Noob Question - time settings

[mdjunk]

I'm not a professional or seasoned or experienced photographer...and this question really has nothing to do with photography; it's about setting the date and time on the EOS 70D.

On my first big trip out of the country, I changed the time zone.  I think that is all I did.  When I pulled the pictures off the camera, they were all date/time stamped the same number of hours ahead as the number of time zones we traveled (flew from East coast of the US to Spain).  Not a huge deal, but I was sorting some of them in with phone photos and it got a bit confusing.

So how should I set the date time on the camera, and what should I do when I get to Paris (next big trip!) with the camera?  Should I do nothing, leaving it set to the time zone I set while at home?  Change the location when I land (change from NYC to Paris)?  Change the time zone AND the time to match the then current time in Paris?  Something else?

[shadowsports]

I keep mine set to local time zone.  Even if I'm in one country in the morning and another by the afternoon, I don't have any problems grouping photos in folders by day.  Sometimes I do it, and sometimes I don't.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Final

or

England

   >London

   >Manchester

   >Liverpool

If you can't seem to remember stuff, write down the number of the first shot in a sequence when you arrive somewhere. 

Using GPS is also helpful if your camera has this option.  The last thing I would worry about though is trying to make my camera's time match my local timezone.  The EOS Map Utility will also allow you to log your travel route. 

GPS did a great job when I traveled to Russia.  Home time zone set...  UTC time captured

[Tronhard]

So... There are two questions here:

1.  How do you change the time on your camera.  I have answered that and also given Canon's take on #2.

2. Do you choose to modify your time at all when you travel between time zones (or set it to Universal TIme as suggested), or leave it at your local time?

Obviously people take different paths to resolve this dependent on their needs and preferences, and they have demonstrated several methods to do so.  The rest is your choice.  However if you leave your camera set to one time zone and travel across multiples, the time stamps will bear no connection to the local reality - so that is one consideration.  Also if you are using your camera in conjunction with a cell phone then you might want to consider making sure that the camera matches the phone's time, which will likely be set to local time by the cell system.

Certainly the idea of separating different time locations to avoid confusion is a good one.  You can do so by using different cards in your camera, and also in the micro SD cards in your phone if you use them, or creating different folders on your phone to get the same result.

[mdjunk]

So the answer is:  set the camera to your time zone.  When you go to another time zone, change the time zone only not the time.