Leaving for Roatan (Caribbean), what am I forgetting?

[Canuk]

So I am set to take flight tonight around Midnight for 12 days for fun in the sun. This will be the first time that I am going to try and go all film.
So I will post what I have packed, and if you would like, let me know what you think. Did I pack too much?

here goes;
M6
50mm Summicron
28mm Elmarit
35mm films;
4 - HP 5+
4 - FP4+
4 - Ektar 100
3 - Velvia 100
2 - Kodak Gold 400
2 - Fuji X-tra 400
and a couple various one off slide films, expired for experiments
Yashica 124g
Various slide and B&W films for 120.
Ricoh GXR w/ S10 24-70kit
Travel tri-pod
Small bag for carrying M6 a few films and GXR.
This is a Dive Trip so I will be taking my G12, Ikelite housing and strobes for that.

I would seriously like to try and do the whole trip with film and basically the GXR is there for back up, (its also new, lol).

Thanks for your time.
Brent

 

[Out to Lunch]

Well, I'd bring more film ;-); UV filters; polarizing filters; lens hoods, lens pen; cleaning cloth; spare batteries for the M6. Enjoy!

 

[Canuk]

I have cleaning cloths, hoods, lens pen, as well as spare batteries.
Unfortunately no filters of any kind for the M6, I have only had it for awhile and haven't been able to find any locally. Seems the 36mm is an odd size these days.

 

[thegman]

Sounds great, try some long exposures at dusk on the Velvia, you get some great purple skies.

 

[divewizard]

Bring a lot more film, you will not be able to find any there.

 

[Canuk]

I'll maybe throw a few more B&W into the back, its getting quite heavy already, lol.
I honestly dont think I will have time to shoot all that film, its my kids first time going there, so were gonna be busy. My son is getting his open water, and I plan on doing a bunch of snorkelling with both my son and daughter.

 

[Bob Michaels]

You can be assured that you will always have the wrong film loaded in your camera from carrying 6+ different film emulsions, some b&w, some color neg, some chrome, some fast and some slow.

You will probably also be assured of having the wrong camera in your hand by bringing 35mm, medium format and digital.

 

[Canuk]

The medium format is going to be staying at the hotel, mostly for sunset and nightscapes.
The M6 and GXR will be with me when walking around, but you are probably right about never having the ideal combination. I am curious though, what is the alternative?

 

[tuanvinh2000]

i think it's a lot too 🙂 since you would enjoy more time with family, bring one film + one digital only. 2 lens + m6 + film + the gxr would be great or just the yashica + gxr. 2nd option sounds better to me.

 

[Canuk]

I guess one other thing that I should also disclose, is that I am relatively newish to film and have not yet found my film of choice. I have the different types of film to try to find my favorite one.

 

[Bill Clark]

I'm a minimalist!

My wife & I spent about a week, touring four islands in Hawaii (cruise ship).

I took a Leica M4-2 with a 50mm Summarit lens. About 25 36 exposure Acros 100 films.

For digital I took one of my Canon Mark cameras (full frame sensor), two batteries & charger, couple of 8 gig cards and a 24-70 f2.8 lens.

That's it.

One item I should have brought is a tripod. Oh well, I don't intend making any large enlargements.

Last day spent about 8 hours touring Pearl Harbor. When I was in the Navy our ship docked in Pearl on our way to Viet Nam. Old man loaded up on Papaya! We were eating it for at least a month as I remember.

Worked just fine.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[Matthew Runkel]

I would bring a significant ND filter and probably something contrast-friendly like Portra 160 in place of those other color films. And malaria prophylaxis. Have fun!

 

[Vince Lupo]

Sounds like a lot of stuff for 'fun in the sun'. I'd personally bring a camera that I didn't care too much about, as sand and other mishaps could spoil that trip and those cameras of yours. Plus (having been in the Caribbean many times myself), less stuff to worry about means actually having 'fun in the sun'. When my wife and I went to the Caymans a couple of years ago, I just brought my E-P2 with a 20mm lens, and a Nikonos III and was able to get all the photos I needed -- both on land and in the water.

And unless that tripod can fit in the pocket of your camera bag, I'd say leave it at home!

 

[Canuk]

Sounds like a lot of stuff for 'fun in the sun'. I'd personally bring a camera that I didn't care too much about, as sand and other mishaps could spoil that trip and those cameras of yours. Plus (having been in the Caribbean many times myself), less stuff to worry about means actually having 'fun in the sun'.

And unless that tripod can fit in the pocket of your camera bag, I'd say leave it at home!

I buy my cameras to use, not worry about them.

The tripod is a travel type that doesn't take up much room at all, I would rather have then not, the sunsets where I am staying are gorgeous.

Not worried about having fun, been to this place several times. Have been going there for 3 years and my parents have been there for a month already.

 

[Vince Lupo]

Sounds like you know what you're doing then. Have fun!

 

[Pablito]

Be aware that Honduras, which is where Roatan is located, has a limit on how much film you can bring in. I think it is six rolls. If they catch you in customs with more than that you will have to pay a big tax. If you don't have the receipt to show how much you paid for the film, you will have to establish a value, since the tax is based on what it cost. Depending on the customs officer, they can claim the film is worth a lot more than its actual value. Another route is to offer a friendly payment so the situation goes away but this can be very tricky. Since the coup of 2009, corruption has gotten worse. They x-ray all bags in customs, or they always did in the past. I have done a lot of work there....

 

[Canuk]

This tax is something I wasn't aware of. I guess I'll just have to roll the dice and hope for the best. Customs getting into Roatan have always seemed fairly lax, leaving however they always hand check your bags.

 

[Pablito]

They value the cash that tourists bring in and are less likely to hassle a tourist than someone who is going there specifically to carry out a photo assignment.

 

[Canuk]

Well here's to hoping! I haven't travelled there with my film camera yet, I guess we'll see.

 

[Spanik]

A sherpa if I look at that list....