All photo gears are now packed and I wonder if digital cameras Sony Alpha SLR will be up to the challenge of Southern Africa climatic conditions. I’m mostly worried about dust and sand (Kalahari, Etosha, Namib desert) more that about humidity (Okawango delta).

We carry with us the following material:

• 3 Sony Alpha DSLR cameras (A700, A350 and A100)
• 1 Sigma Zoom 50-500mm f/4-6.3
  
• 1 Sony 70-200 f/2.8 HSS
• 1 Sony 16-80mm f/3.5-4.5
• 1 Sony 35mm f/1.4 HSS
• 1 Sigma 30 f/1.4

and plenty of accessories such tripod, batteries, memory cards, cleaning material, charger, bean bag, etc… (not sure yet how I’ll pack my clothes in the suitcase which is already invaded by cables and boxes).

More to come…

Passengers will no longer be able to pack loose lithium batteries in checked luggage beginning January 1, 2008 as new federal safety rules take effect. The new regulation, designed to reduce the risk of lithium battery fires, will continue to allow lithium batteries in checked baggage if they are installed in electronic devices, or in carry-on baggage if stored in plastic bags.

Common consumer electronics such as travel cameras, cell phones, and most laptop computers are still allowed in carry-on and checked luggage.  However, the rule limits individuals to bringing only two extended-life spare rechargeable lithium batteries, such as laptop and professional audio/video/camera equipment lithium batteries in carry-on baggage

The following quantity limits apply to both your spare and installed batteries. The limits are expressed in grams of “equivalent lithium content.” 8 grams of equivalent lithium content is approximately 100 watt-hours. 25 grams is approximately 300 watt-hours:

• Under the new rules, you can bring batteries with up to 8-gram equivalent lithium content. All lithium ion batteries in cell phones are below 8 gram equivalent lithium content. Nearly all laptop computers also are below this quantity threshold.

• You can also bring up to two spare batteries with an aggregate equivalent lithium content of up to 25 grams, in addition to any batteries that fall below the 8-gram threshold. Examples of two types of lithium ion batteries with equivalent lithium content over 8 grams but below 25 are shown below.
• For a lithium metal battery, whether installed in a device or carried as a spare, the limit on lithium content is 2 grams of lithium metal per battery.
• Almost all consumer-type lithium metal batteries are below 2 grams of lithium metal. But if you are unsure, contact the manufacturer!

Indeed this regulation will first be applicable on US registered aircrafts but as usual we may see this new regulation applicable on all International flights. 

Usually all electrical devices, including batteries, are subject to safety certification so either their are considered to be safe or manufacturer has to review quality and safety of its products. 

I really wonder on which basis these new rules are made from. Did anyone saw any incident statistics, reports etc.. (apart Sony made laptop batteries) or is it just one additional constraints air travel passengers will have to deal with.

After lighters and matches in 06, liquids in 07, 08 will add batteries to the restriction list.

All details are here as well as the complete list of items with air travel restrictions

76% of 1200 American consumers who participated to Digital Life America - Holiday 2007 Edition survey have included at least one digital lifestyle product on their wish list.

1. flat screen high definition TV set - 35% (men 37% - women 33%)
2. laptop (windows) - 20% (21% - 19%)
3. digital camera - 17% (16% - 18%)
4. desktop PC - 14% (13% - 15%)
5. GPS navigation unit for the car - 10% (11% - 10%)
6. cell phone - 10% (9% - 12%)
7. digital video camera - 9% (8% - 11%)
8. Nintendo Wii - 9% (8% - 9%)
9. Sony PS3 - 7%
10. Blu-ray or HD-DVD player - 6%

First Apple product (laptop) is on rank 11 (9 among women) buzz maker iPhone is 15. Survey participants clearly prefers laptop to desktop computers.

Unfortunately the survey doesn't reveal details about the type of cell phone ("simple" ones or smartphone) and I'm surprised to not ear anything about MP3 players nor PDA. Not trendy anymore or everybody already has one ?

What your wish list would be made of ?

source: Solutions Research Group.