What Would You Take on Vacation?

[sirius]

I've debated this with myself a lot for past travels. It depends on why you are photographing. If you want certain types of photos that only certain lenses and equipment can do, then you have to bring those. If you love your equipment and want to try it all out, that's ok too. If you only want to document your travel, then the equipment should not get in the way of the travel (i.e. heavy, bulkly, awkward). In which case I would bring only one really good camera with only one lens and a lot of film, you can improvise on the spot if something goes wrong. Limitation is little known artist's secret. Most artist who paint or sculpt self-impose limitations and it gives creative focus to your work. You'll know your tools so well that you'll forget them and think only about the creative aspects. That is my sincere advice.

 

[Vince Lupo]

Yes, very good point indeed. I definitely know about being bogged down by one's equipment - both physically and creatively. Maybe I should rethink this.....

 

[Benjamin Marks]

Aw shucks - the answer is "usually too much." I keep telling myself, one camera, one lens. Yeah, 14 pounds of gear later, it's like "why does my back hurt so much?"

Next time, I swear it will be an M3 and a 50. Sigh.

Ben Marks

 

[totifoto]

I´ve always had alot of stuff with me :bang: I travel at least 1-2 a year with my family and last month we went to spain. We had a new family meber with us now that is only 3 monts old so I said to myself" I have to take as litle as possible of photography gear". I took my Pentax k1000,28mm ad 50mm and about 10 rolls of tri-x and 3 rolls of Superia 200. I´ve never had so mutch fun shooting while traveling like then. In the future I will always travel light on camera gear, hopefully with a Leica and 35 and 50 lenses 🙄

 

[filmfan]

I am going to Paris for a semester of school next fall.
I am bringing a bessa r2, color-skopar 35, and a summitar 50.

 

[sepiareverb]

Just back a few weeks ago, I brought a pair of T2's (one for slides & one for neg.) and a D-Lux3. But I wanted a vacation.

 

[Sonny Boy Havidson]

Last summer I took with me a Rollei 35 and an Agfa Isolette (and the help of a Watameter rangefinder). Maybe the Hi-Matic 7s for the next time.

 

[filmfan]

I like to travel light, so I would take only one camera:
Bessa R2 w/ Color-Skopar 35/2.5
I would use the rest of the space for Provia 100F and Tri-X 400.

 

[Peter Klein]

If I shoot film, one RF body, and 21, 35, 50 and 90mm lenses. If that's too much, leave the 21 home.

If I shoot the M8, 28, 35, 50 and 90mm lenses. If that's too much, leave the 28 or the 50 home.

Since I travel with the 21/4 and 28/3.5 VC lenses (tiny), and my travel 90 is the small 90/3.5 VC, they really don't add up to that much more in the bag.

Take at least one fast lens, at least f/2, preferably f/1.4 or 1.5.

Though I avoid flash whenever possible, it sometimes comes in handy. I wouldn't travel with a big flash, but a little auto-thyristor flash might get you that obligatory restaurant photo of you and your loved one. Note: The flash should be significantly smaller than the camera(!)

A spare body on a trip is not a bad idea, although if you don't mind buying a body somewhere if the first camera fails, you can dispense with a spare on a trip to major cities. Or take a good quality film camera--even a decent P&S can get you by until you can find a shop with a clean used Bessa... 😉

--Peter

 

[Vince Lupo]

Just got back from the 19 day trip to the Netherlands and France (passing briefly through Belgium), and everything worked out great. We landed in Amsterdam and picked up the car, stayed just south of Rotterdam for a few days, drove throughout Normandy and Brittany, ended out at Pointe du Raz (the western most point in France), over to Chartres, and back to the Netherlands.

I ended up bringing the M kit - M5 and M2 with 21/4, 35/1.7, 50/2 and 90/4 lenses, the M baseplate lens carrier, small Leitz tripod, and a bunch of b+w and colour neg film (all ISO 400). I think I shot about 22 rolls total, the majority of which was b+w. The nice thing about this kit was that it fit into a small canvas National Geographic bag (love it except for the stupid stitched logo), and I only needed to carry a few extra rolls with me while the rest stayed in the trunk of the car. Plus, it felt like I could cover most situations that might arise without feeling overburdened with stuff.

I'll try to post a few shots when they're processed.....

 

[Doug]

Welcome back, Vince... Two M bodies with four lenses... What did you use the most, and what was the second essential bit of gear you had along or wished you had?

You shot about as much as I usually do, averaging about a roll per day, and I too usually have a couple rolls in my pocket in case I run across something that really demands it. Never had any problems with film inspection or x-rays.

In a bit we'll be off to Hawaii for a few weeks, and of course I'm wondering what to take. Last time, to Malta and Sicily, I had an M with normal and wide lenses, really a minimal kit, and it worked out very well. This trip, I think it'll be a Pentax kit... either the P645 with 45, 75, 120... or the LX with three new Zeiss primes 28, 50, and 85mm. I've never had the P645 on a trip, but then I'm eager to exercise the Zeiss glass too...

 

[Johann Espiritu]

I like to keep it light and simple. I bring two cameras, but take only one per day, depending on my mood. It's either:

1. M7 + 28mm + 50mm (with the Leica M Lens Carrier). I use the Carrier a lot when I travel because it eliminates the need for a bag, and makes switching pretty easy and quick.

2. Leica Minilux

 

[Vince Lupo]

The one thing that I didn't use very much was the tripod, but it was small enough that it really didn't matter too much. I wished that I had brought along more black and white film, as I ended up using more of it than I anticipated, and I bought an additional 7 rolls of colour film while I was over there (I ended up shooting 25 rolls total, after adding it all up at the lab yesterday). As far as lenses went, I think I pretty well used them all equally, and there wasn't any feeling that I was limited. I had originally planned on bringing my 90/2.8 Elmarit lens, but it is kinda big so I chose to bring the small 90/4 screwmount Elmar and just used an M adapter on it. Not sure how the shots with that 21/4 Voigtlander lens are going to be, as I used that quite a bit for landscape shots and some interiors.

It was nice to reconnect with these M cameras, as they've been sitting for a while, yet when I use them I find them to be quite 'intuitive' which, when on vacation, is not such as bad thing!

 

[gavinlg]

I thought we all just took an Olympus XA.

How I'd love for that to work with me however I've never had an XA last for more than a few rolls without breaking.


Perfect travel camera when good though.

 

[locus]

I'm heading to India for a month in November and taking my two M6 bodies, 35mm and 50mm summicrons, 15mm heliar, tri-x 400 and fuji pro 160s films 🙂

 

[Vince Lupo]

Finally a few shots from the France/Netherlands trip. I'm going through them slowly....

 

[Vince Lupo]

A few more....

 

[Vince Lupo]

And a couple more....

 

[ChrisPlatt]

On my last trip I took only my Hexar AF.

Chris

 

[peter_n]

I've got mine down to my two MPs with a 35 on one and a 75 on the other, and a 24 for wide stuff. Absolutely tons of room for film and I use my smallest satchel - an F-803 clone.