[font color=\'#000000\']In part 5 Michael writes:
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Since I'm primarily a medium format landscape and nature photographer this presents me with a quandary. When I get a 1Ds (and my order is already placed, with deposit), what do I do with my medium format gear? What do I take with me on a shoot from now on? Should I sell my MF equipment?
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I just came back from a trip to Europe. Took D60+lenses+microdrives, Fujitsu P2000-series notebook computer (3 lbs with internal CDRW and extended battery), Mindstore, CD-Rs, plus adaptors, cables, etc. Everything worked fine.
My point? All this stuff is a boat anchor unless there is a place for me to plug in for the night. Yes, I could pack a Digital Camera battery or six, and if you have a car you can charge one thing at once (or can you? Lithium Ion chargers draw more current than many auto inverters put out...), but power is a problem. It can be done, as Rob Galbraith's article on the 2001 Eco Challenge proves, but you need to be *really* prepared.
So maybe my answer to Michael's quandry is: if you know you are going to be doing much of your shooting near a place that you can plug in every 24 hours, maybe it is time to part with the MF equipment like you did with your wet printing lab. But if you go on shoots where 120/220V AC is far and few between (how about rafting in Grand Canyon?), maybe there is still good use for that MF gear....
Thanks for listening.
Cheers,
Charles
P.S. I can't find the link to this Cathy any more, but there was this wonderful one that goes like this:
Friend: "We used to lug a bag of photo equipment on our trips...but since we got our digital camera, it all fits in the palm of one hand!"
"All we had to take was out laptop to download the memory card onto ... zip drive to download the laptop onto ..."
"Cables ... cases .. connectors ... battery chargers ... manuals ... and TA DA!"
Cathy: "What exactly fits in the palm of one hand?"
Friend: "Tip for the bell captain. Also, the chiropractor's cell number."
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