Which SLR for travel ? Help my decision

Get your gloves on and handle both cameras for a while, maybe you reach a decision. I would be partial to the Spotmatic, as I have taken one on many trips. Never used an Olympus SRL.
 
Joao, I'd be curious to know what you decide, as I'm sure others would be also. Please let us know which you choose, and why!
 
The Olympus is the right size/weight for long walks. Automation won't hurt if you are shooting chromes. And Zuikos, as opposed to Takumars, focus the 'right' (the Leica) way. I know which camera I'd take.
 
I have an OM2 and a SPF and if it were me I'd take the OM2 w/the 55 f1.2.
If you are taking two lenses, the 100 2.8 would be my choice.
Also...I'd make sure to take 4 spare batteries.
 
You might think about the bottom of an ever ready case to keep the wind off the bottom of the OM (where the battery is). Perhaps buy a set of low cost thin working gloves, just ware one on your right hand, perhaps with a hand-warmer in the glove but on the top of your hand. Be careful about going in and out of warmth with your camera. Condensation freezes when you go out side again. I'd suggest getting some surplus gloves (one that are mittens that the top flips back exposing your fingers) but I doubt there are any to be had with crap going on over there.

Enjoy, stay warm, have fun, be healthy and stay safe.

B2 (;->
 
Neither Poland nor Czechia are Siberia. I would put my gloves off in order to take a shot but: the battery of the OM may get exhausted in windy cold weather, unless you carry the camera in a bag. So if you are planning to shoot with gloves and will not carry the camera in a bag, I would take the Pentax.
 
"The possibility of electrical failure is an important point - it will have some weight in my decision.." That is a good reason to take both in case the cameras fail. Experience a week or so ago tells me that batteries do not like it below 10° but it was a small Leica and so I kept it in my shirt pocket and then struggled to get it out via a sweater and parka...

Enjoy your trip.

Regards, David
 
p.giannakis said:
Have you ever travelled abroad with this lens? Plenty of stories on the Zuikoholic Facebook group about being stopped in airports.
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Yeah, well, TSA is convinced that any roughly cubical metal object is a terrorist device. Ask me how I know; I won't even attempt to travel by plane with my Horseman ever again.
 
:eek:
Retro-Grouch said:
Yeah, well, TSA is convinced that any roughly cubical metal object is a terrorist device. Ask me how I know; I won't even attempt to travel by plane with my Horseman ever again.
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:eek: Wooden standards, bellows, lens board, Graflok back is somehow threatening? Maybe it was the shutter. :eek:
 
Hello again

I am grateful for the valuable input and for several wise sugestions. I will keep them in mind.

Concerning the weather, the forecast predicts a minimum temperature of 4º to 5ºC below zero in Prague and Krakow (those are the places I will visit). Mild wind 8 to 15 km/h. Overcast sky, probability of snow goes from 40% in Prague to 80% in Krakow.

I tried to handle both cameras with the gloves I will be wearing: I can use them, not so well as without gloves , but I can do it - except for unblocking the rewind function. Difficult in the Pentax, almost impossible in the OM2. Well, I will not shoot so many rolls, and I hope to be able to change film indoors when necessary (without gloves).

Lenses: both have clean glass, but the plastic original cap of the Zuiko is held by a spring mechanism (very safe) and the metal cap of the SMC Takumar is a push-on cap (risk of loosing it ?).

I will carry the camera either with a neckstrap or inside a small backpack. The OM2 has the original half –case, the Pentax body is naked.

I decided to take the Olympus OM2: better protected, more reliable lens cap, slightly lighter. Fresh spare batteries will be in my pocket, just in case. I hope to post later some pictures in the Eastern Europe thread.

Thank you all once more for your replies,

Regards

Joao
 
Good choice! The Oly is a much more sophisticated camera. Enjoy your trip ! Drink czech beer and polish vodka, the best of both worlds.
 
Good choice - you would have been happy with either. Another plus when it comes to Olympus is that i don't trust the Spotmatic's meter that much (compared to the olympus). When i use the spotmatic i always have a separate handheld meter.
 
If it is a once in a life time trip take both. Backup. Or, look at it this way: one for color & one for black and white. I would think that night time black and white is better. And, extra batteries.
 
Whatever you do, don't discard the exhausted batteries. A short rest somewhere warm like a shirt pocket will soon revive them.

It might be worthwhile to ask other photographers you see how they cope with the battery problem.

Years ago you could get battery packs with long leads on them. The pack was kept under your parka and the lead went up/down your sleeve to the camera and so it drew power from warm, lively batteries. Years ago I salvaged a battery holder from some failed X'mas tree lights and keep meaning to make one for my baby Leica. It's just a question of measuring the coaxial battery socket and then finding one on a long lead, etc. And three or four AA's have a much higher capacity that the silly little batteries that come in digital cameras.

Regards, David
 
David Hughes said:
It might be worthwhile to ask other photographers you see how they cope with the battery problem.
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I have been using battery depended cameras since 1989 and I never have run out of battery. If i remember to bring an extra roll of film, I can remember to bring a spare set of LR44 batteries. They are tiny and last for dozens of films.
 
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