Travelling through Indonesia - 35gb for 35 days?

[TristanCardew]

Hey guys,

In two weeks i'm leaving to travel through Indonesia for 35 days. I've currently got 27gb of compact flash cards, but will most probably buy another 8gb card to make it 35gb all up for the trip.

I'm a bit heavy on the old trigger finger (but hope to learn not to be), and would love to hear peoples opinions on whether or not this will be enough storage. 1gb per day? It seems like it may be enough, but while in Europe I did use 27gb in 18 days...

...2gb of which was taken during a 5 minute paragliding ride...

I'll probably end up culling lots at the end of each day, but hey, quality not quantity right?

I'm shooting raw only for those interested.

Thoughts?

Cheers.

[Jon]

I've found that I average around 100 or so frames a day while traveling. I don't know how big the files from either of your Nikons are, so I can't really relate 100 frames to GB space; on my 1D3 or 5D, I'd need at least 2 GB per day at that rate. I'd also hold off culling anything other than the most glaringly obvious bad shots unless you have a laptop to view them on (in which case the capacity question becomes moot, since you can always back up some or all your photos to the laptop HDD).

[tvphotog]

For my money, I'd get a Hyperdrive and back up things on it. You'll have a backup and won't have to worry that you may not have enough memory cands.

[hanzers]

dont forget to visit bali and lombok ;)

[czeglin]

I would not consider 1GB/day enough for a day trip inside my country, let alone going abroad. I've found time and time again I always regret deleting pictures based on the LCD preview, even when I zoom in to inspect details.

Look into a cheap netbook or a hyperdrive if you can afford it. If not, I would buy as many memory cards as your budget allows.

[Wilt]

Like Jon, I average about 100 shots per day while on holiday (when photography was ancillary to taking a vacation and playing tourist) Something to consider is how YOU shoot...RAW, or JPG out of the camera? and what that file size happens to average.

[ed rader]

Hey guys,

In two weeks i'm leaving to travel through Indonesia for 35 days. I've currently got 27gb of compact flash cards, but will most probably buy another 8gb card to make it 35gb all up for the trip.

I'm a bit heavy on the old trigger finger (but hope to learn not to be), and would love to hear peoples opinions on whether or not this will be enough storage. 1gb per day? It seems like it may be enough, but while in Europe I did use 27gb in 18 days...

...2gb of which was taken during a 5 minute paragliding ride...

I'll probably end up culling lots at the end of each day, but hey, quality not quantity right?

I'm shooting raw only for those interested.

Thoughts?

Cheers.


raw with which camera? you know it does make a difference.

in 10 days in africa i shot 56 gigs of raw files with a 10 mp camera. we're going to alaska later this year for a slightly shorter trip and i'm taking 56 gigs plus a netbook and HD for back ups and i'm wondering if i have enough memory....because while i still have the 10 mp camera my main camera is 21 mp.

so....depends on the camera, depends on the person and depends on what you are shooting. i do know in your situation i'd have at least 100 gb and at least one device to store files....and another camera body :D.

ed rader

[ed rader]

For my money, I'd get a Hyperdrive and back up things on it. You'll have a backup and won't have to worry that you may not have enough memory cands.


so if he runs out of cards -- and my guess is he will -- and has files stored only on the hyperdrive would you say the files are backed up?

ed rader

[Wilt]

so if he runs out of cards -- and my guess is he will -- and has files stored only on the hyperdrive would you say the files are backed up?

ed rader

Netbook with 160GB drive, supplemented with one of the tiny USB external harddrives = true backup (data in two different places)

[condyk]

You don't need much memory if you have a back up ... I agree with Wilt as to the solution.

As to having a heavy trigger finger maybe look at how many keepers you get. That is what counts. The less time you have your eye at the viewfinder the more time and attention you can take to find an interesting shot. Personally I would manage on 35gb but I'd have a backup too.

[Yohan Pamudji]

I shot a little over 1GB/day during a 3-week trip there with a 5D. 5D RAW files are about, what, 12-15MB apiece? All in all I think I was pretty conservative on the trigger too, so I'd vote for more storage if you have a twitchy trigger finger.

[TristanCardew]

Cheers for all the responses guys. :)

I've found that I average around 100 or so frames a day while traveling. I don't know how big the files from either of your Nikons are, so I can't really relate 100 frames to GB space; on my 1D3 or 5D, I'd need at least 2 GB per day at that rate. I'd also hold off culling anything other than the most glaringly obvious bad shots unless you have a laptop to view them on (in which case the capacity question becomes moot, since you can always back up some or all your photos to the laptop HDD).

I'm guessing the raw files from the D300 (the one body i'm taking) are roughly the same size as the 1d3 or 5D, seeing as they're roughly the same MP size. Each file is between 18 and 20MB. If 100 frames is 2gb, well, 1gb per day is definitely not going to cut it...

Unfortunately I won't be taking a laptop, so that rules out that idea too. :(

Thanks for your input Jon!

For my money, I'd get a Hyperdrive and back up things on it. You'll have a backup and won't have to worry that you may not have enough memory cands.

I've had a look at Hyperdrives, but in Australia they're a little more than i'd want to spend. I forgot to mention the fact i'm on a bit of a budget before leaving. Although, perhaps if I can scrape the money together (or find one cheaper off ebay) i'll pick one up.

dont forget to visit bali and lombok ;)

It's funny you mention Lombok actually, i've been doing quite a bit of reading lately and will most definitely be heading there. I've planned 7 of the 35 days to be spent in Lombok...but might extend that out if I truly love it. :D

I would not consider 1GB/day enough for a day trip inside my country, let alone going abroad. I've found time and time again I always regret deleting pictures based on the LCD preview, even when I zoom in to inspect details.

Look into a cheap netbook or a hyperdrive if you can afford it. If not, I would buy as many memory cards as your budget allows.

At the moment the budget can't quite extend to a Hyperdrive, but I have some friends willing to donate CF cards, so i'll see how many I can scrape together, as well as buy within budget, and hopefully that'll be enough! I do agree after thinking about it a little longer...1gb per day definitely isn't enough.

Like Jon, I average about 100 shots per day while on holiday (when photography was ancillary to taking a vacation and playing tourist) Something to consider is how YOU shoot...RAW, or JPG out of the camera? and what that file size happens to average.

As mentioned above, most raw files from the D300 are usually between 18 and 20MB, meaning i'm definitely going to be needing more than 1gb per day.

raw with which camera? you know it does make a difference.

in 10 days in africa i shot 56 gigs of raw files with a 10 mp camera. we're going to alaska later this year for a slightly shorter trip and i'm taking 56 gigs plus a netbook and HD for back ups and i'm wondering if i have enough memory....because while i still have the 10 mp camera my main camera is 21 mp.

so....depends on the camera, depends on the person and depends on what you are shooting. i do know in your situation i'd have at least 100 gb and at least one device to store files....and another camera body :D.

ed rader

Hey Ed, thanks for the input. When I said I was heavy on the trigger, I didn't quite mean as heavy as you...56gb in 10 days is quite a bit! I'll be shooting solely with the 12MP D300, but unfortunately can't quite afford 100 gigs of cards + a storage device...i'll do my best to get there though...;)

I'm now thinking (or hoping), perhaps 51gb (adding another 8gb card + another 16gb card) will be enough.

You don't need much memory if you have a back up ... I agree with Wilt as to the solution.

As to having a heavy trigger finger maybe look at how many keepers you get. That is what counts. The less time you have your eye at the viewfinder the more time and attention you can take to find an interesting shot. Personally I would manage on 35gb but I'd have a backup too.

I know what you mean about keepers, and perhaps my lack-of, but I just find it so hard not to take lots of shots, of everything! However, as I said in the first post, quality not quantity, right?

I shot a little over 1GB/day during a 3-week trip there with a 5D. 5D RAW files are about, what, 12-15MB apiece? All in all I think I was pretty conservative on the trigger too, so I'd vote for more storage if you have a twitchy trigger finger.

I think Ed Rader takes the cake for twitchiest trigger finger, however I think (now, after posting this thread) that i'll definitely pick up another 24gb of CF cards (or more if the budget allow) to make sure I have it all covered.

If worst comes to worst hopefully i'll be able to buy cards over there...

Thanks again for all the help guys. :)

[safarino]

Yogyakarta is a must to visit :D
a lot of local culture activities here

[yabbie]

Why don't you get 2 x 100gb portable hard drives for backup? Not the fancy photo backup devices, just the drives and casings that need a computer to work. This should cost less than your purchase of the 8 + 16gb of CF cards.

There are lots of internet cafes in Indo, you can always backup via one of these computers to your portable hard drives, and skip the extra cost of portable drives such as the Hyperdrives and Epsons. This would probably be cheaper for you than purchasing a few extra CF cards too - with so many cards, you can do without a computer for a while.

However, with just the cards, you don't have 2 copies of your pics, which leaves you open to losing them if you get robbed. If you have 2 drives, you can store each in a different location - one in room, one with you in a day pack, so if there's a problem, only one copy will be lost - or if a hard drive fails, same thing. I've had a bag stolen on the last day of a big trip once, all film gone. Don't let that happen to you!

Just for reference, I took 40G of pics on a recent 5 week Nepal trip where we were trekking for 3 weeks (ie, not taking loads of pics) using a 5D I taking raw pics. And 30G in Bali over 2 weeks, same camera etc. I'm about to find out with a 5D II and Malaysia for 2 weeks.....

[jgrussell]

I think Ed Rader takes the cake for twitchiest trigger finger, however I think (now, after posting this thread) that i'll definitely pick up another 24gb of CF cards (or more if the budget allow) to make sure I have it all covered. I shot more than 6500 images (mostly Xsi RAW) plus video (S5) in Africa last year -- a total of 103.73Gb. I wouldn't consider a Gb per day even CLOSE to being enough. Bottom line: if I may never pass that way again, I'm gonna lean on the shutter big time. I'd get at least a Hyperdrive, better yet a Hyperdrive and a second backup device.

[argentum]

If you go to Big Cities like Jakarta, Bandung, Yogjakarta, Surabaya, Bali, fear nothing about memory card, since you can buy it directly in the mall, the price si good, and i'm sure that it's cheaper in Indonesia than in Sydney.

[Yohan Pamudji]

If you go to Big Cities like Jakarta, Bandung, Yogjakarta, Surabaya, Bali, fear nothing about memory card, since you can buy it directly in the mall, the price si good, and i'm sure that it's cheaper in Indonesia than in Sydney.

Tiny correction: Bali is an island, not a city :)

True that you can buy memory cards in the bigger cities, but I'd rather bring some that I know aren't knock-offs. Indonesia isn't squeamish about software piracy, imitation goods, etc., so be careful where you shop.

I think the PSD (Portable Storage Device) suggestion is a good one. When I went I brought one and a laptop to backup photos to, even though I had enough memory card storage space to not have to delete and reuse cards. But some would say I'm too paranoid :D In any case PSDs aren't a bad idea, and if you go that route to be able to wipe and reuse cards then consider bringing 2 so you have a real backup.

[Moody Blues]

I spent 2.5 weeks traveling Indo shooting surf and fishing for mags. I pondered this same thing for a while and finally broke down and bought a Macbook pro. Problem solved and also kept me sane on the trip by soaking up some time editing and cataloging photos.

In 2.5 weeks, i shot over 8000 frames

[TristanCardew]

I spent 2.5 weeks traveling Indo shooting surf and fishing for mags. I pondered this same thing for a while and finally broke down and bought a Macbook pro. Problem solved and also kept me sane on the trip by soaking up some time editing and cataloging photos.

In 2.5 weeks, i shot over 8000 frames

How'd you find it having a laptop over there, with the constant threat of safety, etc? The only reason I don't want to take my MacBook Pro is for the fact i'm concerned it'll get pinched...

I won't be staying in decent accomodation, which is why i'm hesitant. The other reason is I don't want to get sucked into always having a laptop there at my disposal...I want to be out and about seeing things. I went to Europe last year and it was so easy to just come home and spend hours on the computer and waste time...

[unevendistortion]

get a netbook instead, the hp mini with charger weighs around 1.3 kgs and add a portable hard drive on top to get redundant copies.
you can slip it in your bag anytime.

a macbook pro will bog you down quite badly.. wondering why apple dont make any netbook.

[mahanee]

for 35 days in Indonesia??
i bet u`ll spend minimum 8GB/day :)

120GB data bank is the smartest solution for long journey to the place like Indonesia :)

[RPCrowe]

100 images a day is far-far fewer that I will shoot in a photogenic situation. However, it depends on what your priorities are. My daughter was totally happy to shoot an entire two weeks in Europe with an el-cheapo dibital camera she picked up at a supermarket checkout stand. It had no removable memory and could store only 128 pretty low quality images. I don't think that she even filled up that camera.

When I go to China for 15 days; I will take 24 GIG of CF cards (I shoot with a 30D and a 40D). I will also take a notebook computer and a small physical size but large capacity external hard drive.

I shoot RAW and also shoot a lot of Pano strings. I will most often shoot AEB (auto exposure bracketing). My Canon DSLR cameras make shooting AEB as easy as shooting single shots. Just select AEB on the menu, then select burst mode and the camera will fire a burst of three shots with exposure right on, and +1 and -1 stop. Most often my right on exposure is correct but, why take a chance with a once in a life-time (at least for me) trip? Additionally, I might want to composite the AEB images into a HDR image.

[sf_loft]

I travel around with a 10" netbook which has a 160mb HD. Download your pics every night and you'll only carry a few with you. My top of the line netbook is only $400 and it's a full computer compared to a portable drive where it costs $400 for $20g.

[tupper]

Just to let you guys know he got home safely.. haha

[harvey3]

I guess you have to bring another 35GB LOL!
You dont want to miss a good shots for not having enough storage, right?

Storage now these days are pretty cheap...

[tupper]

Storage now these days are pretty cheap...

External Harddrive Storage is pretty cheap.. but i still think CF cards are pricey..

[czeglin]

so if he runs out of cards -- and my guess is he will -- and has files stored only on the hyperdrive would you say the files are backed up?

ed rader
Good point--no! What I would do in that situation is only format cards once you've filled them all. Only format the 1 or 2 you'll use that day. That way you can at least have SOME of the photos backed up.

[Azzure_7]

Geez!
I think he should have been back by now and forget about this thread ALREADY! :)

[tupper]

Geez!
I think he should have been back by now and forget about this thread ALREADY! :)

He has dont worry.. :lol:

[Lowner]

A whole gigabite per day would be more than enough for me. On an average days shooting I will bring back at the most maybe 50 images. Even shooting MotoGP bikes non stop I have only once managed to fill 8 GB in 3 days. And that's shooting RAW.