Dilemma

chrismoret

chrismoret

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This is the case... In the fall of this year my girlfriend and me are going on a 3 week trip to Northern India. So what photo-gear to pack.
Take the digital cams (D300 and D-lux4). Or should I consider to take my new/old analoog Leica M4p, with all the inconvenience of taking films(= weight and space), and trying to keep the rols in good shape (climate and customs).
My photographers-heart yells out for the M4. But my earthly-minded side tells me to take the digital-duo.

So I'm asking you'all for words of wisdom....please... 🙂
 
I went to India and Asia for 3 months about 5 years ago, I packed an m6 with 4 lenses and the latest and greatest P & S at that time, the CAnon s70 (zoom), along with the Yashica t4 zoom film cam. I was pretty happy with my set up. I brought film, but also found film in big cities pretty easily.
If I was to do it again, I would take the M6 and an RD-1s/M8 with 3 lenses and a digital P & S.

Your D300 will get you some nice quality shots, but unless you are using some special non-Nikon lenses with adaptors, I would forego the D300, just too big and bulky and screams tourist, and encourages blatant over-shooting (too many pics). Personally, I think it would be a hindrance, and also foster unwanted attention from the Indians who will already have you on their radar. Their is also a lot of theft in India, and big expensieve equipment screams, "please take this camera from me b/c of our economic inequality". The poverty in India can be mind-boggling, and many locals, in my experience, felt a right to take from/hustler rich westerners due to economic differences.

Given this, I would go with the M4P and the D lux 4, which has a reputable IQ, variable ISO, and B & W. I think you will be happy with the film results, and kick yourself if you dont bring the M4P. I mean, thats exactly what the M series cameras were made for: stealthy travel snapshots with great IQ, and the pleasure of using a fine piece of equipment. Why have an M series if you are not going to use it?! I have renters/home insurance that would cover any loss/theft of cameras while I am abroad, in a worse-case scenario.

I guess the equipment choice has a lot to do with the type of tour you are on: tiki-tour? stealth? independent? protected in a group? type of photography you do? people? or just buildings?
Good luck Chris, and make sure to post your pics after your trip!
 
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....... slightly OT, but I'm kind of excited for your trip since this allows me to relive mine, but I travelled India with a friend who had a smaller Rolleiflex Vb MF and a RF with a couple lenses. Needless to say, his MF shots were GORGEOUS.
best,
 
A lot depends upon space and what glass you have for the D300. Said that, here are my thoughts.

Option 1, take the M4P and three lenses maybe four lenses (15, 25, 50, 90) and you P&S digital. You will be dragging film all over but life is good so enjoy.

Option 2, take your D300 and a Nikkor 20/2.8, 50/1.4 and 180/2.8 and your P&S. Forget zooms they take up too much room. The film you do not carry will offset the weight of the D300 and larger prime glass.

Take an iPod and back up your pictures are you go as I doubt you'll get reliable internet access for uploading.

Have a great time, be safe and have fun.

B2 (;->
 
Just take the M4P with a 35mm lens, a screw driver and as much film as you can carry on. Leicas were made for this 🙂 Simple equipment is really liberating on a trip like this.

And it's a conundrum, not a dilemma 🙂
 
It entirely depends on which camera you feel comfortable with and if you feel comfortable with the film vs D300 digital files.

I would not hesitate, to leave the Nikon at home and just go with one film body, but I do not think after the trip, I might have missed out great Nikon D300 shots either ;-)

If you have doubts about that and you feel very comfortable with the D300 - go with it!

Don't take the Leica, because "a Leica is made for that"!
This is nonsense. The camera, you feel most comfortable with "is made for that" not the one, you think, which would be great!

A nice thing about the D300 is, that paired with a weather sealed lens, it is a very tough digital camera, which can be kicked around a bit. I used mine quite a bit during long heavy rain showers without a hick.
Take a good filter on each lens, to shoot in the rain/ dust and unscrew and pack the filters, as environment allows.

I had a great time on my last trips, leaving the D3 and zooms/ primes at home and just going with two range finders + 3 lenses. Less bulk, less weight can be nice, if you don't suffer the "wondering if I had taken this or that syndrome" ;-)

Have fun on the trip! (oh and you always can tuck the M4, a small lens and a few rolls of film into the bag of your girlfriend)
 
I've spend a fair amount of time in India (several months, in total) shooting mainly (indeed, on several trips, exclusively) with Leicas. For me, no contest: take the Leica.

Cheers,

R.
 
It all depends what do you want to bring home. If you are after "long" shots only the D300 with tele lens can give you that. If you want capture the character of the place in BW - the Leica will do the best job. If you want clear and sharp A3 prints - again the D300 in your setup will be the best. The digilux is just a P&S and will bring you home nice snapshots, but probably not more.

In any way - should you even consider getting a different camera - be sure you know it well (in particular film cameras).

If it was me - it would be either a Rolleiflex or Mamiya 6 accompanied with some of the recent mirror-less digital cameras (m4/3 pr APS-C) and lot of film. and a small light meter (though once you know the response and true ISO of your digilux you could use it as a light meter - I do that with my DSLR)

Have a nice trip and do not forget to enjoy it. Do not leave you girlfriend stand at each corner waiting for you to get a shot.
 
Chris, you didn't mention what your girlfriend is taking. I've had reasonable outcomes when travelling by letting my wife carry the digital P&S. The only thing that bugged me about it was that the widest zoom setting was equivalent to 35mm and I like to shoot wider than that very often.
I can't answer the other part directly. I usually take one or even two RF's. One is always B&W and the other is for colour. SLR's of any kind tend to be too heavy and bulky to be convenient for me when travelling, and as others have said they make you very conspicuous in a country full of beggars. I now have a GF1 which I don't like all that much but the body size is good - the kit zoom is a little bulky though - and it will take my M-mount primes, so if I were to be facing what you're doing I think I'd probably take the GF1 body and my R4A, plus a handful of primes to use on either, and some 100 ISO B&W film. You will be able to recharge your digital cameras with a suitable plug adaptor (or two or three - the plugs are not uniform throughout India) but as others have remarked it would not be wise to rely on uploading images. You should be able to take your card though to places who will burn a CD for you.
 
Chris I've made a number of trips to India the most recent of which last year with Leica M's and a D700 and a number of lenses. I've spent more than a year there in total. The recent trip I was there for 6 months and found that I had too much equipment to lug around along with my backpack. I imagine you are going to be travelling around a lot in your three weeks to see as much of the North as possible. I would say keep your luggage to a minimum because it will make the train journeys, etc a lot more bearable. Shooting during the day in India you just need 100 asa film so I would recommend just taking the M4-P and a stack of Ektar and some B&W too ( maybe some faster speed film for night time). Like Ferider says. Just take a 35mm lens. I find that's all I need 90% of the time. Just zoom with your feet! I always insist firmly on having my film hand inspected at airports and have never had a problem with that as long as films are loose in Ziplock type bags. Contrary to what has been said before I've never felt intimidated on the street with regards to someone trying to steal my camera from me but there are a lot of people who see tourists as a walking wallet and try and rip you off in other ways such as overcharging you for everything.

If you need any more advice on places to stay, travel, the ways of India, etc just message me and I'll be only too happy to help.
 
I basically agree with Nigel's comments. I worked there regularly for two years. Whilst the beggars are persistent and a pest Indian people are not confrontational and you won't feel intimidated. I mostly used ISO 100 B&W film and I always took my supplies with me. All I could ever find there in markets or elsewhere was Kodak Gold colour negative consumer grade film - never any B&W and certainly never any 120! That was in a city of over 3 million. Maybe there are some outlets in places like Mumbai and Delhi but you don't want to be wasting lots of time (and you would!) searching for film in a strange city, and you don't want to run out of film!
Most times my kit was a P&S digital (which I also needed for work) and a Leica IIIf. An M6 would have been better but I didn't have one then and the IIIf was very compact with the collapsible Elmar. On later trips I took the Bessa R3A with the 40mm lens instead of the IIIf. Not quite as compact but a lot easier to use.
 
Have your girlfriend carry the digital P&S and shoot the M4-P yourself.

A D300 attracts a lot of attention, a taped-up M4-P a lot less. Tape the P&S up too.

Bonus: you'll be battery-independent, which will certainly prove to be a nice feature at least once during your trip.

And: shooting film isn't that much of a hassle anyway, is it now?
 
I've traveled to 31 or 32 countries so far, carrying various amounts of equipment, so I've learned by experience that carrying too much equipment can actually be detrimental to your photography. The photographer who is equipped to shoot anything and everything will probably not shoot much of significance because of the time spent fooling with his equipment. On my next trip I plan to take only a pair of Olympus E-PL1s and two or three lenses.

Honestly, if I could take only one camera, I would probably take a Rolleiflex. I'm sure I wouldn't take as many photographs, but I suspect that the ones I took would be better.
 
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Thanks for all the reactions, people!!🙂
My doubts are getting ever so big, and the discussions with my girlfriend (also a photographer) are getting even bigger! She has a preference for the D300.
But there is still enough time left before we leave. I'm sure we will find a form of consensus in this matter.

I'll keep you'all posted.
 
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