Heading to India, debating on best way to store photos while on trip.
 

So I'm heading to India with coworkers in December and know I'll be taking a ton of pictures with my digital camera. I've got a 256 MB compact flash card and a 128 MB one. I know with how many pictures I'll be taking, that will not be enough space. So I've been debating what method I should use to store my photos while I'm on this 2 week trip.

The options I've been entertaining are:

1. Get an iPod and the photo adapter, download the pics every day
Pros: I finally get an iPod and all the bonuses having an iPod entails.
Cons: Pretty expensive. Possible compatibility issues of the camera connecting to the iPod. Will it be able to download movies created by the camera?

2. Buy another few CF cards.
Pros: Possibly cheaper.
Cons: Some of those cards are almost comparable to the cost of an iPod for less overall space. Having more CF cards to keep track off on the trip, like rolls of film.

3. Buy/borrow a cheap laptop and download to that.
Pros: It's a laptop. Entertainment options for the plane ride there. No download issues at all.
Cons: I've been cautioned against bringing a laptop to India, for security reasons. Also, lugging around a laptop will probably get tiresome.

So, those are the three options I've come up with. Is there a solution I'm not considering? Advice? Anyone try this before and have a preference?

I used multiple CF cards when I went to New Zealand. 1 and 2 gig cards are fairly reasonable. I brought 5G total and used a bit less than 4G over a 2½ week trip.

Wow. 4G worth of photos? How much did you pay for the cards?

I think you could use a 4GB micro drive. Circuit City sells these for 200 bucks.

That's the thing, for another hundred bucks, I can get 16 more GB, via an iPod.

i don't see why you wouldn't go with the ipod. go do a goole search for ipod photo forums i'm sure there's one out there then you can find out if your camera and video's will work

After some consideration, I'd say go with the iPod. One, you get an iPod, which is always cool. Two, it's a good cheap way to transfer your photos. One thing you'll need to keep in mind is that the iPod Photo (or at least from my friend's experience) hideously slow copying files off the camera. It took him 5 or so minutes to copy 20-ish high resolution pictures off the camera.

Still, it's the best of the options. Buying lots of memory cards for your camera would work, but then you wouldn't really have anything to do with them when you get back - unless you take a lot of trips. It's still an inconvenience, though. A laptop is a good solution, assuming that you have enough memory for "one day" of photos, and then download them all to the laptop each evening. The iPod wins in my mind, though.

If you'll have a laptop, buy a couple cards and transfer at the end of each day.
If no laptop, get an iPod. I'd still carry a couple cards for portability.

A 2G CF card lists for $110 at Newegg, 1G is half that.

Another thing to consider is recharging batteries. I used a 12v car adapter to charge mine, depending on your travel plans you may want a charger that works on local power instead.

Thanks for all the advice guys. I'm totally looking forward to the trip. We've got a full itinerary planned, and we're basically going to go all over India.

The storage method I finally decided on was to buy a 2 GB compact flash card for 100 bucks. I just couldn't bring myself to drop the 400+ dollars it was going to cost for the iPod plus all the accessories.

You could also concider the ability to make a CD at an internet café, they usually have both a CD/DVD burner and a CF-card reader.

Buy more CF cards. They're super cheap. You can get two gigs for $150, easily.... If you camera doesn't take very high resolution pictures, 2GB can hold a LOT.

I got my 2 GB card today in the mail. I popped it into my camera and here's the image count.

Superfine quality + 2272x1704 res = 999 images
Superfine quality + 1600x1200 res = 1938 images
Fine quality + 2272x1704 res = 1777 images
Fine quality + 1600x1200 res = 3367(!) images

I think I'm set on pictures. :D

If you get an iPod, you can jam out while waiting for the next photo op.

And post pics when ya get back.. heh.

What resolutions will you be taking your shots in? Will you be snapping video clips as well? If you can gain access to a PC, bring some blank CD-Rs. My last trip to Canada I brought my 20GB MP3 player and dubbed it as a portable hard drive. I had access to a (sister in law's) computer during my stay. I shot over 400MB of pics and video in less than 10 days.

I was gonna suggest the internet cafes. If you can find one, or anywhere else that has a place where you can copy your files off and burn them to cd/dvd, do it. Make two copies (in case one is damaged, lost, whatever), and you're good to go.

Just be careful when bringing them back. I had a friend do this on a Europe trip and his CD was in an external pocket of his suitcase; when he picked it up at the baggage carousel, the CD had been shattered into little pieces.