Film for a week in Croatia..

John_A · Apr 15, 2016

Yes, I will leave all my digital stuff at home (except the Phone) and shoot film for a week. Really looking forward to it.
The area we will visit has lots of pebble beaches, cliffs, turqoise water and very old towncenters.
My initial thought is to bring a Fm2 + Fg-20 and 24mm/2, 50mm/1.4, 100mm 2.8, all ai-s.
Then probably use Portra 160 or 400 for portraits and general photography, Ektar 100 for landscape and a pocket, manual rangefinder with tri-x.
Does this sound sensible?
What would you have put together as a good setup, (cameras and films) also considering the weight?

TheFlyingCamera · Apr 15, 2016

I don't see the FM2/FG-20 as a great pair because they're quite dissimilar in their controls and orientations - the FM2 is an all-manual pro/semi-pro camera whereas the FG-20 is fairly simplified. The lens combo sounds good though. I'd even simplify on the film choices. Ektar is perfectly suitable for portraits as well as landscapes. I'd bring Ektar 100 for general purpose shooting, keep some Portra 400 around for low light (and in the old city centers you'll be dealing with low light a lot). Use the Tri-X in the FM2 as well. The simpler you can make your kit the better.

Alan Gales · Apr 15, 2016

Bringing a 24/50/100 is a great choice in my opinion at least for what I shoot (a bit of everything). My favorite combination for my Contax was 25/50/100. Same thing.

I'd bring two camera bodies so you can load one with color and one with b&w. The more similar the bodies the better but if all you have is the FM2 and FG then they will work.

I just wanted to tell you that my Step-Son and his wife visited Croatia. They said the country was just beautiful. Bring plenty of film because you will have so many things you will want to shoot!

John_A · Apr 15, 2016

Thanks for the replies! I agree on keeping things as simple as possible, I guess its easy to over complicate things when you are planning.
I view the fg-20 mainly as a backup, dont want to bring the F90x, I rather keep the weight down.
A question, wich film (Portra or Ektar) produces the most consistent results in both sunny and overcast conditions?

Alan Gales · Apr 15, 2016

I don't shoot Ektar. I shoot mostly Portra for color. Occasionally Velvia for when I want to punch things up and Tri-x for b&w.

I shoot Provia in my Stereo Realist cameras.

TheFlyingCamera · Apr 15, 2016

John_A said:
Thanks for the replies! I agree on keeping things as simple as possible, I guess its easy to over complicate things when you are planning.
I view the fg-20 mainly as a backup, dont want to bring the F90x, I rather keep the weight down.
A question, wich film (Portra or Ektar) produces the most consistent results in both sunny and overcast conditions?

If you'd like to see some examples, go look through my gallery here on APUG to see the color work I posted from Italy - 90%+ of it was Ektar 100. Properly exposed, properly developed, Ektar is a phenomenal film. Portra will give you a bit more wiggle room if you're sloppy, but it gives you consistently warm results (which you may not always want... it was designed to make skin tones look good before anything else).

02Pilot · Apr 15, 2016

I've shot a fair bit in that part of the world. I'm a fan of Ektar, but especially along the coast, I think the palette of Portra suits the scenery better. The last few times I've shot Portra 160 and Tri-X and been quite pleased with the results.

DF · Apr 15, 2016

Where in the local are you going to find film? Or you trust to take it aboard the plane - the whole lead-bag thing?

onre · Apr 16, 2016

The Mediterranean light is bright and there's lots of it. I'd take mostly 50 and 100 ISO for daylight shooting.

blockend · Apr 16, 2016

It's impossible to tell other people what film to shoot. Croatia has much that is part of classical antiquity, with remnants of the former Soviet block, in a landscape of mountains, sea and islands. It's warm and sunny for most of the year, so low ASA film isn't usually a problem. I was there two years ago and thirty-three years ago. First time I took lots of FP4, last time I took plenty of medium format colour negative, but ended up using my phone for black and white photography.

Generally speaking, if you want travelogue type shots, Ektar 100 is nicely saturated film, but I'd certainly take some monochrome film because the country is full of textures. I wouldn't rely on film being sold locally at all.

John_A · Apr 19, 2016

Well, after some more research it looks like it will be the Ektar 100 in the fm2 for color. Also found a very nice Hi-matic E that will go along and do some b&w. Tri-x is a favourite, but it would be nice with a b&w film with even more sharpness, resolution and less grain for textures and architectural shooting. Will bring a tripod.
Choosing atm between Tmax or Pan F. Any recommendations?

onre · Apr 19, 2016

Delta 100.

blockend · Apr 20, 2016

John_A said:
Choosing atm between Tmax or Pan F. Any recommendations?

If it was still made I'd say Agfapan 25, which was perfect for this kind of photography. Basically any slow-medium film will work, but use a developer you're confident with, preferably one you've run your preferred film through.

John_A · Apr 20, 2016

blockend said:
Basically any slow-medium film will work, but use a developer you're confident with, preferably one you've run your preferred film through.

Well, Im one of those old fashioned guys that sticks to the well tested combinations, in my case d76+tri-x. Sure, Ive tried other developers along the way, but I keep coming back to the old'n faithful stuff.

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