Holiday cameras - what to take

StephenM

StephenM

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As the title says. Two weeks in Scotland in a hired motorhome coming up (soooon!). Possibly limited space for cameras. At the moment, we will have

2 tripods (Gitzo and Manfrotto)
2 smallish Lowepro AW bags with Sony a7r and a7rii and various lenses.
1 bigger Lowpro bag with about 20 lenses.
1 small aluminum case with 6 lenses for 5x4 (with cable releases).
1 backpack with Walker Titan SF, focussing cloth etc. etc.
Various other essentials that usually sit in my Billingham waistcoat (2 exposure meters - I may take 4, filters, lens brush, powerful reading glasses and lupe for the ground glass etc.).

The question now becomes: do I take my RZ67 outfit, or my Mamiya C330 outfit (has a more useful for the job in hand set of lenses) or both? I prefer larger to smaller negatives, and don't "see" squares (perhaps more accurately, don't find myself moved to photograph subjects that are usually best depicted in square format). The RZ67 is in a hard Peli case, and the C330 in a soft bag (possibly easier to stow).
 
I have toyed with the idea of buying a motorhome, though may follow your example by hiring first. Of the ones I've looked at, there is a scarcity of storage space for items like tripods, although camera bags might be stowed under seats or in the overcab bed area if it isn't being used. Be aware that underseat areas can be taken up by pumps, batteries, water tanks, heater units etc, and obviously you can't risk your kit in lockers which can be opened from outside the motorhome. Wardrobe space is limited and you'll need decent wet weather gear just in case, so I'd be thinking you are already overloaded without the MF gear. You might think your 6 lens aluminium case is small, but I doubt it can be that small, and how big can a bag with 20 lenses be? If you've had the chance to try packing all this kit in a motorhome, please ignore this well-meaning post, but I've ruled out quite a few by just sitting in them and planning where I would stow everything. Other than that, I'm sure you'll have a great time! (y)
 
Two weeks in Scotland... you're going to want polarisers and grad filters... I'd say the TLR is out, spend a few days in the gymn and take the RZ!
 
I find myself carrying less and less gear all the time. I've been happy on one-week trips in Scotland with just one or two cameras.

On a week in Skye (bloged at https://kevinthephotographer.wordpress.com/2014/11/29/one-camera-on-the-isle-of-skye/) I took just an RZ67 and was quite happy with that (including a fair bit of walking). Actually I did take a TLR as well but it was never used and stayed in the car.

On a different week in the Trossachs I used mainly the RZ67 but also took a Fujifulm GA645Zi which I used when cycling and on a hill-climb.

There was one week-long trip to Harris where I took something approaching your list (no LF but the RZ, 35mm, and digital) but spent far too much time swapping kit around, and the 35mm and digital results were less satisfactory than the medium format.

The above were all trips with photography as a primary focus. On a week based at Balmacara last year with family, I took just the GA645Zi and a medium format pinhole and still managed some shots I was happy with.
 
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I should have said that this is the third motorhome we've hired, and should be larger than the last one. The 20 lens case is 20"x12"x10" as the lenses are neither digital nor autofocus - mainly OM in fact. The other Lowepro bags are smaller (160AW, 180AW from memory); the Peli case is a 1600 and the aluminium case much smaller. The tripod could sit under a seat in the first one we hired, but in the second that space was the water tank. I honestly don't know what's under the seats - but as it's a six berth for the two of us, I'm hoping for a reasonable amount of space.

I think the smallest camera I could live with would probably be the 5x4, as I have a fear of being unable to make 20x16 grain free prints... Failing the 5x4, I'd probably ditch all the film cameras, but I for one can't get the same quality from digital (and have a strange inability to see black and white with a digital camera, and no problem at all with film... Even without using the back screen (which I don't)). I prefer black and white to colour, which I find too difficult.

I hope to "do" some serious photography, which to me means film. The 5x4 requires a little more time to set up than 120, but is more flexible. The RZ67 has been a very good point and shoot compact on previous trips to Scotland (including the last motorhome one, about 3-4 years ago). Plus used on a tripod round the Glencoe lochan, which I've also traversed with a 5x4.
 
steveo_mcg said:
Rb/rz; what was the question again. :)
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ChrisR said:
Two weeks in Scotland... you're going to want polarisers and grad filters... I'd say the TLR is out, spend a few days in the gymn and take the RZ!
Click to expand...

OK, you've talked me into the RZ67 as well as the 5x4. The RZ67 will fit in the same backpack as the Walker - I've carried the RZ67 along with 5x4 along the North Face path of Ben Nevis (but not as far as the top!).

Now it's holiday reading.... I don't want to take a lot, so it may boil down to a choice between a biography of Alfred Steiglitz, the History of Painting in the Thames and Hudson World of Art series and Rudolf Arnheim's Art and Visual Perception. I'll be taking an Ancient Greek grammar as well as a change.
 
StephenM said:
OK, you've talked me into the RZ67 as well as the 5x4. The RZ67 will fit in the same backpack as the Walker - I've carried the RZ67 along with 5x4 along the North Face path of Ben Nevis (but not as far as the top!).

Now it's holiday reading.... I don't want to take a lot, so it may boil down to a choice between a biography of Alfred Steiglitz, the History of Painting in the Thames and Hudson World of Art series and Rudolf Arnheim's Art and Visual Perception. I'll be taking an Ancient Greek grammar as well as a change.
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Don't forget to pack your Harris Tweed underwear too!
 
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I've just packed my holiday cameras..:banana:


Mam 6, 50 + 75
F100, 70-200 + 20
2 x compacts, MJU1 + Tiara
Film.....which is not insignificant but....that's it !

no tripod


and I'm not even slightly nattered about it.....yaay
 
I thought slide was only needed when you went skiiing....

Though there was skiiing in Aviemore one June we were there....
 
I'm doing the same thing now. I've decided against taking my new 4x5 because I'm not 100% with the printed hinge so it will probably lead to me throwing it in the lake!

I think I'm settled on these, along with my A6000 for digital;

- Yashica 635 with Instax back and a pack of Fuji B&W Instax Mini (I might pack the original back as well and a roll of Portra 400 for some landscapes)
- Kiev 4 with Ilford XP2 Super 400 and another roll of something else (whatever I've got in the fridge)

We're only away until Monday so I probably won't use up all the film in the Kiev but I haven't even put a roll through it since I bought it so I think it's only fair that I include it :0)
 
stevelmx5 said:
- Kiev 4 with Ilford XP2 Super 400 and another roll of something else (whatever I've got in the fridge)

We're only away until Monday so I probably won't use up all the film in the Kiev but I haven't even put a roll through it since I bought it so I think it's only fair that I include it :0)
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I've recently dug out my Kiev 4a in honour of the FSU camera challenge, but haven't finished the film yet. It used to have frame spacing issues on 36 exp film for the last few frames, so I'm trying 24exp Poundland Agfa to see if that spaces OK.
 
In the end, I compromised and took the RZ67 and C330 outfits as well as my 5x4 and a Sony a7r11 (but we won't talk about that here). And the only film camera I used was the 5x4, so I could have left the small format stuff at home...

I rather wish I'd taken a couple of Exaktas just for the fun of it all...

Weather (spelled the German way "Wetter") and the continual driving (Calender-Fort Willam-Inverness- round the north of Scotland with a visit to Cape Wrath- down the west coast but avoiding Applecross-Fort William-Aviemore-Callender) meant I didn't have much time to look at the detailed picture in various places. I've covered a lot of the "big" views in better lighting. Cape Wrath was interesting and new, but with a drive in a bouncy mini bus to the lighthouse and back LF wasn't much of an option.

I'm still sorting out all the equipment on return.
 
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