How many rolls of film to pack?

[jpa66]

My wife and I will be traveling to France in about a month. I know the type of film that I'm going to bring, I'm just wondering HOW MUCH of it I should bring. Actually, how much of it will fit in my luggage. We're going very light this trip - just a regulation-sized carry-on and a purse for her, and a medium size camera bag for me.

I'm bringing my Rolleiflex and Bessa. I'll probably be taking more rolls with the Rollei, as there's only 12 shots per roll. I was figuring at least two rolls of 120 a day, but that may be conservative. I thought about taking at least 20 rolls of 120 with me, but I'm not sure if it would all fit.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to get maximum space?

Thanks,
JP

 

[hans voralberg]

Get rid of the boxes? 20 rolls are not big at all.

 

[zleica]

I agree with Hans that you should get rid of the boxes or even the canisters. I will take at least 20 rolls. When I go on vacation trips, I usually shoot about 2 rolls per day. Since you are also taking a Rolleiflex with you, your production rate may be a bit lower.

Have a great time in Paris!

 

[Bob Michaels]

I always carry twice as much as I think I am going to shoot. If you think you might be running low, you are SOL so I like the safety margin.

I just returned from another 14 days of photographing in Cuba. I was by myself and was able to walk and shoot 8-10 hours a day. But I knew in advance just what I wanted so wasted no film photographing buildings, old cars, landscapes, or the tourist things.

I figured I would probably shoot 25 rolls of 35mm so I brought 50. I ended up shooting 26 rolls. That is almost identical to my first trip which was also 14 days but I only had about half time to shoot exactly what I wanted. Carried 50 and shot 26 then but some was wasted trying to hone in on a theme for a series.

I will go back again. Probably another 14 days. Will still bring 50 rolls. Probably shoot half that.

BTW, carried two identical 35mm ZI bodies (one as spare) and 28mm & 35mm lenses. Only carried one body / one lens / 5-6 rolls of film when I set out every day. Walking all day, I appreciated traveling light.

 

[Steve M.]

What Bob said. Bring twice as much and you won't regret it. Bring half as much as you need, plenty of regrets.

 

[Bob Michaels]

maybe I should add that I carry 50 rolls in canisters in a large zip loc baggie. I was able to get hand inspection boarding in US and in Cuba where they inspect / x-ray incoming passengers as well departing. Only had one hassle which was departing Cuba. I speak little Spanish but held my ground insisting that they not x-ray the film and they finally yielded. I know how things are usually kludged back together in Cuba so would not trust my film to their x-ray like I might in the US.

Bring the canisters to give away after you shoot the film if you are in a lesser developed country. Unlike the US, everyone can find a use for them.

 

[Rob-F]

Like ZLeica, I usually shoot about 2 rolls a day. I include a safety factor by counting travel days, even though I won't be shooting much on those days. So for 30 days including travel time, I would bring 60 rolls. For France last year, I knew I would be shooting both film and digital, so I took 27 rolls for a 27 day trip, and had 2 or 3 left when I got home. I think that if you figured a couple of rolls per day for the Rollei, and a couple more for the Bessa, you would be safe. I imagine you will probably shoot more with the Bessa, saving the Rollei for the most promising subjects.

It's great to travel light, but why go quite that light? You are allowed 2 checked bags per person. If you checked even one small bag each, you'd have lots of carryon room for film! The film prices in France are so high, I think they are trying to balance the national budget on film sales alone. Even if you are planning on taking the train, one carry-on size bag for each hand is not too much. You'll be wanted to bring back some wine, and you are allowed to, so you need some empty suitcase room. As long as you don't have to make two trips to fetch the rest of the bags, you are OK.

Slightly OT: If you want to mail anything back rather than carry or check it, be sure that La Post sells you the international shipping box, and not the one marked for shipment within Europe only! They will give you a hard time about trying to ship wine in them, though. Take it in your luggage.

 

[Bob Michaels]

What Bob said. Bring twice as much and you won't regret it. Bring half as much as you need, plenty of regrets.

Even if you bring 10-20-30% more than you shoot, you will eventually find yourself worrying about how much film you have left. That is a distraction you just don't need. I never want to have to think about having enough film to make a shot or not. I want to just shoot and edit later.

 

[bwcolor]

How can anyone tell you how much film you will shoot? Take as much as you can carry and buy more if you run out. I would take one pair of socks for each day. I leave the underwear to someone else.

 

[BillBingham2]

Have you been there before? Can you use 220 film?

Take what you think you need and find a good place to buy local.

Paris is a wonderful place and its hard to not find a great picture. I've love it more every time I go.

Enjoy and please share the results.

B2 (;->

 

[Tom A]

I have a rather simple rule for travelling. I count on 5 rolls of film/camera/day. If it is a place I have been to before and know - I might get more selective with what I am shooting - but film is cheap compared to tickets, hotels, cars etc - so why cut back?
Film is packaged in freezer bags, no canisters or boxes. Each large bag holds smaller "day-packs" with 10 rolls in them. When I leave the hotel or wherever i am staying - I just grab a "daypack" and it goes in the left pocket of my vest. As film is exposed it goes in an empty bag in my right pocket. In the evening I usually write a running "tally" number on the filmcartridge with felt marker - then write down in a note pad the same number and specifics of place/people etc.
I am a reasonably "heavy" shooter - 5-8 rolls/day - sometimes more - sometimes less.
Places like Cuba was 10-12 rolls a day - and without the "tagging" of rolls and notes - it would have been virtually impossible to "sequence" the stuff.
In France you can probably get film if you need - maybe not the emulsion you want and probably at a higher price than "at home". Even so, running out of film is a pain!
If you go to places were film is difficult to obtain - always bring more than you need and as you probably will run in to local photographers - give them any left over. Makes their life easy and makes you feel good too.
I also travel with a shoulder bag and a rather ratty camerabag. Film, back up cameras, books etc take priorities, clothing can usually be found "in situ" if needed - and you can wash stuff in hotel sinks too.
We just came back from 8 days in Tokyo/Nagano - about 30 rolls shot - but those films were rplaced at Yodobashi camera with "fresh" Neopan 400 Presto. Even with 30 exposed and 35 rolls of unexposed film - my bag was quite airy. Throw out some socks and a shirt in the hotel garbage though to make room for the 3 cameras that I picked up (This was japan after all).
The less you have to carry between points - the easier it is to travel. Time and plenty of trips have taught me that!

 

[Steve Ash]

If you stay in Paris I am pretty sure that you can buy the film locally. Choose Metro Line no 8 and exit station "Chemin Vert". There is a large format camera store just aside of a nice Leica store and some other brand stores.

Regards
Steve

 

[Dougg]

I think there's a lot of variation in how much people will shoot. I tend to be a selective shooter. I do about one roll per day, whether 220 or 35mm/36exp. (One or the other; I travel with just one film size). So I pack 50% more than that and I'm fine. I keep a written log of what I shoot, usually updated at the end of the day but as needed I'll note on the spot the correct identity and spelling of the location.

 

[degruyl]

I can shoot about 10-15 rolls of 120 in a full day of travel shooting. I would be a little concerned with the amount of film I am taking.

Oddly, that works out to about what Tom said, in terms of frames expended.

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

If you haven't done it before, getting rid of boxes AND canisters makes a huge difference in space... It also relaxes people at airports when you ask for hand inspection... I have never had damaged film after years of carrying rolls inside transparent ziplock bags... I don't trust any city I travel to for buying the film I want... You can get lucky, but it's a big risk lately...

Cheers,

Juan

 

[Sean Moran]

Heat and x-rays and general film-unfriendly environments

Heat and x-rays and general film-unfriendly environments

One issue to consider is cumulative x-ray damage. I've stopped bothering asking for a hand check on my travels (Europe and Asia) so I'm keen to estimate film usage about right (to avoid schlepping the same unused roll of film on several trips and building up the x-ray dosage). In a new place, I budget for about 1.5 rolls per day, and in somewhere more familiar 1 roll per day. Indian cities seem to demand the most film.

Having said all this, I've found that even the rolls of hp5+ that have been on a number of trips (as an experiment), so subjected to the consequent x-ray and heat exposure, don't seem to have suffered. I still wouldn't use one that's been around a bit for anything important though.

Seán in Tipperary

 

[funkpilz]

I shoot two rolls of 135 a day on vacation, and two or three of 120.

 

[Roger Hicks]

8 rolls of 35mm per SHOOTING day. You can halve that for transit days. I shoot less than half as many rolls/day of 120 if I'm shooting 35 and 120.

Cheers,

R.

 

[MartinP]

You would have maximum space on the trip over by simply not carrying much film. Instead, make a film order a week or so before with one of the European mail-order places (eg. Macodirect, but there are plenty of others also mentioned in the forum) and have it shipped direct to your hotel. Let the hotel know in advance as well of course, just in case the film arrives quicker than you do.

How much ? In total, double what you would use on a touristy trip locally, bearing in mind that you don't really have to lug it over the Atlantic with you.

In an extreme case, you can even order small bottles of developer etc. from the same online source, then develop the film in a tank you take with you. That would remove any possible x-ray problem on the return trip too - but might be excessively paranoid. Carrying developed film means you can safely put it in checked baggage of course, which might be convenient.

Enjoy your trip 🙂

Forgot to point out, if you are over here for a few weeks and you are shooting a lot then there is no reason not to use the online places to send you a top-up order ! The pricing would certainly be more sane than the average local shop.

 

[jpa66]

Wow. Thanks for all the replies, everyone. My problem is with space - as I said already, it's going to be rather tight. I'll be in France for about two and a half weeks, and I'm figuring that I'll probably shoot around 4 rolls of 120 per day ( I'm just totally into my Rolleiflex right now ), with maybe two rolls of 35mm per day. That makes for a lot of film.

Based upon a lot of suggestions, I think I'll take everything out of the canisters, which should allow a lot more room. I'll only be in Paris for 5 days ( + one at the beginning ), and I've been there fairly often in the past ten years. I always find something interesting to shoot, though. It's my favorite city in the world. The other two places where I'll be going are more "in the country", but I've only spent limited time in one of them ( the Loire ), so I have no idea how much I'll be shooting versus simply soaking up the countryside.

The comments have been really helpful, and I'm going to try to carry as much as I possibly can. Thanks again for all your input.

JP