Simpler Better?

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ktmrider

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So, I am heading to Iceland in a few days and debating gear (have several other threads here on this subject). Presently, I have an M9 and M2 packed with 21/35/50/90/135 lenses and a tripod. I have also loaned a young lady another of my M2's and will be teaching her as we go.

It seems like an awful lot of gear. My thought is to leave the digital stuff at home, take the M2 with 21/50/90 (all have same filter size) and just carry TriX or HP5.

Am thinking that just concentrating on b&w film may produce better results then the shotgun approach with both digital and color. I have been to Iceland before so have some color of the landscape. This is the first time I have ever carried a tripod.

Thoughts?
 
I would have thought you would have this "in the bag" so to speak!

Yes. I agree. What lenses will your friend have on her M2? Does this effect what you take?
 
Great idea! BW negatives for classic prints :)
If tripod is going to be in use, why not slow film and filter to have long exposures....
 
The young lady is carrying one of my M2's with a 35 C-Biogon. She plans on having access to whatever lenses I will carry for my M.

Honestly, on all previous trips I have either carried just the 50 or a 35/90 combo. Again, the 21/50/90 combo all take 39mm filters and I would have access to the C-Biogon. I wonder if concentrating on b&w might result in stronger images instead of trying to shotgun both color and b&w.
 
I returned from Iceland last monday. I only shot at 90mm for 4x5 and 24mm for 135 format. For me it's a place of majestic magical places and at least for my style the only way to capture it is to get close and bring the audience of your pictures with you, thus wide angle :) But your style is your thing and you prepare what you feel you're going to need. Most likely less is more and even more time spend experiencing then thinking about gear.
 

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You're taking too much gear. More film, less equipment. Unless you've been there... in which case you know what you'll need.

Just my humble opinion. After two trips carrying a lot of my Leica inventory, I learned the lesson that works as title for this thread: simpler is (indeed!) better.
 
This is my second trip to Iceland. Five years ago, I carried a R6.2 with 28,50, and 135 and shot Ektar 100.

Again, thinking overcast would look better in b&w with yellow or orange filters. Of course, digital M9 would allow b&w and color. There are just too many damm choices and they are all good.
 
If it were me I would bring the M2 and lenses and a light weight carbon tripod.
Bring black and white as well as color film and enjoy your time.
 
Take one camera, three lenses, a decent quality telescoping travel tripod (might have to find an old one on ebay, new ones all seem to be junk) and a cable release.

It might not seem like much, but you'll end up getting annoyed trying to lug any more than that around all day. If you need to take a digi photo - just use your phone. :)
 
Given the choices you're asking about here, I would take the M9 along. One of the things I like about digital is not being stuck with the wrong ISO film when the light changes. Although it's no low light wizard, you're going to expand shooting opportunities by having it along, for color especially.
 
Well, I don't really plan on lugging everything all the time. The rough plan for the trip is to rent a car and drive the Ring Road, hiking along the way. We plan on camping unless the weather really sucks.

Young people I have along on the trip have never camped or shot film in a fully manual camera. So besides being the driver and guide, I will be a photography teacher. Don't know which I am looking forward to more: hiking in Iceland or teaching photography to a couple great kids (20 and 21).
 
tunalegs said:
Take one camera, three lenses, a decent quality telescoping travel tripod (might have to find an old one on ebay, new ones all seem to be junk) and a cable release.

It might not seem like much, but you'll end up getting annoyed trying to lug any more than that around all day. If you need to take a digi photo - just use your phone. :)
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Shen Hao 5x7, 135, 210, 450, Gitzo - travel light;)
 
I would definitely take both M9 and M2. Why leave the M9 home on an important trip? I might limit myself to four lenses. I'd leave the 135 home, as I don't care for that focal length on an RF. But that's just me, of course. So if you were to do that, you would be saving some weight and bulk (the 135 is heavy and bulky) and you would have 21, 35, 50, and 90. I would never go away without a 35!

If I were planning such a trip, I might take 24-35-50-90. The step from 21 to 35 seems too big for me. Or maybe 21-28-35-75. No, maybe . . .

Have a good trip!
 
Take a fly rod and some salmon flies

Take a fly rod and some salmon flies

Dear ktmrider,

I think you have all the gear you could possibly need but if I were you I'd have a fly rod and salmon flies handy.

Regards,

Tim Murphy :)
 
Tim: have an Orris seven weight four piece in the closet. There is not a lot of area to use it or three canoes here in the desert. I got home five days ago from a week in the BWCA so finally had a chance to use it, a canoe and an M2.
 
ktmrider said:
Tim: have an Orris seven weight four piece in the closet. There is not a lot of area to use it or three canoes here in the desert. I got home five days ago from a week in the BWCA so finally had a chance to use it, a canoe and an M2.
Click to expand...

Dear ktmrider,

Good for you! There are probably a couple of stock ponds near you to fling a fly? A couple of bluegills make a nice meal.

Never surrender!

And have a great trip to Iceland!

Regards,

Tim Murphy :)
 
photomoof said:
Iceland is a pretty safe place, you really would not have to carry all your gear around with you all the time, you could leave it with hotels. But if you carry, it is really a lot of gear.

A tripod is worth it for landscapes, but you don't need anything very large or substantial. I would even consider a carbon monopod. Tripods can become very tiresome, but again you don't need to take it everywhere.
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Back in 2007 I took my family to Europe-one week Mediterranean cruise, second week Paris. I had just joined RFF and became very fond of leisure photography and ended up taking WAY too much stuff on that trip.

Upon returning to Barcelona after the cruise I planned on leaving the photo gear with the hotel staff because the room wasn't ready yet. We were going on a tour of the city. It was in a bag which frankly looked like luggage so I wasn't worried.

Right on cue, wife says "ARE YOU GOING TO LEAVE ALL THAT CAMERA STUFF RIGHT HERE"?

So yes, I carried all that camera stuff all over that hot, humid city that day.
 
If she isn't especially experienced with film, metering, etc., one teaching approach might be to pack only the M9 + one M2, and treat the M9 in your hands as the metering/exposure tutor so she benefits from some 'digital previsualization' before making her exposure decision with the M2. If you use duplicate framing/composition for later comparison (teacher/student, dig./film), 35/50 are close enough to be instructive. This might help confidence-building while avoiding the less educational aspects of chimp syndrome.

Later, you might hand over the M9/take over the M2, and say Lesson's done. Let's each have fun.

Im going to be doing something similar soon with a young photographer. It just won't involve Iceland ;-(
 
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