How much Memory is enough Memory?

Sandisk 64gb SD Cards

Over the last few weeks, I have been preparing myself for the upcoming trekking trip to the Himalayas, by carefully choosing the right camera gear that will allow me to shoot for around 8 days straight, without any access to civilization. This means I should not only have enough battery power to last for 8 days, but I also need to have enough memory cards to keep all those images.

Luckily for me, the Panasonic GX1 camera supports the newer (and higher capacity) SDXC cards. I found a good deal on Amazon for the Sandisk 64 GB Ultra cards, and decided to pick up 2 of them. That effectively gives me 128 GB of memory for shooting.

I just want to marvel at the sheer amount of data that is crammed into these postage sized cards. Each tiny 64 GB card has about 549,755,813,888 bits inside it. I can't even comprehend that number. Just 10 years back (when we first starting shooting digital), we would feel very good when we could get our hands on a 16MB card (that's about 4000 times less capacity that the one shown above!).

I am sure in another 10 years' time, we will laugh and remember the good old days, when a 64 GB card was considered capacious, and I am pretty sure we will be shooting images that easily take 1 GB per image (if not more). If you think about it, the current champ (excluding the medium-format system), is the Nikon D800, which easily takes around 100MB for 1 image (75 MB for RAW + 20 MB for JPEG). A 10 fold increase in image size in 10 years seems like a sure bet.

During my trip, I plan to shoot simultaneously RAW+JPEG fine. This makes it more easy for post processing. 90% of the time, I can just take the JPEG file and do some tweaks or use it as-is. For the few exceptions where some serious post processing is required, I can always revert to the RAW file.

The RAW file size on the GX1 is around 18MB, and the JPG is around 7 MB. So that's 25MB per image. This gives me the ability to shoot around 5000 images on both the cards - which is more than sufficient for 8 days of shooting. I can even shoot some high-definition video without worrying too much about it.

The only real danger I can see is if something goes wrong with the card. I will basically lose everything. Most of the newer dSLRs support dual-card slot where the camera writes to both the cards simultaneously. So even if one card fails, you can always rely on the second card as your safety backup. Unfortunately, the GX1 does not have this feature, and I will just have to trust Sandisk and their quality control to make sure something like that does not happen to me.

Wasabi Power Replacement Battery Review.

Wasabi Power Batteries for GX1

While preparation for my trekking trip to the Himalayas, the first thing I realized was that my new camera would require addtional batteries that should last me for 7-8 days of continuous shooting. The original battery costs $50 on Amazon, so buying a bunch of them was going to burn a big hole in my wallet.

I decided to look for alternatives, and saw this Wasabi Power batteries selling for a fraction of the cost ($13.99 to be precise). Reviews suggested that even though the battery is not decoded (i.e. it does not have the proprietory chip to communicate battery level information to the camera), it work just fine on the GX1. In fact, they have a special bundle that nets you 2 batteries plus a charger for just $28.99. Also, the charger has an additional trick up its sleeve. It comes with a car adapter, which would certainly come in handy when you want to charge the battery while on the go.

So for the price of 1 original battery, I got 3 batteries plus a charger and car kit. Not a bad deal.

Below is the summary of the differences between the Original Panasonic battery and the Wasabi Replacement Battery.

Feature	Panasonic	Wasabi
1. Power Rating	1010 mAh	1500 mAh (50% more)
2. Accurate Battery Level	Yes	No
3. Car Charging Option	No	Yes
4. Number of Shots	200	300 (approximate)
5. Price	$49.99	$13.99

So now I have 4 batteries (1 original and 3 replacement). The big question for me is: "Will this be enough to last for 7-8 days of shooting without any access to a charging source?"

I have done some rough calculations, and it looks like this may not be enough.

Last year, when I did a 7-day trek in the Himalayas, I had carried with me the Nikon D300 and 3 batteries. At the end of the trek, I had shot around 2000 pictures (about 40 GB), and all the 3 batteries were completely drained.

But the D300 is a different beast altogether. It's battery is rated at 1000 shots, and I had disabled all battery draining featuers (for example, the LCD display was switched off and I would switch it on, only to check exposure once in a while).

Unfortunately, that cannot be done with the GX1. It's a mirrorless camera without an optical viewfinder. This means all framing has to be done with the LCD display (or an electronic viewfinder). This ensures that batteries get over very fast. Even if I take the optimistic numbers, I will get maximum of 1100 shots (900 with the 3 replacement batteries, and 200 with the original Panasonic battery).

Obviously this is not good enough. The question now is: "Should I get more batteries or look for other alternatives?".

I have to decide soon, as the trip is just one month away.

Panasonic GX1 Review

Panasonic GX1

My journey into the Micro 4/3 camera systems began when I purchased the Olympus E-P2 few months back.

After carrying my semi-professional Nikon D300 with some heavy lenses for 8 straight days (during my trekking trip in the Himalays), I had come to the rather painful realization that I needed something compact and light - but at the same time, did not compromise on image quality. The E-P2 seemed to fit that bill perfectly.

I liked the E-P2, and its abundant manual controls that allowed me to manage all aspects of the shooting without the need to dig into the menu system. The camera, however, had one main problem. It's auto-focus system was nothing to write home about. After being pampered with super-fast auto-focus systems in my Nikon dSLRs, I realized that this was just not going to work for me. I should have waited a bit longer and got the E-P3, which has resolved the auto-focus issue.

Instead, I decided to try the other Micro 4/3 alternative. The much acclaimed Panasonic GF1. I immediately fell in love with the GF1 - especially when paired with the Panasonic 20mm f1.7 pancake lens. The combination is perfect and I thought I had found my "no-compromise" camera option for trekking.

But then Panasonic went ahead and released the GX1. It is like a clone of GF1 except that everything that the GF1 does, the GX1 seems to do just a little better. It was too tempting to resist. I gave in to my geeky side, and purchased the body along with the new Power Zoom lens (14-42mm).

This is not a technical review of the camera. For that, you can read a very comprehensive review at dpreview, This is just my quick observations, and the features that matter to me the most.

Trekking in Ladakh : Introduction.

Ladakh, India.

It seems like only yesterday that we completed our gruelling 7-day trek in Srinagar, Kashmir. Now that July is just around the corner, it is time to start planning our next trek.

This time, our destination is the beautiful land of Leh and Ladakh. Like last year, I will be accompanied by my son Shawn, and my brother Roy.

I have not yet identified the exact route we will use, as I am still researching the best options available. My objective is to stretch ourselves a bit more than last year, by doing a trek that is around 8-9 days. Also, I want to ensure that we reach an altitude of at least 5000 meters (the highest point we reached during our Srinagar trek was 4100 meters).

Why this obsession with height, you may ask?. Well, next year, I have set my sight on the "Mount Everest Base Camp Trek". This trek lasts for nearly 15 days, and at the highest point, we would be at 5500 meters. If you find yourself suddenly at this height, there is a very good chance that you will get altitude sickness. Hopefully, the Ladadkh trek will help us gauge our readiness to tackle the bigger challenge ahead of us. Also, my son will be much bigger by then.

I have already booked our flights from Goa to Srinagar. We plan to drive from Srinagar to Leh (via Sonamarg/Kargil). The 2-day journey from Srinagar to Leh, and back to Srinagar, promises to be an adventure in itself.

Looking forward to the challenge.

First Impressions: Olympus E-P2

Olympus E-P2 with the 14-42 lens.

Holding a micro-third camera in my hand feels very strange. Owning a camera from Olympus or Panasonic (the 2 manufacturers who make the 4/3rd cameras) was never in my agenda. Last year when Sony announced their NEX cameras, I thought I had found my perfect travel camera, and almost purchased it. However, after reading couple of expert reviews, I decided against it.

My recent trekking trip to Kashmir made me realize that I really need a more compact camera. One that is small enough to carry - but does not compromise on quality.

My back and shoulders demanded a smaller and lighter camera - especially after carrying a 8 kg load for 7 days straight. A bit of research indicated that the micro 4/3 format has evolved and matured to a point, that investing in this format felt like a sound idea. I was further goaded into this purchase when Olympus suddenly dropped their price for the E-P2 from a lofty $899 to tantalizing $499. The reason for the price drop was the introduction of a newer model E-P3.

Explore Karnataka: Hampi

Virupaksha Temple, Hampi

The historic city of Hampi is about 8 hours drive from Goa. My brother suggested that I would enjoy visiting the place, since I love photography. He even volunteered to drive me and my family to Hampi, and back.

I had never been to the place before, and did not know much about it. A quick Google search suggested that one should allocate at least 2 to 3 days to really explore the place. Unfortunately, we did not have that many days left in our schedule, so we decided to do a quick 1 day tour.  One thing that worked in our favor is that most of the important places now have road access, so we could easily drive to different parts of the huge 26-square kilometer city.

We reached early in the morning and located a tourist guide. The guide traveled with us in the car explaining the history of the place - and the various places of interest.

Hampi was the capital of the Vijayanagar empire that ruled South India from 1336 AD - 1565 AD. History of Hampi can be found here.

Explore Kashmir: Srinagar

Panoramic view of Srinagar

After we completed our trekking trip in Kashmir, we had a few days left to spend in Srinagar, before returning back to Goa.

Aside from relaxing in a houseboat on the Dal Lake, we also took this time to explore some of the interesting places in Srinagar. Srinagar is famous for its Mughal gardens. These gardens were built by the Mughal kings, who used to travel here during summer, to escape the hot weather of Delhi.

Explore Kashmir: Dal Lake.

The idyllic Dal Lake, Srinagar.

Our trip to Kashmir was primarily about our Trekking tour. When I was planning the trip, I was not sure how long the trek would last, so I had left ample room by booking some extra days in Srinagar. When our trek ended, we still had 3 more days to spend in Srinagar, before our return flight back to Goa. We decided to use these days to explore Srinagar a bit more.

Trekking in Kashmir: Wrap-Up

Gangbal Lake, Kashmir.

When I first traveled to Srinagar in July for our Trekking trip, I really had no idea what to expect. I had done all the ticket and hotel booking up to Srinagar and back. But what exactly would happen in Srinagar was a big mystery. My brother has friends in Kashmir, and he assured me that they would take care of the actual trek.

Ticket and hotel bookings were done using the online portal MakeMyTrip. A really excellent website for planning air travel and hotel bookings. Most of the air travel was done using IndiGo, but for some of the sectors, we used GoAir. Even though both the airlines are classified as "low-cost", they are both excellent and highly recommended.

Trekking in Kashmir: Day 7

Shokhdari (Table Top), near Sonamarg.

To read about our Day 6 adventures, click here.

On the 7th and last day of our trek, we relaxed in Shokhdari, before heading out to Sonamarg to be picked up by our car - for the drive back to Srinagar.

I went near the edge of Shokhdari, which provides a panoramic view of Sonamarg. The morning was misty and cloudy and I couldn't get any good pictures of Sonamarg from this vantage point.

Trekking in Kashmir: Day 6

Early morning at Vishnasar Lake

To read about our Day 5 adventures, click here.

Day 6 of our Kashmir trek can be best described as "The day of Shawn". This was the first time Shawn completed the entire trek without using his horse. A solid 8 hours of continuous trekking.

I had slept like a log the previous night - no doubt helped by the Rum that I had taken before dinner. When I got up in the morning, it was yet another beautiful Kashmir morning. Clear blue skies and puffy while clouds. I walked up to Vishinsar lake to take some early morning pictures. The water of the lake was very still, reflecting the mountains and making it look as if the lake has disappeared.

Trekking in Kashmir: Day 5

Gadsar-Vishnasar Trek.

After a long and well deserved rest at Gadsar on Day 4, we mentally prepared ourselves for another long and hard trek on Day 5. As we did not want to get into the same sticky situation that we faced on Day 3 (i.e. not reaching our destination before sunset), we decided to start our trek early. It would later prove to be a very wise decision - though for a different reason.

We had our breakfast at 6:00 AM, and were ready to start off by 7:00 AM. It was a bright and beautiful morning. We packed only the raincoats, water and some chocolates and set off. The support team would pack everything and catch up with us. Those guys are really amazing. They make trekking look so effortless - and they don't have any fancy trekking gear.

Trekking in Kashmir: Day 4

A wet and cloudy morning in Gadsar.

After a hard and long trek on Day 3, we woke up to a cold, wet and cloudy morning in the valley of Gadsar. It had rained most of the night and we were shivering in our tents.

Our original plan was to do a short trek to Gadsar lake (around 2-3 hours trek from the valley), but our support team advised us that it would be better to stay put in Gadsar for the whole day - instead of venturing into the wet and slippery trail.

I liked the idea of a full day of rest. My bones were aching from the long trek the previous day, and looked forward to a day of lazing around the valley.

Trekking in Kashmir: Day 3

Another glorious morning at Gangbal lake with the imposing Harmukh peak.

After a relaxing second day, we woke up to yet another glorious Kashmir morning on the 3rd day of our trek. We were well rested and anxious to start the "serious" portion of our trek. A long trek from Gangbal lake to Gadsar. We would need to first cross the steep Zagibal pass (4000 meters above sea level), and then move to Satsar (Seven lakes), and finally skirt the Poshpatri (valley of flowers) mountain to reach our destination Gadsar.

Trekking in Kashmir: Day 2

Harmukh Mountain - as seen from Trunkol.

If the first day of the our Kashmir trek was mother nature testing our strength and determination, then the second day of our trek can only be described as mother nature apologizing for the hardships thrown at us the previous day, and showing us the beauty that it had kept hidden from us the first day

We woke up and were greeted to a glorious Kashmir morning. Harmukh peak, that was hidden by clouds the previous evening, dominated the landscape with a background that can only be describe as a picture perfect postcard. The sky was a brilliant blue with white puffy clouds. We were awestruck and just wandered around our tent enjoying the beautiful scenery.

Trekking in Kashmir: Day 1

Packed and ready to go for the trek.

We started our 6-night, 7-day trek (that would take us from Naranag to Sonmarg) on a cold Saturday morning on 16th July. We were supposed to be picked up from our house at 6 A.M., but the vehicle was delayed and reached only by 7:30 A.M.

It was a 3-hour drive to Naranag with frequent delays at various security check points in Srinagar. At one check point, the cops were actually refusing to let us through - due to the unstable weather in the mountains, but our guide Muzafar (who was also with us in the car) managed to convince the security that he knew what he is doing, and they let us through.

Trekking in Kashmir: Route Selection.

Our trekking route from Naranag to Sonamarg.

When we first arrived in Srinagar, we had no clear idea what trek we would undertake. The only thing I had set as an objective was that the trek should last around 5-6 days, and that it should be challenging enough to make the trip worthwhile.

My brother has a lot of friends in Kashmir, and they hooked us up with Baktoo Group, which organizes professional and customized trekking trips and also offers relaxing houseboats on the Dal/Nagin Lake.

I explained our objectives for the trek, and they immediately came up with a suggestion of a moderate to tough trek that would last 6 nights and 7 days. We were warned that the trek would be tough in some stages. 

The itinerary of our trek would be as follows:

DAY 1: Pick-up from Srinagar by car. Drive to Naranag and start the steep ascent from Naranag to Trunkol.

DAY 2: Short trek from Trunkol to Gangbal lake overlooking the imposing Harmukh peak. Relax at Gangbal lake. Trout fishing in the lake.

DAY 3: Tough trek from Gangbal lake to Gadsar. Steep climb up the Zagibal peak (4200 meters) that provides a stunning view of the Gangbal lake and the Harmukh peak.

DAY 4: Rest in Gadsar.

DAY 5: Another tough trek from Gadsar to Vishnasar. Steep climb up Krishnasar pass at 4100 meters.

DAY 6: Trek from to Shokhdari (table top). 

DAY 7: Short trek from Shokhdari to Sonamarg. Transfer by car to Srinagar.

This itinerary matched with my expectations and we immediately decided to go ahead with this option. The tour operator would arrange for tents, guide, porters etc. All we had to do was carry a bottle of water and walk. And walk.....

I was a little concerned about my 12-year old son who was also joining me on the trek. The tour operator suggested that I add an extra riding horse to the package so that if my son feels tired, he could just hop on to the horse and we could continue with the trek. I immediately felt relieved.

Treks such as this cost around $35 to $40 per person per night. Since we were referred by a close friend, we got an excellent deal. The package that we took would normally cost in the range of Rs. 45,000 to Rs. 50,000 for the whole 7-day package for 3 persons (Me, my brother and my son). You can negotiate a better deal if there are more persons trekking. The package included:

1. One Guide
2. Two Porters
3. Six horses (5 for carrying all the luggage and 1 for my son).
4. Tent, Sleeping bags, blankets, etc.
5. All food.
6. Transport to and from Srinagar.

The trek was everything I had hoped for, and more. I shot over 1000 pictures during the 7 days. As and when I get the time, I plan to post a separate entry for each day explaining our exhilarating and exhausting journey through the great Himalayan range.

First Impressions: Kodak EasyShare Sport C123

The Kodak EasyShare Sport c123.

I had purchased this cheap little camera last week to take with me on my Kashmir trip. I got my first chance to test its waterproof capabilities when I went out for an early morning run in heavy rains. I wanted to see if it could stand the test of the heavy Goa Monsoons.

Trekking in Kashmir.

Trekking gear by North Face.

I love the idea of Trekking. Walking in the wild and enjoying nature - and most importantly, being able to photograph nature.

I have not done any serious trekking till now - but it was something that was always on my mind. I had made plans last year (even booked my tickets from Kuwait to Kashmir). But those plans were foiled when trouble erupted in the Kashmir region, and we cancelled our plans at the last minute.

This year, the situation in Kashmir is stable, so we revived our plans to go for a trek there. I will be joined by my 12-year old son, my brother, and 2 other friends. One of the friend (Richard) is a very experienced trekker - which will make our life easier in terms of planning and deciding what to take on the trek. In fact, it was Richard, who had given me very precise instructions when I did the 1-day trek to Dudhsagar.

We fly to Srinagar on 13th July, and we will be there for about 10 days. The exact trekking route is not yet decided, but we plan to do a moderate-to-strenuous trek that lasts anything between 5 to 7 days. The rest of the days would be spent relaxing and enjoying Srinagar and the surrounding areas.

I can't wait.

Perfect White Balance and Exposure with the Spyder 3 Cube.

Sypder 3 Cube

I have always relied on manual white balance whenever I wanted to get the perfect white balance under difficult lighting conditions. I explained about manual white balance here.

Also, when it comes to getting the correct exposure (where white comes out as white), a 18% grey card is the photographers choice tool for getting that perfect exposure. I explained about the 18% grey card here.

A reader of the blog made a very interesting comment on the 18% grey card post - He proposed that a better solution would be to use a card that includes White, Black and neutral Grey which a RAW converter could then use to sample all three colors and make a more accurate exposure.

I did not pay much attention to the above comment since I was quite comfortable with the Grey card solution. That is..until I came across the Spyder 3 Cube. I was actually looking for a color calibration tool on Amazon. When I selected the Spyder 3 Express (which I reviewed here), Amazon suggested that I might be interested in the Sypder Cube. After reading what it does, I thought my photography might benefit so I decided to add it to the cart.

I don't know what I was expecting. Perhaps a fancy electronic gizmo? Certainly it was more than the 1.5 inch plastic box that I received with a small steel ball on top. I paid $40 bucks for this?

Anyway, if this tiny plastic box could solve both my White balance AND Exposure problems, I wouldn't mind having spent the money. I decided to give my new toy a trial.

The basic idea of the Spyder 3 cube is very simple:
1. Place the cube in the frame where you will take the picture (you can place it on a flat surface or it can be placed on a tripod as it has a tripod thread at the bottom. You can also hand it anywhere using the supplied loop)
2. Take the RAW picture making sure that the cube is in focus.
3. Remove the cube and continue shooting in RAW.
4. If the lighting conditions change, repeat the above steps.

I decided to test it with my daughters Barbie doll.

Original image straight from the camera.

Using the RAW processing software, you will first load the image that contains the cube

In my example, it is evident that the white balance is off. The white does not look white. Correcting the white balance is as simple as clicking on the neutral Grey color. And Voila!

Correct White Balance.

Since all the 3 colors are available in the image, exposure can be easily corrected by watching the histogram as you adjust both the highlights and the shadows. The cube has a black trap in the front (a small circle that is absolute black).

White Balance & Exposure corrected.

Once you are happy with the settings, you apply them to all the other pictures that were shot under the same lighting conditions (without the cube in the picture, of course).

Final image with correct white balance & exposure.

So there you have it. 40 dollars for a tiny piece of plastic. Is it worth it? If you are a serious photographer, then the answer is yes. Since it solves 2 problems at one time. i.e. Solves the White balance problem and the Exposure problem.

NOTE: The Sypder 3 cube is suitable when you are shooting static subjects under similar lighting conditions. It is not suitable for dynamic situations where the subject is constantly moving or the lighting conditions are changing rapidly.