this or next summer i plan to make a three week trip through the
amazon jungle. and... i would like to take my digital camera (canon
10d) along.
do you have any ideas if there is a way to recharge my batteries
along the way ? (in the jungle there won't be many power plugs...)
portable gas generator maybe ? (is there one small enough ?)
Let's see... Foot travel means carrying everything on your back.... Car battery? Ever carry one of those any distance? Generator would only work if it weighed in at 5 pounds or less, you will already be carrying an extra 10-20 pounds of photo gear (including tripod). Solar might be the only way to go, but charging will take all day, and you might not find a lot of sun actually making it to the forest floor. And don't forget how much each of those batteries you need weighs, before going and buying an extra 5 or 10 of them.
Now lets at film. A good medium format camera only needs a small battery for the light meter and to trip the shutter, you could easily go the entire trip with one battery. But if you don't have the equipment, then it is all for nothing. A good 35mm film camera could go the entire trip on a couple of sets of batteries, as long as you don't go mad with the motordrive. That's all great, but let's look at why film cameras may not be a good choice. Water. There tends to be a lot of that substance in places like where you are going, it's everywhere. Not a good thing for a camera that may not seal as tight as a digital. You also need to carry a bunch of film, and then get it back home to be developed. The weight of all the equipment is going to be similar, so there is no advantage here.
For things like what you are doing, digital seems to be the clear winner, with the exception of the batteries. If your camera can be used with AA batteries, you might consider Lithium AA cells, they are lighter weight than NiCad or NiMH and have a similar energy density, but you will still need a bunch of them. But if you can use AA cells, then you can also bring along a decent point n shoot for a back-up. Have to bring some kind of back-up camera, and it would be nice if it would take the same batteries, and same memory card. If you can use AA cells, then you also might have a beeter time recharging them with solar, since the have a little less energy in them, they will charge a little faster, maybe half a day for 4 of them.
In the end, you will probably just have to decide how much weight you can carry. And them start packing your things and try all of it on for some testing. For recharging options, you should talk to some of the stores that specialize in outfitting for far away trips. There may be some options that have not been discussed. Pick up a copy of magazines like National Geographic Explorer, and Backpacker, etc. to look through the ads, and start calling people asking for advice.
