I arrived in Spain a few days ago. I’ve decided that this time around, I will only shoot with my mobile phone and left my mirrorless camera at home. I wanted to travel as light as possible without a camera on my shoulders. I could have brought a pocket camera with a zoom lens, but I felt that a mobile phone will be just fine for that trip.
I spent hours walking in Barcelona, visiting many of its main attractions. There is so much to see and it’s a paradise for photographers. I brought my iPhone 5S smartphone and that’s it. I charged the phone during the night and use it during the day.
I quickly found out that one of the main problems is the battery life. It could have been ok, but I am using many other travel apps that take use of the GPS and cellular network (or WiFi), which also drains the battery very quickly. I use the phone to help me get to the attraction locations in Barcelona and also help me find the closest Metro station.
I walk up at 8:00 am went out in about 8:30 am, took like 50-80 shots and at around 13:30 am the battery died on me. I swear that I saw it on 10% when it suddenly died on me when trying to share a video with my family.
Of course this is just the iPhone 5S. It’s a pretty small phone, so its battery isn’t that great. I highly recommend to other travel with a phone that has very good battery life or buy accessories that can extend the battery life, like the mophie battery cases. The problem with the iPhone 5S it that it doesn’t give you the option to change the battery. Buying a second replacement battery is the cheapest option you get. You can even charge three batteries and replace the drained one and continue shooting and share your photos and video with your friends without worrying about staying without any power source.
I’ve seen a store that will charge your phone for a small fee, but I personally didn’t want to leave my phone in that store. Obviously, I felt a bit disappointed after reaching some really nice areas and I couldn’t capture some cool shots. I think it’s a good option to make sure that you can extend upon the original battery life of your phone, or bring a compact camera with you as well if you want to travel light. With a DSLR I wouldn’t have to worry about it at all, I could have captured hundreds or even over thousands of images without worrying about anything.
This is one important lesson that I’ve learned while staying in Barcelona. I highly recommend that you make sure that you are covered in that respect. I think that I’ll buy a mophie juice pack for my iPhone 5S, so I can shoot more photos and videos without worrying about anything.