Are readyloads/quickloads really lighter?

[gone nomad]

So I have this goal of getting my backpacking pack weight for 7 days

(with food/fuel) down to 30 pounds. Thus, I'm counting every ounce.

Anyways, I decided to graph the weight savings of readyloads vs.

carrying 5 holders and reloading before each session. I figure that

I would limit myself to 10 sheets each morning and each night. I can

reload during the day. Here's what I can up with.<div></div>

[beepy]

Looks good to me. Weight of changing bag?

<p>

Now I know why Ansel Adams always carried a donkey while backpacking.

[Troll]

How much does your changing bag weigh?

[jbq]

Readyloads/Quickloads are only significantly lighter if you plan to shoot a lot without having to unload/reload holders, or if you plan to shoot multiple kinds of film (if you plan to shoot 10 sheets a day but normally use 4 different kinds of films, you need 20 holders).

[gone nomad]

The changing bag weighs five ounces.

 

For lightweight day hikes and overnights it seems that readyloads are still the wat to go; however, for long trips it is lighter and cheaper to go with regular holders and sheets. This does assume that you are only shooting with one type of film. Since I normally prefer E100VS this isn't much of a problem.

[ellis_vener_photography]

With holders here are some other considerations:

 

you'll lose the time you'll spend unloading, cleaning and reloading

the

holders, carry around the weight and bulk of either pressurized air or a really strong air

bulb, and there will be all the time spent afterwards

retouching to get rid of dust specks and hairs. Finally, you won't be

able to easily keep track of what film you shot where and exposure details.

[paul_kent2]

With quickloads you have the freedom of shooting all of your film at once without pausing

5-10 minutes to reload. e.g. when you meet Elvis, or see a rainbow, or find a rare

wildflower with no wind.

[w_t1]

I find this 30lb mark (for one week!)curious - since you have this graph of cut vs. readyload film figured out, can you post the weight of other items? How much does your pack, tent, stove, fuel, sleeping bag, pad, etc. weigh? Never mind the LF equipment like tripod. Or are you sleeping in the open air or under a tarp or in a cabin? Do you count the clothes on your back and the shoes/boots on your feet? Or do you have other people carrying food and equipment? I have done some week packing trips, and I can imagine a 30lb load if you have a water filter, but that would be with a minimal amount of 35mm camera equipment,

 

I will say my backpacking equipment is rather old, 15-20 years, and I know there have been some technological advances in lightweight materials....

 

Just curious, Tom in Seattle

[beepy]

Donkeys. Think donkeys. :-)

[brian_c._miller]

Tom: A friend of mine did the PCT with 20lbs pack weight using ultra-light techniques.

 

Beepy: Um, the donkies are supposed to carry the photographer, not vice-versa.

 

As for pack animals, I heard of one fellow who raised goats, and decided to use them on a camping trip. Well, the first day out was fine. The next morning, he took too long packing up his camp. The goats got bored, and went back down the mountain.

 

DrPhil: I second Tom, I'd like to see your pack list! :-) Beings that tripods have a tendency to weigh a good bit, how about a custom tripod which uses a pair of walking sticks for two of its legs? Often I use my tripod as a walking stick. The spikes work great on snow!

[jean-louis llech]

<ol>

<li>About the Quickload, it might be better to take <u>two holders</u> rather than one. I you have a problem with a unique holder, your journey is over. Otherwise, you can use the spare one. Take the weight of two into account.

<li>With the Quickloads, you have to carry two holders, films, and a piece of rag to clean the holders. That's all.

<li>With conventional sheet-film holders, you have to carry :<br>

a) your 5 holders,<br>

b) film boxes,<br>

c) empty boxes to store exposed films (don't forget that, not for weight but for volume in the bag),<br>

d) one air can (or more, if you reload the holders frequently),<br>

e) a changing bag, or maybe a changing tent (heavier),<br>

f) a spare slide.<br>

<li>With the Quickload, you have to carry the holders, film boxes, and a piece of cloth to clean the holders. That's all.

<li>The Quickload is lighter than 5 sheet film holders. But obviously, Quickload films are heavier than classic sheet-films.<br>

The main difference is that you don't need all these accessories, and that you have less to care with dust.

<li>At night, you'll probably be tired, and unloading, cleaning, reloading sheet-film holders will be a hassle.

<li>If you load for example your 5 holders with BW film, and then on the field you prefer to use color films, you'll have to unload some holders, and then reload them with color films.<br>

Or when you load all your holders with 100 ISO and you need 400 ISO !<br>

With a Quickload, you load the film into the holder only when you decide the kind of film you'll use. That's priceless.<br>

</ol>

IMO, there is no comparison, the Quickload is better.

[dave schlick]

parden me for coming up with another ansewer for your question.. i used to back pack alot many years ago.. if at all possible id ditch the fuel and stove first.. my rei tent weighted less than 4 pounds with pole and stakes. the new inernal frame packs are plain, down rite heavey, cant figure that one out at all. new sleep bags are also heavey but down is not warm when it is wet like the new stuff.. for food i caried cheeze, rasins, ham.. period.. one pound total per day. food is fuel, it doesnt have to be delicous, when your hungry youl eat. today i would add the new granola bars and a water filter, i never got giardia but from what i hear its not fun. you dont need dishes, use a fire and stick, today i would take an aluminum cup if there isnt one in the filter. ive seen guys take a frying pan. !!. just trying to help. sorry if this is too much of topic. dave.

[david_senesac]

Quickloads may not be lighter but the difference is a minor weight. Much more significant matter is the time hassle of loading film holders in the field and storing exposed film and dealing with inevitable dust issues later. Ahh the beauty of a box of nice 4x5 sheets with virtually no dust on any of them!

 

My 20 sheet Fuji Provia Quickload boxes weighs 22 ounces. The box weighs 4 ounces, silver bag 0.7 ounce. Thus an individual Quickload sheet is about 0.85 ounces. The holder is 13.5 ounces and my custom protective box for it 2.5 ounces.

 

On a 9 day backpack into the John Muir Wilderness I'll be starting this Saturday, I plan to take just two boxes with an extra 5 sheets added into each box for a 50 sheet total. Four of the days I am likely to expose few if any sheets and in any case am very picky about shooting such that I might return with an unopened box. Your pack 30 pounds? Yeeech! mine ugly...very ugly. I'm a mule.

[gone nomad]

The 30 pounds is mostly due to health reason now. In my younger days I did alot of mountaineering. Imagine 5 climbers on Denali with 750 pounds of gear. I think I still have bruises from dragging the sled. Anyways, I now have a bum knee that limits how much I can carry. Add diabetes to the mix and my doctor says I shouldn't be hiking solo in the mountains. However, weeklong trips in the mountains are something I cannot give up. Thus, I'm keeping the weight as low as possible.

 

For those that want a gear list I've attached my planning spreadsheet. The camera is a toho for those that are curious.

[gone nomad]

As for my tripod. Right now I have a modified Gitzo 1228. THe center column has been completely removed. I could use a lighter head; however, nothing is as smooth as my 8 ounce linhof universal 01 head. Lately I've been thinking of trying a Gitzo 1027 CF tripod. THis would shave a bit of weight. Scary to buy a 300 tripod and attack it with a hacksaw though!! Why can't the tripod manufacturers give us lightweight tripods without wobbly center columns?

[brian_c._miller]

Actually, I was thinking of making a custom tripod from scratch. A while back I bought a tripod and roller stand together. The tripod was some old off-brand thing, but it was large, sturdy, and lightweight. I removed the built-in pan head, and made my own head mount for a normal head. It works great, and I gave it to a friend who couldn't afford a good tripod.

 

What I thought of in this case would be the legs would be two aluminum tubes, which fit snugly. They would be adjusted using pins, so they would take the stress of being used as walking sticks. They would attach to a tripod base, once again with pins. The legs would have spikes, so you'd drive them into the ground with a push.

 

Anyways, it would be a whole lot lighter than my Bogen 3036!

[brian_c._miller]

I was going over your list and thinking, "yeah, can't cut that, looks good, etc."

 

Then I saw it: meter, 10oz. What kind of a honker are you planning to carry? My Sekonic L-408, without case, is 6oz. A Sekonic L-208 is 1.4oz. Also, you have a lens weighing 14.9 oz. How often do you use it?

 

If it were me, I'd only take one lens, maybe three gel filters, a tiny meter, use my jacket as a dark cloth, and consider food that doesn't require cooking.

[gone nomad]

The 14.9 oz. lens is getting replaced soon. Currently it is a 90mm f/8 Nikkor. Unfortunately it's my most often used focal lengh. I'm saving for a 80mm symmar xl which is half the weight.

 

The meter could be a bit lighter. It's a digital pentax. Works like a charm; however, for backpacking a lighter meter would work.

 

Some more weight could be saved on the tripod. Someday I think I will get a gitzo 1027 to replace my 1228.

 

As for food, non cookable food would cut out the stove and fuel. I've done this on a few trips before and it went fine. However, there is somehing about a nice cup of hot chocolate with breakfast.

[j.w.]

"Now I know why Ansel Adams always carried a donkey while backpacking."

 

You also have to account for the weight of the donkey.

[gone nomad]

Donkeys are wretched animals. I did a trek in Peru with donkeys as pack animals. It was awful. The second trek we did was with Llamas (Alpacas in Peru). These animals were a delight over the donkeys.

[brian_c._miller]

I have a Wollensack 101mm f4.7, which weighs under 4oz. Its not great on shutter speeds, though. Yeah, the spot meters are honkers. My Pentax Spotmeter V is 20oz.

[david_senesac]

For backpacking, I recently retired my usual Foba ballhead/3232 atop my G1325 for a little Novaflex mini ballhead. Total weight 5.1 pounds saving about a pound and a half. Novaflex is just as stable with my Wisner but for my 6x7 Pentax I'll continue to use the other head setup since it cannot go vertical given the Gitzo platform. And on another current thread I just posted something on the 4.1 ounce Shepherd Polaris Dual 5 spot meter I just purchased.

[w_t1]

Dr. Phil, thanks for this topic, and for posting your spreadsheet. Always interesting to see how others are doing things.

 

I like the tripod with pins idea for backpacking, might have to work on that, a trip to Boeing Surplus Warehouse may be in order. If you live in Seattle area you know what I am talking about.

 

Tom in Seattle