Traveling to Thailand...what to take? RF and MF questions.

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drazin

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im honeymooning in thailand and want to take a few cameras.... im taking my M6ttl with a 35mm summicron and i was thingking id want a medium format camera with me.

i have a hasselblad 501cm with the 80mm lens. its large heavy and non metered.

should i sell it and get a mamiya 7 or 7 II ?

should i sell it and get a hasselblad x-pan II or regular instead?

i cant decide.

any opinions would help but i think im set on selling the hasselblad.
 
In my opinion, the mamiya 6 is the ultimate travel system. Light, rugged, collapsible, 3 super lenses. And metered. The only drawback is that the fastest lens is f/3.5. But you can easily handhold to 1/15.
 
Hello drazin,

How long will you spend there? I would advise you to travel light. M6 + 35 cron and maybe a wide angle if you have one and a 90 for portraits (depending on where you go, people are quite happy to be photographed).

I'd advise against selling any of your gear; just take an RF system, but that's just me.

Thailand is a wonderful place, enjoy! :)
 
we will be there for 16 days spliting time in bangkok chang mai and phukket.

we are going to be doing day trips and i will be carrying a bag so i dont mind a M6 + 1 more camera...

i will look into the mamiya 6 system
 
drazin said:
im honeymooning in thailand and want to take a few cameras.... im taking my M6ttl with a 35mm summicron and i was thingking id want a medium format camera with me.

i have a hasselblad 501cm with the 80mm lens. its large heavy and non metered.

should i sell it and get a mamiya 7 or 7 II ?

should i sell it and get a hasselblad x-pan II or regular instead?

i cant decide.

any opinions would help but i think im set on selling the hasselblad.
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You will experience that the tropical climate of Thailand is unforgiving to electronics. If you are not careful, your GSM telephone just might break down. Mine did. I would NEVER trade a 501CM for a Mamiya or an XPan. As trading a Rolls Royce for a Ford Pinto. (Are you out of your mind?!) Neither of the Mamiya nor the XPan are so reliable as the 501CM or have the same picture quality potential. I brought with me my 905SWC, just by coincidence, to one of our yearly trips to Malaysia. I regard the pictures I took with it that year as a treasure besides none.

This is your honeymoon! A very special occation. Sure, you are going to bring the 501CM! Without the prism viewfinder it is light and compact. Fill it with Kodak 160 VC and shoot away. Thailand is a very beautiful place. Just the scenes for a Hasselblad 501CM. - I can just imaginge the pictures you can take with it.

Have a nice trip!
 
drazin, take a look at the 120 MF sub-forum and read about MF folders. These are foldable (easily goes into a purse or small camera bag, some of them are not bigger than your M6), produces 6x6 or some of them 6x9 negatives from ordinary 120 film.

These are also Electronic-less cameras that doesn't need batteries, for the metering, either use your M6 or use sunny-16 rule.

Follow the link to my blog in my signature below and see the pictures on the latest entry. Those are from an MF folder camera. See if it's good enough for you.

And best of all, you don't have to sell your hasselblad to get one of these... ;)
 
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saxshooter said:
Bring the M6 and the 35mm Summicron. Keep it simple and enjoy Thailand and more importantly, your honeymoon!
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I'd agree with the above advice. Keep it simple and enjoy the honeymoon. As far as the climate goes if your visiting for a short time you should be fine - my electronics survive ok and i live here. Chiang Mai's beautiful and the air is better (go see the temple Doi Suthep if you can and Wat Umong), right now here in BKK it's very hot and oppressive with little wind. Films easy to buy here.
 
drazin said:
should i sell it and get a hasselblad x-pan II or regular instead?

i cant decide.
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I visit Thailand 2 to 3 times a year, an Xpan I/II is a good choice, see some of my work.

Thank you.
 

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Half of me says Bring the M6 and a 35/90...
The other half says you need everything!! I couldn't decide for you and knowing me I would probably bring everything although I'm trying to ween myself off the packrat mentality and carry light.
 
Olsen said:
I would NEVER trade a 501CM for a Mamiya or an XPan. As trading a Rolls Royce for a Ford Pinto. (Are you out of your mind?!) Neither of the Mamiya nor the XPan are so reliable as the 501CM or have the same picture quality potential.
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Complete nonsense.
 
keithwms said:
Complete nonsense.
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Certainly agree with the above having had experience with all three cameras.
I still use two Xpans particularly in BKK. The Mamiya 6 and 7's and the xpan lenses deliver excellent quality.
 
Simon Larby said:
I'd agree with the above advice. Keep it simple and enjoy the honeymoon. As far as the climate goes if your visiting for a short time you should be fine - my electronics survive ok and i live here. Chiang Mai's beautiful and the air is better (go see the temple Doi Suthep if you can and Wat Umong), right now here in BKK it's very hot and oppressive with little wind. Films easy to buy here.
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The more choices you have (ie, more cameras with you on your trip) the more fussing you will be doing with trying to decide what to use while you are in the middle of great sites (and not TAKING IN the great site, your head will be pre-occupied with your gear). Less choice. So I believe in keeping it simple. And I don't know what your wife is like, but MINE wouldn't be happy if I was constantly fussing with my cameras and not HER on my honeymoon. Maybe you lucked out and got a gear obsessed wife!

There was a great quote by Philip Jones Griffiths from a BBC documentary produced about Magnum in the late 80's. He said something like, "Drop a Magnum photographer anywhere with a Leica, a 50mm lens, and 20 rolls of Tri-X and pick him up in 10 days. He will have produced the definitive photo essay on the place."
 
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I spend a lot of time in Thailand and have just got back from a couple of months there. This time I took with me a Leica M6 and a Bessa R4A with CV 21/4, 28/3.5, and 50/2.5 lenses. I found I used the wideangle lenses most (especially in Bangkok), with the M6/28 being a great street-shooting combination. I've never much used telephotos there over the years - it really does strike me as a wideangle place.

I haven't used one, but I have to say I'd love to shoot an XPan in Thailand - I think the country would be ideally suited to one.

Oh, and I've been going there regularly for 20 years now, and I've never had any problems with the humidity affecting electronic equipment. If you're incautious taking things in and out of extreme air-conditioned places, I guess that might possibly cause a problem with condensation, but my (Thai) wife and I have never had anything electronic (cameras inc digital, phones etc) fail like that.
 
oscroft said:
Hi Simon,


I didn't realise you were in Bangkok - I would have invited you out for a beer while I was there if I'd known. Maybe next time :)
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Hi Alan to the next time then - email me before you come :)
 
Enjoy your honeymoon, buy postcards!
Go back again, specifically to photograph, with whatever you feel will work for you.
For me it would be an xpan and 2 RD 1s , OR 2 Fuji 6x9s [65 and 90] OR 3 Holgas [ pinhole, holgamod and 35mm] but only ONE of these combos.
Buy Simon a beer on your second trip.........................he seems like a good guy who does great work.
Best
Clive
 
anglophone1 said:
Buy Simon a beer on your second trip.........................he seems like a good guy who does great work.
Best
Clive
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Clive that's a nice character endorsement thanks! :)
 
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