60 days, 60 pictures.

[vdonovan]

My wife and I are going to Spain for September and October. We will spend a few weeks in an apartment, but mostly we will be touring by bicycle.

I've been struggling with what camera(s) to take. I've taken a compact digital on other trips, ending up with a million shots but nothing I was really proud of. On a recent extended trip to New Zealand I took three cameras (Zeiss Ikon 6x9, Bronica SQ-A, and digital Pentax SLR). I got some nice shots, but it was cumbersome.

Lately I've enjoyed shooting with a camera I call The Frankenroid, a flea-market Polaroid with the lens and shutter replaced by a Rodenstock. I love Fuji instant film and I love the immediacy of instant. I thought about taking this as my only camera to Spain, but then film would be a problem. It's hard enough to find Fuji Instant in the states--certainly I won't find it in the small towns we will be cycling through.

So I'm going to challenge myself as follows: I'm going to shoot one shot per day. That's it. I'm going to have to really think about the shot that best captures the day and then get it right. Maybe I'll spend half an hour or more on this one shot, instead of the tenth of a second I usually spend on digital vacation shots.

60 shots is six packs of Fuji, which is manageable.

My wife thinks I'm crazy.

 

[Gary E]

I'm over here in Asia for 90 days, and what I brought with me are a SLR, a RF and a TLR. Right off the back, the SLR kit is too heavy (2 primes and 1 zoom), so I usually shoot with the RF and TLR. My RF kit consists of 4 lenses (21, 35, 50 & 90) and is lighter than the SLR kit. I've grown to love my TLR all over again and have gotten my best shots with it. It really does make a difference when you have to stop to think before you take your shot, and having only 12 per day that isn't hard to do. I really do miss my Mamiya 6 and wished I took that instead of the TLR.

One thing you have to remember is availability of film and processing. I've been lucky enough to find a decent lab with good but limited supply of 120. Have the time of your life in Spain with your wife and take some memorable pictures. :angel:

 

[arseniii]

Be prepared to come back without any good shoots! 😉

 

[hans voralberg]

What if you decide to shoot a moment that passed ?

 

[delft]

... My wife thinks I'm crazy.

There's a Dutch expression for it, which roughly translates to 'nicely disturbed'. I think that describes your plans better. Sounds like an interesting challenge, please keep us informed.

Dirk

 

[morgan]

I love the idea of one shot a day. It's a serious challenge, I just hope you won't regret it. If I did that I'd keep waiting all day and suddenly there wouldn't be any light left. It'd be almost impossible for me to commit to a shot know there might be something more awesome five minutes from now. I'd probably play it safe and bring something like the LX3 (or d40 or rebel) to capture other moments.

 

[vdonovan]

Thanks for the comments, friends. Most of these questions have rumbled through my head in some variation. There are no good answers, which is why I'm looking forward to this experiment.

Shane, thanks for your comments. I'm not hung up on image quality, believe me. But I am hung up on experience quality. I think I will enjoy the sights more, see them better, if I'm not whirring off digital snapshots every time we stop. And I think I will enjoy photography more if I'm just spending an hour or so every day with a camera and film combo that I really love.

Say Delft, what's the Dutch word you were referring to? Sounds like it might come in handy.

 

[delft]

...Say Delft, what's the Dutch word you were referring to? Sounds like it might come in handy.

It is 'prettig gestoord', Vince. A 'prettig gestoord' person is blessed with a healthy disrespect for convention and has refreshingly new ways of looking at things.

Greetings,

Dirk

 

[35mmdelux]

ok, your wife will help you edit 1 picture? I dont get it.

 

[MartinP]

I made a little trip of three months or so by bicycle. I took with me a Contax-139 (in my pre-RF times), a normal lens, a 28mm and a 135mm, plus a Pen-EE 1/2 frame. Black and white film went in the SLR and colour in the Pen.

The camera gear, plus a meter, went in a handlebar bag. Eventually I used the long lens about twice - and it was the heaviest single piece of camera gear, so probably a mistake. I'd suggest a rangefinder with 50 and 21 or 24 lenses, plus a lot of film. On my trip I was on my own for most of it, so no complaints appeared if I paused for a few minutes. All the gear survived the rain and is still being used by me almost twenty-five years later.

In the three months I used all the film I had taken, about two dozen rolls, except the 'reserve' of one roll each of b+w and colour, so I think you will have more stress about finding your daily perfect shot than you would shooting up to a roll a day in a relaxed manner.

 

[marcr1230]

if it's the trip of lifetime, take a kit that will bring back the images. some of the desision depends on what type of photography you do. for me an RF body and a 50 was what I brought to Paris, and it worked well, a wider lens might have even better. I shot 7 rolls in 7-8 days. For a trip on bikes in Italy, I took an evil DSLR and an 18-200 zoom, this also worked out well.
I wouldn't take a Polaroid with limited film for various reasons - but it's your trip

 

[35mmdelux]

Rent a Harley and throw a Hasselblad in the saddlebagz. Forget the moped.