digital camera- to take or not to take?

[vtgal]

I will be traveling in Europe for 3 months- late March through early June. I plan to do some "normal" traveling- take to the rails and hostel-hop, but do more volunteering, visiting friends, etc.

I have a Canon Powershot A70- not tiny, but it fits into a large pocket. Plus cables and instruction booklet, it is a tad bulky and weighty.

Here are my concerns about bringing it on my trip:

--value liablity vs. usefulness: As an 18 year old woman traveling mostly solo, chances of my stuff being stolen is high, even if I'm cautious (right?). So do I really want to bring a $400 camera with me?

-BUT- maybe film would be even more bulky, as I'd do disposables along the way.
-I've heard that since 9/11/01 the x-rays are beefed up, so film doesn't stand a chance of getting back to the US in good condition. So is digital really worth it?

-I can basically take as many pictures as I want, save them onto cd as I go, but I run the risk of having it stolen. And the digital is bulky. Are the bulk and usefulness worth the risk?

What do you think- what is the best way to take and save travel photos these days- good old film or digital? Let the ruckus begin.

[LHR02]

Digital or film is a persoanl decision...however, have been overseas three times since 9/11, most recently this January and as long as your film is in your carry on and NOT in checked luggage there is no problem. Have taken in excess of 100 rolls overseas since then and haven't had one of them ruined. Ammended to say as long it is 800 speed or less...and very few folks use 1200 film!

[Kristine]

I took my digital camera with me on my trip and i had no problem with it. It all depends on what you want to do. My friend ended up taking her camera and film and that also worked fine as well. If you take your digital camera on the trip i would reccomend for you to have it insured. but if taken just keep a good hold of it! have a great trip

[Gemelli]

Personally, I would bring your digital camera & use a regular or disposable cameras also. A year and a half ago, my dad and I went across the pond with a digital camera, got back home to find that ALL of the pictures had somehow been erased. Luckily, I never did trust my dad's el cheapo digital, so I bought & used disposables the whole time we were there. Lets just say that my photo album turned out to be ALOT bigger than my dad's. But yeah, i'd take at least a few rolls with a regular cam just in case. I'm glad I did.

[Eagle]

A few comments to your Post......
Digital and Film Cameras both present unique characteristics while travelling. You may want to read my previous Post in the "Tips & Advice" section ("What Kind of Camera") for a list of some of the pros & cons of each type of Camera.
To answer some of your specific questions:

> The possibility of theft exists with either a film or digital Camera. If you have it with you in a Daypack or whatever, it should be reasonably safe. If you're concerned, insurance might be advisable so that you don't have to worry about losing an expensive Camera.

> If you do decide to take Film on your trip, DO NOT place it in checked luggage, as the new scanners are extremely powerful and may ruin it! Film should be in carry-on luggage only! Disposable Cameras are quite bulky, not the type of thing I would want to pack around for the whole trip.

> As far as saving digital pictures onto DVD, this might be problematic and time consuming in some areas unless you're packing a DVD Burner such as the Apacer Disk Steno. If you burn DVD's as you go, you could mail them home and therefore there's no risk of losing pictures. To be really safe, you could burn two copies of each DVD, keeping one with you and mailing the other home. Other options would be a Portable Hard Drive (such as the Image Tank or Flashtrax units) or a Laptop. You will have to decide which option appeals most to you?
One other concern when travelling with Digital is the number of memory cards to carry. This depends a lot on individual needs and photo style. If only a few lower resolution pictures are taken each day, then a couple of large memory cards might last for a trip (depends on Camera and resolution selected by the user). However, if lots of higher resolution pictures are taken, then some method of storing these must be found. Transferring photos to a portable storage device each day is one option.

Not sure where you're located, so don't know which products would be available to you?

I'm sure either type of Camera would be suitable for your trip. You will have to decide which type you are most comfortable with. You didn't indicate whether you presently have a film Camera? Be sure to be thoroughly familiar with operation of the Camera before you leave!

As a point of interest, I hope to go to Europe later this year, and will be taking both a small P & S Pentax Film Camera, and a Canon Digital Camera (both very compact and easy to carry).

Hope these few comments will answer some of your questions. Happy travels!!!

[WillTravel]

Insurance is an excellent idea, but keep in mind two things:

1. The deductible. This might be close to the camera value.
2. Provisions about loss of the camera through negligence (read your policy carefully)

If your camera is deftly lifted from your backpack without you noticing, I think it might be very hard to collect on the insurance. But ask your agent.

[vtgal]

thanks- i'm still deciding, but leaning toward digital with a backup disposable.

i don't have a film camera as of now, and i'm more comfortable with the digital anyhow.

one other problem though- batteries. it would be too bulky to take the rechargeable batteries plus the recharger plus its cord, PLUS an adapter plug. i'm stuck with AAs i guess...

anyone know what kind of CD i need to brind to be able to save my pics onto as i travel? I have a 512MB photo memory, so space is not a problem.

thanks again for all your input!

[Eagle]

A few comments on your last Post.

You didn't specify the type of batteries you're using in your A-70, however I believe it would be a lot better to travel with the rechargeable batteries. In most cases, alkaline "AA" batteries do not last long when used in digital Cameras. Some users have reported as few as 15-20 photos before they got a "low battery" warning. Alkalines are good for "emergency" use, but not a good idea to use these as your primary power source!

I've seen some very compact chargers that take four "AA" NiMH batteries at a time, and are capable of use at 100-240 VAC. The only other item needed would be plug adapters for the countries you will be visiting. No cables or other peripheral stuff is needed, so this is very compact and very light to travel with. I just bought a unit of this type at Radio Shack (along with four 2100 mAH batteries) for my Son, as he is going to England next month.

I don't "burn" CD's at this time, so can't give you much advice on that point. However, I've seen CD-R/W's being sold in many stores, so you shouldn't have any trouble finding them. I will probably travel with a PHD on my next trip, as I don't want to pack a bunch of "blank" CD's along.

Hope these few comments will be of help. Cheers!!!

[Keli]

I have a Canon A70 and I took it with me last year. It was a small time frame (10days) but I liked it. When I took my 35 mm in 2002 for 6 wks it really bugged me that I could not see my pictures until I got home since i was not about to pay the charges to develope it. So I really enjoyed being able to see what I took. I could then get rid of any bad pictures too. I did not save any of my pictures to disks, just left them on my Compact Flash card. I had no problem with any getting deleted. My batteries usually lasted my about 1-2 days. I did take the lithium photo batteries, not rechargables. Did not want to deal with that. I will admit it almost got stolen. But that could happen with any camera. I thought the kid looked shady when I walked past him but did not think he would go after my pack. As long as you are alert and go with your gut feelings your camera will be safe.

[jennifer]

I think it's a hard decision, I love the mystery, but I also love to make sure my pictures are nice! I think it depends, havng both is also fun, you can put a roll of black and white in the 35 mm and then take pictures with your digital, it gives you 2 options!

[Keli]

One thing to remember is that with the digital you can print the pictures in black and white. I do that with lots of mine. So I have it in color and B&W.

[Diego Zenizo]

The tip about the battery charger is very important. You may end up having to buy a different charger for each country!!!
As for the CD/DVDs, don't worry. Most of the photo developers also print photos from digital files, and they can even produce a CD or DVD either from the memory cards or from the camera itself (it may be safer to carry your original camera cable, sometimes bands use a standard USB connector on the PC side, but a propietrary one on the camera. Since this will be a data DVD, don't worry about "region codes". Just to be safe, it is a good idea to carry a portable 31/2" hard disk with a multivoltage mutliplug adapter, and ask the developer to upload the files to your hard disk at the same time he creates the CD or DVD. Almost every mail order or chains like BestBuy sell this tipe of drives

[kena]

I travelled in Italy for three weeks with the Canon A30 (your camera's granddad) and it worked fine.

It took about 300 1-MegaPixel pictures on a 256 Mb memory card, and it was more than enough. I'm not a good photographer, so I really appreciated the possibility of taking a lot of pictures of a scene and deleting right away the bad ones.

Burning a cd might be a bit of a hassle though. I haven't seen any places who did this in Italy in touristy places. They must exist, but you'd probably have to go to specialized photo shops rather than general internet coffee shops. I wouldn't plan on doing this more than every few weeks (but with a 512 Mb, it should be easy to do)

I really advise experimenting with your camera before you leave. I wish I had gone to churches in my town and played with the settings, because once in Europe, I never managed to get a decent indoor church picture.