Rome & Tuscany -- gear tips?

[chris00nj]

BTW Chris00nj -- great shots of Italy on your Flickr account. Gorgeous stuff. Very inspiring, considering I'll be re-tracing your footsteps in about one week! 🙂

Thank you for the kind remarks.

The 21 - 35 - 50 setup with the Ikon/ Bessa would be my suggestion. Do you have a Zeiss Ikon and a Bessa R3a? i'm wasn't sure from your posts. I've never seen a Contax G1/2, but if it is heavier, it will be more difficult. Walking in the heat in Italy will make you want to not carry a lot of weight. Autofocus isn't a big plus when you are in the sunshine and have wider angles.

I sometimes felt the 21 was a little too wide for a "walkaround lens", and I had a big gap in between the 21 and the 50. The 35 will be a nice addition. These lenses are small enough that taking 3 won't be a big weight.

Negative film will be less stressful, because you always can err on the side of overexposure and have a perfect print. I found myself fussing a lot over slide film exposure adding unnecessary stress to a vacation that is supposed to be relaxing. (Except for a couple test rolls, it was my first outing with slide film). If you don't have a lot of experience with slide film, I would only take a couple rolls.

 

[Leigh Youdale]

I sometimes felt the 21 was a little too wide for a "walkaround lens", and I had a big gap in between the 21 and the 50. The 35 will be a nice addition. These lenses are small enough that taking 3 won't be a big weight.

I'd agree about the 21 but it's ideal for interiors or very narrow lanes and street scenes. I actually used 25/4 as a walk around lens because at that time I didn't have the 21. I do now. But I saw that the OP had the 21 but not the 25, hence suggested he went with the 21.
It's a toss-up between the 50 and the 75. The R3A has framelines for both but not for the 35. An external VF is no weight and not a problem in use.
My R4A has framelines from 21 up to 50. I'd probably take the fourth lens - the 75 - myself, but if I was really into saving weight and space then I have the CV 50/2.5 and I'd just take that. So, choosing from what the OP has, 21/4, 35/1.4, and 50/2.

 

[scorpius73]

I did the exact same trip as you last October for my honeymoon. I took an M6 and a Zeiss Ikon ZI. My lenses for the trip were the 28mm f2.8, 50mm f2, 90mm f2.8 Hexanons, Zeiss 35mm f2 Biogon and a CV 40mm f1.4. I aslo mixed my film between Kodak 160NC, 400NC and Kodak Tri-X.
Of my lenses the 90mm was used the least. I took a few shots with the 90 from the tops of hills in Tuscany of distant hill towns. The 40mm f1.4 was indispensible for indoor shots of churches and shooting at night. But take what you are comfortable with. I used a very small tripod for some shots. I just steadied it on a bench or whatever was closeby. Also, as others has said take your film as carry on. Ask for a hand check of camera gear and film. I did and it was no problem.
Here are some my shots.
http://picasaweb.google.com/iusefilmsince4ever/HoneymoonInItaly?authkey=Gv1sRgCPHI7PHKrfvkrgE#

 

[Freakscene]

A Nikonos. It can function when drenched in red wine.

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/freakscene/Africa+2009/South+Africa/img058a.jpg.html

Yes!

Marty

 

[bobby_novatron]

Scorpius, nice shots on your Picasa. I especially like the color photos.

Leigh -- yes, the R3A is a good option. I think the framelines are flexible enough that I could take a decent trio of lenses and be happy. Maybe a 21/4, a 50/2, and a CV 75/2.8 (just got that one in the mail today...good timing!)

I took my R3A out today, just to check the handling, etc., with the thought of "TRAVEL" in the back of my mind. A friend had a birthday party so I took it there and grabbed some party shots. I was pleased at how comfortable the R3A is to use.

Thanks again to everyone for their input.