Camera for Afghanistan

[bigeye]

I've been shooting Leicas in Afghanistan for six years. Unless you are intent on playing in the dust, or want to shoot endless pictures beneath hovering helicopters, there is no need to get worried. Just bring the camera you want to bring and take some simple precautions in transit and placky bags in case there is severe dust or sandstorms.

X2

It comes down to carry and lens choice to me. My preference is RF for wide to normal and SLR for tele. You're shooting 24 & 50, so it would be the Leica and a zip lock bag for me. The F2 is bloody bulky and heavy. I'd back it up with the mju or a canon s100 and be happy. Shoot what you shoot.

-Charlie

 

[NaChase]

Thanks for the recommendations, everyone. I am thinking I will go with the Ricoh since I can fit it in my gear, perhaps with an XA as a backup. I will bring as much film as I can fit in my ruck (there are lots of nooks and crannies for it). The thing is I will not be able to see my photos until I get back stateside, which will be pretty cool I think.

 

[johannielscom]

I think you can forget the Olympus Mju. It defaults to flash-on and needs two fingernail pushes to turn that off. This is not do-able in gloves.

Apart from a "disposable" old SLR the Nikonos (IVa or V)** would do the job. Use the 35mm amphibious lens and don't forget the special grease, as dry o-rings are more likely to get broken.

** See post 19, above

The Mju-II has real small buttons indeed.

But the original Mju-I 35/3.5 is simpler to operate with gloves on since the buttons are at the far end of the body and stick out more.

Best of all: that one will only fire the flash when necessary due to lighting situations, hardly a concern in bright day Afghanistan...

Only adding this for future reference since the OP has chosen already. Have a good trip and be safe, Nick!

 

[MrFujicaman]

Okay, here's an idea....a Minolta Dual-Weathermatic...it's waterproof to 16 feet which means it'd be sealed well enough to keep sand out.

It's an awful yellow,but with some masking off of the viewfinder,lens etc and a can of Krylon "Fusion" spray paint in maybe flat black,you'd be good to go.