i have some questions regarding downloading/not downloading photos for my 3 1/2 month trip to europe this summer.
i have a sony cybershot digital camera. i am not bringing a laptop on my trip, and to download photos, if i'm not mistaken, i need to install the program, and then download them onto a computer. i am going to get more memory, then download them when i get back to nyc. but am worried:
1. the memory will not be enough
2. what if the worst thing happens and someone steals my camera/it gets lost/some weird problem wipes my photos out and i lose all my photos? i would be sad.
is someone a camera expert who can counsel me on this? or just knows a bit more than i do? thanks.

In Europe, you can download your memory modules at a foto shop, onto cd's.

Or, you can buy half gigabyte memory sticks for your camera, four of them.

they're expensive, but they do let you store everything. My brother found that if you download your photos onto a computer, and THEN use a small USB compatible minidrive, you can store 1 gigabyte that way. Those devices cost 40 dollars for 512k, more for a gigabyte

So, you can do it. years ago the answer would have been no, but now it is possible.

tortuga,
so i would just bring the usb connector to the computer and i can burn cds at photo shops??? i know with my camera i was looking for a memory stick at a 256mb one was around $40--is this the same thing?
thanks.

I have a camera that uses memory sticks as well. Tortuga-traveller is probably talking about a minidrive like the Lexar JumpDrive, which takes memory sticks and other camera media. You put the stick in the JumpDrive and plug the drive into the computer's USB port. It should be less than $20. Don't confuse it with USB flash drives. You can plug a USB flash drive into a computer but not your camera. You'll have to make sure the Internet cafe has a CD burner and the computers can read the drive--on Windows 2000 and XP, Mac OS X and Linux you shouldn't have to install anything, but you might find a place still running Windows 98. Burning multiple CDs is probably the best way to prevent losing photos.

Hi Cherie,

the easiest thing to do is to take your memory stick to a photo shop and have them burn all your photos to CD each time it gets full. A bit pricey at $15 or so each time, but this option requires no extra hardware, software - nothing. The photoshops have adapters for all types of camera memory. Simply drop off your memory stick, go get a coffee, then come back and pick up your CD and stick.

You could buy more memory sticks for your camera, best price I found for 256k was $38 at pricewatch.com.

Buying USB pen drives is a bit cheaper, but then you have to deal with the hassle of finding an internet cafe that will let you use it to copy over your photos. if you do find one that lets you plug in a USB drive, then you have to hope they have windows XP so it'll read your card without drivers, and you have to carry a memory stick adapter and the USB drive. You can pretty much count on not finding an I-cafe that will let you install software on their computers (drivers).

It is a bit complicated, isn't it?

You will definitely need more memory for 3 1/2 months. I'd bring more memory cards and just stop to burn CDs every so often. Remember, a CD can hold 700-800 MBs of data.

For a five-week trip to Italy, I took 2100 photos at the highest JPG resolution (not the raw tiff format), and it came out to 3250 MB. Now, I'm the type who takes a photo of everything, knowing that I'll get some duplicates and some blurriness but there will be plenty of gems buried in the mess. I didn't want to worry about my camera's memory, carefully budgeting 30 pictures per day or whatever. (I had a laptop, so I backed up my pictures every couple of days.)

Memory is cheap, but the pictures will last forever. Buy a bunch so you can breathe easily.

One other thing: if you have an iPod, you can get a media reader that allows you to download your images to the iPod directly. That gives you instant backup, and it would take forever to fill up an iPod with photos. (Of course, if anything happens to the iPod....)

I recently saw a brief write-up for the Epson P2000 Photo Fine, which is a 40-gigabyte storage unit for photos, video and music, and currently costs $500. It has a 3.8 inch LCD screen that is reportedly amazing. You can just stick your memory cards into this, and it connects to your computer (or even a TV). I think that's a little out of my price range, but I thought I'd mention it.

This is all very confusing for me. I am going to get an Ipod this weekend; is there something specific I need to buy (a reader?).

I am going to get an extra 256 MB of memory probably (MSX-256 according to SONY is the highest I think) and then I can just go and burn CDs at photo shops--correct?

I think I'm just getting really nervous abt my trip....

The Belkin Media Reader attaches to the iPod and allows you to upload your camera cards to the file area on your iPod. The price is down to $70.

You have to compare this with the cost (and time and hassle) of burning CDs each time your memory cards get full. If you plan on taking lots of photos, and on taking more trips in the future and taking lots of photos - getting a media reader may be the way to go.

If you get the reader, then you can almost get by with your single 256MB card, although you may want a second one in case the first dies on you - it can happen.

so should i get two 256 MB cards or a 512?

sounds good. thanks for the help

I don't know if your camera is compatible with SD Cards but dell.com has awesome deals on some of the camera memory. I got 2 of Kingston SD card for $37.49 and getting $12 rebate. So I got 1 GB of total memory for tab over $50.

Wish you luck!.

The Belkin Media Reader only works with iPods that have a dock -- so it won't work with an iPod mini or an iPod shuffle. DOUBLE CHECK THAT IT WILL ACCEPT YOUR MEMORY STICKS.

*Update*: here's the info from the page -- "Supports CompactFlash (Type 1 and 2), SmartMedia, Secure Digital (SD), Memory Stick, or MultiMediaCard (MMC)"

hey cherie --
personally i think it's a good idea (as someone mentioned above) to bring a few cards in case something goes wrong with one or one is stolen/lost/whatever...

for my upcoming 5 month trip I am bringing 2 cards that are each 256MB and another that is 128MB. i also recently bought myself the 30GB iPod photo (not cheap, but it stores both music and photos and with 30GB I know I will not run out of space). But again, like mentioned above, downloading photos directly to the iPod requires using your camera's USB cable and hooking it to a special connector -- I am going to buy the iPod Camera connector. Same deal I believe as the Belkin Media Reader that Capn Steve mentions but less expensive.

On my previous big trip I just did the CD thing ... stopping into photo shops and having my memory card loaded onto a CD. It wasn't that expensive, but of course Europe will be pricier than South Amer.

I know I repeated a lot of info that is already posted, but hopefully it helps.

Have fun! You take off soon, don't you?!
I only have 17 days left before I leave, and I am freaking out a little bit myself.

hey amy,

yes i leave in 30 days!!!! i'm super psyched (tho my boyfriend can't handle my hyperness). i'm going to get an iPod anyway, and now i'm wondering if i should get the iPod photo (i was planning on getting the $300 one 20g regular one). hmmmm now i need to think of it. i didn't realize it was a special one till i just went to the apple website.

now my boyfriend is convincing me to look at other mp3-type players...this is crazy. i need to figure this all out soon.