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

[noisycheese]

Good to see this thread for my upcoming around the world trip (next year). I'm already thinking about how I want to do it photography wise. The only thing that's sure I want to photograph - a lot. I have never travelled with film before (except when I lived overseas and had to take my film back home) so don't know how cumbersome it is. Of course I love film, but it seems like it could be quite the hassle. And then there's of course the question which film to bring, which is even harder. Also on the fence about what camera setup to bring. Aaaargh. The choices.
Right now I'm thinking B&W on film and digital color.

Traveling with film needn't be cumbersome - my system is to take the film rolls out of the boxes and the plastic canisters and put them in ziploc freezer bags, one type of film per bag. This will reduce the volume of the film significantly - by 35-40%, I would estimate. Boxes and the plastic canisters are not truly needed and take up a lot of room in your camera bag or luggage. As I use the rolls of film, they are numbered and go into an empty ziploc freezer bag. I keep a very basic logbook - just date, location and subject in a few words (the less time I spend writing, the more time I have to make images).

Since I shoot film, there is no need to lug around a laptop and external hard drive for backup. The space that a typical laptop takes up in your luggage is easily equal to 100+ rolls of film without the boxes and plastic canisters - and the film is significantly lighter in weight. With my film cameras, I have no backup batteries and chargers to carry, either. There are no endless hours of working on the computer every night after photographing all day, as digital shooters are burdened with.

These are some of the conveniences and strengths of film based travel photography that digital aficionados seem to discredit or ignore...

 

[Jani_from_Finland]

Traveling with film needn't be cumbersome - my system is to take the film rolls out of the boxes and the plastic canisters and put them in ziploc freezer bags, one type of film per bag. This will reduce the volume of the film significantly - by 35-40%, I would estimate. Boxes and the plastic canisters are not truly needed and take up a lot of room in your camera bag or luggage. As I use the rolls of film, they are numbered and go into an empty ziploc freezer bag. I keep a very basic logbook - just date, location and subject in a few words (the less time I spend writing, the more time I have to make images).

Since I shoot film, there is no need to lug around a laptop and external hard drive for backup. The space that a typical laptop takes up in your luggage is easily equal to 100+ rolls of film without the boxes and plastic canisters - and the film is significantly lighter in weight. With my film cameras, I have no backup batteries and chargers to carry, either. There are no endless hours of working on the computer every night after photographing all day, as digital shooters are burdened with.

These are some of the conveniences and strengths of film based travel photography that digital aficionados seem to discredit or ignore...

In my previous profession when needed to travel quite light and without too much excess gear i got tired of hauling all the digital gear around, so for me one or two film cameras and use of same film, mostly bw 400 speed and a set of batteries is the most versatile set for me and for casual surfing and reading mail or needing banking services i just have my phone or Wifi-tablet. So i prefer bw-film for easyness and lightweight in carrying around. Usually i have a rf or slr/tlr and a 35mm ps (contax T3 or Yashica T5, both with superb lens and great af) and depending on width of the stay/travel i choose a proper amount of film, have never really ran out of film and i always change fresh batteries before a longer trip on all cameras. The zip-plastic bags is a must for film rolls on a trip. I have even one 35mm metaltank and the possibility to develop small amount of film during travel is possible, none of this takes up a lot space.

 

[Mcary]

There are no endless hours of working on the computer every night after photographing all day, as digital shooters are burdened with.

So tell me what kind of trouble will I get in if I decided to just bring a lots of memory cards rather then a laptop and back up drives when traveling and leave the editing until I get home?

Will my images some how fade away off my memory cards if I don't down load them to a laptop and external HD every night?

 

[raid]

I took with me ten memory cards and no laptop. It went well. I changed cards every 1-2 days.

 

[SayCheese]

I just finished developing, editing and scanning 8 rolls of TriX from a family trip to Sicily. So I voted B/W only. Its been a bit tough because black and white is so hard to learn. Despite some technical issues I'm fairly satisfied with at least some of the exposures, but the family complained them being exclusively b/w 😱.

Regards, Klaus

 

[dmc]

I have to smile. Here we have a clear question regarding film and we get discussions about memory cards! I can only shake my head . . .

Sent from my iPad using Forum Runner

 

[Erik van Straten]

Tmax400.

Erik.

 

[3rdtrick]

I have to admit, most of my photography including travel is all digital. I do use Polaroid (Fuji) instant film because I like to give away the prints to family, friends and even strangers. I always take my Polaroids when I travel and usually have one camera for B&W and one for Color. The instant prints are a big hit.
Pete

 

[Finglas]

Colour only, but that includes Slides as well as Colour Negatives.

 

[Takkun]

BW film, X100 for color, though I have JPG+Raw set to give me BW JPGs and preview. Like others said, I just think in BW.

I used to shoot a lot more E6 but I don't want to worry about exposure latitude and haven't gotten scans that even remotely resemble the slides.

I also, int the past, did what others said about having multiple bodies for different film stock, but I'm lazy and like to pack light these days.

 

[Lauffray]

For me it really depends on where I'm going, I don't have a prepared recipe for what to shoot. If the place lends itself to colour (ie Mexico, California) I bring colour, otherwise it's B&W, but most of the time it ends up being B&W

 

[BlackXList]

I usually like to shoot both, but I'm about to head off with only colour film, (because I feel the camera I'm taking favours colour in terms of rendering).

I'm also taking a digital, and maybe some of the shots from either may end up in B/W but this time out they'll all be taken in colour.

 

[Vince Lupo]

I have to smile. Here we have a clear question regarding film and we get discussions about memory cards! I can only shake my head . . .

Not if you have a Monochrom 😀

 

[folville]

Used to be that I would head out the door with a bag half-stuffed with travel provisions like clothes and half-stuffed with photo gear and film, all of it b/w. But After living and shooting enough in the Middle East, I've come to appreciate color so much more, and space, composition, tonality, and timing be damned, I just can't deny that color is so much easier on the eyes, even when the subject is something ugly. Now, b/w stays in the bag for emergencies, low light, or if I'm metering by guesswork (M3).

 

[mllanos1111]

I was recently in Rome, Florence, Dublin and Amsterdam. I brought mostly B&W film Efke 25 and Tri-X but I did have some color just in case that I didn't use. I shot all my color with my X-Pro1.

 

[seascribe]

Digital only...Leica M-Monochrom 98% and X100 (color) 2%.

 

[robert blu]

I'm not able to shoot with success B&W and color in the same time, in the same travel. I tried in the past and always ending to miss some color shots which I had in B&W to complete a story, as emergency from color you can make a B&W.
Therefore I decide prior to leave and depending on where I'll go. It's useful in my case that most of time my wife is with me carrying her DSLR !
For nest trip to NYC I decided only B&W 120 film, but the main purpose of the journey is not taking photo: it's only that we never manage to travel without a camera!
robert

 

[kshapero]

Leaving for a tour of Israel in a couple of weeks. Taking iPhone for digital color and Leica M3 with CV 50/1.5 type II and Tri-X for film.

 

[Doug]

I'm not able to shoot with success B&W and color in the same time, in the same travel. I tried in the past and always ending to miss some color shots which I had in B&W to complete a story, as emergency from color you can make a B&W.
...
robert

Yes, I have the same "problem" as you... I think it's a matter of mindset, it's either gearing up to see color picture opportunities or black&white opportunities. Perhaps others can watch for both at once.

 

[Ronny]

B&W: Leica M2
Col: iPhone5