Charging Camera Batteries on the Grand Canyon

[alexhenes]

I have a Canon S50 Powershot camera that takes one and only one type of battery. One battery costs about $50.

When I use the camera a lot I tend to go through a battery a day. I own 2 batteries. I plan on taking a lot of pictures on the trip.

Does any one have any ideas on how I could charge my batteries while on the Grand?

[Jamie D.]

I faced the same dilema before my March Grand trip. I used an I Sun solar charger. It worked great. It fully changed the battery in about 1 hour in bright sun and 2 hours if cloudy. Very easy to use and fairly durable. I put my camera in a Pelican 1010 and stuffed it in a small drybag in my boat during the day. I put the charger and all the camera accessories in a bigger peli box on the raft. You can check it out here.

http://www.batterymart.com/battery.mv?p=ACC-04062

[Paul]

Some companies are now making small portable solar photovoltaic generators for just such a use. Here's an example: http://www.thermomax.com/pv_portable.htm

My guess is that your battery charger operates on AC power, but charges the batteries with DC (i.e., there is a AC to DC converter in the charger). PV is the opposite: it generates DC and usually has a DC to AC inverter to make AC power, which is required by most electric devices. Maybe someone makes a solar battery charger that cuts out the intermediate step of converting to AC. That would probably save on cost and efficiency.

Of course, it might be cheaper to buy as many batteries as you think you might need. PV is pretty expensive, and may not work well when wet.

[Arn]

I brought an extra battery and used the camera sparingly. I brought a recharger and plugged into an outlet at the Donkey Ranch half way down, which took a little time, but we were in no hurry there.

[wweeks]

alex - check with your guides before you buy anything. becuase a lot of them carry a satellite phone in the rescue kit, some may also have a solar charger they'd let you use.

i've also seen little hand cranks that generate a current for charging batteries.

[Don]

Brunton makes a few different items that may work. We have an account with them and can order any of the things on the site. Check this out....

http://www.brunton.com/catalog.php?i...category_id=42

Or, even better check out the Closeout Page. That's where you'll get some good deals.

http://www.brunton.com/closeouts.php

[Jamie D.]

That Solar Point 2.2 on the closeout page Don listed is exactly what I used. I've seen them rebranded under multiple names. $45 is a good deal, I paid $70. The other thing you'll need if you don't have it is a DC charger. I found one with a cig lighter male that plugs into the cig lighter female that came with the charger.

[alexhenes]

Thanks for the input... it was super helpful. I ended up ordering a Brunton SolarPort 4.4 and a car outlet adapter battery charger for my camera. I got the more expensive 4.4 in anticipation of using it for other devices that may be able to charge faster.

[sarahkonamojo]

Just don't let the camera get between you and the experience. Best to have lots of cameras (digital still and video) in many hands. The shared perspective is cool, too. Besides the Canyon might get to you and you zone out for a day. Hopefully.

Have a long and strange trip,

sarah