Sell everything and get an MP a la carte?

[ian_watts]

And from my posts about getting a new MP I had some private message responses that severely called into question the quality control and service back-up for that camera.

I can add to that too. I have bought three new M film cameras in the last six years and all of them have required warranty service. The latest is at Wetzlar with no indication of when it will return.

 

[DownUnder]

Yes, also the Contax 21!

Yes, also the Contax 21!

Good choice.

I assume you are taking the 28, 35, 45, and 90mm lenses. If you are not taking the 21mm, what is the fifth lens?

Oop, my misteak (sik)... Yes, also the Contax 21, an ideal lens for those Confederate cemetery shots where I want medium-close shots of timeworn gravestones and everything else also in focus.

The Contax 21 produces the least distortion of any 20 or 21 I've ever used. My Nikkor 20 is tops for contrast and crisp colors but a circular-line queen by comparison.

The 21 and 28 are my two absolute favorites for almost everything I shoot on film now. With the 45 as a close 2nd. The 35 and 90 get used maybe once a year, altho' they are as good lenses as the rest of the Contax Zeiss range, they just do not suit my particular vision.

Using a G1 for color (I favor Ektar for crisp Kodachrome-like colors) and a Rolleiflex T for B&W will give me quite a strong creative and mental challenge. Also returning to places I first visited and photographed in the 1960s with a Yashica D (I still have all my old negatives and slides, the latter in surprisingly good condition, perhaps due to careful home processing) to reshoot for one last time, five decades later.

 

[sepiareverb]

...
Paring down the photo gear into sensible lots, whether or not to take the two camera kits, and how to pack and carry so much film will be my next big challenge...

Sounds like one magnificent trip, quite envious. If it was me I would FedEx the film to the US, and then back home. They are quite happy to treat it properly if told it is photosensitive material, and the cost would be minimal compared to the rest of the trip.

While here, a nice big cooler might be an option, the SW heat will be brutal on film, as will the SE heat/humidity. Cold packs could be recharged easily as many hotels here now seem to have a fridge in the room.

With FedEx you might even be able to ship exposed film home to a friend or family several times over the trip- so as to not need to worry about prolonging the potential damage to latent images. Or, processing film in a hotel bathroom isn’t difficult, a tank and reels could be picked up once you land here, that and chemistry would fit in a small carry-on bag with ease.

Once (years ago, when I looked the part, and pre security) drove across and developed film in college labs along the way. A few questions as to where the photo department was, and an early evening of developing would result. Met some fun people too. Nowadays, without the proper badges, and with all this grey hair I’d be escorted to the edge of campus in a minute.

 

[brennanphotoguy]

So how did that work for your Instagram? Did you have to crop EVERY picture square?

You don't have to do square crops on IG. 35mm horizontal images don't crop side to side but vertical images crop to 4x5.

 

[twhittle]

You don't have to do square crops on IG. 35mm horizontal images don't crop side to side but vertical images crop to 4x5.

Exactly what I was about to post, however I'm not sure this chap cares very much for the answer.

Interested in your results of one film/ dev efforts. . .

I guess I have been doing this with the Pentax 67: mostly in the studio with the 135/ 4 macro and FP4 in ID-11. This set up makes for easy printing in the darkroom.

 

[twhittle]

What an amazing trip! I am very jealous too.
When I did a similar thing a few years ago in Korea I got my colour film process along the way- much easier to travel with cut negatives than rolls of film, it's more compact and you don't worry about all those X-rays.

The gear choice sounds good too, I had the Contax G1 with 45 and 90 about a decade ago and loved the zeiss glass!

Dang it all! So many good ideas here. As a true-blue Saggitarian, I've decided to go with two 'thoughts' picked up from posts in this thread, in 2018.

I voted sell nothing, but then changed my mind and wanted to go with sell some and use the rest - but I couldn't.No option to change my vote. So as a good card-carrying Saggitarian, I voted again. Is this ethical? If not, why not?

As much as I love new toys to play with, in my old age I already have more than enough cameras at home to keep me happy and busy for the rest of my (I hope, long) life.

Moving on with all these thoughts, typically for me, I can never make up my mind as to which (one) camera I would want to use most in 2018. So for the sake of (partly) pleasing myself while at the same time (mostly) using up the hundreds of films I have in two freezers at home, I've decided as follows -

So the final decision is... drum roll!

A Contax G1 kit with five lenses (28 through 90) for the about 400 rolls of 35mm film (at last count, not including the few bulk rolls in the kitchen fridge) I have and want to use up before they (or I) expire; and

A Rolleiflex T with a 16 exposure kit and plenty of toys (filters, close ups grips, etc etc etc) for the 120 film.

To help me through all this, come May we will be heading off to North America for what, given my age (70) and general level of (fair to middling) health and mobility, may be my last 'big trip' to places I grew up in.

Over three or four months we plan to 'do' Hawaii, southern California, Arizona and New Mexico (I went to school there, our bases will be Silver City and just out of Santa Fe),then across the USA, stopping at various Confederate battle fields, to New Brunswick, Canada, for six weeks exploring the beauty spots of Atlantic Canada. I grew up near Moncton (NB) with summers spent at family cottages in Shediac Cape, so a lot of childhood nostalgia here, to be visited and explored for what will probably be my last time.

Then a long, long (and fortunately for us, leisurely) drive across Canada to Vancouver and back home via Hawaii.

My partner is sort of into photography but much more into researching bits of interesting history (battlefields, Indian settlements, and so on) and loves driving. So I am, as they say here in Tassie, "in like Flynn" for this journey.

Not to be overlooked, said partner will also be taking along a Nikon D700 kit for those 'essential' shots to be captured easily and quickly while I am fussing about on some battlefield or reservation with my antiques.

Paring down the photo gear into sensible lots, whether or not to take the two camera kits, and how to pack and carry so much film will be my next big challenge...

The idea of one camera, one lens appeals but with so much gear to pick and choose from, and so much film to be used, it really is not a sensible option for me at this time in my life. Others I'm sure will have similar reasons for their choices.

Life's fun, and choices are everything, so whatever we decide, go for it and enjoy it to the fullest, I say. While we can.