Uploading Pictures

[erwin]

I'll be taking a digital camera to Europe and I'll only have a 256 XD memory card. I figure with high quality pictures I'll get at least 200 pictures taken. I'll be in Europe for 2 months so I don't think that will do even with deleting the bad ones. I want to be able to upload the pictures into a disk or e-mail them to me at least once. Does anybody know if there are places I would be able to hook up the USB cable and upload the pictures? Will photo places be able to do this for me and will they charge me an arm and a leg to do so?

Also I have a bunch of plug adapters for my battery charger. Do you know if the plugs are similar throughout western Europe or will I have to bring a different plug for England, Italy, Germany etc. You know what I mean.

Thanks.

[Kim]

You are probably better off finding a camera store that will upload them for you.

You could run into a few snags trying to do it yourself; voltage, the fact that the internet cafe owners do not like you hooking things up to their computers, the fact that you would have to load your camera software on a pc and the age of some of the computers (dinosaurs).

The plugs are different country to country. You also may need a voltage converter, if yours doesn't have dual voltage. These are so heavy and bulky you may want to consider just disposable batteries if this is the case.

Kim

[Eagle]

ERWIN, a few comments on your Post.......

First, regarding uploading your pictures while travelling. This has become an increasingly popular topic, due to the fact that many people are now gravitating towards Digital Cameras. Connecting your USB cable to a PC at an Internet Cafe might not be an option, as the "companion" software may have to loaded on the PC first. The manual for my S-50 states very strongly that the Camera is NOT to even be connected to the computer until the software is loaded (causes strange and undesirable things to happen). Most Cafe operators are very reluctant to allow other software to be loaded on their machines. There's also the time factor for transferring a lot of large images.

I would suggest you have a look at the "Storing Digital Images" section at www.adrianwarren.com as there's lots of good information on the topic. A few options to consider:
> buy more (and larger) XD cards, and transfer these when you get home.
> buy a Portable DVD Writer such as the Apacer Disk Steno, and "burn" as you go (some people suggest burning two copies, send one home and keep one with you).
> use a Portable Hard Disk such as the FlashTrax, Image Bank, Super DigiBin etc. and store your images there.
> take a compact Laptop with you (these have a high "worry factor" due to the possibility of theft).
> find a local photo store that is able to "burn" for you.

Regarding the Plug Adaptors, different formats are used in different countries:
> the UK uses a large plug with rectangular prongs (two or three, depending on whether it has a ground terminal).
> many countries in mainland Europe (Italy, Germany) use a plug with rounded pins (again, two or three).
The web site mentioned above should also have information on these.
ALSO, as mentioned in Post #1, you may need a voltage converter if the Charger(s) you are using are not designed for dual voltage operation. Check the nameplate data (usually on the back or bottom of the Charger).

Hope these few comments have answered some of your questions. Good luck with this and happy travels!!!

[Erwin]

Thanks for the great tips and those websites certainly helped a lot.

Erwin

[hyzenthlay]

This was my major concern. It seems to me that none of the available options are terribly good ones. You'd think that internet cafes would have card readers standard by now.

How about these portable card readers? They don't require any drivers making them completely plug and play.

[Eagle]

hyzenthlay,

How about these portable card readers? They don't require any drivers making them completely plug and play.

Portable Card Readers are probably a more realistic option to use than connecting your Camera to a PC at a net Cafe. As you've stated, most of the time these don't require Drivers, but AFAIK if the PC is using Windows '98, a Driver is still required. However some Net Cafe operators might still be a bit reluctant to allow any external connections to their machines (including Card Readers).

Storing images is a concern for most people who are travelling with digital Cameras these days (including myself). I was originally planning to buy a portable hard drive, but have been thinking lately that I might just travel with several large CF cards, and use photo shops or whatever to burn DVD's?

With the current popularity of digital Cameras, I'm sure it will become much easier to save / transfer images as time passes. Hopefully everyone here will post their experiences in this regard, as that will benefit all of us.

Happy travels!!!

[commie]

i dont think that you need to install some software or buy a card reader - almost every camera should be detected as some kind of "mass storage device" (win xp and win2000 should at least) if you just connect it via usb. i never installed any software for my camera, its not so hard to move all files from one directory to another

i reckon most internet cafes also have a card reader in very touristy places.

[thinkingbouteurope]

I am considering/planning a (first time) trip for 4/5 weeks Switzerland/Italy/Austria and wish to get the photographic complications out of the way early on.

I have 4 xD cards (2-256, 1-128) and a Radio Shack USB Dazzle xD/Smart Media card reader that does not require software installation (I beleive that the software is resident in XP ... though every machine I run into may not have XP) The card reader shows up as a drive in My Computer so I can upload from it.

I know I cannot use Google's online photo storage service in Europe. How about other US or European services that provide free storage in order to get the print business. Would such European services be accessible when I return home to the States.

Is it true that most hostels would have a Internet ready PC available to do such an upload? Hotels? Would Internet cafe owners be skittish even if there was no software installation involved?

Thank you for your time and any information you can provide.

[WillTravel]

I don't know if it's generally true most hostels would have such a convenient computer, but perhaps this has become much more commonplace in the last year or so.

[herrbert]

commie said:

i dont think that you need to install some software or buy a card reader - almost every camera should be detected as some kind of "mass storage device" (win xp and win2000 should at least)

That's true for cameras that were on the market before XP got released. I bought a camera, just after I got my computer with XP/home, and when I connected the camera it crashed completely. So if you have an new camera, it can be the case, that XP or 2000 can not handle this. Eventualy I needed to upgrade from XP/Home edition to XP Professional, and to download a couple of new drivers at Dell to get everything working. (I was lucky to have a colleague, that is a ICT specialist, that helped me, as I am completely lost, when something goes wrong with computers.)

The point is, what XP doesn't know that excists, it doesn't recognize.

[Eagle]

thinkingabouteurope, Welcome! A few comments to add to the others.

4 xD cards (2-256, 1-128)

What size/capacity is the fourth card? You've only listed three.

What type of Camera are you using? You might find it worthwhile to travel with memory cards having a larger capacity than the ones listed. Memory is fairly inexpensive these days, although the xD cards will probably be a bit higher price than some of the other formats.

In my experience, computers in Net Cafes use a variety of operating systems. Your Card Reader should operate with no problem with XP machines, however if you encounter a Win'98 computer, you might have a problem. The Card Reader should also work with MAC OS-X computers, but if it's connected to the older 68K machines it likely won't work at all (as I recall, most of these didn't even have USB ports, so it's not even possible to connect a lot of newer devices to them).

Some (but not all) of the Hostels I've stayed in have had PC's connected to the Net. One of the Hostels had only one coin-operated Computer, which wasn't really an option (the cost quickly adds up!). Net Cafes are usually available in most towns, and some will also burn photos onto DVD or whatever. One thing to be aware of though, the Keyboards will be different than what you're used to, and will vary a bit by country (I found the most "difficult" Keyboards were in France).

Using "photo services" as storage is not a realistic option IMHO. If one is uploading a lot of images (especially with larger file sizes), the time factor becomes an issue. I'd rather be touring and enjoying the scenery, rather than sitting in a Net Cafe for hours. Also, it's surprising how quickly expensive Internet time adds up, even just responding to E-mails.

IMHO your easiest option is to travel with several larger capacity memory cards, and have these burned to DVD when they become full. Photo shops often provide this service, so you wouldn't only have to rely on Net Cafes. Many people have two copies burned, sending one home and keeping the other with them (that way, there's a "backup" in case something happens to one of the copies.

Also, as Kim mentioned in an earlier Post, it's a good idea to check your Camera Charger, in order to determine if this will operate on the European electrical system. A Plug Adapter will likely be required in any case.

Hope that helps. Happy planning!!!

[thinkingbouteurope]

good morning ... thanks for your replies.

turns out I have 1-256 xD, 2-128 xD, 1-16 xD (that came with the camera, which is a Fujifilm S5200 5.1MP 10X optical zoom plus 640 x 480 movies with sound: 256 holds about 7m30s movie) This camera has so many settings it makes my head spin. I previously had a Fujifilm MX-2700 (an outstanding camera), which I used for 6 years at picnics, parties, conferences, US Open (got courtside shots of Martina N in 2003), baseball but the 2.5X zoom really limited me to be within 25-30 feet. Most of my shots were 640 X 480, rarely using higher res, larger file sizes but now ...

I'm leaning toward to purchasing 2-512 and 1-256, as 1-512 and 1-256 would fit perfectly onto one cd. I do need to check the settings to maximize # of pictures with highest resolution though I believe I will be taking more wider angle shots than I'm accustomed to.

The upside (or is it the downside) is that the 5200 operates on 4 AA batteries. As I haven't been using rechargeables, I'm leaning toward stocking up on Duracells for the next four months

I'm also considering trying to find an older (circa 2000) light laptop that I would use solely for uploading from the xD cards, but that would create something of a security problem

That's all folks ...

Thanks again for your time, comments and information.

[Eagle]

A few more comments, based on your last Post:

> Memory Cards - given the fact that Memory is so inexpensive these days, you might want to consider using Cards with larger capacity. You'll be travelling to some very historic locations and spending a lot of money to get there, so you might find that you take far more photos than anticipated. I couldn't tell from your Profile where you're located (ie: which Camera stores operate in your area?), but here's one example of current prices - www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4135250.

According to the Fuji website, the S5200 is capable of using Type M & H xD Cards, so you have the option of using larger capacities than 512MB (up to 2 GB, I believe). According to Fuji spec's, using max. (fine) resolution you should be able to fit about 412 images on a 1GB card, or 14.9 minutes of 640 x 480 video.

> Storage - some of the more "progressive" photo shops should be able to offer photo storage on DVD's (rather than CD's). The capacity of a SS/SL DVD is 4.7 GB, which should provide enough room for LOTS of photos!

> Checking the settings to maximise the number of pictures - again, given the cost of your trip and the fact that you might never return to some of the places you'll be visiting, IMHO one should always use the absolute BEST quality (even if it does result in larger file sizes).

> Batteries - using AA alkaline batteries is an expensive and inefficient way to power digital Cameras! Alkaline batteries have a different discharge curve than rechargeables, which often results in a "low battery" display even though the battery has lots of power remaining. Your best option is to buy a multi-voltage (travel) charger and eight NiMH batteries (with a capacityof 2300 maH or greater). These will undoubtedly be much more cost effective for travel! NiMH batteries tend to have a higher degree of "self discharge" than LiIon batteries, so have to be "topped up" before use if they've been sitting around for a few days. Of course, having a few alkaline or Lithium (disposable) AA batteries on hand for "emergencies" is a good idea also.

> Laptop - as you noted, this will likely be somewhat of a "security problem". Should the Laptop be stolen, you will lose all of your photos. Unless a Laptop is required for business or school purposes, travelling with these is generally a nuisance.

Hope this has been some help. Cheers!!!

[thinkingbouteurope]

eagle

JRs 2MB price is great. I've purchase electronics from them and delivery is 1-2 days. Would need 2 of these to fill up a DVD. I'm going to carry my card read and a few DVDs just in case... the cost of small storage devices are prohibitive ... could almost pay for my plane ticket!

I also go with the Best settings considering how far I'm travelling. Using the MX2700 and 32MB, maybe 128MB SmartMedia made resolution a tradeoff that I won't have to make with 2-2MB plus xd cards.

Rechargeable Batteries are a puzzle to me. In 1991, I bought HPs first palmtop computer (95LX) and one of first pieces of information was not to use rechargeables, because they had a sudden drop off in power that the power meter didn't pick up on so ... I've shied away from them in hi-tech situations. Plus the MX2700 had its own unique battery. Guess I'll buy and try some rechargealbles in the intervening months ... not a good idea to try out AFTER arriving in Europe.

Thanks and Good evening