camera on the plane with me, along with at least one or two lenses and some film cards. That way, even if my luggage is lost, I have my critical gear.
A good way to start planning is by defining your photo capture, storage, and viewing requirements. For capture, in addition to your camera, batteries, and a charger, you'll need to bring enough cards to get the images you want without worrying about card space. If you have a portable storage device or a notebook, you can offload your cards each evening, or even as you shoot. If not, your cards will need to store all the images from your trip, as additional cards may be hard to find and are expensive in most locations. A quick review of your images on your camera's LCD can weed out the worst shots, but it's not good enough to help you to decide which ones are definitely keepers.
Another advantage of bringing a portable storage device or a laptop is that it can be hooked up to your host's TV set to show off your images. Whether I'm on a family vacation trip or leading a photo safari, one of the most popular events is the final evening's "slide show" of images from the trip. Every photographer on vacation should remember that people really like to see themselves having fun. Whether your true love is nature photography or street scenes, make sure to capture some compelling images of your traveling companions; it'll liven up the trip for everyone.
If you do decide to bring a notebook PC with you, make sure its hard drive is large enough to store all the images you need and that you have the right power adapter for your card reader (though many are powered through the USB port). If you're choosing a new notebook for your trip, see if you can find one with a built-in card slot for the type of digital film card used by your camera. A notebook is ideal not only for storing and reviewing images, but also for showing them to friends and family.
If you decide you need one, consider getting a lighter and smaller model, with an extra battery if you go on extended flights. Those power-guzzling 17-inch multimedia giants are bulky, often don't open at all in economy-class airplane seats, and frequently get only an hour or two per battery charge, while many of the current 14- to 15.4-inch widescreens have extensive multimedia capacity and good battery life.
Widescreens are more suitable for airplanes than diagonal screens, as they tend to have more width than height, so you are less likely to be crimped by the seat in front of you. Getting an Air/Auto power adapter is helpful, but only a few airline seats (mostly in business and first class on international flights) have power ports. A notebook with a CD or DVD burner and some blank discs will let you make a backup copy of your images as you travel. That can be a lifesaver if your computer is stolen or the hard drive crashes.
Bringing a notebook entails quite a bit of space, weight, and more chargers. An alternative for those who can resist hard-core editing on the road is a portable storage device such as our Editors' Choice, the Epson P-2000 ( http://go.pcmag.com/epsonp2000 ). With a VGA screen and a 40GB built-in hard drive, its image-viewing and storage capabilities are unmatched among such devices.
The P-2000 has enough disk space for all but the most prolific shooters, and it lets you view and review your pictures on a surprisingly bright, high-resolution LCD screen. It has a multiformat card reader built in, so it can transfer images directly from your camera, and it can look like a hard drive to your PC for offloading the images when you return. If you are visiting friends or family, you can preload it with your favorite images and use it for slide shows—either on its screen or when plugged into a TV set. The P-2000 even supports viewing RAW files from many cameras. And while it's no iPod, it will also let you listen to music and watch videos.
The only drawback I have found with the P-2000 is a limited ability to transfer slide shows to it from your PC. If showing images to family or friends is a top priority, consider a Windows Portable Media Center–based device, such as the Samsung YH-999. These small units have a 20GB hard drive and can easily display images or video that you have on your PC. They can double as entertainment units by playing recorded TV shows. Unfortunately, they don't have card readers, so they can't directly replace a portable storage device.
Once you have an idea of what devices you'll need, ensuring you'll have power is the next order of business. If you plan to travel internationally, make sure that any equipment you buy comes with dual-voltage chargers, or you'll be stuck needing separate voltage transformers or buying an additional charger. If you have a variety of devices, you'll be in better shape if you can standardize either your batteries or your charger. Rechargeable double-A batteries are the most common size, so you may be able to travel with several devices that rely on them and can share a double-A battery charger. Some of your devices will probably require custom or rechargeable lithium ion batteries.
Make sure to bring spares or your charger, as lithium ion batteries are not very common in remote locations—although I was able to buy a replacement CR5 for my daughter's Nikon Coolpix in Bangkok, Thailand. "Universal" charging systems such as the one that Targus makes, with adapters available for many models of laptops, PDAs, and cell phones, typically don't support cameras that use batteries other than double-A or triple-A sizes. Most digital SLRs have add-on grips that let you power the camera off double-As instead of (or in addition to) their proprietary batteries. It adds a little bulk, but could be a lifesaver.
One of the worst problems for the digital traveler is carrying a mess of chargers and cables. It's easy to forget which charger goes with which device. I use a "paint" pen to write the name of the device on its charger, so I don't get them confused. I then tie off the cords with Velcro, group the chargers and cords together in plastic bags, and label the bags. Unlike your camera, chargers are fairly sturdy and can usually be tossed into your checked luggage, as long as you take some care in packing them.
Once you're organized, practice with your gear on a short trip to make sure you have everything you need and know where it is. If the camera is new, it is important to test it thoroughly, and that includes off-loading, displaying, and printing images to be sure that they are satisfactory. I am amazed by the number of tourists who leave on their "trip of a lifetime" with a camera they have never used—or perhaps never even opened. Before you leave is the best time to practice, to make sure you can take full advantage of the photo opportunities while you travel.
Even with practice, few of us memorize all the commands and buttons for our cameras or other digital devices, and there is nothing more frustrating than not being able to get some small but important feature, such as the self-timer, working when you need it most. Carrying all of your equipment manuals with you can literally be a drag, but many manufacturers now put their manuals online as PDF files. If you don't bring a notebook, you can at least take them on CD to use on a computer where you are going, or note their location on the Web for quick retrieval from a cybercafé. Still, it is better to bring the manual than to be unable to use your camera.
Finally, remember that unless you're traveling primarily for photography, you're just shooting for fun, so if you miss a shot or something breaks, don't sweat it. No matter how much you plan, things will sometimes go wrong. But over time, traveling with a digital camera will provide you, your family, and friends with plenty of enjoyable moments and memories.
David Cardinal is a professional photographer and software author. He publishes the Web site www.nikondigital.org (an information resource for digital photographers), teaches digital photography, and sells DigitalPro software through www.proshooters.com.