Hello,
I'm leaving on a trip to Nepal in 4 months and I've started planning/ acquiring the equipment I'm going to take.
My wife and I are going to tour the Langtang region (including Gosiakund lake).
From searching the net on power sources in this regionI haven't come up with a clear answer. Some say that you can find guest houses with enough AC power every other day, while others claim the power is not enough to charge batteries.
This has led me to search for chargers based on Solar energy.
Since I'm planning on taking the Digital Camera Battery 40W battery plus at least 5 more BP511 battery packs (I have the Canon 10D), and since I can charge the Canon batteries with the Digital Camera Battery, I was thinking of getting the DCB Solar 10w charger flexible roll blanket.
Has anyone used this item ? How does it perform ? How big / heavy is it ?
Your thoughts are much appreciated,
Thanks.
Rahaf
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The 10D gets 500-650 shots per charged battery. Five batteries means 2,500 - 3,250 shots between opportunities to charge. That's the equivalent of 70 - 90 rolls of 36 exp. film
Even at 2,500 shots and a week in between charges you could budget 357 shots per day.
How much shooting do you thing you'll do?
My experience along the trail is that one shoots far less than when in cities/towns/villages. It's usually a fair hike from one worthwhile shot to the next unlike shooting in the village market where choosing which shot to take first is more often the problem.
While trekking I find that my normal rate of shooting (~150 frames per day with a lot of bracketing) drops to more like 40.
In addition, the area into which you're heading is a well developed one. You're likely to find lots of charging opportunities. Check on the India/Nepal branch of
www.lonelyplanet.com and see what the charging conditions are likely to be.
--
Solar? I live with it. This post is solar powered.
Except it's not. Clouds today so I'm on diesel backup. Panels have to be pointed to the sun and kept there for hours. You can't strap a solar panel on the top of your pack and gain any significant power.