hey all,

Haven't been around for a bit but I didn't find much on these questions through the search fields.

Heading out in a few weeks on a cross country shoot. Doesn't look like I'll be stopping much to be able to recharge batteries in hotels so I'll probably have to use the cigarette plug in the truck. I'm using the standard CA-920 charger and don't really want to plunk down another $100 plus on the CB-910 or 920 (car plug chargers).

Will something like this work?:

http://store.l-f-l.com/cgi-bin/cp-app.cgi?rrc=N&pg=prod&ref=CAR-ADAPTER&CMP=KNC-goog12

or am I going to fry my batteries (or not have them charge at all)? Or should I just bite the bullet and spend the money on Canon's car charger? (Everytime I try to cut cost it ends up costing me more in the long run...)

Also - how or with whom do you insure your cameras with? I'm traveling with 6Gs worth of equipment. I should already have this thing insured but I have baggage when it comes to insurance companies...

thanks,

Dan B

I've insured our camera with a film liability insurance provider. Check your local film advocacy groups or producers.

Dan,
I have a Panasonic NV-MX500 and when I go camping I use an inverter (300W) connected to a sealed lead acid battery to charge my batteries overnight. I just charge the battery in the car during the day. The battery also powers a 12V flourescent for light inside the tent and inflates the mattress too.

I can only speak from my experience and I've had no problems with it, although I was a bit nervous hooking it up the first time. I also made sure I could take it back if it didn't work.

BTW if you use it outside a car make sure you earth it to save zapping someone (I use an alligator clip to a tent peg).

Dan, you should know Canon's car charger is much slower than the standard charger. I don't have exact numbers, but I would approximately say that it takes 3 to 4 times more time to charge a battery with the car cahrger than with the standard one.

If you look for a cheap solution, have you thought about inverters? (They change 12DC to 110V/220V 60Hz/50Hz AC) The ones with low power output (that's all you need) are rather inexpensive. Guess you should also be able to rent a one.

I'll add my voice to those of the others recommending inverters. After handing over hundreds of dollars to various cell phone, computer, camera, GPS receiver, CD player and video camera manufacturers for the special adapters requred to charge/operate them from a cigarette lighter I finally decided enough was enough and bought an inverter. I now merely sneer knowingly when salesmen ask if I want the car charger for whichever battery operated gadget I'm contemplating at the moment.