Digital Camera Battery Solar Charger Options

[owyn]

Hello,

I'm leaving on a trip to Nepal in 4 months and I've started planning/ acquiring the equipment I'm going to take.

My wife and I are going to tour the Langtang region (including Gosiakund lake).

From searching the net on power sources in this regionI haven't come up with a clear answer. Some say that you can find guest houses with enough AC power every other day, while others claim the power is not enough to charge batteries.

This has led me to search for chargers based on Solar energy.

Since I'm planning on taking the Digital Camera Battery 40W battery plus at least 5 more BP511 battery packs (I have the Canon 10D), and since I can charge the Canon batteries with the Digital Camera Battery, I was thinking of getting the DCB Solar 10w charger flexible roll blanket.

Has anyone used this item ? How does it perform ? How big / heavy is it ?

Your thoughts are much appreciated,

Thanks.

Rahaf

[Bobtrips]

Hello,

I'm leaving on a trip to Nepal in 4 months and I've started planning/ acquiring the equipment I'm going to take.

My wife and I are going to tour the Langtang region (including Gosiakund lake).

From searching the net on power sources in this regionI haven't come up with a clear answer. Some say that you can find guest houses with enough AC power every other day, while others claim the power is not enough to charge batteries.

This has led me to search for chargers based on Solar energy.

Since I'm planning on taking the Digital Camera Battery 40W battery plus at least 5 more BP511 battery packs (I have the Canon 10D), and since I can charge the Canon batteries with the Digital Camera Battery, I was thinking of getting the DCB Solar 10w charger flexible roll blanket.

Has anyone used this item ? How does it perform ? How big / heavy is it ?

Your thoughts are much appreciated,

Thanks.

Rahaf

The 10D gets 500-650 shots per charged battery. Five batteries means 2,500 - 3,250 shots between opportunities to charge. That's the equivalent of 70 - 90 rolls of 36 exp. film

Even at 2,500 shots and a week in between charges you could budget 357 shots per day.

How much shooting do you thing you'll do?

My experience along the trail is that one shoots far less than when in cities/towns/villages. It's usually a fair hike from one worthwhile shot to the next unlike shooting in the village market where choosing which shot to take first is more often the problem.

While trekking I find that my normal rate of shooting (~150 frames per day with a lot of bracketing) drops to more like 40.

In addition, the area into which you're heading is a well developed one. You're likely to find lots of charging opportunities. Check on the India/Nepal branch of www.lonelyplanet.com and see what the charging conditions are likely to be.

--

Solar? I live with it. This post is solar powered.

Except it's not. Clouds today so I'm on diesel backup. Panels have to be pointed to the sun and kept there for hours. You can't strap a solar panel on the top of your pack and gain any significant power.

[owyn]

The 10D gets 500-650 shots per charged battery.  Five batteries means 2,500 - 3,250 shots between opportunities to charge.  That's the equivalent of  70 - 90 rolls of 36 exp. film

Even at 2,500 shots and a week in between charges you could budget 357 shots per day.

First of all, my 10D probably has some power problems and it seems to consume more power than usual. Secondly, at certain times of day and due to altitude it's much colder, so the power consumption increases significantly. And lastly, I forgot to mention that my wife is also bringing her camera (the 300D).

So even though you may be right with your assumption as to the amount of images I'll take per day, I'm hoping I will be able to reach it with the restrictions i've just mentioned.

Also, these solar chargers work when it's cloudy so you don't always need direct sunlight.

So I return to my initial question - how well does the DCB solar charger perform ?
Does anyone have some other product to recommend?

Thanks.

[Bobtrips]

Also, these solar chargers work when it's cloudy so you don't always need direct sunlight.

So do my panels.

Of course the output drops to less than 10% of when the sun is shinning....