Travelling Experience with a D70 (Winter in Germany)
Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2005 11:43 pmHi! All,
I thought I would post my recent experience(s) in spending Xmass in Germany with a D70. Absolutely no problems with airlines or customs, x-ray machines etc. My kit consisted of a backpack (Crumpler Formal Lounge) with D70,kit lens, 70-300 lens, SB800 and PD7X harddrive plus spare battery and 4 x CF cards [2 x 512Mb & 2 x 256Mb], together with "old faithfull" Canon G2 as back up.
I only had two main problems, first, I left behind the mains power adaptor and could not in my first two weeks of travels find a replacement. I bought a replacement local power cord that fitted the D70 battery charger (phew!). However, using 4 x AA heavy duty batteries in place of rechargeables for the PD7X failed to convince it to copy the CF cards.
With no other option because of the remote locations I was going to I bought a local portable harddrive (mains powered as I suspected that the cold affected store bought batteries).
The second problem I had was the light, or, the lack of it. As it was my first time over there I was unprepared for the "dim" conditions. I spent many occasions wishing for a F2.8 VR lens!. The majority of my pics were taken at ISO 400 to 800 with very slow shutter speeds.
Camera equipment & accessories over there appeared to be generally 20% to 30% dearer than here in Aus, but then, with the exchange rate the way it is you go to look and experience not to buy.
At minus 6-12deg most times, no worries at all battery wise, after taking an average of 300 pics every two days 20-30 mins on the charger and all was well. I never needed to change over to the spare battery. Condensation was not a problem, I left the camera in the backpack when coming inside and let it warm up to room temperature before handling it. A foggy view finder occured occassionally from breathing to close.
On reflection, if I did such a trip again, I would not use a portable HDD, but, take a laptop with me. Being caught out in unfamiliar conditions I wanted to see how the pics were turning out rather than rely on the "indication" I was getting from the rear camera LCD screen. Also the ability to spend travelling and hotel time deleting, reviewing and arranging the days pics would have saved a lot of time when home again. This would also give a daily result of the standard of pics taken. If I had had a laptop twice I would have gone back the next day and re-taken some pics.
In closing, NEVER leave your backpack/kit unattended, I did in a restaurant, thought it was safe behind the coates on the rack, the waitress kept bumping into it and moved it behind the counter for safe keeping. Its a heck of a way to sober up after 2 litres of Bavarias finest to see your D70 missing, as I got up the look on my face must have said it all, the waitress rushed over to see what was wrong, I said I was going to kill the swine who took my backpack, lucky for me she spoke english and quickly retrieved the backpack to show all was well!! (It took a schnapps and another two litres to get back to where I was!)
I did not realize how deep "bonding" had gone with "Deefer70".
Sitting here now editing my pics, I realise what a terrific camera the D70 is, the creative control and the ability to change settings so quickly to meet new conditions shows in the end result.
Happy Travelling, Andyt
I thought I would post my recent experience(s) in spending Xmass in Germany with a D70. Absolutely no problems with airlines or customs, x-ray machines etc. My kit consisted of a backpack (Crumpler Formal Lounge) with D70,kit lens, 70-300 lens, SB800 and PD7X harddrive plus spare battery and 4 x CF cards [2 x 512Mb & 2 x 256Mb], together with "old faithfull" Canon G2 as back up.
I only had two main problems, first, I left behind the mains power adaptor and could not in my first two weeks of travels find a replacement. I bought a replacement local power cord that fitted the D70 battery charger (phew!). However, using 4 x AA heavy duty batteries in place of rechargeables for the PD7X failed to convince it to copy the CF cards.
With no other option because of the remote locations I was going to I bought a local portable harddrive (mains powered as I suspected that the cold affected store bought batteries).
The second problem I had was the light, or, the lack of it. As it was my first time over there I was unprepared for the "dim" conditions. I spent many occasions wishing for a F2.8 VR lens!. The majority of my pics were taken at ISO 400 to 800 with very slow shutter speeds.
Camera equipment & accessories over there appeared to be generally 20% to 30% dearer than here in Aus, but then, with the exchange rate the way it is you go to look and experience not to buy.
At minus 6-12deg most times, no worries at all battery wise, after taking an average of 300 pics every two days 20-30 mins on the charger and all was well. I never needed to change over to the spare battery. Condensation was not a problem, I left the camera in the backpack when coming inside and let it warm up to room temperature before handling it. A foggy view finder occured occassionally from breathing to close.
On reflection, if I did such a trip again, I would not use a portable HDD, but, take a laptop with me. Being caught out in unfamiliar conditions I wanted to see how the pics were turning out rather than rely on the "indication" I was getting from the rear camera LCD screen. Also the ability to spend travelling and hotel time deleting, reviewing and arranging the days pics would have saved a lot of time when home again. This would also give a daily result of the standard of pics taken. If I had had a laptop twice I would have gone back the next day and re-taken some pics.
In closing, NEVER leave your backpack/kit unattended, I did in a restaurant, thought it was safe behind the coates on the rack, the waitress kept bumping into it and moved it behind the counter for safe keeping. Its a heck of a way to sober up after 2 litres of Bavarias finest to see your D70 missing, as I got up the look on my face must have said it all, the waitress rushed over to see what was wrong, I said I was going to kill the swine who took my backpack, lucky for me she spoke english and quickly retrieved the backpack to show all was well!! (It took a schnapps and another two litres to get back to where I was!)
I did not realize how deep "bonding" had gone with "Deefer70".
Sitting here now editing my pics, I realise what a terrific camera the D70 is, the creative control and the ability to change settings so quickly to meet new conditions shows in the end result.
Happy Travelling, Andyt
