Paris photos...too many options!

[PatrickT]

X100 would be great....

But I'd be tempted to take some slide film as well...how often are you going to go to Paris? Is the cost to process it really that much that you'd avoid shooting it?

Personally, for me, it'd be the M6 + T3 + trix (or whatever) + ISO100 Slide Film.

 

[FrankS]

Well, that's what I get for asking on a rangefinder forum! 😉

My first inclination was the M6 and Tri-X. After some soul searching, I think it would be heresy not to walk Paris (France!) and shoot a Leica.

I think the answer is the M6, Zeiss 2/35, and BW400CN, which can be easily bulk-processed and scanned relatively inexpensively...maybe stuff the T3 into a little bag to carry to dinner or something.

How is that for a complete turnaround?

Yeah !

 

[andredossantos]

I would take all three (the Nikon D700 with a prime lens), and pack them in a large bag. I'd also pack a small bag inside the large bag.

Then, on a daily basis you can decide what to bring.

Then again, I may be the wrong person to ask. Last trip I went on I brought a FF DSLR, two Rolleiflexes, a Leica M2, and an Olympus compact 🙂. I only really used the Rollei's and the M2 but I was glad I had the options. Everything else was left behind in the room.

 

[neelin]

I did Paris in 2007 with an m8. 2010 was back to film r4m (15/25/40), rollei35, Neopan400 & DoubleX. Don't think I'd ever bother with the M8 in Paris again.

 

[JohnTF]

And yep, I've thought of that too. In my mind, that introduces two complications...souping Tri-X AND getting slide film developed 🙁 So still contemplating.

I'm actually leaning towards the T3 and slide film.

When I shot chromes, I took the film to Kodak's office, I believe on Ave. Stalingrad in Ville Juif, (end of line 7), put them in mailers, and they were at home by the time I was. Do not know if it still works that way, they forwarded the film to Switzerland and posted it home.

I used to carry a couple Domke bags of cameras, and sometimes simply a Fuji 645 Folder.


I tend to go lighter now for a number of reasons, and a bag for a couple of RF bodies and some lenses.

Regards, John

 

[Kherberos]

Well then, M6/35 and maybe T3 too, BW400CN.

Honestly, I am in Paris 3 days a week, and I don't think a sole 35mm would do it for me AT ALL.

a 35 for snap shot, may be. But if you start shooting ancient buildings, churches, small streets of the quartier latin or Marais, this may turn out quickly frustrating…

At the very least, a 28mm would be my choice.

And considering the awesome weather we are having now, I would choose nothing with higher sensivity than 100 asa.

Maybe the best thing would be a cam with 50 asa, and a another one with a higher sensivity film. Paris is an all black and white material town, and when the weather is really bright the contrast is quite rude.

I am not representative of anything, but here what I have in my bag when I am on duty in Paris :

Leica IIIc with elmar 50mm f/3,5 Neopan 1600 or Agfa Scala 200 @ 1600 (for inside shots)
Leica IIIg with heliar 50mm f/3.5 Adox CHS 25 or APX 25 ; but fuji acros is fine also (for ultra bright days like now)
Leica MP with CV 28mm f/3,5 with velvia 50

And I keep my summicron 35mm in ltm at reach.

And I can swap lenses if needed, of course. I use a small CV minifinder.

Unfortunately, I don't have a 21mm for my range finder, not yet.

All this hold in a (small) shoes box.

And if you want to process all your films in situ, not cheap but very reliable hand made development services can be obtained at Arka lab, rue notre dame des champs.

 

[Doug]

Not such a good idea, IMO, to take a new camera on an important trip. Better to take gear with which you are comfortable, confident of reliability, very familiar with the operation, etc. I would keep it simple, as others have suggested.

But when I visited Paris for a couple weeks I carried a Petriflex SLR + 50mm for slides, a tripod for night shots, a Petri half-frame for color print film, and a Minolta 16II for black and white. Too confusing, and... this wasn't very recently either!

Have fun!

 

[David_Manning]

The normal way I shoot BW400CN is at 200iso in daylight to control contrast. I've never shot it at 100iso, though it's data sheet says it can do that. Maybe I'll just change the iso as I go, from earlier to later in the day, and just stick to one film.

The funny thing is, I got "clearance" 😉 to buy an X100, but now I can't find one! Ugh!

 

[Instantclassic]

Take the camera you're REALLY used to using. I've done seven trips to Paris, and it's my favorite city in the world. Best kit is the camera that is the most "second-nature" to you. One camera, one lens, one film. Keep it REAL simple and light and you'll be REAL happy you did!

Trying out different sets and a number of lenses I am sticking with the gear I use the most. One Leica M2 and the Summicron 35IV. A bag (Leica L2) with film and a bottle of water together with a Moleskine notebook and the Gossen Digisix will have to do. And yes, only B&W although I really like the Ektar.

Paris?
Yes, I am going tonight.

 

[kdemas]

That combo will be great. Have a terrific time in my favorite city!

Trying out different sets and a number of lenses I am sticking with the gear I use the most. One Leica M2 and the Summicron 35IV. A bag (Leica L2) with film and a bottle of water together with a Moleskine notebook and the Gossen Digisix will have to do. And yes, only B&W although I really like the Ektar.

Paris?
Yes, I am going tonight.

 

[Stravinsky]

It's interesting to compare the individual choices by members in front of this great classic.
And it is funny to find this thread now: I'll be in Paris for business in one week and I am anticipating the evening that I'll devote to shooting around.

My choice? It will be M6, Nokton f/1.1, Color Skopar 21 f/4 and a choice of film I already have: PlusX (if I'll manage to start early in the afternoon), TriX, Delta 3200 and Ultramax 800 (which works great at night with the Nokton).

Ciao,

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

So there you have it. I'm asking for opinions. Naturally, if I had an X100 it would probably fit the bill perfectly, but I don't have one...yet anyway 🙂

My recommendation? Bring them all. If you're torn between only (and I say that because I've had to reduce my camera load down to 6 in more than a couple of occasions) three cameras...no point in pulling your hair about it.

Bring them over. I do not recommend you walk around with all of them, but you will find that one camera will suit you better one day than the other. You don't believe me? Try the M6 first. Great, you'll think. But then miss the dSLR. Try then the D700. Great, you'll think, but then you'll miss not standing out like the tourist that just got off the bus from Charles De Gaulle.

During my first trip to Paris I brought two cameras: one dSLR and the other a film SLR; about four different zooms and one fixed lens. The first three days I loved having brought the dSLR. But then, the last two days I opted for the simplicity of one lens + film. It was my vacation during my vacation.

During a different trip I brought my M8, the M6, the M2, my Rolleiflex, the Canon 5D and a not-so-crazy array of lenses and film. I used them all. I wouldn't do that again, but at least I know from experience.

The "worst" I've done in the past year is bring both the 5D, the M8, the M2 and my Super Ikonta during the same trip, but that being the exception, I usually just bring the M8, and one other.

It is better to bring them all and then see what fits you better "away from home" in the future than having to guess every single time.

My twopence (+ TVA)

 

[kuzano]

The "worst" I've done in the past year is bring both the 5D, the M8, the M2 and my Super Ikonta during the same trip, but that being the exception, I usually just bring the M8, and one other.

HI,
Question for you. Am considering a Canon 5D as my only digital camera.

Can you tell me how the 5D fares in the range of cameras you listed in your post. First part of that question is where the 5D places among the list for you?

5D's with relatively low shutter counts are starting to show up regulary for $800 to $900 and that is attractive to me. I do know about the expense factor on full format lenses, but I am seeing the highly regarded 28-135 showing up for a bit over $200.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

HI,
Question for you. Am considering a Canon 5D as my only digital camera.

Can you tell me how the 5D fares in the range of cameras you listed in your post. First part of that question is where the 5D places among the list for you?

5D's with relatively low shutter counts are starting to show up regulary for $800 to $900 and that is attractive to me. I do know about the expense factor on full format lenses, but I am seeing the highly regarded 28-135 showing up for a bit over $200.

I like my Canon 5D a lot. To me it's as indispensable as my 50D, as the M8, M6 and my GF1 in that it's unique among all of them in the list, and that I have the ability to choose it when I need it. I tend to grab it when I know I really want true non-cropped wide angle focal lengths, or any of my 50mm primes.

 

[siracusa]

I also like the 5D. However, I would go with the M6. On my last visit to Paris I took only my M2, a Nokton 50 1.5 and a 35 (which would have been either a Summaron 3.5 or a CV 35 2.5. My intention was to travel light. I haven't really ever gotten to grips with using flickr (though I keep trying to start uploading regularly, I rarely do), but here are a few examples of some of my snaps with that kit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/siracusa2010/sets/72157625613166310/
Paris is so photogenic I'd happily even go there with any o p&s (indeed, once I went with only a Stylus Epic). But if you take the M6 you won't regret it ;-)

 

[lorriman]

To address some of your concerns and open up your options you could

a)get an 8 roll tank
b)get an old 50mm 1:1 macro lens with a bellows and slide holder (adapted for uncut rolls of film)

The latter will allow you to 'scan' super-quick and cheaply both the tri-x and the slides with the DSLR. Invert the negs, levels and curves and moments later you have your pic. If you don't have the software then for Windows: irfanview with the smarcurves plugin works fine (it'll even do the equivalent of levels) and they are both free (also install the irfanview plugins package as well to activate adobe plugin compatability). Gimp, a famous opensource graphics package, can do spotting and healing (and cloning) and is also free. See here for my rig:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/midnighttoadstool/5621795459/

closeup on the adapted slide-holder (that came with the bellows) :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/midnighttoadstool/5676296437/in/photostream

and here for processing :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/midnighttoadstool/3816597551/in/datetaken/

(scroll down to the comments)

To make maximum use of the captured images' data then use raw for 14bit data and process only in Gimp as Irfanview is 8bit only. In theory this can avoid posterisation when the histogram is stretched but in practice I've never seen it even with 8bit processing. The Gimp curves, however, is very inferiour to smartcurves, but apparently with a bit of help from online guides you can make adobe plugins work in Gimp so that may still be an option. Smartcurves doesn't work in the linux version of Gimp, however, which is what I mostly use, whereas it does in irfanview on linux.

Here's an example, snapped with a mere p&s (Fuji F30) of a reala (expired) negative:

direct link

 

[Leica0Series]

I'll be there in a month for a few days, with part of only one day free to wander around and take pics. Am thinking of using my Canon S90 for work stuff and my 0-Series for fun stuff. I've been there a couple of times before so I have most of the touristy things out of the way so I can just rattle around and look for images that interest me.

 

[Vics]

The normal way I shoot BW400CN is at 200iso in daylight to control contrast. I've never shot it at 100iso, though it's data sheet says it can do that. Maybe I'll just change the iso as I go, from earlier to later in the day, and just stick to one film.

The funny thing is, I got "clearance" 😉 to buy an X100, but now I can't find one! Ugh!

Don't do anything you haven't tried before. Shoot your film the normal way you do. Don't take any new-to-you gear. Trust me on this!

 

[Michiel Fokkema]

Nowadays I'd take my M7, 35 and 75 lenses. This is light enough to also carry my Noblex which I really like.
But last time I brought a Mamiya 6 with all three lenses.
Depending on the weather/season 100 and 400 film one more then the other.

Cheers,

Michiel Fokkema

 

[filmfan]

Anyone who tells you to bring a lot of gear has obviously not done much traveling...