Jump to content

Traveling from Miami, US to Quito, Ecuador- need help!


dave_wright1

Recommended Posts

My brother is participating in a four-month study abroad program

through Boston University, and will be departing from Miami and

arriving in Ecuador on August 22nd or 23rd. I have a few questions

to ask from him, and any response, brief or in-depth, is greatly

appreciated.

 

How should he go about brining his film? It's my understanding that

he'll be brining anywhere between 20-40 rolls of film ranging in ISO

from 200-800, primarily by Kodak and Fuji. My photo professor told

me that even if he uses a "film-safe" bag that claims the film won't

be harmed by the x-ray machines, the operators will simply crank up

the output so they can see through the bag. Thus, having the bag

seems useless.

 

I know he needs to politely ask for his film to be searched by hand

at the Miami airport (it's his right to), but I'm asumming the

conditions in Ecuador will be very strict. What should he do?

 

While in Quito, he will be at an elevation of 10,000+ feet. He'll be

spending a month in the rain forest, where the humidity is often

extreme and rainy (or so he's been told). How should he protect his

equipement (including film)? He'll be brining a Canon EOS Elan, two

lenses, and a Sony video camera. He obviously wants to protect his

gear at all costs, but not at the expense of having it be a nusiance

to bring around. What camera and video bags would you recommend?

Different bags ranging from low-mid-high would be veryyy helpful.

 

Any recommendations of anything else he should bring? Filters?

 

Your own epxeriences in Ecuador, and other rain-forest or humid

environments?

 

Thank you much,

 

Dave Wright

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One of my daughters has recently returned from five months in

Belize with 15 rolls of NPH. The film travelled to Houston and on

to Belize and back with no hand-inspections and outside of

being kept in ziplock bags in her rucksack to avoid the possibility

of getting wet/condensation, was in the rain forest at

temperatures of round 40 degrees C (108F) for five months. All

the films produced photographs as you'd expect with no sign of

heat or Xray damage. She did not use x ray shielded bags.

 

The photo net world seems to divide into the people who believe

that putting slow and medium speed film through regular

hand-baggage Xrays won't hurt and don't panic if a

hand-inspection is refused, and those who just can't believe that

their film isn't going to get blasted. Most of the frequent travellers

fall into the former category and most of the latter don't fly a lot, or

so it seems to me anyway. I think people will struggle to give

solid evidence of fogging caused by normal hand-baggage X

rays.

 

Equipment's a different issue and I suspect far more variable. My

daughter took a Stylus Epic in the belief that no zooms/ hard

shell/ small size would mean reliability. A lot of people taking

Slr's and zoom compacts had problems but the Epic is still just

fine. Batteries may be a bit problematical-take more than he

thinks he'll need. I think they had less trouble with things

fogging up than you might expect because the cameras were

always warm and humid - I've had great fun in places like Hong

Kong with lenses, mirror, viewfinder etc all misting over for a

half-hour when you open the bag after a night in a cool

air-conditioned hotel. Whilst I think the biggest camera risks are

the physical one associated with rough living and getting wet, I

think that keeping the camera inside the rucksack and a few

silica gel pouches for equipment and film bags should do nicely.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If while he is in Ecuador, he plans to visit the Galapagos Islands, he should get the book by Barry Boyce on photography there. (Sorry, I don't remember the title.) Shun Cheung's article on this site is also recommended reading. He should have no security problems at Quito's airport. Anywhere else, watch for camera snatchers.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If while he is in Ecuador, he plans to visit the Galapagos Islands, he should get the book by Barry Boyce on photography there. (Sorry, I don't remember the title.) Shun Cheung's article on this site is also recommended reading. He should have no security problems at Quito's airport. Anywhere else, watch for camera snatchers.

 

Bring a polarizer to help control the strong sunlight. I would definitely recommend a lens hood, and a skylight filter to slightly "warm" the foliage (and also protect the lenses from possible calamities in the rain forest).

 

Bring "Zip-Lock" bags to protect film and equiment. Also take a microfiber cloth to clean lenses and filters, a "Leatherman" tool, extra batteries and a small flashlight.

 

While I did take a tripod to Ecuador, I am not sure that it's really necessary if you aren't after the sharpest photos.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Combining my experience of having my camera stolen at the Quito airport, I'll expand Alex's answer to be careful everywhere for camera snatchers. View your equipment in the context of their economy. The average farmer makes less than $300/year. So, if you've got $1000 of camera equipment, think of it as $100,000 of camera equipment in their eyes! There's a reason that security guards with automatic weapons are all over Quito. That being said, I never felt unsafe with my group there, and once we got to the cloud forest the experience was even more amazing. Other than that, I can't think of much helpful photo advice... warm the camera to ambient temperature before exposing it to humidity to avoid condensation, but that's all I can think of at the moment... Oh, and keep a journal!! I know, non-photographic. But one of my favorite memories of the trip is sitting outside writing by candle light after the sun went down. With no electricity, we all went to sleep early, and, though I'm not a morning person, I was often up at 5 or 6 to see the sun rise over the valley. He'll have an amazing trip. Oh, and the stars were brilliant; no light pollution and I'd never seen the southern stars. -BY
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If he is in closed canopy forest he will need a tripod and/or flash (for macro-photography). It is very dark in the lower strata of a good (primary; not much cutting of trees) rainforest. (That is why so few herbaceous plants are at the ground level in good rainforests.) So you will need a tripod...If on the other hand it is second growth forest, or there are many canopy gaps then obviously, the light situation will be much better...For me, Montane (higher elevation) rainforests were much easier to deal with physically (since they were cooler) than lowland rainforest. It also depends on what time of the year it is in the rainforest...some seasons are much wetter than others.

 

Get the South American Handbook (and not the Lonely Planet guide) and read...The author lived in Peru for many years. The section on the history of the continent (especially Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia) is very good. There might even be a write-up of the very place this person is going in Ecuador...

 

Finally, Ecuador in general is very safe. Most problems occur in and around cities/bus stations with gangs operating to distract you on one side and run-off with your gear on the other; and pickpockets on buses. (Manta was especially bad.) Out in the countryside things were very safe...I thought the Galapagos were vastly overrated, but still not to be missed. It is very humid on the islands and on the boats between islands though...

 

Have a wonderful time. And take your film as carry-on (not in the checked luggage in the hold) on the plane and let them x-ray it. I have never had a problem. Quito is not the most advanced airport in the world, but there are worse...

 

Robert DeCandido, PhD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I flew through Miami from Toronto to Bolivia and back in November 2001. I brought 100 asa and 400 asa film with me. It was close enough after September 11th that I didn't feel like getting into a debate about hand-checking on the way down. In Bolivia, I bought and shot a roll of Vista 800 film. My recollection is that I did get a hand check in Bolivia. I asked for one in Miami, but was refused. It was a polite request and a polite refusal. I don't know what would have happened if I had pushed it (the request, not the film). Anyway, the film, as carry-on, went through x-ray machines in Toronto, Miami, and Miami again. The film was fine and I did not notice any fogging.

 

I had used the lead bag on a previous trip, to India via Heathrow. I don't know if they increase the power or not. I recall various theories in past posts which may be archeived. I opted not to take the bag to Bolivia in part because of its added weight and bulkiness (I like to travel compact and light), and because I had read that the machines were safe for 400 asa film. That information turned out to be correct, and I don't think I will bother with the bags in the future. The 800 was okay too. With respect to the lead bags, others have written that when the checker sees the bag appearing as a black blob, they then hand check it, which is the idea. That did not happen to me, and I don't know what was seen by them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We went round trip to Quito in May with 16 rolls of film in a film bag as carry-on. No problems.

 

In high humidity he may want to use zip locks with dessicants, or leave the film have some air otherwise. Lenses are probably more of a problem... don't want to end up with fungus.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Batteries, if possible get a battery pack for the Elan. AA are readily available anywhere in South America. CR123 may not be or you'll pay through the nose.

A 20$ dry bag is a cheap way of keeping your stuff out of the rain, short of a plastic bag that will rip. I put my camera bag in a 30L dry bag and sailed across the Pacific and back, no problem. Take ziplocks. You won't find them in SA.

They will visually inspect film if over ISO1000 (why 1000? don't know) I crossed the check point in LA right after 911, and had bulk loaded canisters that didn't display any ISO, I said that all my film is pushed to 1600. They baught it and I got 30 rolls through. In Ecuador they won't really care. And everyone seems to agree that the checks don't really kill your film. Keep your camera empty so you can show them what's inside and ask them to look over your film. If they say no, than don't worry.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...