traveling to peru just some battery and random questions

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I have a 20d with a tamron 24-135 and my 50 1.8<br>

I am spending a day or so in lima the off to cusco and the incan trail.<br>

aside from my day pack i will be carrying my 20d in a borrowed case logic side bag (my bag is too big)<br>

I am going to buy another CF card so i can shoot in raw. <br>

i was going to buy a spare battery and hope that the 2 batteries i have will last me since i will not have access to electricity<br>

instead of the extra battery should I get a battery grip? will that serve me better on the trail? i take some shots in portraiture and i know it is easier to use for those shots.<br>

will my battery last longer with the grip?<br>

any other recommendations would be greatly appreciated. I have never been on a 3-4 day hiking trip. i will have plastic in case it rains.</p>

<p>thank you for any thoughts <br>

David</p>

<p>You should always have a spare fully charged battery - just in case of battery failure. Depending on your usage (you can try it at home befgre you go - just fire off several hundred shots and see what the battery drain is) you may be fine with 2 batteries, as long as you charge them in Cusco before you begin the hike. Personally, I don't shoot more than 150 or so shots per day, and found that by making sure everything was fully charged in Cusco before beginning the trail I was fine with 2 batteries. The Inca trail has various hikes ranging from around a week to 1 day (depending on where you start from). If you are on the 3 day hike or longer (exclusively on the trail instead of overnighting in a town like Pisco or Olllentaytambo), then personally I'd take 3 batteries. Have fun, it's a great hike. Make sure you stay hydrated and drink the cocoa leaf tea to ward off altitude sickness. Most people who do the long hike take several days of strenuous (or at least 4-5 hour long) hikes to acclimate their bodies to the altitudes. I recall my group hiked about 5 days between 8-11,000 ft before beginning the trail...and our guide still carried oxygen for one of them. Hopefully you're going during their winter season, when there is less rain in the Andes and you have great vistas.</p>

<p>1. you should get 400-600 shots per battery a grip won't change that<br>

2. Ergonomics are nice with shutter and adjustment dials in Portrait mode with grip<br>

3. Extra weight may not be an advantage if you want to travel light.<br>

4. You can load AA's in the grip as a backup if your regular batteries die so maybe a good idea.</p>

<p>When I was there the trail was closed because of Sendero Luminoso activity, but I'd take at least two spare batteries and more cards. You don't want to come up short on this. Most of us don't repeat the experience very often, so to speak. I trust you're staying overnight at Machu Picchu. That way you can avoid the rush of day-trippers at that site.</p>

<p>In my experience AA batteries in the grip will last only for a short while and you'd have to carry something like 10 kg of AA batteries to use that as anything more than a stop gap.<br>

Get the regular batteries, regardless of the grip.</p>

<p>Better check thoroughly on google. I don't know about Canon, but Nikon specifically asks batteries to be removed from the grip to avoid rapid discharge. It happens on my 3rd party grip too.</p>

<p>Some tips: Think before you click (but don't think too much!), Tape up the popup flash. Get the fastest card (probably sandisk extreme). Switch off VR/IS, autofocus, AF assist light, image review, noise reduction, LCD light, beep. Set to lowest LCD and meter off delay (probably 4 sec). Faster shutter speeds save power. Do not fiddle with the preview and menus. Remove the battery when you sleep.</p>