Sunday Afternoon Musings: film and digital for travelling

[Karim Ghantous]

A friend of mine left for the UK/Europe a few days ago (London,

Prague, Paris, Berlin etc.). He took his digital compact with him.

Along with Huw's recent threads about his new II, that got me thinking

of whether a film camera or a digital one would be the best choice for

travelling.

 

On the one hand digital cameras (or rather, their media) are for the

most part immune to x-rays. Some models are powered by AA cells which

means you don't even need to charge them if you don't want to carry

the necessary cables to do so.

 

They can be very, very small - half the size of a Leica III. But

compactness costs: on average, the bigger the camera the better the

result. And they can be dead silent.

 

OTOH film cameras can have a high quality:price ratio. They are

slightly less attractive to pickpockets and unscrupulous hotel maids. ;-)

 

If you lose your memory card it will cost more than losing a roll of

film; but you have to carry a heck of a lot of film (not always at the

same time) to get the same number of frames as a few memory cards.

 

And if you're technically adept you can probably fix your film camera

(provided it's not something like an F5) more easily. Or you can

afford to take one or two spare bodies depending on how cheap you want

to go.

 

I like both systems. If you choose carefully you can't really go

wrong. Preference, I think, will decide what you take rather than an

obvious advantage of either type.

[will_woodford1]

At the risk of uttering cliches:

 

You should take the camera that you will use more.

 

The "X-ray-proofedness" of flash memory is a big benefit, however.

 

I usually take my M6 since it's my favorite camera.

 

The only time I wish I had brought something else is when I want someone else to take

picture of me, they never know how to use a rangefinder.

[peter_evans4]

<p>Er, yes.</p><p>Because I virtually never use digital, I'd like to point out another advantage of digital. A friend in Thailand has pretty much switched from film to digital because he likes to take pictures of people and they have come to expect to see the results on the back of the camera. When he's able to show the results on his LCD screen, they're satisfied, and inclined to let him take more photos; when he isn't, they're disappointed.</p>

[brunom]

Does anyone have any actual experience of films being damaged [for sure] by travel xrays, and when common sense has been used?

 

I've got a funny idea that this is not as big a problem as we all like to believe it is ?

 

Bruno

[peter_evans4]

Bruno, it's less likely to be airport X-rays than inflight cosmic radiation. I haven't suffered, no -- even in 12-hour flights. On the other hand I neither carry film faster than 400 nor carry a film on more than one such flight.

[WM]

I have always travelled with a film SLR and now that I have had my 10d over a year, I travelled with that all over the place with a few heavy L lenses. Since I got my M6, I started travelling with that......and a 50/2..and oh ! what a relief ! I was so happy with the M, how portable it is, how small it is (compared to my dSLR and glass !).........and how people reacted to it (or rather not react to it !). Now I got myself and M7, and as far as travelling is concerned, it is the M7 and 50/2. Hope to add a 35/2 and 15 Heliar........drool.......drool...........

[hollis]

I don't use digital. So Leica M2 (very quiet) + 3 lenses, lens hood, light meter, all fit nicely into an old small leather backpack bought for 5 euros at a flohmarkt, which I padded inside with compartments from expensive Lowepro. Carry camera in inside pocket of old jacket, so one does not shriek of 'tourist'. Film is cheap in Europe (Ilford FP4/HP5 I seen for 1.75 Euros in supermarkets in Berlin). Joy is developing and printing on return home. Never leave valuables in hotel room, it is stupid.

Have a great trip, walk slowly, don't follow map, better photos.

A

[mike dixon]

I've never had any film damaged by Xray machines (including some that went through a few international flights). A much bigger advantage of digital than its "Xray resistance" (which matters virtually none) is that you can switch between speeds by pushing a couple of buttosn--no need to carry several different kinds of film to suit different situations.

[ed_schwartzreich]

For me it has to do with what I want as the final result. I have an R-D1 and several M and SM bodies. If what I am traveling to is a family event or any place where people pictures are the norm, either the R-D1 (for color)or a film camera (M2, SM)with Tri-X is what I'll take. If there are to be primarily landscapes, architectural shots, or exotic locales, then it is chomes all the way, and usually an M6.

[ben z]

We travel far and often. For many years I carried a pair of Pentax Spotmatics and 3 or 4 lenses and shot slides exclusively. When my eyes began to change and focusing the Pentaxes became problematical, pressed my Leica Ms into travel duty and have been sold on them ever since, despite dabbling with a Leica R8 outfit (way too big and heavy for comfortable travelling for me) now sold, and a Hasselblad outfit (not that heavy but way too big for travel the way I like to do it). I have used but so far do not own a DSLR, but I'm thinking that a 20D and Rebel XT backup, 17-85mm IS and my Pentax 50/1.4+adaptor might be in my future. I'm still reluctant to buy yet, since I've got tons of film to use up and there's still something better and cheaper (or at least the same price) in the DSLR world always around the corner every year. The RD-1 has my interest but $3000 is way more than I'd spend for a camera with a 6MP chip. I'm also pretty sure that even if Leica stays in business and produces a Digital M, that I will not pay the asking price for it. Digital compacts don't work for me, I can't work through the squinty little finders nor can I hold one steady at arms length to compose on the little screen. So far then, it's Leica M and film for my travelling.

[dan_brown14]

There is a lot to be said for the digital display able review and cull the collection of images

as you go. I wish someone would come up with some kind of thumbnail digital capture in

a film camera!

[george_conboy1]

I was in a local photo shop yesterday and bought some 5x7 b+w paper (on closeout) and some 35mm color print film (also on closeout). I'm not sure if they simply won't be carrying those items anymore or if their stock is moving too slowly.

 

To the point, I did look at the Nikon D70 which I am considering as an augment to my Leica gear. The thought of lugging a D70 around the globe gave me pause. I did see a number of Nikon and Canon digitals that were as small as a pack of smokes, or smaller. Anybody have experience with one of those as a pocket travel camera?

[brunom]

George

 

I have a small[ish] Canon S70 and although it takes good[technically speaking] pictures it is not satisfying to use - I feel that 'it' is taking the picture and not me. I now use it less and less.

 

Bruno

[larry_kincaid1]

"...he's able to show the results on his LCD screen." Great thought. I have kicked around the idea of buying a cheap polaroid camara just to be able to show pictures immediately to people I am trying to photograph (esp., when traveling). Never thought about using a cheap digital for the same purpose. My wife could keep people entertained while I shoot photos with my Leica. This brings me little closer to buying a digital P&S. This plus the idea that I can through a cheap one away next year and not feel to bad about it. "Throwing it away" kind of sums up my attitude towards digital image making right now.

[lee_carruthers]

I often travel in foreign countries with film SLRs or rangefinders, but carry a tiny Canon S400 just for the purpose of having pics to show to the locals. Makes for a great ice-breaker.

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Subject: Response to Sunday Afternoon Musings: film and digital for travelling

 

A friend and partner have been to some scenic places, including on recent trips Grand

Canyon area, Africa, Japan and south-east Asia, Northern Territory of Australia, and now

they are off on the trans-Siberian. Both are computer programmers based here in New

Zealand. On two ocasions their digital camera packed up. No images. I have lent them a

little Leica mini 3 compact with slide film for this trip to take along with the digital. Manual

control and non-reliance on batteries, or having to take a memory card or download

images as you go all make film - especially Leica M6, a couple of lenses and slide film - a

clear winner for me.

[nzdavid]

Apologies about that. Third time I tried to post an answer! Can't seem to delete the guff at

the start.

[dennis_couvillion]

1. When travelling take a basic kit of whatever you prefer to shoot with... preferably one body and one lens. And take it everywhere with you.

 

2. Don't agonize over your camera gear and photography when travelling. It spoils the fun.

 

3. Buy picture postcards.

[stuart_richardson]

Well, as I am in the middle of a trip at the moment, I suppose I will share my thoughts. I am doing a trip that was 4 days in Iceland (1 day in Vik, 1 day Hofn, 1 day Vik again, 1 day Reykjavik and out), then London (now), Paris, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Tallinn. I am shooting film, as that is the only quality gear that I have, and so far it has worked very well. I took a lot more gear than most would probably be comfortable with, but one of the primary goals of the trip for me is the photography. I brought a photo backpack to hold the gear for travel, and a satchel bag for day to day shooting. The requirements were a bit tricky, since Iceland was so much about landscape and natural scenes, while the rest of the trip is largely city scenes and indoor shots. I brought two bodies -- an MP and Hexar RF and 5 lenses (well, 4.5...). The voigtlander 21, 35,50,75 and 135/4. I have used all the lenses extensively so far. The least used has been the 75. I love the lens to death, but it has not been that useful yet. I brought it for fast telephoto for night shooting, but I have only been in Iceland so far, where it did not get dark until about 12:30-1am. Perhaps it will see more duty in the more southerly places. I have been using black and white in one camera, and color slide film in the other. I did about 12 rolls in the 4 days in Iceland -- I really lucked out with the weather. All four days were brilliantly sunny and beautiful, which is evidently quite rare for the area.

 

Anyway, the pros and cons of digital. The most annoying part about shooting film is the fact that you have to lug it around. Also, I quickly found out that accessing it can be a headache if something goes wrong. In my hurried preparations to leave, I forgot my lovingly selected bag of film in my sister's fridge in NYC. There is an immediate crisis right there, though I suppose that it is just as easy to forget one's memory cards. In any case, I was forced to buy all my film in Reykjavik and Hofn, and I was left with they had: a few rolls of Velvia, a few of Velvia 100F, some Tmax 100 and BW400CN. None of it bad film, but some of it short-dated, none of it was refridgerated, and it was not what I had hoped to shoot, though it was similar (My kit had Velvia 100,E100G,Delta 100, with some Provia 400F and Tri-x for dark situations). I can only cross my fingers that it is all going to come out well. This is a problem that could not have happened with digital. That said, I would still choose film because it is my preference. I like being able to show slides (not powerpoint), and I like being able to process my own black and white and print in a wet darkroom. This is just a personal preference. <P>Another downside of film is the delay in seeing the results -- I will process my E6 in Paris, but I will not be able to post it on the web until I am back in California, which is not until the end of July, so my family and friends will have to wait until them. With digital, I could have punctuated this post with the photos from Iceland. In any case, I suppose I am a bit stodgy, but I don't mind waiting to see the results. Sometimes it is nice to be surprised. I have gotten to the point where I can generally tell whether a shot I made will be technically correct, and if I am concerned, I bracket, so it is not really a necessity for me to see every image I have taken. It is more about whether a photo made it aesthetically, and that is something that cannot be easily corrected on the spot, so I don't mind waiting to see. In any case, this is getting very long and rambling, so I suppose I will just end it there. I am sure I will post some pictures when I get back to my scanner -- it will be far more interesting than this stream of unconsciousness has been.

[ilan_g]

At 20Mb per file (raw) for a high end digital camera (comparing what's comparable to a Leica) you fit 50 shots on a 1Gb card. You can buy bigger and/or more, but you clearly need something to download the pictures into. All your apples are then in the same bag (you could burn DVDs along the way for distribution and/or redundancy of the backup). You need a power supply (more than the power you need for a Leica M anyway), you carry more equipment (unless you plan to take mountains of films, a 200Gb hard drive occupies less space than 200 rolls of film), you spend more time dealing with your pictures and equipment during the trip.

[ilan_g]

...your eggs too ;-)

[les_lammers]

Here is an interesting digi compact:

 

http://www.leica-camera.com/discus_e/messages/3/149093.html?1122199380