dandreisbach

Always buy and take film with you. Some countries like Mexico limit the number of rolls you can bring into the country (10

per camera) but I have never had anyone challenge me on it. The TSA in the US will manually inspect film and not x-ray

it but outside of the US it gets x-rayed. I shoot 100 ISO and never higher than 400 ISO and had never had fogging

problems from the x-rays. Of course loading camera film in public in a foreign tourist spot causes people to look at you

like you are from another planet. I was shooting part of the remains of the Berlin Wall and had this Russian guy giving me

a hard time mocking my medium format film camera insisting his point and shoot was far superior. I know who got the

better 16x20's that night...

<p>I travel to Mexico all the time with three cameras and gear. I've never had any problems entering or leaving the country. Mexico will not hand inspect film it has to go through the airport scanner so take low ISO film. Mexico does have a limit of 12 rolls of film (per camera) that you can bring in to the country but I have never had anyone count my rolls. Most tourist spots ran by the government do not allow tripods (you can apply for a special permit months in advance). I have never had any safety issues even in remote areas. Use the same common sense you would use at home and you will be fine. It is a very beautiful country. </p>

<p>People laugh at me for using a Kiev 88 so be forewarned (I like to think of it as my generic Hasselblad 500CM). That said it gives me absolutely beautiful shots. I'm still a wet darkroom kind of guy and get great 16x20 prints from the 6x6 negatives. No visible grain. Do some Google research before going the Kiev 88 route. They are temper-mental and prone to light leaks. I love mine. </p>

<p>Kodak did introduce their new Ektar film not too long ago and it is a wonderful film. Their T-Max is a big hit. Most of us that shoot color slide film are cross processing it and the Kodak films have the advantage over their Fuji counterparts as the Fuji film gives off some nasty magenta color casts. Fuji also recently announced they were dropping their Neopan 400 and some of the Color Pro series films. Fuji cutting product is good news for Kodak. It's fairly safe to say that most of us here on photo.net all shoot the professional grade films and the quality and features of the film will continue to be our deciding factor when purchasing film. I like to save money as much as the next guy but it the price of the professional grade films goes it I'll gladly pay it and not move the the low end consumer grade films. I do think that Kodak has lost touch with their customer base. I have a terrible time finding C-41 chemicals in small quantities for home use as Kodak keeps phasing out the smaller packaging "due to declining sales". Ironically they did recently introduce a small E-6 chemistry kit(5 liter) for about $60. I have no hard numbers but have to believe that a C-41 kit would be a bigger seller than this new E-6. Everyone I know soups E-6 film in C-41 for the look. </p>

<p>I'm partial to Acros souped in either HC-110 Dilution D or Pyrocat-HD semi-stand. T-Max is also good but just doesn't look quite right to me. There are so many developer combinations what will yield different results. Find what film/developer combo works best for you and stick with it. </p>

<p>I have four - two 6x6 and two 6x4.5. Based upon the shoot I tend to only use one size at a time. Sometimes I shoot two different films one in each and other times I shoot the same film in both only having to reload after shooting both backs. It only takes a couple of minutes to change the film so having more backs than that just takes up space in your bag and takes money away from buying better lenses. It's not like the drama of having a view camera and needing to load film in a changing bag at a shoot. </p>

<p>I've never had any problems with color or b&w film being scanned as carry on. Mexico and Europe require it to go through the scanner. I've never had any problems with film up to 800iso. Keep in mind some countries like Mexico do limit how many rolls of film you may bring into the country. Most of the time they don't enforce it but sometimes you get the magic red light at customs and they do enforce it. Trying to explain that 30 rolls of 120 film isn't a lot of film compared to 35mm is pretty much useless. </p>

<p>For as much as everyone keeps knocking the Kiev 88 cameras some of the best pictures I have ever taken were done with a Kiev 88. That said Arsenal the company in the Ukraine that produces the Kiev has stopped making them and KievUSA has bought their remaining parts and inventory. People buy Kievs (myself included) because they are cheap and so are the lenses. That said the Carl Zeiss lenses are awesome. I would rate the other lenses as fair at best. For school assignments I do shoot with the Kiev over my Nikons as the 6x6 negatives with a Zeiss lens produce prints that a 35mm negative just can't do. If I could go back in time and my wife would let me spend the money I would have gone with a Hasselblad. If you do go the cheap route and get Kiev buy only rebuilt ones (Hartblei, Arax, etc). They also smell really bad - be prepared to replace the factory faux leather - I pimped my out in red. The camera and lenses both have a bit of weight. With my 300mm lens they weigh just over 13 pounds. Regardless of what MF camera you end up getting shoot a roll of Ektar, Velvia and Acros. You will be amazed by the results in MF. Good luck.</p>

<p>I bought my wife a tank with one of these reels thinking it would be really easy for her to load the film. She has had several rolls of film scratched loading them onto the reel as the film slides across the plastic while loading. The scratch would usually go across the last 12-15 shots of the roll. The reel seemed nice when I bought it but we have taken a loss on it and now use the standard patterson reels. The secret for loading film on the pattersons is the reel has to be bone dry and cut the leading corners. Any moisture from a previous roll will cause problems loading. Even the thinner Fuji 120 films are fairly easy to load. </p>

<p>I have found that film performs much better in certain instances such as night photography where very long exposure times are required. The digital sensors just get too hot and start producing digital noise on your shot. For a professional photographer where your income is on the line digital is certainly cheaper and easier. However for serious art work where quality is everything digital can't hold a candle to a good medium format camera and a roll of Velvia 50. I personally enjoy night photography and use mostly film. It is a bit of a pain to scan negatives to share things digitally but there is nothing like a good 16x20 print from a good negative. True film guys develop there own film. I will say that it is getting harder to purchase color chemistry in small quantities these days. Kodak has phased out all of their small quanitity packaging for C-41 and E6. B&W chemistry I can still find on the shelf at most local photo stores. Bottom line is you use the right tool for the job at hand. </p>

<p>Developing your own B&W is really simple and saves a ton of money. For B&W I shoot exclusively Acros as T-Max 100 film kept looking a bit flat with not the same wide tonal range regardless of what developer I used (including T-Max Developer). After trying quite a few developers based upon the recommendations of other photo.net users I have found HC-110 Dilution "D" for 6:45 at 68 degrees invert the tank three times every 30 seconds yields the best results for me. I was using T-Max developer before that and was always needing to use contrast filters while printing. I have had quite a few other students at school ask me how I get the print quality I do with no visible grain at 16x20 and I tell them. You will never be happy with the results sending out your B&W film for development. Break down and buy a tank and some chemistry. It won't many rolls before you start seeing a cost savings. It's really a lot easier than you think and pretty fun to boot. Acros is by far the best B&W film I have ever used. </p>

Pelee Island Ontario which is in the middle of lake Erie. Point Pelee on the mainland is also good. This is one of the main migration paths for the great lakes region. As it is more of a migration spot May and late September/early October are the best times. Bird watching is big business in this are during the migration seasons. I live in the Detroit area and enjoy going to the island for a day trip to ride my bike and take pictures.