FD At Sea

I'm planning a vacation which includes Transatlantic sailings aboard the Queen Mary 2, and of course what gear to bring. It's very tempting to pack FD film equipment for seascapes and sunsets especially! Shoot color transparencies and B&W. I might even rely on FD equipment for the full trip...with perhaps an EOS 6D "stowaway" for the high ISO work.

 

Almost all of my favorite ocean sunsets and seascapes were captured on film, not digital. To leave the FD cameras at home would feel like betting against the house!

We dragged a T-90 and two AE-1P's with 6 lenses and a small tripod and 85 rolls of film around Europe for 3 weeks. Next time I go it will be with a micro 4/3 camera and maybe 2 zoom lenses one on the wide side and one on the telephoto side. I'm getting to old to imitate a Sherpa.

OK then, the FD 150-600 / 5.6 L stays at the dock!

 

But once upon a time we were eating at a sidewalk cafe and the wind was brutal! Only a Canon F-1n kept the table from taking flight. So...yeah.

Years back, when we traveled to Spain and Morocco, the only camera I took with me was a Canon AL-1 and a FD28-50 zoom (the plastic one). All I wanted was a small and light package. Never regretted my decision. I shot 100% slide film and every picture was spot-on regarding exposure. Plus I didn’t have to lug around a ton of camera gear.

 

Today, I’d probably grab my EOS-M and the 22mm lens. Again, small and light.

Guys...I reckon an iPhone 7 is an even more lightweight "mirrorless" camera, plus it can make calls AND surf the FD Forum here. How good is that?

 

While pondering this I shall be doing arm curls with an F-1 equipped with Servo EE Finder, Motor Drive MF (plus ten AA batteries), and an FD 300 2.8 SSC Fluorite. Maybe an Interval Timer L also. As the saying goes, "Use it or lose it!"

A few years ago I took my T90 and my Leica M4 on a cruise with my family for a couple of weeks in the Caribbean. Having dragged the M4 all over the world for 30 years, I ended up only using the T90...it was truly a lot of fun. The good news is that it was a lot lighter than what you're contemplating carrying around. Anyway, enjoy your trip...and hire somebody to carry the gear :D

These days I shoot almost as much film as I do digital. So if I'm planning a photo excursion, I'll be taking at least one film camera along with my digital. My digital is a Sony NEX 7,, so I would also include an adapter for the NEX to FD lenses. So whatever lenses I take for my FD cameras can be pulling double duty. But it's tough for me to narrow down the number of lenses I'd like to take. Usually it's around seven or eight, and sometimes they can be big ones.

 

When I look back at my past foreign travels, I used every lens I took with me, some a lot more than others. So I never regret taking one or two along that might only get light use. What's important, I've found when looking through the photos, is those lenses did get used and contributed in a meaningful way to my experiences abroad.

Here's the possibly McBroom-worthy FD equipment group so far: a freshly-serviced and almost brand new T90, a New F-1 with standard prism, and the following lenses: New FD 14 2.8 L, New FD 15 2.8, FD 24-35 3.5 SSC Aspherical, New FD 50 1.4, New FD 85 1.2L, New FD 100 2, New FD 80-200 4L, FD 300 2.8 SSC Fluorite, and New FD 500 8.

 

After years of DSLR use this FD equipment is compact in the hand and if not exactly lightweight, light-ER. No battery chargers to donkey around either.

 

I plan on bringing a mirrorless digital also, one that can check emails, do texts and phonecalls too!

Project FD At Sea is ready for film processing!

 

I did the eastbound M717 and westbound M721 crossings, the latter which included QM2’s rescue of Mervyn Wheatley from his stricken yacht in a North Atlantic storm!

If you're looking for these photos I have been posting them to Alex_Es' June Photo thread.