Film: Color or B & W or both when you travel?

[amateriat]

For some time now, the travel "formula" for me has been easy. Cameras: entire Hexar kit (two bodies, three lenses, one or two flash units, et cetera), and Ricoh GR-1 (replaced this year with Contax Tvs). I either use the Hexars purely for color and the Contax for b/w, or (much more likely) the reverse. This tends to cut out any "media confusion" for me. The closest thing to shooting digital for me on the road is my camera phone (the "iconic" Motorola e815 at the moment, which might be mothballed for a Palm Centro...not on account of the camera, but because I like Palm's "old" PDA system, which I use on my PowerBook, and the Centro is the last smartphone Palm makes that uses that OS).


- Barrett

 

[pvdhaar]

On holidays, I'll take color film exclusively. There's always the option to convert to B&W, though I rarely ever see a holiday picture where I think B&W would do better. Color adds so much of the 'feel of the places' where I've been that I think it's indispensable..

 

[tanel]

I was in North-Norway few years ago, hiking in the mountains. I decided to take both digital and film (with b&w) camera with me. It was complete pain in the you-know-where.
I do take both with me most of the time I go out shooting but usually end up using film. It's just what I prefer.
Besides, I hate to rely on batteries and doing darkroom work fits for me better than messing around in photoshop.
Both have their advantages but I'm more pleased to see a photograph on paper than on screen. 🙂

 

[sreed2006]

I voted "Both (B & W loaded. Color on standby)" because that is what I did on my trip out of town this past weekend. I loaded the OM-1 and OM-4 Ti with BW400CN, then stuck Fuji 200 color print film in the bag just in case I used all the B&W, but never got to those rolls of color film. I left some perfectly usable digital cameras at home.

Soon it will be spring-time in central Texas, with wild flowers all over, and I'd like to try my hand at photographing the scenery with color slide film in the Rolleiflex this year. So, my vote can change.

 

[Mablo]

My significant other carries a small DSLR and I shoot mainly B&W.

Btw. on a recent trip I took ISO3200 film through 4 security scans and there are no signs of fogging. So this myth is busted as far as I'm concerned.

 

[oftheherd]

I voted both and both loaded, but that isn't always the way it is. If I have one of my 35mm kits, I will have a 6x6 or 6x7 folder, and it is usually loaded with b/w, and the 35mm with color. But I may have both the same, or only the XA, or only the Super Press, or whatever suits me at the time. But usually I have one of the 35 kits. Depending, I may have a 35 kit and the Super Press kit, but that isn't so common these days. Very rarely I may have only the Super Press kit, in which case I have backs enough to have variations as I please.

 

[dirojas]

Last December I went hiking to Torres del Paine (Patagonia - Chile), and I only took my M3 loaded with B&W. I love B&W, I can get it developed myself, I was simple to carry (no batteries or rain to be worried), and I guess I have seen enough pictures of the place in color. I just wanted to get something different from that landscape, which is amazing by the way.

I am going next week for a small travel, and my plan is to add my new (to me) Sigma DP2 for color, keeping the M3 loaded with B&W. So at the end its film for B&W and digital for color.

 

[squinza]

B&W Film and digital, if I can carry two cameras.

 

[JPSuisse]

Sorry about this...

Sorry about this...

Fixbones, you did a good job of including a lot of options, but I don't fit into one yet... Here's my answer:

A.) Generally, for personal stuff, 1 body for BW and 1 for color. But, the color body could be either chromes or digital.

B.) If it's a business trip, I very often just take the M8.

C.) If I'm in a minimalist mood... (?) Maybe, I just take 1 body.

@ Bob Michaels: I looked at your website and like your work. I also admire the stylistic focus. I'm just not there yet, or I feel mixing matching will still work... Not sure which yet.

Best, JP

 

[boklm]

I take two cameras. One with 100 or 400 ISO bw film, and an other one with 1600/3200 ISO bw film. Sometimes I load one of them with color film, but it's quite rare, it depends where I'm going.

 

[funkpilz]

I've experimented a lot with this, so on my next trip (Riga in the summer), I'll be keeping it simple: 400 speed all the way, OM-2 and Bronica GS-1 so I have both convenience plus fast lenses, and resolution for the more important shots.

 

[remegius]

Next Sunday I'm leaving for Mexico. I'll bring my S90 as a go to snapshot rig, and my OM2 equipped with 28mm, 50mm 1.4, and a lot of BW400CN.

Cheers...

Rem

 

[KenR]

It must be me, but I can't think in both color and monochrome at the same time. If I have digital or color film along I seek out color friendly photos and with B&W I look for the shapes and contrasts to enhance that medium, but heretofore I haven't been able to do both at the same time. Converting from color to B&W with photoshop just doesn't seem to work in my hands, so I have stuck with B&W almost exclusively.

 

[Kip_S]

velvia 50.
leica iiia.
all day.

 

[viridari]

I usually travel with a Mamiya C330 TLR and a Canon Powershot G11. While I tend to carry a mix of B&W and color films, I only ever seem to reach for B&W. I suppose I don't place as high a value on color shots so I use the digital camera for that.

New this week is my first RF (an XA) and I really don't know how that's going to change the dynamics of how I shoot. Except I know I'll be leaving the digital at home more.

 

[SteveM]

Space is always at a premium when travelling, and of course, simplicity through airports helps. That being said, I always take a digital camera (previously DSLR, now the GF-1), and if space permits, the Bronica RF645 loaded with colour slide film (Velvia) and a Rollei 35 with B&W film. Travel by car makes it easier to pack, so both colour + B&W loaded cameras come along.

Steve

 

[Doug]

I don't bother to take B&W film along unless I have a specific use in mind. I just prefer color for most things, as it seems to add another dimension to the shot. One example was a car trip through southern California where I took a few rolls of Tri-X Pro 220 to shoot at the ghost town of Brodie east of Yosemite.

Like KenR, I too cannot do both color and B&W at the same time; they require different mental conditions. Also, I can't be productive with two widely varying camera formats... like 35mm and 6x7 or digital p&s with either, etc. If one of the pair is for more important shots, how will I know beforehand if the pic I'm taking will be important or not? The thought in mind is that any photo may be important... why am I wasting this photo opportunity on this low-res camera when I could be shooting higher quality instead? 🙂

I'll make the format/size decision before departure, based on the largest camera I can conveniently transport and use for the occasion.

 

[semilog]

Keep it simple: in my few days in Japan this summer I'll probably carry my M6, 35mm Biogon-C, and 2TMY.

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

I have always used both, since I was a teenager, but... Today I found out I haven't shot any color film or digital since the days Ektar was introduced and I shot my last rolls of PKR, so I haven't used color maybe for 12 months or more, and that never happened to me before... I'm doing B&W only... And curiously, it's been like this since I started playing with rangefinders on 2009... By the way, I have never shot on a trip with B&W only, but I guess that will be my next first time...

Cheers,

Juan

 

[holdtheframe]

When I travel I bring both with me. With only one body, if I feel like I'm in an environment where I want to shoot color, I load it up. I've gotten less lazy with switching mid-roll and re-loading old rolls.

But, my instincts have been wrong too as I was shooting in a park full of tombs for kings in Gyeongju Korea and these old women caretakers were sweeping the tombs and when I got it back I realized it would all be better in B&W and will have to do some post work on it. Still learning.