I'm camping for a week in the desert, how do I charge my DSLR?

I'll be gone for 7 days hiking in the middle of nowhere. My camera is a Nikon D5100 and the batteries are $50 apiece. Is there a cheaper way to just charge one battery somehow? I'm confused about solar panels and camera camping gear.

Suddenly film SLRs don't sound so bad, eh?

Um how do you expect us to help? The answer is there's no way to charge your camera in the desert. You have to buy enough batteries to last you the week which would probably be around 15-20

You should just buy a compact P&S that uses AA batteries, such as one of these - http://shop.usa.canon.com/..._306947_-1 http://shop.usa.canon.com/..._273378_-1 http://shop.usa.canon.com/..._298553_-1
just buy a bunch of AA energizer lithiums and some normal energizers as backups.

If you are confused about camping gear, maybe you should not be spending 7 days on the trail.

A while ago, I hiked down into Havasupai and spent four days there, shooting the whole time. I still had a lot of power left in my battery, enough to spend another two days in the San Francisco Peaks and later shoot in Oak Creek.

If you carry one spare battery and use good energy management, you should be fine.

When using your camera, turn it off right after using it, even if just for a half minute. This will save your batteries power. In addition do NOT use the live view feature or spend time looking through all your images using the LCD screen. These two things will drain your camera batteries faster than just about anything else other than using the cameras flash.

Another bad habit many new dSLR users have is over shooting. When you press the shutter release, make sure that your exposure is correct and your image composition is what you want. One shot for each subject. Shooting three to eight shots of each subject is a waste of battery energy. Just take your time, compose, set the exposure and shoot the shot

Choose each shot carefully and carry A spare battery.
switch off your VR lens when not in use and don't spend a lot of rime reviewing photos

I agree with Will about buy enough batteries and also if you can, bring your back up camera like small camera (point and shoot)

A real cheap way, you don't need a charger! There should be no reason to charge your batteries on a 1 week hiking trip. I go out on 10 day canoe trips with my DSLR and don't worry about charging the battery since I can take over 1500 shots on a single charge.

The D5100 is rated for 2200 shots per charge if you know how to use your camera. See page 236 in your manual. If you're shooting more than 100 shots per day, you probably aren't picking your shots carefully enough.

How do you get 2200 shots per charge?
Never use live view! (except for videos) If you do, you will get 300 to 500 shots per charge. Plus, live view slows focusing down since it uses contrast method to focus.

Don't review your images incessantly. Take a picture, quick review to be sure your exposure is ok, then shut the LCD monitor off by half pressing the shutter release. Don't sit at the campfire showing the shots to your buddies, that eats your batteries. Better to have a nice on-line album to show your buddies after the trip.

Minimize the use of the on-board flash.

Minimize the use of video recording (live view issue).

VR will also reduce battery life. If you're shooting in bright light, consider turning off VR.

Little secret: when your camera is in sleep mode, the power consumption is the same no matter what position the power switch is in (true for most DSLR cameras). Setting the power switch to off prevents the camera from wakening whilst in your bag which is the only reason to turn it off. Once the camera is out of the bag, leave the switch in the on position so you're ready to shoot that elusive critter.

When you buy a DSLR that is the beginning of the drain of your resources not the end! No point turning you $600 into a useless lump of glass, metal and plastic for the sake of $50. A 2nd battery is the first accessory you should have already bought.

Even spending lots of time reviewing shots with the LCD I still get 500+ shots from a battery with my Canon 450D. If I carry 2 spare batteries that is 1500+ shots. I reckon I could double that by turning off the LCD, switching off between shots and using manual focussing.

Alternative is to get a battery grip - does Nikon have one for the 5100? My Canon grip holds 2 batteries and has an adaptor that holds 6 AA batteries good for (they say!) 500 shots. Carry a pack of 24 AA's plus 2 fully charged Canon batteries and I will be looking for somewhere to buy SD cards not to charge batteries:-)