Italy Travel with Digital and Film.

[maigo]

Off to Italy soon with the family in tow.
Starting in Naples and finding our way northwards to Milan to leave in the New Year.
Taking the Nikon Df with Zeiss Distagon 21mm f2.8 ZF.2, Zeiss Distagon 35mm f2 ZF.2 , and Voigtlander 58mm f1.4 SL-IIN.
For fun (and backup), also packing a F3HP with 5 rolls of XP2.
While it seems a lot to bring, I won’t carry everything with me each day. Just one body and one or two lenses.
First time to Italy.
Went to Spain in Dec/Jan last year and took the Bessa R4M with CV 21/4, 35/1.7 Ultron-M and Nikkor H.C 50/2 LTM. Shot 22 rolls of Portra 400 and 5 rolls of BW.
Decided not to spend wads of money on processing and scanning and instead put it towards the F-mount Zeiss 21/2.8 and CV 58/1.4.
Might change my mind at the last minute (wouldn’t be the first time) and take only the XPRO2 with Fujinon 28/1.4 and, perhaps, the CV Ultron-M 35/1.7
Or the XPRO2, 28/1.4 and GA645i.
help.

 

[segedi]

I was in Italy for 10 days in September and minimized my kit down to Fujifilm X-E4, 16mm f/2.8, 27mm f/2.8 WR, and a TTartisan 50mm f/2.

I'd say 85% were shot on the 16mm. Just a few shots with the 50mm. Doing it again, I would have brought a Sigma 18-50mm and the 23/2. Keep it simple. Enjoy Italy!

 

[DownUnder]

Fuji XE2, 18/2.0 (my most used lens), 18-55 (second most used), 14/2.8 (for those tight situations). Hoods, UVs, a polarizer, two 64 cards, and of course a charger. That would be my kit. My Nikons (D800, D700) are nowadays too heavy for me to carry about in a backpack - not that I carry the entire lot at one time, but well, you know - so they stay mostly at home and get used now and then. Sad, but we all get there in the long run.

It's in fact the entire kit I will take with me on Friday, when I fly to Bali and on to Surabaya, for two months in Indonesia. Mostly slow walks in various places in East Java, looking at and photographing volcanoes, old temples, decaying Dutch buildings, pretty landscapes, and of course people.

If I were to take a film camera with me (it's tempting, I admit it), it would be a Nikon F65 with a grip and a 35/2.0 or 28/2.8. Ilford FP4 and HP5, or XP2, a dozen rolls. To be used entirely for B&W, obviously.

Needs must. Your kit would be too much for me (I'm an old-timer), you must be much younger and more fit than I am.

Your trip sounds, well, bloody marvelous to me. I "did Italy" in the 1980s. Rome to Naples, Calabria, then Naples again, Sicily and a few of the nearby islands. Superb food, lovely people, gorgeous landscapes. I loved every moment of it and if I could, I would go back in (an electronic, obviously) flash...

Buon viaggio, amico!

 

[pyeh]

I went to Northern Italy and Southern France in 2019, taking my 89 year old mother for her last big trip. Since the trip was for her and we were traveling light I restricted my gear choice to the minimum. I took only a CLE and a 40/2.8 Rollei, with ISO400 C41 film. I found it was totally adequate for the pictures I wanted to take, except for the occasional instance when I could have done with a wider lens, but then I probably wouldn't have been bothered to swap lenses anyway.

Bear in mind that Milan's Malpensa airport uses CT scanners at their carry-on check. I think my films were affected by them. People on RFF say that Italian airport security do not take kindly to requests for hand checks but I never asked in my case. In retrospect, a small compact digital, for me a GRiiix, would have been just as useful for me, more convenient, and wouldn't have been (or rather much less) susceptible to airport radiation.

Have a great trip. It's exciting!

 

[raid]

I was with the family in Italy and in Switzerland last summer. I took only the M10 with a 5cm 1.5 Zeiss (1937). I may have added a 35 1.4 Summilux that I used on one day only. We arrived to Malpensa Airport. No film 🙂

 

[raid]

Off to Italy soon with the family in tow.
Starting in Naples and finding our way northwards to Milan to leave in the New Year.
Taking the Nikon Df with Zeiss Distagon 21mm f2.8 ZF.2, Zeiss Distagon 35mm f2 ZF.2 , and Voigtlander 58mm f1.4 SL-IIN.
For fun (and backup), also packing a F3HP with 5 rolls of XP2.
While it seems a lot to bring, I won’t carry everything with me each day. Just one body and one or two lenses.
First time to Italy.
Went to Spain in Dec/Jan last year and took the Bessa R4M with CV 21/4, 35/1.7 Ultron-M and Nikkor H.C 50/2 LTM. Shot 22 rolls of Portra 400 and 5 rolls of BW.
Decided not to spend wads of money on processing and scanning and instead put it towards the F-mount Zeiss 21/2.8 and CV 58/1.4.
Might change my mind at the last minute (wouldn’t be the first time) and take only the XPRO2 with Fujinon 28/1.4 and, perhaps, the CV Ultron-M 35/1.7
Or the XPRO2, 28/1.4 and GA645i.
help.

Did you visit Barcelona in your trip to Spain?

 

[Evergreen States]

My rules learned from the past few years traveling:
1. Take the camera and lenses you most use when shooting at home unless you have specific ideas or pictures in mind which require different equipment.
2. Bring as few things as necessary so that your choices have already been made. You're probably going to be using one - maybe two - lenses for the bulk of whatever you shoot.
3. Take no more than can fit in a single carry on.

For me, this usually means:
Fuji X-Pro3 and 35mm ƒ/1.4 and 23mm ƒ/2
Fuji X-Pro1 as backup that stays in the hotel. I might take this out instead of the X-Pro3 if I'm going into a sketchy area.

Sometimes I take a film camera too and, for the Fuji, either the 60mm ƒ/2.4 macro or 14mm ƒ/2.8 super wide. The most fruitful results from trips came from times I took a single X-Pro1 and either the 35mm or 23mm and used my iPhone for emergency wide angle or personal snapshots. 1C1L really is the way to go.

 

[raid]

It is very rewarding to use one camera and one lens. Everything works faster and you need to do some thinking with some images because of the one lens usage.

 

[Deleted member 65559]

If you're working with film, there look to be a number of fine labs in Milan. Simply have your film processed before flying home. I did that in Paris last year and it made the travel home stress-free....

 

[DownUnder]

Judge Holden has it spot-on in #7. I especially like the idea of the Fuji XPro 1, a greatly underrated camera and super good value to buy on the secondhand market these days.

What I will say now may be taken as Politically Incorrect so apologies in advance - I believe film has seen its day pass as a travel item, and digital is the safest choice. Those airport scanners are mean and potentially even nasty business. I travel a fair bit in Indonesia, and when I have to undergo a complete body scanat airports I often wonder what those evil rays do to my ageing body. So far so good, but in future, well, who knows? (Admittedly my future is shorter than most people here, but I still worry about my health.)

In another travel threat I've just posted a thought that for me, my True Love Kit for wandering around the globe would be one camera (DSLR or, even more ideally, mirrorless), a 28 and an 85. Of which I would use the WA 98.5 of the time, except of course at the Grand Canyon where the 85 would excel.

As it happens I will be going to Indonesia on Friday and what am I taking? A Fuji XE2 and FIVE lenses, ha!

 

[Deleted member 65559]

Judge Holden has it spot-on in #7. I especially like the idea of the Fuji XPro 1, a greatly underrated camera and super good value to buy on the secondhand market these days.

What I will say now may be taken as Politically Incorrect so apologies in advance - I believe film has seen its day pass as a travel item, and digital is the safest choice. Those airport scanners are mean and potentially even nasty business. I travel a fair bit in Indonesia, and when I have to undergo a complete body scanat airports I often wonder what those evil rays do to my ageing body. So far so good, but in future, well, who knows? (Admittedly my future is shorter than most people here, but I still worry about my health.)

In another travel threat I've just posted a thought that for me, my True Love Kit for wandering around the globe would be one camera (DSLR or, even more ideally, mirrorless), a 28 and an 85. Of which I would use the WA 98.5 of the time, except of course at the Grand Canyon where the 85 would excel.

As it happens I will be going to Indonesia on Friday and what am I taking? A Fuji XE2 and FIVE lenses, ha!

DU, If you're a darkroom printer, like some of us are.....film has not seen it's day & is not just replaced by digital imaging. There are work arounds...like having your film processed by a pro lab in a foreign city, or mailing it home. Travelling pros have been doing that since before the introduction of the new airport scanners.

 

[Bingley]

My travel kit since 2015 has been one small digicam, one small film camera, and two or three lenses. In trips taken in 2022 (to Prague, Saxony, and Berlin) and in 2023 (to Slovenia and Croatia) the kit was essentially the same: Olympus Pen F digital and a Rollei 35S. The lenses I used on the Pen F varied between the trips but were small in number and tiny in size. I can’t say enough about how the Rollei 35S is an excellent travel camera, especially with bw film. I didn’t miss not being able to change lenses and I appreciated the simplicity of this set up.

In a european trip in 2015, the film camera I took was a Leica IIIc, which was a lot of fun to use; I took only small 35mm and 50mm lenses. Shot bw in the Leica and used an Oly digicam for color photos. I might take that Leica on future trips abroad, but I must resist the temptation to take more than a couple of lenses.

 

[maigo]

OP here, thanks for all the advice.
Regarding screening machines, that’s certainly a risk, depending on the film sensitivity, machine type, operator behavior and bad luck.
I counted the number of times my film was scanned (airports, train stations, museums) in Spain during one months travel in 2022-23 and lost count after eleven.
I wasn’t beset with fogging, but I was cursed with bad composure and exposure. That’s on me though.

We are in Italy now and I decided to take all the gear above. Only 6 rolls of XP2 and primarily for monuments and interiors of buildings like Catholic Churches when I’m feeling like a dose of sadism. (Hmmm… what pillar can I lean on without getting yelled at so I can take this shot at 1/8s?)
Hours of sunlight are short, even down in Naples, but who wastes the golden hour on BW film?
I did take the Df. It’s really nice, but not as *real* as an F3.

The bag I’m using is the Lowepro Flipside AW350. Sturdy bag with good wait/hip support and a rain cover. The bag is divided into three sections: (1) upper for jackets, films, glasses, food, (2) outer for books, tablet, etc and (3) lower for camera lenses and bodies. The nifty part is that the lower section only opens on the inward side (which normally is against your back). This prevents troublemakers from opening the lower section and allows the bag to rotate from back to front, secured by hip belt, to open towards your body to swap lenses or take body in or out.
I used an earlier version of this bag for several years but the shoulder straps thinned out and the wait straps didn’t have hip supports.
Total weight with all the camera junk and a bottle of water is about 6kg. Manageable for all day when your knees are good and the bag fits well.

Today we were at the Museo Nazionale Ferroviario di Pietrarsa (National Rail Museum) and, in contrast to the Napoli alleys, it was nice to walk comfortably about with both cameras simultaneously sling over my neck and shoulder - like I might at home.
When I get to an Airbnb/Hotel where the wifi works I can start uploading from my SD card.

 

[DownUnder]

Lucky you, OP, to be in Italy with a fine Nikon and a snazzy Zeiss lens. You have pretty much the perfect travel kit there, I think.

Me, I won't be traveling with film any more, sadly (and I do mean this, sincerely so) it's been there done that. I do miss it, more from habit than usefulness, but in my case by 2009-2010 when Nikon came out with the D90 and D700 I realized digital had finally reached the level of quality I was looking for in my images. I "converted" then - but I also kept the Nikkormats.

Better to use Century 21 cameras for Century 21 travel. Way, way back (1960s) when I did my first overseas trips, travel was an entirely different world. Standards were far higher, in-flight service was to die for (symbolically!), land travel was slower., the people I met in my wayward wanderings were more friendly and hospitable (tho' I have to say in those parts of Asia I nowadays hang out in, they still are).

I recall vagabonding to and fro in the English countryside, picturesque in the extreme it was too, on buses so old, I felt much like a young background extra player in a prewar British film. With a Rolleiflex 3.5E2 and a Kodak Retina 1b in my (amazingly compact) travel bag. How simple it all was then.

The Zf is tempting but not the price tag. As a pensioner and "cautious" with my spending, I'v opted to wait until such time as a demo or secondhand one turns up in my preferred Melbourne camera shop, as one will if I hang around long enough. I hope the gods are listening...

Yes, photographing in churches and museums is a fine art in itself. For such endeavors I have a small tripod, a Hama GS31 I picked up at a deceased estate sale some years ago. It's tiny but sturdy and I seem to get away with using it propped on a pillar or a wall to steady my somewhat shaky hands. Many a fine image have I managed with this little gadget, mostly of Asian statuary in museums.

To say I'm envious of your journey is an understatement. In my case, so much time has passed since my last visit to Italy. Now in my 70s, I still cherish the hope to one day return, ideally before I'm too old to walk about with a camera bag on my shoulder, to revisit Naples and parts south then (if time and money allow) Sicily and as many of the nearby smaller islands as I can get to. I've yet to see Sardinia and Corsica and I also dream of finally making it there also. We have Aussie friends now retired in Gozo who have tried to lure me to that island for a long time, and I'm tempted. Alas, all this would be on my own as my partner is very much a home body, busy with work and our house and the cats, so I would be doing it on my own. Such treks are truly meant to be shared.

Some of those Lowepro bags are pretty good. I was down on them for a long time, until I recently costed a Billingham I had eyes on for years and realised I would have to float a mortgage to buy it (well, almost). Lowers are affordable and they serve their purpose, so for me it's very much a case of the perfect being the enemy of the good enough.

OP, please keep posting images and comments. And do enjoy as much good Italian tucker as you come across. The seafood in Sicily was one regarded as the best on the Mediterranean. Not sure about now, but if you make it down to Catania and Syracusa, do tell us all about it.

 

[Rayt]

What I will say now may be taken as Politically Incorrect so apologies in advance - I believe film has seen its day pass as a travel item, and digital is the safest choice. Those airport scanners are mean and potentially even nasty business. I travel a fair bit in Indonesia, and when I have to undergo a complete body scanat airports I often wonder what those evil rays do to my ageing body. So far so good, but in future, well, who knows? (Admittedly my future is shorter than most people here, but I still worry about my health.)

Last time I went to Venice I took my Ebony 4x5 and shot 60 sheets. I spent two days seeking out locations then got up 5am every morning for the shots. Mostly I shoot Rolleiflex and only used Leicas when I couldn’t bring that much film. It’s limiting to only shoot 12 frames per roll. The newer CRT scanner put an end to all that. With the older X-ray scanners it was fine for film to get zapped 4 or 5 times both ways in airports. The new scanner can damage your film and there’s no guarantee the agent is willing to do manual inspection. Imagine trying to explain what is sheet film to someone. Most of the time people are amazed film is still available.

 

[CMur12]

From what I'm reading here, my experience and preferences are different from those of most of my fellow RFF members.

I haven't traveled in a long time, but when I did, I used very different equipment from what I've used at home. At home, I would most often use a TLR (even a Mamiya C330f) mounted on a tripod and slung over my shoulder. (And I don't walk very far.)

For travel, I've always wanted a compact, lightweight camera that was quick to use and didn't get in the way of my other activities (or inconvenience my travel companions). I also didn't want to be slowed down by having to think about and execute lens changes. So, I always used a compact, fixed-lens RF camera (Olympus 35 RC, Vivitar 35 ES, and a Canonet QL 17 GIII), with a 40mm focal length. When I looked around and visualized photos, I simply saw everything from a 40mm perspective, without a thought about other focal lengths. With these cameras, I consistently got sharp, well-exposed slides.

For me, adding a second lens complicated the process unacceptably.

- Murray

 

[skahde]

I have been lugging the Nikon D800E through France in 2016, 2017 and 2018 together with the Zeiss ZF Distagons 2,8/21 mm and 2/35 mm.
At the end of 2018 I decided I had enough of it and I would be more productive with less weight on the shoulder and a smaller camera in my hands. Now I'm using Fuji X-T3 for interchangeable lenses and a X100V if 65° angle of view is all I need. I feel I should have kept the 2/35mm for my Nikon FE2 but other than that I don't regret sizing my equipment down at all.

 

[Prest_400]

2024 means more rollout of CT scanners, I am monitoring other users' experience and for the moment (this christmas break) I still fly off airports that have traditional Xray. Last summer they installed a new main security line which is CT here, but for my flight next week it means doing much more walking. Policy varies by airport out of the US (where TSA does handcheck), I mailed my airport to ask and they were fine with handchecks. I actually consider testing it out, as leaving cameras and electronics in the bag is convenient, while handing over film to the agent.

For the upcoming long trip (writing below) shall still see, because there is a whole bunch of transit security as well. Ugh. However, some film travellers report that in their experience, airports that rolled out CT scanners are more accomodating to handchecks; hopefully the manufacturers could get that into procedures.

As of Digital, the phone and a RX100 are doing fantastic. Both have become EDC and by convenience I haven't touched my m43 in a while.

To say I'm envious of your journey is an understatement. In my case, so much time has passed since my last visit to Italy. Now in my 70s, I still cherish the hope to one day return, ideally before I'm too old to walk about with a camera bag on my shoulder, to revisit Naples and parts south then (if time and money allow) Sicily and as many of the nearby smaller islands as I can get to. I've yet to see Sardinia and Corsica and I also dream of finally making it there also. We have Aussie friends now retired in Gozo who have tried to lure me to that island for a long time, and I'm tempted. Alas, all this would be on my own as my partner is very much a home body, busy with work and our house and the cats, so I would be doing it on my own. Such treks are truly meant to be shared.

I empathise with the different points of view, myself am planning a month long trip to Philippines (again, after postponing for years) and a good friend gave the idea to take an expedition together, with focus on photography. That really is bringing the idea forward.
In my to-do was to take Medium format for such a trip and ironically I still have 220 film that I purchased years ago for a previous trip that stopped on the planning phase. Recently got a Super Ikonta, to have a second compact MF camera.
I might eventually ask you in other channels (DM) about it, as to not go OT here given the focus on Asia.

You guys want me to visit Italy, alas, despite being from Spain and in the neighborhood I have been procastinating travel around the Mediterranean. In early autumn 2017 I did Torino-Genova, as well as Malta. The latter is as my sole "island hopping" with medium format done so far. Otherwise mostly digital and 35mm that is reasonably compact. Medium format I love tonality wise, but travel photography can be challenging as I would prefer having more frames per roll available.

 

[DownUnder]

You lucky photographers in Europe can indulge yourselves to your hearts' content with slow travel. Your extensive rail networks easily take you almost everywhere. In the '60s and '70s I made good use of trains in my European wandering, before I refocused my life on the southern hemisphere and moved to Australia.

I may be wrong on this point, but I doubt the various border crossings between countries bother to scan your films when you cross borders into a new country. Am I right in this?

We live in odd times for Century 21 international travel. Australia went topsy-turvy for travel during the Covid crisis. In Victoria where I live, overzealous politicians and police shut down most of the state and all of Melbourne city for many months. At the start before things got really out of hand and we were really locked up, I had to fly interstate on an urgent matter and at the airport, a passenger in front of me was literally strip-searched for weapons after a scan revealed, are you ready for this? a pair of nail clippers in his pack. This really did happen. Someone on my flight told me they had a toothbrush confiscated as a possible lethal weapon. (Sighs.)

Prest 400 raised some interesting points and I noted he plans to go wandering in Asia with a Super Ikonta, a camera I particularly like even with the annoying "trait" of older Ikontas to give 11 6x6" negatives on a 120 film roll. (It seems there is a trick to squeeze a 12th shot from every roll, a video for this was on YouTube, so Prest and it may be worth your time to search for it.)

Let us not forget that Italy (like Spain) are only two of 180+ countries in the world. Many (like North Korea) are not easy to get into now, assuming anyone would want to, and there are other places (I personally dislike and try to avoid tourist economies, and Papua New Guinea and some of the lesser Pacific islands are on my No Go To List) where I reckon one has to be a masochist to want to visit, but for all these stark realities much of the world is worth visiting. That is while we still can.

I am much older than Prest, and these days when I travel I try to go as light as I can, if one would call "light" a Fuji XE2 and five lenses, a portable tripod, lens hoods and filters, and of course cards and a charger. But my kit is much less heavy than my previous Nikon D700 and D800 outfits, my days of carting either of those two bricks around are now history for me.

At the least I would take one Fuji XE2 and two Fujinon lenses, the 14 (= 21mm) and the super good 18-55 kit lens. Easy to carry and none of the hassles of having my ilms ultraviolated at every airport I fly in and out of. For me, this is the ideal way to go.

I've written all this , so I will stop now. Except to say that I now prefer to travel to see the world through my own eyes, not from the viewfinder of my camera, as I did for so many decades.

 

[Prest_400]

With Schengen, many border crossings are hassle free. Border controls are mostly ID/Passport, having heard of Germany doing mostly for night trains. Depending on where, trains are also very seamless to travel with. I think most nations have controls for High speed trains, but Intercity ones mostly not. I did Stockholm to Oslo, 5h30 last spring, which made me reconsider how relaxed train travel can be.

During Covid I shuttled between my home country and here, it was an interesting experience. During November 2020 I went though the quietest Security screening at Barcelona, that even the security agent at the machine struck a couple minute conversation. Cheese calls the operators' attention, and yet having my mju I and film, didn't bother with handchecks.

Folk actually want to travel, with that urge also being shared by me. I like technological aspects of air travel but not the economy class, transit and security herding. Of course the good old days still exist by paying business class together with lounges and priority perks.

The sanity of intercontinental travel with a Fuji GW690 + Super Ikonta IV, aka two "Original Brownie" medium formats, make me consider sometimes if it is insane. But also in the age of AI, traditional photography is showing its value as well; and digital now we know provides great results.
But it's not the most annoying hobby luggage I can imagine at airports, musicians and sportspeople have more bulk although theirs is not affected by CT scanners.

Actually the model Super Ikonta I have does 12 frames a roll! Its meter is dead but I am getting a hotshoe model for convenience. The last years I have done mostly weekend trips without photography as focus, and this 6x6 seems a good option to just go "Dolce Vita" with larger format more relaxed shooting on trips.

A particular challenge is the ratio of frames/roll and quantities to take. Of course it is still an amazement that a RX100 is as bulky as a single film pro pack and can do a lot.

I've written all this , so I will stop now. Except to say that I now prefer to travel to see the world through my own eyes, not from the viewfinder of my camera, as I did for so many decades.

It is appreciated to see different experiences and points of view, sometimes I do also relax and just rely on memories or cameraphone, which are about the best snapshooting tool now!