Please help w/digital camera logistics....

[SnoWhiteRabbit]

Hi all,
I have been a 35 mm photographer since I was 16...and I recently got my first digital camera - Nikon Coolpix 3500. I am enjoying using the camera, but I have questions about the logistics of using a digital at WDW.

I have 2 batteries. I plan to charge both of them each night and bring both with me to the parks each day.

I have one memory card - 256 mb. And, I don't have access to a lap top. That's where all my questions come in....

Should I get another memory card before the trip?
What does it cost to transfer images to a CD in the parks?
How many pictures will a CD hold?

I have three small kids, I scrapbook, and I love photography --- that said, I take TONS of photos. Any advice on the best way to store the photos until I get home is appreciated. That's the part I'm trying to wrap my brain around....

Thanks!

 

[oogieboogie]

1. Get 2 more batteries.

2. A CD can hold 650 - 700 mb of data.

 

[helenabear]

I have a laptop that I bring with me for that reason you say about the space. Here's some info about transfering pictures Link It's very expensive considering.

I would buy more memory if I were you, borrow a laptop or get some sort of portable storage device like this

I just went to WDW for a long weekend (about 2.5-3 days in the parks) and I took 946 pictures. I went through my 3 128s and my 256 in that time, so you would need a lot of memory for a long trip if you take a lot of pictures

 

[VancouverFoppa]

I usually bring a digital wallet. I find that I shoot at about 100MB worth of photos a day.

http://www.steves-digicams.com/digital_wallet.html

 

[terrygl]

Originally posted by SnoWhiteRabbit
Hi all,
I have been a 35 mm photographer since I was 16...and I recently got my first digital camera - Nikon Coolpix 3500. I am enjoying using the camera, but I have questions about the logistics of using a digital at WDW.

I have 2 batteries. I plan to charge both of them each night and bring both with me to the parks each day.

I have one memory card - 256 mb. And, I don't have access to a lap top. That's where all my questions come in....

Should I get another memory card before the trip?
What does it cost to transfer images to a CD in the parks?
How many pictures will a CD hold?

I have three small kids, I scrapbook, and I love photography --- that said, I take TONS of photos. Any advice on the best way to store the photos until I get home is appreciated. That's the part I'm trying to wrap my brain around....

Thanks!

We carried a laptop and also battery recharger on our March trip.

 

[mansionfan]

Sounds like you are an avid photographer. I would invest in getting an additional memory card, or two, so that you can capture all the magic without worrying!!! Transferring to CD at the park is expensive. Have fun!

 

[Serenity]

I would definitely buy another memory chip. We used (2) 256 MB and (1) 128 on our last trip. We always take lots of phots.

 

[HollyJoy]

Is there someone you could borrow a laptop from or even rent one? If there's any way of doing either of these, I'd do that instead of trying to have your pictures taken off your memory stick at the parks... just easier, and cheaper. If you aren't able to do this, then definatley buy another memory card..a big one! You can always go through your photos in the evening, deleting any that didn't come out. As for batteries, well I don't know how your battery life is on your camera, but ours stinks! I think we're going to try to buy another one and bring it with us. Of course we'll bring our charger too, but we'd be up a creek if the battery ran out in the park. Another way, with digital, to minimize your battery use is to not use you LCD screen. That just sucks the life right out of your battery!

 

[disneyfan551]

A few weeks ago, I took 2-256mb sd cards, and one of them crashed in the middle of MGM. So, I had to start visiting Walgreens to download to cd, for $3.99.

We have decided that we won't buy the bigger cards anymore, but just buy several smaller ones. And, even though they are cheaper overall, the bigger that you get, I will just wait until I catch a deal on ecost.com. They have had the best prices I could find anywhere!

Now, if a Costco were anywhere remotely near me, I would buy from them. Their return policies are the BEST, and now I'm a little leery re: bad sd cards...

 

[Ratpack]

A CD will hold roughly 400-600 prints depending on the size of your pictures. I do not have a laptop either so I had to go with more memory. I have the Sony cybershot that uses memory sticks and I have 8 128MB sticks for a total of 1GB of storage. That will hold 408 photos at high quality (5MP) or 650 at 8x10 quality (3.2MP). I always review them at night once we are back in our room, just plug the camera into the resort TV and delete the unwanted ones as we go through them. And as for memory, I personally like having small cards and more of them. That way if something was to happen to the card, then the amount of photos lost is minimal. I also have three sets of batteries for the camera. One set will usually last a full day for me. Then I recharge them once I get two sets drained and working on the third set (charger holds two sets). The good thing about the Sony is the batteries are the standard AA size, so if I happen to lose charge, all I have to do is run into a shop and pick up some AA's and I am off and running again. They just don't last AS long as the rechargable ones.

 

[bunnyfoo]

Originally posted by disneyfan551
A few weeks ago, I took 2-256mb sd cards, and one of them crashed in the middle of MGM. So, I had to start visiting Walgreens to download to cd, for $3.99.

We have decided that we won't buy the bigger cards anymore, but just buy several smaller ones. And, even though they are cheaper overall, the bigger that you get, I will just wait until I catch a deal on ecost.com. They have had the best prices I could find anywhere!

Now, if a Costco were anywhere remotely near me, I would buy from them. Their return policies are the BEST, and now I'm a little leery re: bad sd cards...

Yikes! I didn't know the memory cards could crash Were you able to recover your pictures? Or was the memory card just toast after that?

 

[disneyfan551]

I have tried at 2 machines to read the card, and so far no luck. It says it doesn't find any files. And, when I put it in the camera, it says, "No card".

I did freak out! Except that I was worried it was my new $400 camera first, so I thought that losing the $60 card was a better loss!

One word of warning....Since I bought my last sd card, I found out that the Sandisk cards have a bad reputation for crashing. I had read that on several review boards, and guess what? It was my Sandisk card that crashed! (and this was a card that had maybe been downloaded twice... )

 

[krissy3483]

Ok I have a couple pieces of advice, the first of which I dont believe has been mentioned here yet. I'm not totally sure how your camera works (bf has a coolpix but I haven't played around with it that much) but I have a Kodak Easyshare 6340, and you can turn down the picture quality. The best setting which for me is 3.1 megapixels is intended for printing 11x14 pictures. Theres another setting below this one intended for taking pictures to print on the Easyshare printer dock, and then there is the third setting. It only uses 2.1MP but if you only plan on using 8X10s you can get a lot of extra pictures this way. You can also keep switching back and forth so your good pictures can still come out great. Anyway my point here is that the best settings will only let you put about 260 pictures on a 256MP card, but if you change it a little, you can fit about 390 pictures.
That said, I would definitely bring another card with you in case you fill up the first one. And as long as you bring both batteries with you, it should be fine. My boyfriend's coolpix lasted ten hours at MK (and about 150 pictures) and just started to die when we were leaving.

 

[Mattsmom]

If you own an ipod this would be another option for downloading your pictures. Belkin

 

[caribbeanme]

Thank you soo much Mattsmom..I actually was thinking of taking my ipod (and extra set of headphones) to share with my sister during particularly long waits. Now I have another reason to take it..

 

[DaveH]

I happen to have a DigitalWallet, unfortanately they are out of business. I would buy extra memory. I have an older Casio 3MP camera. It eats the batteries, my DW just got a Cannon Powershot and hers last alot longer. Our cameras use AA batteries. I have 3 sets for each camera and a charger for each. One charger the older one recharges in an hour and the new one in 30 mins. Depending on the lifespan of your batteries I would get one more battery. I use up one set and good part of the second in a day at WDW. If downloading to a CD is your best option I would suggest off property. Disney is extremely expensive in my opinion. Costco has cards at a good price. I would also check ads for Best Buy and Circuit City and other ads for sales on the cards. The laptop ideas sound good to me also. I do not know where I could rent one and borrowing one is not an option for me. I know I am long winded, but I hope this helps.