camera choice for holiday in northern BC

[philip_roberts1]

I am taking the holiday of a lifetime (for me) August 2003 in the

north of British Columbia.

 

I want a MF camera that is 1) RELIABLE 2)simple 3)portable 4)

will give me drop dead print quality - although I intend to use

tranny (velvia 50) for most of the scenics. Could be 645 - 6x9

 

I own a Hasselblad 500CM with an 80/2.8T* - unfortunately I do

not have confidence in its RELIABILITY to trust my once-in-a-

lifetime shots to it! Am I being an old woman?

 

So, from personal experience/preference, let me have your

wisdom folks! What do YOU recommend. Use the Hassy or

invest elsewhere? I have considered the Fuji rangefinders, also,

I seldom use anything other than incident light readings for most

of my photography - would a spotmeter be useful for

landscapes?

 

Of course I could go back to a 35mm Nikon F4 or F5 (Oooopps -

wash my mouth out).

[montague_withnail]

Have you been to B.C. before? What's on your itinerary?

Feel free to e-mail me if you want some info off photo.net.

Have fun - and take LOTS of film, then double it.

[mike_scott2]

If you're worried about reliability, send the Hassie in for CLA before you go.

[david_henderson]

Reliability is the property of individual cameras not especially of brands. So you get good and bad Hasselblads, Mamiyas, and whatever. You can't protect yourself absolutely against the consequences of breakdown by buying a 'reliable' brand. You can only tinker with the odds a little by doing that.

 

So - is your Hasselblad reliable or does it let you down? If you're comfortable with the Hasselblad and can carry it ok then the best -and perhaps the cheapest -way to protect yourself against the consequences of breakdown is to buy and take along (leaving it in the car or hotel room) a second Hasselblad body. Naturally you need to test this first. The Hasselblad will give you as good images as you need ( though I might suggest that another lens or two would be useful) and is much more versatile than any rangefinder.

 

I would suggest that the use of a one degree spotmeter - once you've learned to use it well - will much improve your exposures vs those you'll get from an incident meter. This is especially so if you're shoot slides or zone system b&w. Slide film has little latitude and it is very important to know what the range of brightness within your scene is. A series of readings with a spotmeter will enable you to do this.

 

If you don't normally use Velvia or a spotmeter you need to get in plenty of practice before you go. It is probably easier to ruin this trip by relying on equipment, film or processes you don't fully understand than through equipment malfunction.

[godfrey]

Nothing can ever protect you against chance and happenstance, there's no

such thing as ultimate security. Always carry a backup camera on critical

assignments or 'once in a lifetime' trips, one that you trust.

 

That said, I'd have no problems whatever carrying a Hasselblad 500CM. If it

showed any signs of needing a service, have it done well in advance and test

it thoroughly.

 

And then pack your favorited, trusted Nikon as well. My backup is usually a

Rollei 35S...

 

Godfrey

[jerry_lehrer]

Phil

 

Good Lord! You have a Hasselblad and don't trust it? Remember there

are more professional photographers out there, using H'blads, than

ALL other MF cameras combined.

 

Have it serviced, the film magazines too, and be confident.

 

Jerry

[david_nelson1]

Y'know...the best camera is usually the one you're the most comfortable and familiar with. I'm sure that everyone has their favourite, but what really matters is what is yours! I would tend to agree with some of the other posts here---Get your hassy serviced. You might consider either buying a backup (same model if possible) or even renting one. Even if it never gets used, a backup can provide incredible peace of mind.

[philip_roberts1]

Thanks one and all - actually my 500CM was serviced in August

and performed like a dream in September - but that was after

several fogged films and overlapped frames in June and July!

Perhaps my only investment should be another 500CM body!

 

Unfortunately I am a worry-guts who is only to aware of the old

joke that you need 3 Hassy bodies at any one time - 1 on the

camera, 1 in the bag and 1 at the repairer!

 

Thanks for the confidence.

[jeff_tokayer]

I just returned from an outing in Northern Ontario with my Fuji G690 (100mm lens) and GSW690III (65mm lens).

My cameras performed beautifully with Agfa RSX II 50 & 100 reversal film.

My 2 gripes were the meter (Gossen Lunasix) which did not give me accurate readings in difficult lighting, and the lens cap on the G690 which I forgot to remove in a couple of shots.

Next year I'll have a spot meter for exposure reading, and my lens cap problem has been resolved with a bright yellow tape sticking out of one side, in front of the viewfinder.

 

HTH,

Jeff.

[richardcook]

I'd recommend the Mamiya 7II with a couple of lenses, say a 43 and 65 or 80. Compact, self contained, reliable, easy to use, lightweight and big frame. Mine travels pretty well and I find the quiet to be useful in many situations.

 

Richard

[pok_hon_wally_yu]

My general advice is that never use new equipment to shoot important shots or bring new equipment to a trip. The previous suggestion is certainly good. However, if you are not familiar to the operation of your new camera, a Mamiya 7II can be as bad as a point-and-shoot camera....

 

If you use the Hassy before and feel comfortable about it, use it. As mentioned before, get a CLA on the body and the lens.

 

BTW, what makes you feel that your Hassy "not reliable"?

[roger_michel]

the 500c/m is, or can be, one of the most reliable workhorse cameras ever made. if yours is not up to standard, get it serviced or get another one. having said that, no one should undertake a serious photo project without a backup camera. even the toughest camera can fall into the water/over a cliff. my top choice for a tiny 35mm back up is a contax t3. if you want to stick to 120 film, bring along a cheap used rollei. in good condition, it will never let you down.

 

 

another serious consideration, however, is lens variety. it sounds like you've just got the 80mm for the blad. you'll be sorry not to have a few choices when you are in BC -- as well as macro capability. if add'l blad lenses are not in the picture, use the money you'd spend on hassey one lens to buy a used mamiya 645 3 lens kit with extension tubes (heck, sell your unreliable 500 cm to get it for no outlay). or get the mamiya tlr with the 55, 80 and 250. in the alternative, if you've got nikon gear around, you'd likely be better served with your f5 and three or four lenses than the blad with just the 80mm. in short, if you go with just the one lens, you WILL lose pics.

 

 

and finally, whatever you pick, just make sure you have a second camera as a backup.

[cliff_lesergent]

Philip;

 

B.C. is a big place, and knowing in more detail what areas you will be visiting would help with specific recommendations.

 

If you plan to go really far north in B.C. and maybe venture as far as Whitehorse in the Yukon, you might want to consider a panoramic camera of some sort. I was up there at the end of September, and all of the other photographers I met were shooting with Fuji 617's. It's a really BIG place, and really begs for the wide perspective; unfortunately, all I had was my little 645. At the very least, you might consider a Fuji 6x9 rangefinder in addition to your Hasselblad.

 

If you will be visiting the north coast, the salmon spawning should be well under way at Stewart, and you should be able to see lots of bears just across the border in Hyder, Alaska. I'm hoping to be there in August 2003 myself. It can be very rainy there, so a fast lens and fast film will be required if you're interested in photographing the bears (if the locals haven't shot them all before then; a gentleman from the U.S. Forest Service said he believed they may have lost as much as 30% of their local bears due to hunting this year - after the Forest Service spent enormous sums of money to build nice bear viewing platforms along Salmon Creek).

[Aoresteen]

I just spent two weeks in Portugal & Spain. I took a 2000FC/M, 80mm, 50mm, and one A12. Worked like a charm.

 

Take your 'Blad and enjoy.

 

I use a Sekonic L508 light meter - it's both a spot & incident meter.

 

I did cary a Leica IF & IIIg with CV 15, 21, & 28mm lens and shot a lot of Velvia, all metered with the L508.