Costa Rica with rangefinder cameras

<p>Greetings,<br /> I am a long-time Leica rangefinder photographer going to Costa Rica later this month. I shoot mostly street scenes and family situations at home and have a range of lenses from 21mm to 50mm.<br /> I will be traveling with my wife and two children and will focus on family scenes, nature and landscapes. I am thinking of taking my usual travel kit of two bodies and 28 f3.5, 35 f2.0, and 50mm f2.0 lenses. <br>

I also have a Leica M8, however I am considering taking my film bodies and color print film due to rainforest weather, overall ruggedness, and unfortunately, security concerns. Has anyone taken their Leica M8 to Costa Rica? I realize that a high-end DSLR setup is as costly to replace as an M8, however I've always traveled with my film bodies and am completely comfortable with them.<br>

I'm considering 800 ASA Fuji film for the rainforests and 400 and 100 ASA for everything else. I've been testing Fuji Pro 800 ASA in dim situations and it looks pretty good. I could also invest in a faster lens and am considering the Voigtlander Nokton 35mm F1.2, which is rather large and heavy, however excellent at f1.2. Since my entire kit is rather compact, I could make an exception with a larger lens.<br /> Any thoughts or advice about rangefinder bodies, lenses or film choices -particularly for the rainforest - would be welcome.<br /> Thanks!</p>

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<p>Costa rica is wonderful. I used ISO 400 and F2.8 in the rain forest for pictures. So i think you will be fine. The moister will fog your lenses when going to A/C to the outside, so bring a good lense cloth or two. </p>

<p>Have fun.</p>

<p>The setup you have will be great for portraits and family-type stuff.</p>

<p>The times I've been in Costa Rica, the lenses I used the most were (1) ultrawide, for landscapes; (2) macro, for little critters; followed by (3) telephoto, for birds, monkeys, sloths, and stuff like that. I didn't shoot a whole lot with my standard zoom.</p>

<p>Now, tastes and styles vary, and I don't know anything about Leica gear, but I can't help but wonder if you'd be better off with an ultrawide (20 mm ish) rather than an ultrafast lens.</p>

<p>Where is your 90mm lens? You could leave one of your medium wide angle lenses at home and carry a 35/50/90 combination like in the old days. You can forget real closeups (of critters and such), or real telephoto lenses (> 135mm). A rangefinder is what it is. Unless you carry this camera simply to be seen wearing it, I presume you know what it can (and can't) do.</p>

<p>You can't remove condensation with a lens cloth - it will reform again in an instant. The only thing that works is time (and temperature). I presume you will want to sleep in an air-conditioned room, and have your gear with you. It helps to have a black camera bag - keep your gear in the bag while inside, and outside until the sun warms it enough to prevent condensation. An ounce of prevention will keep condensation from forming inside the elements or camera, where it takes much longer to evaporate.</p>

<p>Take along a few Zip-Loc bags and rubber bands. You can use them to protect your camera from the rain (it is a "rain forest" after all), or keep to your stuff organized and to avoid condensation.</p>

<p>Take a tripod, if you have one. (I used my Leica about three times on a tripod in the first 10 years I owned it). The forests are pretty dark.</p>

<p>I loved Costa Rica and IMHO I think you could use a longer lens, especially if you are thinking about wildlife. I was on tour with a class and had a 20-35, 100 macro, and a 70-300 Tamron f4-5.6 1:2 macro. All three lenses got a lot of use. The wide zoom was perfect for landscapes and walk about (the other ones were back at the hotel). In the forest though I had all three.<br>

Yes, I can read, you are with kids. If the kids are the focus of the trip and not specifically photography I'd pick up a digital point and shoot 8-10 Megpixel of some type (is theere a Circuit City near you? 1/2 off!) and leave your SLR at home.</p>