Buying Canon 20D

[nama_rupa]

I am thinking of buying one of these before I go on a trip to berlin. Thing I need to ask since this is my first digital camera, what accessories do I need?

Do I need more than one battery? Do recharger and battery usually come with a camera purchase? For a recharger, will i need an adapter for the difference in their electric current in Europe? Is there a universal adapter for world travel?

What size memory card is recommended for a 2 week trip? I was thinking maybe get a 1GB. How many photos will fit on a card that size?

Also anyone use the Belkin Digital Camera Link for iPod w/ Dock Connector? I have a 30 gig iPod I am bringing and it would be great to use it to store photos while on my trip.

Anyone know what kind insurance protection covers gear like this while traveling? Will rental insurance cover this?

Whats the best way to travel and carry this gear?

Thats all I can think of right now but I am sure there is more that I am missing.

Thanks ahead for your comments.

[snappingturtle]

Hi,

Quite a lot of questions there! Well, I will answer the best I can.

As Canon's new frontline prosumer digital SLR, it should come with one battery and a charger, but no AC adapter cord. That is separate and quite expensive! I got mine for the 10D and it was well over $60. I would reccomend you get another battery for any trip away from indoors. In fact, even if you are not a serious photographer, I think you should always have more than one battery at all times.

I can't speak for outlet adapters, but I am sure they are out there. I never went to any other country except Canada back in 1993.

For memory storage, in a 2 week trip to another country, you will be tempted to shoot at anything. In that case, you will need a LOT of storage. Since the 20D is a 8.2 Megapixel camera, you will have to be serious. If willing, you can set the image quality to as low as possible and you can shoot more pictures but you may not be able to produce large quality prints. I would say set your image quality to small or else, get more storage. I don't think you can get away with 1GB shooting 8.2 megapixel sizes unless you can manage your way around like bring a laptop and get an adapter for it.

I can't speak for the iPod w/ Dock Connector since I don't have one.

I don't know insurance for equipment. I never tried one if there are any. But don't depend on the warranty, in fact, you might as well throw away the warranty. If you read the conditions on the back of every warranty card in detail, they would pretty much say that they won't cover any damages that would most likely happen.

As for bag, first know how much you expect to carry. A 20D body and a lens along with cards and batteries would not demand a big bag. Take a look at some bags out there some are designed for simple walk around with one camera. Others are for more serous photographers carrying multiple lenses and flash lamps. The two biggest camera bag brands are lowerpro and tamrac. I currently have a Tamrac, but I carry two cameras, three lenses and one flash, so it is pretty big.

http://www.lowepro.com/

http://www.tamrac.com/

At the same time, you can check out this popular article about the 20D. I am sure it would say more about the camera than I can.

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/canoneos20d/

Well, thats all I can say for now. Any other questions, feel free to ask.
Thats one of the things that Pbase is all about!

Hugh

[nama_rupa]

Thanks for taking the time to write that great response. Greatly appreciated.

[nama_rupa]

are extended warranties worth the money? They seem like they would be, at least the salemen made it sound good and necessary. Go figure.

Here is a link the the warranty description:

http://www2.butterflyphoto.com/shop/pro ... ku=DC5U1KB

[karifannar]

Hi, i just wanted to ad that about the electricity, at least in my case i was in the u.s and live in europe. so to charge my camera i needed to buy only the electric claw(the thing on the end of the cord sorry cant remember the name in english) since the charger takes both systems i am pretty shure 220 and 110. And in my opinion the battery grip is an essential. also i would like to point out portabol harddrives like this one here http://www.adorama.com/ICDSDB40.html since for most people that are buyng heavy equipmennt like you no one memmory card is going to cover a whole trip

[bigbad]

all our equipment is insured by State Farm, for whatever that's worth. Covered against theft, dropping, etc. etc. everything but bombings... oddly enough. i don't think we have the extended warrenties for any of our stuff.

i can't speak for the iPOD adapter, but we have a 40 Gig image tank and i wouldn't go overseas without a similar amount of storage. a 1Gig card would never cut it for us, even shooting low quality jpegs.

[sald]

Some input from a novice on what I did wrong.

Make sure you have a good way to store your photos and make sure it all works before hand. I was financially challenged and went cheap on this. Bought a portable CD burner. Unfortunately, they are limited to 700meg and I have a 1g CF card. It was a challenge to guesstimate the number of shots I could take...any where from 70 to 75 but I killed a few CD’s getting this down. With the 20D your space is going to be even more limited since the file sizes will increase. I get about 100 to 117 pics on my CF using a 10D. In the end I really wished I had invested the extra money in a better storage device...hopefully they will have more affordable flash trax style devices soon. The two kids with their own digital cameras will benefit once I upgrade.

Have an extra CF card just in case and if you can afford it...and an extra battery...especially when you forget to take it off the charger on the way out the door. DOH! (I know all you pro’s out there have never done this before).

Get a good tripod and/or mono...again I went cheap and have been tempted on more than one occasion to toss the darn thing over a near by cliff. But you know what they say about take out only what you take in when hiking in back country...so I still have it.

Always take a good pack mule with you...luckily I have three (two kids and a husband). Guess who gets to carry the heavy tripod.

I use a lowe pro backpack -- its very nice and I love mine. Unfortunately, when you are in a hurry to change lenses or get to your cleaning supplies it can pose a bit of a challenge. I would also recommend a hip pack to store your extra lenses in for those quick switches.

If you have to leave the camera in a room or car for some reason, take the CF card out and slip it into your pocket...a camera can be replace, but all your hard work can not.

And most importantly, have fun. Germany is absolutely beautiful with many many great things to photograph. I wish I had had my digital camera the last time I was there.

[ukexpat]

Hi,

{snip}

As Canon's new frontline prosumer digital SLR, it should come with one battery and a charger, but no AC adapter cord. That is separate and quite expensive! I got mine for the 10D and it was well over $60. I would reccomend you get another battery for any trip away from indoors. In fact, even if you are not a serious photographer, I think you should always have more than one battery at all times.

{snip}

Hugh

Are you sure about the power cord? I got US cords with both my D30 and 10D when I bought them. I think the 10D charger is dual voltage so all you should need is a cheap plug adapter from Radio Shack so you can use your power cord in Germany.

[framewerkz]

Just took delivery of my spanking new 20D last week

1. Accessories: Depends on your budget, and depends on your requirements. Consider getting a decent lens or two, as the kit lens supplied with the 20D is nice, but nothing special. Personally, I can't live without the battery grip - more oomph, better weighting, etc, etc.

2. Battery: Depends on how long your trip's going to be, and how many pictures you plan on taking. Also depends on how impatient you get while charging your camera. I have the battery grip, which holds two batteries, and use the quick charger, which charges both batteries at the same time.

3. Recharger: There is a recharger in the box, as well as a power cable. You don't need another adapter for world travel, the recharger is multi-voltage. You will need an adapter for the plugs though.

4. Memory Card: Depends on how many pictures you plan on taking. At 8.5MP the 20D is a bit of a beast, and if you're snap-happy, then you're going to run out of card space real quick. The number of images that will fit on a 1GB card depends on the size of your image, the quality, and lots more things. Figure roughly on 4MP per image at max JPG, no RAW.

5. Belkin iPod Dock Connector: SLOW. And eats batteries like crazy. Nice idea, but it's frustrating and slow, and poops out real fast.

6. I use a LowePro backpack for my gear.

[snappingturtle]

Hi,

{snip}

As Canon's new frontline prosumer digital SLR, it should come with one battery and a charger, but no AC adapter cord. That is separate and quite expensive! I got mine for the 10D and it was well over $60. I would reccomend you get another battery for any trip away from indoors. In fact, even if you are not a serious photographer, I think you should always have more than one battery at all times.

{snip}

Hugh

Are you sure about the power cord? I got US cords with both my D30 and 10D when I bought them. I think the 10D charger is dual voltage so all you should need is a cheap plug adapter from Radio Shack so you can use your power cord in Germany.

Hi,

In my 10D, I got all the necessary power accessories except for the AC apater for indoor shooting without the waste of battery power. That was separate.


Hugh

[blueiris70]

I am also planning to buy dSLR or digital camera.
I read in this post that someone bought from
http://www.Butterflyphoto.com
Is it good online store.
Or can somebody advise me of any reliable online store.
If somebody has bought from online store...can somebody share their experience...I think that would be great help.

I read reviews on
http://www.resellerratings.com
also....but again its better to take advise from somebody who's actually done the transaction with online store...I think that would add -/+ credibility to the store.

Thanks for all the input

[nama_rupa]

I just bought my Canon 20D from butterfly and they were kewl. No complaints. Definitely try to sell you more than you need if you call them. And of course I fell into the trap. Spend way more than I planned too. Oh well at least I have some great gear now.