Travel Advice: Keep It Simple, Stupid...

Quick question: knowing the location and assuming the final choice is Xpan, MP - 35/f1.4, 50/f2.0, 50/f.10 - Minolta TC-1, what film/combination of films would you take from below and why?

Fuji Pro400H
Fuji Pro160S
Fuji Pro800Z
Kodak 160NC
Kodak 400NC
Kodak Portra800
 
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That's a lot of gear. Are you actually going to be carrying stuff when you are trekking (maybe there is a group minibus) or even walking around town ? Going on a photographic trip for work is different to going on holiday with g/f, in my opinion (maybe I had the wrong g/f's . . .).

If you take a lot of gear, apart from the practicalities of lugging it around without spending your whole time worrying about it getting nicked, you will use most of it almost not at all. It just isn't worth the hassle.

All my trips have involved one "good" film camera and an absolute maximum of three lenses. I'd say take one M body, a 35/50, (according to personal choice) and a 21 or 15. That's it - plus extra film of course. Your girlfriend can carry a film-compact or digital p+s (or her own M), so that will be adequate as backup. For peace-of-mind, it could be possible to get the body serviced before the trip, and also leave enough time to test it thoroughly.

Enjoy the trip . . . after all, if it was just for photography you would be using 10"x8" sheet film, wouldn't you ?
 
My choice would be Kodak 160 NC and 400 UC, both because of the colors they produce. 400UC at night has something ... :)
 
The minimalist in me would take two M bodies (I'd leave the MP-3 at home and bring another M if you can), a 50 and a 35 (plus one more if you must), and the TC-1.

I find that having more equipment at hand can get in the way of good photography. Recently, I was blown away by RFFer Markus Puustinen's series 'Light Leaks from Rome' using only a Holga and a Diana.

http://markuspuustinen.com/galleriat/08/08/light_leaks_from_rome/
 
Here's something I don't understand -- the *true* once-in-a-lifetime shots you'll be doing with your XPan anyway. I mean, South American night life is charming, but hardly unique.

Maybe you are asking the wrong people. Tell you what, pack your XPan for sure. (You should know that film does *not* stitch together as nicely in Photoshop as digital.) Then, ASK YOUR GIRLFRIEND. She knows you, she probably knows more about your equipment and how you use it than she lets on.

Remember, just because some of the shots are once-in-a-lifetime, it doesn't mean that every moment will be. (Though romantic interludes, incompatible with too much picture taking, might be.)
 
MP, 35/50 Lux, Xpan & GR. (Small Tamrac backpack/Gitzo fibre tripod.)
400 Portra NC.

Enjoy.
 
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For "romantic interludes" you can shoot one handed with the 15 (No, I won't try to post any here!). I think that it's time to come up with a new set of capital letters ~ CGSS ~ which stands for Compulsive Gear Schlepping Syndrome.
 
Xpan + MP & 2 luxes + Portra 400 + NPZ/Neopan. Get real mate, do you honestly think going to dodgy places at night with your girlfriend a good idea ? Get a kodak instant camera for that if you do.
 
Just take it all. It's not that much extra weight, and you can leave it in the hotel/hut if you have to, but you can't zip back home to pick up the TC-1. Make a quick note at the end of the day as to which camera/lens you ended up using so you can refer to your own notes before your next trip instead of asking the clowns here (kidding, gentlefolk). This clown would only take the MP, 400NC, and 35 summilux.
 
I would take the xpan, the least valuable of your M bodies, the noctilux (since you insist on it), and a wide angle lens of some sort. If both of your M bodies are chrome, and you are worried about going somewhere "dodgy," just gaffer tape over all of the chrome and the red dots. If you are going to walk around dangerous neighborhoods at night, you have things to worry about before you even begin to worry about your camera equipment.
 
...If you are going to walk around dangerous neighborhoods at night, you have things to worry about before you even begin to worry about your camera equipment.
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Agree with this sentiment. Have friends from Buenos Aries and they would likely suggest avoiding these areas at night, period, and also not to hail taxis on the street at all.

As for cameras, definitely the Xpan, either M, 35 and reconsider if you really need to bring down two 50s. If you have room, a p+s.

Maybe think about a couple of rolls of b/w as well.
 
urban_alchemist said:
Quick question: knowing the location and assuming the final choice is Xpan, MP - 35/f1.4, 50/f2.0, 50/f.10 - Minolta TC-1, what film/combination of films would you take from below and why?
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That's still US 10-15k worth of gear and will endanger both you and your girlfriend where you are traveling. I wouldn't leave that much gear in my room at an established hotel in either Europe or US.

I recommend watching the movie Hostel before you leave :)
 
hey, take the xpan, street panos are also great, forget about your M gear, and take along the dodgy cheap something for the moments when you don't want to look rich.

Forget about this lux and that lux and this MP and that MP. Heavy stuff and too expensive and unnecessary.
 
russianRF said:
Here's something I don't understand -- the *true* once-in-a-lifetime shots you'll be doing with your XPan anyway.
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Well said - and why the XPan is a cert...

russianRF said:
ASK YOUR GIRLFRIEND. She knows you, she probably knows more about your equipment and how you use it than she lets on.
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I did ask her - all she said was that I have to take an M body (any body) and my Noctilux. She said that of all the photos I take, that combination leads to the most 'irreplaceable' images.

russianRF said:
Maybe you are asking the wrong people.
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D'ja think? :p

maddoc said:
My choice would be Kodak 160 NC and 400 UC, both because of the colors they produce. 400UC at night has something ... :)
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Just bought 5 5-packs of UC. Totally missed this film first time out. Checked it out on Flickr. Wow!

Generally not so much a fan of 160 films - none seem to have the creamy, unsaturated vividness of 400H, 400NC or 400UC. They seem to be a bit more lucid, and not in a good way...

The question is: is 400ISO film too light-sensitive to use with a 1/1000 shutter in tropical sunlight?

Al Kaplan said:
I think that it's time to come up with a new set of capital letters ~ CGSS ~ which stands for Compulsive Gear Schlepping Syndrome.
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You'll get my vote... :D:bang:
 
If it were me and I wanted to come back with panoramas at all, I'd take the XPan and the MP with one Summilux, probably the 50mm because I think it gives more options for shooting people. If I was not committed to coming back with panorama, I would take the MP with one Summilux and my widest M lens, and the TC-1. In either case, there is a backup camera.

You truly don't need a Noctilux to walk around at night. The 35mm Summilux works very, very well for this and I'm sure the 50mm does too.

I very rarely miss the cameras and lenses I don't have with me.
 
My only comment for you is something I mentioned in another thread recently. When I first got back into photography, I only had a camera and one lens. I didn't feel limited until I started looking at books and magazines talking about lenses, lenses, lenses. I found a way to get the shots I wanted.

Just something you might want to consider. Your g/f's advice, perhaps one or at most two other lenses, and a P&S type camera for places you want to enjoy more than guard gear.
 
Sounds like a great trip. Let me just ask one question. You mentioned tango - do you plan to photograph or to dance?
 
ferider said:
That's still US 10-15k worth of gear and will endanger both you and your girlfriend where you are traveling. I wouldn't leave that much gear in my room at an established hotel in either Europe or US.

I recommend watching the movie Hostel before you leave :)
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The possibility of having the photo gear stolen was one of the factors that I took into account when traveling to Syria. That's why I left my M3 and M6 behind in the USA and also the Summicrons. A few years ago, I had a Canon 85mm/1.2L on a T90 while taking a walk in Jordan. I guy kept following me, and then he insisted that I sell him the outfit. I just said No, and kept on walking ... and walking.

Travel light in all aspects, and you may enjoy the trip far more.
 
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