Complementary film & digi travel gear

Complementary film & digi travel gear

  • A DRF or mirrorless so I can use the same lenses on both film and digi bodies

    Votes: 15 41.7%

  • A high end compact digi

    Votes: 21 58.3%
  • Total voters
    36
It feels nice to be at the same company with Michael :)
Actually, father of this group is Raid. He posted once panorama with iPhone and it get me thinking who to make this damn thing work.

iPhone 5C SOOC.

 
The phone is always with me, but hardly ever gets used unless for panoramas. My preference has always been for a 'good quality' camera and a snapshot/video camera.

In the mid 2000's I carried the Fuji Natura Black or Contax T3 along with a Canon G10 or Fuji F30. I miss the simplicity of those days, when it was either film with fixed focal length or a digital camera with zoom lens.

Over time, this evolved to a large sensor compact or DSLR (Sigma DP1 or Canon 30D) and a Canon or Fuji compact.

In 2008, I moved to the Zeiss Ikon with 35/1.4 for film, and the Canon G7 or G10 for general snapshots and video. Speaking of which, video became increasingly important to me, so at least once camera I carry must take decent video.

In 2009, this changed to the 5D Mark II with the Canon G10. In 2010, it was the Leica M9 and Ricoh GRD III, which was a period of photographic bliss.

I used to like the idea of a film rangefinder and an adaptable mirrorless camera, but this has proven annoyingly heavy and fiddly. My last major travel kit comprised of the M9 with three lenses and the Olympus E-M5 with three lenses, which was great for versatility but cumbersome to carry.

When carrying a film RF these days, my complementary camera is always compact digital. Film for 'good quality' and digital for the endless snapshots and video.
 
when i was young and healthy i would carry almost everything i owned.
now my kit is fuji body (maybe 2) plus 23/2...50/2...16/1.2....no matter what i'm photographing...

my other gear would have to have a specific need identified before hand...
 
Being me, I would go for both #1 and#2, on the basis that, given the situation of the moment, it depends.

This said, I give +100 to Roger for being so enviably minimalist, in equipment and wording...

Why clutter up a travel experience with equipment?

KISS, keeping it simple is, to me, the only way to go.

In theory, I would carry my Nikon D700 (for color) and a Nikkormat FT2 or B&W "art" shots) with three Nikon D lenses - 20, 60 and 85 or 180, the latter depending on how long a lens I need on the road.

In practice, the last time I did this, I took the two cameras, a 28 and the 85. Used the 28 almost exclusively and it did everything I wanted, almost. The 85 saw action one or two times and stayed mostly in the safe in my hotel room.

Next time, I'll leave the 85 at home and take a 60 micro. If I could afford it, I would copy Roger and take a Leica.

In 1985 I traveled across Indonesia with two Nikkormats and four Nikkor primes, a Rolleiflex TLR, and a 6x9 Linhof with three lenses and two film backs. Also a Linhof tripod and half a ton of films. Am amazed I survived the trip, but I was younger and fitter (and stupider) back then.

If anyone cares, the Rollei outshot the Linhof and the Nikkormat produced some truly beautiful Kodachromes which still occasionally sell as stock.

After that trip I sold the Linhof kit and the tripod. I now use an old Leitz tabletop which suits me fine without giving me back pains every time I take it out.

Small is the way. Especially when it's branded Nikon or Leitz.
 
ozmoose said:
Why clutter up a travel experience with equipment?

KISS, keeping it simple is, to me, the only way to go.
(...)
In 1985 I traveled across Indonesia with two Nikkormats and four Nikkor primes, a Rolleiflex TLR, and a 6x9 Linhof with three lenses and two film backs. Also a Linhof tripod and half a ton of films. Am amazed I survived the trip, but I was younger and fitter (and stupider) back then.

If anyone cares, the Rollei outshot the Linhof and the Nikkormat produced some truly beautiful Kodachromes which still occasionally sell as stock.

After that trip I sold the Linhof kit and the tripod. I now use an old Leitz tabletop which suits me fine without giving me back pains every time I take it out.

Small is the way. Especially when it's branded Nikon or Leitz.
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Got to agree about simplicity. The more combinations brought, more are the possible states of confusion available.

In practice I only have shot the option of complementary gear: Olympus OM and m43 (OM adapted), used during a 3 month exchange abroad.
However, in retrospective I wish I had brought my Fuji GW690 too/instead of the OM-1.

I had interest of doing a trip to SE asia and bring Medium format (the big Fuji). A mirrorless seems a good quality sideshooter, but thinking that in practice a self-contained compact is much better.
The phone is always coming, compact, and quite a decent shooter, but I don't count it. Also, despite its great video quality, I never use such feature.

A Rolleiflex seems quite a great travel option, accompanied by a tabletop tripod. However it is quite some $ upfront nowadays that instead can go towards much travel enjoyment and film.

I have an acquitance who is heading to tropical Africa in September and am so bemused trying to (unsuccessfully) convince him of taking a simple kit.
 
On a daytrip I just take the film camera that is already in the bag or one that has been on the shelf for some time.Film or digital depends on the light expected, if there will be not much of it and I don't want to take atripod along then digital.

But on a multi day travel it will be medium format film slr. Maybe a second film camera for special occasions like weather proof or panoramic.

Don't bother for a backup as going to any large shop makes it possible to buy a decent p&s and an sd card.
 
The RF film camera and small digital combo work well for me (can't stand using smartphones for anything, let alone photography!).

Currently using:
  • ZI RF with two or at the most three lenses
  • Fujifilm X30
The Fuji is generally adequate rather than fantastic but it's compact, well built and has a very useful zoom range. True, I'd prefer an APS-C sensor but then the zoom gets physically rather large, however I may invest in a X-T20 when the price stabilises and take the 18mm & 27mm lenses that I already own.

The ZI is an excellent travel camera and it's always loaded with b&w negative film. For on the move photography I prefer it to a Leica.
 
I like to carry a film body (either a Pentax 67, Nikon FE2, M6TTL), along with a digital compact of some kind as I always have family traveling with me.
 
My travel kit consists of a Leica D-Lux 109 for digital and either a Leica M2 or a Leica III for film. This works well for me.
 
At the moment I am at the end of a 5 week trip through China. Took 2 Leicas (M9 and M6) and my Rolleiflex with me. Flex is by far the most used one. 2nd is the M9.

In countries that turn me in some kind of idiot ( I do not speak Mandarine, I can not read anything ) my mind seems to be more in a color mode. So this will be the reason why the M6, dedicated for B+W, did not get any use.

Next week I will be in Moscow. Not that I speak any Russian but it will be less of a cultural shock. May be that the M6 can get some use there.
 
Chubberino said:
The TX-2 is the constant though. It used to be my RF645 but I can't stop shooting with the TX-2. :D
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The Fuji XPans/TX pano cameras are really remarkable. In the same body you have both a 35mm rf and with a flip of a switch a medium format rf camera. All in a compact body with incredible lenses - equal to my Leica glass.
 
michaelwj said:
I never fully comprehend how big the x-pro is (I understand it base a grip and base plate on it, but still: wow).
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It is really not as big as it looks.

My X-Pro1 in only slightly bigger (slightly taller and slightly thicker) than my Leica M6.

My X-Pro1 in only slightly bigger (slightly taller, slightly thicker, and slightly wider) than my Contax G1.

My X-Pro1 is lighter in weight than my Leica M6 and my Contax G1.

My X-Pro1 is quieter in operation than my Contax G1 and about equal in operational noise as my Leica M6.


Contax G1, Fuji X-Pro1, Leica M6 by Narsuitus, on Flickr
 
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