FD in Europe

Have any of you had the pleasure of shooting genuine (film) FD in Rome, Florence, Milan or Paris? I'd like to see some of that work, and

the stories behind the images!

 

For my next trip a small assortment of FD gear will accompany, maybe an ODF-1 plus 35 thorium and ???

 

By the way, if anyone is in Milan be sure to visit New Old Camera downtown...it's maddening to find, off the street and up a narrow alley

in a sunny courtyard. But what an AMAZING collection of vintage equipment to entice.

 

Feel free to also recommend any quality photo shops in those places!

Thanks to Walter DeGroot for his suggestion to shoot some Ferrania film in its native country. Mille grazie!

<p>In 2003 the wife and I shot 82 rolls of 36exp film in England France and Germany. Spent almost an hour and a half in the Frankfurt airport while some idiot licked and sniffed every roll of film through some bomb detector.<br>

We humped a Canon Backpack and a smaller bag both jammed full of equipment.<br>

I went to maybe a half dozen various Camera stores bought a early Canon FD 135mm f3.5 in London.<br>

Nothings scanned everything is in slide reels.<br>

In 2018 we are planning on going back to England and I hate to tell you but I'll be packing a Canon Digital with a mega zoom and a few memory cards.</p>

 

<p>"genuine" (film)" ?<br>

My last film trip was in 2004, albeit with a non-AI Nikon kit to Berlin.</p>

<p>I spent the same sort of time being searched, and with inspectors insisting on x-ray in various places. One of the worst, I have to say, was re-entry into the USA.<br>

I could put up with that, I guess; but the key element was when I scanned the color negatives (that was a first for me as I planned to scan the images from the start). The Kodachrome I shot looked good, but every single color negative showed a slight clouding -- it probably would not have been seen in prints, and when I digitalized it was also easily fixed. The effect went out to the sprocket holes, so was clearly radiation effect. Whether it was from the x-ray, cosmic radiation in the plane, or psychic photography from the grumpy inspectors, I know not.</p>

<p>What I do know was that soon thereafter, I bought a nice new Canon 20D and some Nikon>Canon EF adapters as well as a start on Canon EF lenses. I love to shoot old cameras, but I am not so much of a film believer as I just really like clunky old machines.</p>

<p>If you want to shoot film away from home, there is something to be said for buying it there and having it developed there rather than going through the wonderful world of airports and their always cheerful and helpful security personnel.</p>

<p>The ALARA principle applies well to film and not just people- the plan is to buy, shoot, and process it in Europe thus avoiding those prying (and spoiling) rays.</p>

<p>The trouble with x-rays is the effect on film is accumulative. So you leave the USA that's 1. you arrive in Europe you You take the chunnel train or a connecting flight that's 2. You visit some museum or other place with a high security risk factor that's 3. You fly home through Frankfurt Airport and that's a full on bomb detecting swab with a coupe passes through the X-ray machine that you can see and maybe one you don't and that 4-5-6. And when you get home your poor film has not only had all this X-ray but all the Gamma Radiation from spending 16 hours at 38,000'+ in an aluminum can.<br>

The gal at the Chunnel train told me not to worry their machine only effects film over 1600ASA. I told her great I have 6 rolls of 1600 ASA film in my bag. She pushed my camera backpack right through the machine smiling at me the whole time. I don't think she really gave a diddly squat about my photos.</p>

 

<p>yes I can understand the hyper-idiots being a total p-0ain when you pass thru customs with lots of film.<br>

If you were in a major european city. It likely would be worth it to have the film processed there.<br>

and buy film as needed.<br>

I expect most would be either kodak print film or fuji.<br>

I do not know how popular real film cameras are in europe.<br>

they could be more obsolete than here in the USA.<br>

It is possible that Ferranbiaq- a small company is filling a small niche.<br>

or perhaps catering to nastional pride.<br>

there are possibly eastern european films ( russia and east german) that we know nothing about.</p>

<p>I will from now on only taking digital cameras with me overseas. If I miss film, I can use film cameras when I am in the USA. </p>

 

Je suis Charlie!

<p>There is and was a big ballyhoo about films being damaged by airport security x-ray, but if you look closer you will find out that the only films that ever got damaged by this were those either scanned by outdated machines in some backcountry airports in Asia or Africa or those that were left in the luggage that was not hand-luggage. You really needn't worry about xray damages to films in Europe when the films are in your hand luggage. Actually, the natural radiation you are subject to in the cabin of your aircraft is higher than the dosis your films are exposed to. And refrain from putting your films in a "film-safe-box", because this will make the security team pull up the "volume" on their devices and THEN your films really get the full load!<br /> Funnily enough, Europeans worry very much about the same when they travel to the US, bu the same applies here. So, keep calm and keep on shooting film.</p>

<p>Coming back to the initila question of the TO: What's the point of your question? Photos taken by FD equipment on film in Europe won't look much different than those taken with other analog equipment, say Nikon or Minolta.<br /> I have photographed a lot in Venice and Florence over the past years. If you want to have a look, check out my flickr account and go through my pics there.<br /> https://www.flickr.com/photos/teegee_pics/</p>

The point was to shake the FD forum tree for film photos and stories...

<p>My only excursion outside the US with FD gear was to Japan. Not Europe, but certainly highly civilized. I recall taking a couple of rolls of film with me -- that I had developed in Japan -- and all the other many rolls of film I shot, I bought and had developed in Japan. I returned with only one undeveloped roll and that was because it was still in a camera. I shot Fujichrome only for the entire 16-day trip. The only issue I had with the authorities was a minor one. Had to pay duty on an A-1 I bought in Osaka.</p>

<p>The next time I left the US it was to visit Taiwan, This time, though, I was using EOS gear, but I still did the same thing, film-wise. Bought it and had it developed there. Again, Fujichrome only.</p>

<p>These days, with all the heightened security everywhere you go, it almost seems to make sense to me to carry digital instead. But I'm not terribly happy with that idea. I'm also one of these people who enjoy the old clunky stuff. The whir of a mechanical camera's slow speed escapement has always been a magical sound to me. The distinctive *pop* of the old F-1's shutter. Do I really want to leave this behind? Especially if I want to carry a medium format outfit with me. When it comes to medium format, I'm still using film, and I likely will for the foreseeable future.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>The point was to shake the FD forum tree for film photos and stories...</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Heh. Took my first F1N and a 500m f4.5L to <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/66706939@N05/sets/72157627663201496/">Tanzania in 2009</a>: does that count? No problem with film-fogging. Took two F1Ns plus various (shorter!) lenses to China in 2010. Again no film-fogging problems, but I have yet to put any of those up on Flickr. Since then, like others, it's been digital.</p>