This question, is one of many questions that I am weighing in my mind when considering going to digital. In another post, I commented about a Pro with a digital on a battlefield asking the General to please stop one of his tanks so he could charge some batteries. Realistically, that wouldn't work as most tanks are 24V or better!
Rob Galbraith, a well known pro who I have immense respect for might have some insight on this. He's at:
http://www.robgalbraith.com/
The MAHA chargers have a 12V adapter that allows you to charge batteries in 1.5 hours in your car. These 12V adapters only work with AA size 7.2V NiMH batteries. What happens if your in the backcountry?
If one has access to power, at a hotel for instance, then a laptop is the solution. This laptop needn't be capable of playing "Quake" with a 500MB PIII. It would need to have at least Win95B and a USB or available parallel port. Sony makes a CD burner that runs off of USB or parallel. CDs are tough and will hold between 500MB and 600MB. X-ray equipment and other magnetic security equipment would have no effect whatsoever
PCMCIA of course will work as others have mentioned. You'll need, as I'm sure you and the rest of us understand, be ready to transfer the data to your desktop or server to do the final work on them. If the info is on a CD the storage space on the laptops hard drive never needs to be compromised. Another advantage of the CD burner, is that you can use it with your desktop to save or archive monstrous quantities of info in extremely cheap and reliable media. Make sure that the drivers for this external burner are compatible with the laptop your using. Most drivers are not tested with laptops.
I conclude, that the biggest problem here is batteries! I see only one solution, particularly if going into the backcountry. Batteries to equal the maximum image size anticipated plus maybe 10% to be safe.
There could be a potential market regarding this issue. I remember hand crank generators in the military used to power radios and whatever in the field. Batteries for digital cameras wouldn't need a hand crank setup as large and laborious as the military types. A small generator for charging batteries of this class could be a simple and extremely light foot operated charger that could leisurely be operated in camp at the end of a day while sipping a drink and talking to fellow camp companions.
Any engineers want to make some money? I feel an item such as described in the last paragraph would have an extremely viable market.
New Topic: How do you cope with digital cameras on vacation?
The film is free, if you download it. What do you take along to be able
to download it?
Are there different strategies for CompactFlash cards and SmartCards?
What are the vital accessories? Batteries and multivoltage chargers,
sure, but which models?
Vacationing minds want to know.
-iNova
