Camera for an andean trip

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flavio81

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Ok, i need your opinion guys; tomorrow I'm going on a trip to Cajamarca (in the andean region of Peru), 4 days, i'll be trekking a little bit; weather goes from about 0°C to 25°C (32°F to 77°F for the friends in USA), and i have yet not decided which camera to carry. I have different systems and in almost all of the systems i have a 24/28mm, 35mm, 85/100, 135 and 200.

So i've put the weights of the cameras and lenses into a spreadsheet and i have these options, they all weight very similar (1500g +/- 50g)
The choices are:

SYSTEM FD:
Canon New F-1 in battered shape so it does not attract attention
FD 28/2.8 lens
FD 50/1.8 lens or 50/1.4
FD 100/2.8 lens

pros: Cheap lenses, F-1N is my favorite 35mm SLR

SYSTEM EOS:
Canon EOS 5 -- this camera has a full-featured integrated flash and auto everything, reads my mind and acts accordingly
EF 24/2.8
EF 50/1.8 first version
EF 85/1.8

pros: Camera is very quick to use, lenses great
cons: lenses (relatively) expensive and delicate

SYSTEM Nikon:
Nikkormat EL or Nikon F2
Nikon 20/4.0 AI or 28/3.5
Nikon 35/3.5 perspective-control
Nikon 50/2.0

pros: Cameras great to use, 35/3.5PC is one of my favorite lenses
cons: I don't want my beloved 20 or 35PC to get damaged or dirty or stolen!

SYSTEM Pentax M42:
Pentax Spotmatic
S-M-C Takumar 28/3.5 or Carl Zeiss Jena 35/2.4
SMC Takumar 50/1.4
Carl Zeiss Jena 135/3.5

pros: Light camera, i have many spotmatics so no prob if it gets stolen.
cons: Changing lenses is noticeably slower. Some of the lenses were a bit difficult to find and/or expensive.

SYSTEM "SLR cameras suck":
Zeiss Contessa folder (45/2.8 lens) or Kodak Retina IIIc (50/2.0 lens)
both being rangefinder cameras of course.
or Olympus Pen S (28/3.5 half frame lens)

Circumstances are, i'm afraid that the camera gets damaged by weather and rough treatment. Weather-wise perhaps the New F-1 is the most resilient and would perhaps be choice #1. All the cameras are very reliable, although i feel that my EF lenses are more fragile than the rest (i dropped an EF 50/1.8 Mk1 in the past and it needed repair).

The cheapest set of lenses above was the FD lenses, by far, followed by the M42 lenses, and then the Nikon lenses and EOS lenses (tie in price).

What would you guys choose?
 
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summicron1

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take the camera you identified as your favorite. You're going on a once-in-a-lifetime trip, you don't want to waste brain time messing with a less-than-comfy camera.

Take an extra battery, twice as much film as you think you need, and don't sweat it being stolen, nobody wants film cameras any more. Take a plastic bag for the camera if it rains.
 

Rick A

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My cousin goes to the Andes on a regular basis, decked out with Nikon F5 and F6 bodies plus half a dozen lenses and a tripod. He travels by local buses and other public transportation, and bicycle. He has also toured a good bit of South East Asia on a bicycle with the same gear load. He's been at it for the last 20+ years, he's in his late 60's.
 
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flavio81

flavio81

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take the camera you identified as your favorite. You're going on a once-in-a-lifetime trip, you don't want to waste brain time messing with a less-than-comfy camera.

You are correct, although i also love the Nikon F2 and the Canon "old" F-1 as well.

I will bring an extra battery, although the F-1N is also mechanical and can work in the mechanical mode from 1/90 to 1/2000 :D Yay!!

and don't sweat it being stolen, nobody wants film cameras any more.

Unless I find a robber with an extremely good taste in cameras!

Thanks for the tip on the plastic bag.
 

summicron1

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news photographers never go anywhere without a few smaller plastic bags for rain, and a large garbage bag to make into a poncho when needed.

the nice thing about the canon f1 is you can hit a potential thief with it, then take his picture. Very handy.

Safe travels

charlie
 
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flavio81

flavio81

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Well, here am I, i brought the F-1N with Provia and the Canon EF with Acros... happy so far!!

the nice thing about the canon f1 is you can hit a potential thief with it, then take his picture. Very handy.

Safe travels

charlie

Yes but the Mamiya RB67 is better because after you hit the thief with it, he does not stand up afterwards... And the picture of the thief comes out with much higher image quality so he gets properly pictured for eternity.
 

Paul Howell

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The F1 was used by many PJ in the day, not as popular as the Nikon F2 or F3, along with a spare battery you might want to add an incident light meter. When I was working PJ I always carried 2 bodies, Nikon F series and a Canon 7S or Leica IIIG screw mount rangefinder, a wide on the rangefinder and normal or 105 on the Nikon. Maybe a T90 or an A1 as second body?
 

TSSPro

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HAHA! Yes. All muggers will be smacked with analogue technology and once bludgeoned your portrait will be made.....I can see a T-shirt materializing in my mind's eye. :tongue:
 
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flavio81

flavio81

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The F1 was used by many PJ in the day, not as popular as the Nikon F2 or F3, along with a spare battery you might want to add an incident light meter. When I was working PJ I always carried 2 bodies, Nikon F series and a Canon 7S or Leica IIIG screw mount rangefinder, a wide on the rangefinder and normal or 105 on the Nikon. Maybe a T90 or an A1 as second body?

Hi,

At the end i brought a Canon EF as the second body.

All fine with the F-1N and the EF; at a certain point in the trip my F-1N fell down to the ground, it was a very minor fall (say, 10" to the floor), and of course nothing happened and I continued shooting. It did not rain but at a certain point in time a crop irrigation system "rained" on me... nothing serious of course.

As for the EF, one day the meter stopped working and I panicked. I can live without a meter easily, but i got angry at having my EF fail on me; after being the one who dissasembled it and checked it and made sure everything was allright, and recalibrated the meter... The battery check showed the batteries were fine, the slow (Electronical) speeds were working but the meter did not indicate any light (!!) So i was puzzled, very puzzled...

... until i realized that the "NORMAL/FLASH" switch was set to "Flash" and that's why the meter needle did not work (!!) I am such an idiot!!
So the EF worked just fine afterwards.
 

Leigh B

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My wife made a few trips to Peru and surrounding areas (Machu Picchu, Atacama desert, Lima, etc) with a metered Nikon F2.

Always came back with excellent shots. Never any problem or issue.

- Leigh
 

Paul Howell

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Hi,

At the end i brought a Canon EF as the second body.

All fine with the F-1N and the EF; at a certain point in the trip my F-1N fell down to the ground, it was a very minor fall (say, 10" to the floor), and of course nothing happened and I continued shooting. It did not rain but at a certain point in time a crop irrigation system "rained" on me... nothing serious of course.

As for the EF, one day the meter stopped working and I panicked. I can live without a meter easily, but i got angry at having my EF fail on me; after being the one who dissasembled it and checked it and made sure everything was allright, and recalibrated the meter... The battery check showed the batteries were fine, the slow (Electronical) speeds were working but the meter did not indicate any light (!!) So i was puzzled, very puzzled...

... until i realized that the "NORMAL/FLASH" switch was set to "Flash" and that's why the meter needle did not work (!!) I am such an idiot!!
So the EF worked just fine afterwards.

The F1 is such as rugged camera would be surprised if any real damage, no experience with the EF, but like FD gear built to last.
 
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flavio81

flavio81

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My wife made a few trips to Peru and surrounding areas (Machu Picchu, Atacama desert, Lima, etc) with a metered Nikon F2.

Always came back with excellent shots. Never any problem or issue.

- Leigh

The F2 was my second choice but I went with the F-1N due to the better weather sealing.
 

benjiboy

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charlie[/QUOTE
"the nice thing about the canon f1 is you can hit a potential thief with it, then take his picture. Very handy".

You can also pound in your tent pegs into the permafrost with them and the camera will still most probably work.
 

jeffreyg

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My suggestion is to take two camera bodies that take the same lens mount and a short and long lens. I use only black and white so when I travel I load each with the same film and don't have to bother changing lenses and can most often work with one meter reading. I do use medium format and if hiking is involved it is only for photography since we stay in hotels. My situation is different from your description but not changing lenses is a plus for me.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/
 
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