[shuttervox]

Ok, so the wife and I will be going on vacation soon.
3 weeks: a week in Paris, a week and a half in the
countryside of France, and 4 days in Switzerland.

currently I have a total of 15gb of SD cards:
1x1gb
1x2gb
3x4gb

This equals approximately 885 RAW files or 3453 jpg's

I am currently shooting almost entirely in RAW, and I like
it, mostly because of the exposure safety net and white
balance control. I would hate to catch the photo of a lifetime,
only to be ruined by a exposure/white balance mistake

This is not going to be a "photography vacation", as my
wife gets annoyed when I experience entire locations
through my viewfinder, but I have been really passionate
about photography recently, and am excited to have my
new k2000 with me.

Now obviously it's impossible for you to guess how many
pictures I am going to take, so what I am looking for is your
personal vacation experiences.

How many photos per week do you tend to take while on vacation?
If you normally shoot raw, did you switch to JPG at any point?
Did you end up buying more memory locally?
Will I have any problem finding SD cards for a reasonable price in rural France?

Also, any Paris/France specific general pre-trip photography advice would be welcome.

Thanks!

[kurt]

[JonPB]

My favorite photo--perhaps a "photo of a lifetime"--was taken as a 4 megapixel JPG, because that was what the camera took. I wouldn't stress that issue too much. Better to take a flawed picture with limited equipment than no picture at all.

My girlfriend understands that I enjoy photography as an art, but also wants me to spend more time with her than with my camera. So, when we're together, I take snapshots, which don't call for anything more than JPG. Sometimes I see something that I want to spend time with, and then I'll shot RAW. But, mostly, JPGs for memory's sake rather than RAWs for art's sake, which is the opposite of when I go out alone.

Shooting JPG also saves a lot of time for me. With RAW images, I often feel compelled to tinker, but with JPGs I'm frequently content to leave it be. When you're talking thousands of images, that's just too much tinkering for me.

Your 15 GB looks to be enough for 10 RAWs and 120 JPGs per day, which seems comfortable for me. I would say that this is certainly enough if you'll be taking a laptop and able to download images onto your computer every few days. On the other hand, with slow 4 GB cards costing $10 online, I'd probably pick up a few just as backup.

Enjoy your trip!

[Marc Sabatella]

currently I have a total of 15gb of SD cards:
1x1gb
1x2gb
3x4gb

This equals approximately 885 RAW files or 3453 jpg's

With the K2000? You should do much better than that if you shoot PEF. The camera estimates are always way low because it cannot take the compression into account properly, since it varies. But your PEF files should be averaging around 10MB, right? You should get closer to 1500 PEF's on those cards.

If it were me, I'd be shooting PEF all the way, and if necessary, buy a couple more cards while you're there, or find an Internet cafe or library or some such where you can burn pictures off to DVD (assuming you aren't taking a laptop, in case it's even easier). Or, if you've got a couple hundred extra to spend, get a portable hard drive that can download directly from the cards.

Oh, and as a point of reference, my wife and took around 1200 pictures in three weeks in Europe, but then, I just took almost half that in a single weekend in Taos.

[opfor]

Don't forget to involve the wife in the photography. Ask her what she'd like pictures of, and let her take some as well. Don't let the camera take center stage and she won't have a problem with you blocking out time here and there to have a play.
The downside is sooner or later you'll have to upgrade so she can have your old camera...;-)
Don't know what advice to give on cards. The wife and kids got me an 8 and a 16 last X-mas so they could use all the ones and twos. Take what you think you'll use then pack a spare.
Have fun, France can be great fun for photography, we're over to Disney in about a month.

[shuttervox]

With the K2000? You should do much better than that if you shoot PEF. The camera estimates are always way low because it cannot take the compression into account properly, since it varies.

Ok, thanks for pointing this out! Yeah, I am shooting in PEF mode. The files are sized between 9mb and 11mb, depending on how much dark/light space there is in them. I was going by the "estimate", and was wondering why it seemed so low.

If it were me, I'd be shooting PEF all the way, and if necessary, buy a couple more cards while you're there, or find an Internet cafe or library or some such where you can burn pictures off to DVD (assuming you aren't taking a laptop, in case it's even easier)

No laptop... we are packing light. As in, carry-on baggage only. But I like the DVD idea! I will keep that it mind if I end up burning though card space faster than I figure.

My girlfriend understands that I enjoy photography as an art, but also wants me to spend more time with her than with my camera. So, when we're together, I take snapshots

Don't forget to involve the wife in the photography. Ask her what she'd like pictures of, and let her take some as well.

I will try... She really gets annoyed when I take more than a few shots of HER at a time. I tend to get lost clicking away, and she say it feels like someone staring at her intensely with no communication, and it creeps her out. She has new found respect for models.

[pingflood]

Enjoy Paris. I would recommend bringing an ultrawide lens.

[shuttervox]

I would recommend bringing an ultrawide lens.

My widest is the kit DA-L 18-55.

What would I have to spend to go wider or fisheye?

[pingflood]

My widest is the kit DA-L 18-55.

What would I have to spend to go wider or fisheye?

You can look into renting something like a 10-20 or 12-24 if you don't think you'd need one for anything else. I went to Paris for a weekend and found my 15mm on full frame (would be like a 10mm on your camera) VERY useful for all the interiors and architecture stuff.