Top tip for a day out with the camera......

extremenovice

extremenovice

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Steve
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Went out for a drive today and onto a long walk with the family and my lovely new 60d :) arrived safely, set out with excited kids, camera out.............and...............realised that my memory card was still in my laptop :bonk::thumbsdown::bang:

what a pillock :nuts:

So, top tip for the day........ALWAYS CHECK YOU'VE GOT YOUR MEMORY CARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol
 
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Or, always make sure you keep a spare in the car ;)

You'll find many threads like that on here :D
 
Similar happened to a friend recently. It did make me think about buying a spare to keep in the bag.
 
its a good idea to get into the habit of snapping a few test frames before you go out. I always do this for each job that way I am happy everything is working and the camera is set up how I like it.

I also have my camera bodies set so they wont fire if there is no card inserted.

I also try to transfer my images to the computer after a shoot, then do my backups to external drives, then put the card back in the camera and reformat. This way I never have to wonder if I have taken images off a card before I delete them when I am out.

Having said all that I have done the same thing, grabbed the camera to go out for a few hours and realise too late that I don't have a card in there. :/
 
I shouldn't admit to this but I drove for 2 hours for a particular landscape shoot at dawn and forgot my camera.
 
Lowepro do a useful camera strap with quick detach clips on it. The strap has pouch attached to it which will hold 2 cards.
 
Don't forget about checking the batteries as well. My last outing almost ended early when I thought I was gonna run flat! Decided not to carry the bag which of course had the spares :bonk:

Di
 
dinners said:
I shouldn't admit to this but I drove for 2 hours for a particular landscape shoot at dawn and forgot my camera.
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Brilliant! That's made my morning! Can only imagine your reaction when you realised.
 
Spare cards are cheap enough at the moment, I saw some 4gb cards in I think it was asda for about £5 a week or so back, ok they'll not be top quality and high speed but at the that pice why not chuck a few in every bag as spares, then you'll never be without one, and I'm sure the extra space will come in handy one day.
 
It's the sort of thing you only do once though!

I went from a 1D which I always kept an SD card in the 2nd slot of (so always having a card in the camera) to a 5D with one slot, caught me out within a week, I check everytime now.
 
Big Andy said:
I always download with the lead supplied so I don't have to take the card out in the first place.:D Batteries, now thats another matter. :bang:
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Ditto that! and I always carry spares in my photography vest.

Best think to do is always reset your camera after a day out. Download your pictures, format your card, set WB to Auto, or whatever your settings are, reset ISO and anything else that you changed for the day. Put your battery on charge.

That way, next day, you'll be set and you have minimised the chances of disaster on a shoot...
 
I often tranfer using the usb straight from the camera so the card never leaves the camera. Although i have brought the camera out for a shoot only to realise the battery was still stuck in the charger back at home
 
dinners said:
I shouldn't admit to this but I drove for 2 hours for a particular landscape shoot at dawn and forgot my camera.
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:LOL::LOL::LOL:

A photographer needs so many things for a shoot, it's so easy to forget something. But this one is a winner! On saying that, I had a shoot a few weeks back where I took 5 flashes with spare set of Eneloops for each flash, only to find out I forgot I took out the CR2 battery in the trigger to replace, and put the same old one back in!!! A trip to the nearby Maplin sorted me out, but was a close call, :bonk:
 
Have done this, but now always put in new mem card everytime I take one out
 
Craikeybaby said:
It's the sort of thing you only do once though!

I went from a 1D which I always kept an SD card in the 2nd slot of (so always having a card in the camera) to a 5D with one slot, caught me out within a week, I check everytime now.
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er...twice actually :bang:

And I went out one morning, saw the most amazing sunrise over a misty river and the battery was flat and so was the spare - i'd swapped them earlier in the week and forgot to charge them.
 
Does anyone make an in car charger adapter for camera battery chargers? That would be really useful if you were out and about a lot as you could at least top up or recharge a flat camera battery. They're common for mobile phones.

I never go without the card. It lives in the camera so I can't forget it unless I forget the whole thing :)
 
feexarnt said:
I often tranfer using the usb straight from the camera so the card never leaves the camera. Although i have brought the camera out for a shoot only to realise the battery was still stuck in the charger back at home
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I transfer straight from camera as well. Loads of people have advised me to start using a card reader because its faster but I carry on doing it this way to avoid scenarios like this. Forgetting the camera all together, well that's another matter....

Oh and you may also to wish to avoid another whoopsie I made recently. Decided to clean all of my lenses so took them out of the bag and took the lens off the camera so I put the front cover on the camera and stuck it back in the my bag for safe keeping. You know what happened next of course... Popped out the next evening to take a long exposure shot. Set the tripod up, went to the car to get my camera bag. Hmmm, this feels light.... Cameras work far better with a lens attached it would seem.
 
Whenever I remove the card or battery from the camera I leave the flaps open. That way when I go to get the camera I will immediately notice the problem
 
srichards said:
Does anyone make an in car charger adapter for camera battery chargers? That would be really useful if you were out and about a lot as you could at least top up or recharge a flat camera battery. They're common for mobile phones.
I never go without the card. It lives in the camera so I can't forget it unless I forget the whole thing :)
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The best way is to get an 12v inverter from maplins or somewhere similar, then you can plug any type of battery charger, phone, drill, laptop, camera etc. in your car. They only cost about £25-£30 when I last checked.
 
srichards said:
Does anyone make an in car charger adapter for camera battery chargers? That would be really useful if you were out and about a lot as you could at least top up or recharge a flat camera battery. They're common for mobile phones.
Click to expand...

If you look at the cheap replacement batteries for your camera on ebay from the likes of China you'll find a number come packaged with a charger. Some of these have a car charger, either as the sole charger or with an adapter to the mains charger.
 
Been there, done this

Now, if there is no memory card in the camera, the door is left open.
If there is no battery in the camera, the door is left open

But I don't ever store my camera in the bag that I use to take it out anywhere. It means if I have left my camera without battery/mem then it will be pretty bloody obvious when I go to pack it.
 
I leave my card insitu almost all the time and download the pics by cable these days- too often I have had the mechanism break when inserting and removing the card from the camera making a very expensive fix! I keep the swap outs to the very min!!
 
Wheras I think the card & door mechanism on my camera is much more sturdy than the USB plug... and I go though more than one card on most shoots :)
 
I always check the camera and settings etc the night before and transfer straight away by cable when I get home....fingers crossed no disasters yet...
 
Forgetting the tripod quick release plate is one thats got me on more than one occasion! :/

Rich
 
dinners said:
I shouldn't admit to this but I drove for 2 hours for a particular landscape shoot at dawn and forgot my camera.
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Me too, went on holiday last week and was 45min from home before it dawned on me I'd not packed my camera.

Luckily I did have my very able S95 so all was not lost but felt very stupid.

I would add there must have been something in the air that morning as my wife forgot to pack some essential stuff as well.

David
 
Smoot said:
Forgetting the tripod quick release plate is one thats got me on more than one occasion! :/
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That has caught me out too! Damn annoying when you lump a massive tripod to the location you want and forget a little tiny part of it that means everything!
:bonk:
 
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