How many rolls to take (on holiday?)

benjiboy · Sep 20, 2016

narsuitus said:
When I travel on holiday as a tourist, I usually pack enough film to shoot at least two-dozen photos per day because that is the average I normally shoot.

For a two-week vacation trip with a 35mm camera, I normally take a brick (a 20-roll pack of 35mm film). However, based on my average shooting record, I only use about one roll per day.

I also carry my film in lead-lined storage containers to protect the film from the X-rays used by airports and cruise ships for security purposes.

Film Case by Narsuitus, on Flickr

Surely if the X rays won't penetrate the box, the customs officers will just take the film out ?

LAG · Sep 20, 2016

c41 said:
...I'm packing for 26 days of travel (plus flights) ... I'm off to California and then the UK (from Australia) on a family holiday (with 2 kids.) ... It's a family holiday, (which I'll want to capture on film) plus I'll make some time to have a bit of a wander when time allows... I've got a stockpile of C41 (ISO 100, 160, 400) and B&W (ISO 400) to select from...No tripod or filters etc. either. ...they sell film in California and the UK but I already have film here and getting to specific retailers mightn't be so easy once I'm on the move ...

Excuse me c41

With all that being said, in my opinion, with one 36/roll (of each BW & Color) a day (counting also the flight days/nights), all of them same speed (in this case, fundamentally stock reason, seems to be 400) would be more than enough. Do not carry "all" the film in the same bag, and enjoy the trip with the "six" senses (5 & common), not only with your eyes.

Best

barzune · Sep 20, 2016

You'll be travelling with wife and 2 kids (you don't say what age).
This is a once-in-a-mortgage trip.

a) Enjoy the trip, with your wife and your kids.
b) Seeing the entire trip through a viewfinder will be a waste of your time, and of your family's time.
Enjoy it with your family.
c) If you expect to pause the family 72 times a day while you frame a memorable photo, that will get old
very fast. Somebody will get really pissed off, and that will last longer than the photos.
d) How many of these 72 photos a day do you think would be worth looking at, or showing,
one year after you've been back home?

40+ years, 3 kids, 1 wife, MANY trips..... Don't ask where I get my insight.

c41 · Sep 20, 2016

Thanks. The point is definitely noted on enjoying the moment. Sage advice in any situation really.

It is also worth noting that photography as a leisure pursuit is part of my (and by extension my family's) life.
Sometimes I have my camera in hand, use it for a little, then put it away again. Sometimes I don't use it at all. Sometimes, maybe it's a beautiful Autumn sunset in a beer garden and we are all relaxed and happy, maybe I'll end up taking what feels like 36 - but always seems to turn out to be something like 8 - frames. Sometimes it's golden hour somewhere special and it really is 36 frames.

I try not to do staged photographs, though sometimes its necessary, sometimes even funny (there's always scope for a statue coming out of a nose?) and there is the 'Griswalds on Vacation' factual record of destinations to populate. But in general I prefer to try to be as discreet as I'm able and not to let photography intrude any more than watching football or reading the paper or any other thing that I do.

Sometimes, generally around holiday times, I've managed to get my family along to climb some hill at sunset, go watch the sun rise at a beach etc. Maybe we even spend a week of an extended holiday visiting the desert or a forest or suchlike - I'd say these have been some of our best family holiday times - by being somewhere unique/photogenic - we have a nice time together, maybe even some adventure. I'm hoping there'll be maybe 2-3 days like that this holiday.

My kids are still relatively young (under 12) so still happy to be led whilst on holiday but if they think something is boring or want to do something else, they make it known!

I take the point though and am really looking forward to a month hanging with them most of all.
As to your point d) barzune, well, you got me there - I have no idea. I do know that photographs have a strange power and presence across time making it hard to see into their futures.
I know that the few pictures of my own childhood that I still have access to are all powerful and mystical records of great importance to me and yet totally meaningless to everyone else.

I did a practice pack last night - 50 rolls is a lot! My current aim is to take them all and stick to the 2 per day on average (my 26 days away excludes travel time).
No doubt I will fall well short of getting through them but I may as well try, I don't have anything else of importance to bring with me.

It'll be interesting to see how many I do use - right here right now I'm going to guess 26

Gerald C Koch · Sep 20, 2016

RattyMouse said:
X Rays are a non factor today. I have had film x rayed over 12 times showing not the slightest problem.

All it takes is one X-ray machine to be out of calibration. The people in airport security care for only one thing keeping the line moving.

Jim Jones · Sep 20, 2016

After three weeks of travelling around the Great American West, a friend and I had 80 36 exposure rolls of B&W and maybe two dozen rolls of color transparency film to develop. We were shooting scenery, not family, and bracketed the best shots. Film is cheaper than gasoline and motels.

Poisson Du Jour · Sep 20, 2016

Oh Lord. Leave all of your film at home and buy it ad hoc in the US and UK. The world is not in poverty of film particularly!
When I went to Japan for 2 weeks in May I agonised over what film to take. After a lot of thinking, I left it all here, and bought it at various places (assisted by my Japanese-fluent niece interpreting text signs!). I thought I would use a lot, but it was 6 rolls of Velvia 50 and 2 rolls of ACROS. Easy to purchase in many, many places. So consider again, really carefully, if you really want to put all that film at risk through various travel entry points e.g. Customs and X-rays and whatever else, even possible loss. If you go to NYC, you'll be spoilt for choice at places like B&H, among others. Just be prepared for a lot of walking and travel light. That is the mantra, travel light!

c41 · Sep 21, 2016

Maybe you're right, I've become accustomed to Australia's 'poverty of film.'

It's probably right that I'm overestimating what I'll need.
I may pull back a bit on how much I take but I have good film in my fridge, I'm not going to leave it all in the dark waiting for something to see.

I go to the US first, so I won't need to buy any there. It would be the subsequent UK travel (and unpredictable skies) that I may.
Boots film vs what's in my fridge.

RattyMouse · Sep 21, 2016

Gerald C Koch said:
All it takes is one X-ray machine to be out of calibration. The people in airport security care for only one thing keeping the line moving.

Yes and all it takes is one plane crash to ruin a vacation.

Agulliver · Sep 21, 2016

Which part(s) of the UK are you staying in? I am sure people here can recommend nearby places to buy film and to photograph!

I found myself on holiday in Oxfordshire in June and later realised I was 30 minute drive from a wonderful retailer of all things APUG.

Do take x-rays seriously. As I stated previously, the machines which x-ray checked baggage can and do damage film. If you pack it in a lead lined container they will automatically zap it with higher doses to find out what's inside. Pack films in your hand baggage, then the lower powered scanner at the security check-in cannot damage it...and the security staff will simply hand inspect your bag if they are concerned by anything in there.

pdeeh · Sep 21, 2016

I think you should take exactly the number you will use.
no more.
no less.

pdeeh · Sep 21, 2016

also pack a heavy calibre rifle. there are many wolves and bears in England

c41 · Sep 21, 2016

Crikey rattymouse! Let's just stick with x rays hey!

I wouldn't put film in checked baggage, too many trips where stuff went missing from my suitcase. I'll carry it all, there and back of course, irrespective of whether I expose it to light as well as mild doses of radiation.

I'll be based in Mevagissey, Cornwall then Newtown, Powys. in the UK.

c41 · Sep 21, 2016

pdeeh said:
I think you should take exactly the number you will use.
no more.
no less.

Implies under packing, since I can't use less than I used?
2 rolls a day for a month and maybe I will just let the wolves tear me to pieces, no rifle necessary.

Agulliver · Sep 21, 2016

Mevagissey....beautiful I was down there last month. Do visit Charlestown down the road too, both are beautiful places for photography. Tall ships are usually harboured in Charlestown.

However....you'll need to go to St Austell to get film. Might be worth noting that Asda in St Austell develop and print C41...developing is fine but the printing is ropey...but if you need any D&P doing, they are £5 a film.

If you're up for lots of walking there is a coastal path between Mevagissey and Pentewan which is very hilly but offers great views. Pentewan village has a lovely old harbour, though closed to the sea it is still beautiful. Do visit The Ship Inn if you go to Pentewan. You might see photographic opportunities in the old public weigh bridges in Charlestown, there is also one partially overgrown behind the Pentewan harbour.

It's easy to shoot a roll of film in Mevagissey in an hour.....

narsuitus · Sep 21, 2016

benjiboy said:
Surely if the X rays won't penetrate the box, the customs officers will just take the film out ?

The last time I traveled by air with film was in 2002 when I had a wedding to shoot in Jamaica. Yes, the airport security performed a hand-search of my lead-lined film containers but I did not mind as long as they did not expose my film to light or x-rays. Since then, I stopped flying with film.

By the way, I also stopped flying with magnetic audio tapes because I lost data when the tapes went through a magnetic field.

k.hendrik · Sep 21, 2016

wifi is bad in Carpentras so didn't read all those previous tips. My advise: take one roll 36; & use your time whilst in the air, thinking about images. Have a great trip.

c41 · Sep 21, 2016

Thanks for the tips on Mevagissey and the surrounds, awesome, I haven't done any detailed research on destinations yet - saving it for on the way. That walk to Pentewan sounds great.

And thanks k.hendrik, I have a lot of time (14 hours!) to think further on what I intend to actually capture but I'm not brave enough to just bring one roll, maybe next time!

Rick A · Sep 22, 2016

Take a bare minimum of film if you must take any at all, but remember to focus on your family and enjoy the adventure first. I rarely take a camera on vacations when the family is together, I have other opportunities to "be off with the camera". Don't spend the time with your face buried in a view finder, and see everything first, then photo it if you have the time.

John51 · Sep 22, 2016

Taking film to California and the UK? Kinda like taking wine to Australia. Unless you hardly shoot film at home, any film you take will have to be bought again at Oz prices a year or three down the line.

removed account4 · Sep 22, 2016

hey c41

id suggest just bring a couple of rolls. there is film for sale here in the states
and england and you can probably find what you need locally. you probably won't have trouble
with the scanners, ive travelled with lots of film over the years and not really had trouble
but it might have just been luck ... who knows, i don't work for airport security but know people who do
and have for 15-20 years and they tell me the machines don't bother film anymore. years ago they did, but not nowadays.
locally we have 2 pharmacies and discount stores ( walgreens, cvs and wallywerld )
and while they don't carry pro packs or "fancy" film they often time carry regular old film - consumer fuji and tri x ...
as others have suggested you can probably stop at a photo shoppe ( freestyle has a few locations in cali )
or if you are in nyc b+h .. and pick up a few rolls if you need it. just don't put the rolls in lead bags, or in your luggage
that goes in the belly of the plane, some say, they sometimetimes get zapped with a lot o X-rays
and if they can't see through the bag, they zap it more
.. its been suggested by a retired kodak engineer here ( unless i misunderstood him ) that being in a plane in the sky subjects film to more radiation
than the rest of the trip's precautionary scans &c ...

have fun on your trip !
john

Agulliver · Sep 22, 2016

Here are a few pictures from my trip to Pentewan and Mevagissey in 2015, Praktica BX20S and a mixture of Phototec 100 and Efke KB25 film.

Huss · Sep 22, 2016

Scotch said:
Hi I am from California, if you are in the Hollywood/ Los Angeles area, you can always buy from Freestyle Photography supplies 800-292-6137. They are nearby 101 off Sunset Blvd. Or Samy's Camera in Santa Barbara area. Having just travel to Washington DC last week, I found 3 rolls a day works for me with just one Camera.

Yup, Freestyle Photo, Mel Pierce Photo, Samys in LA (they have 2 locations there) are practically the same price as the mail order shops in NY, plus it would be fun going there. You get to see Hollywood for the first two, Bev Hills area/adjacent for Samys unless u go to the Samys in Culver City (still LA) which means you will be close to Venice Beach, Santa Monica etc etc.
Definitely be cheaper than what you would pay in Aus.
You're not going on a safari, you're coming to Cali!

c41 · Sep 22, 2016

I have definitely got used to film being a specialist store or mail order only experience here in Oz, but you all have me reappraising if I really need to take 'everything.'
I pack tonight (and fly tomorrow) so it'll be settled on the whims of this very evening.

It's an urban safari for me, getting to a specific place in an unfamiliar City but OK, you definitely have me relenting just a little.
How about La Jolla? - would be a bit easier for me travelling in SD than LA.

Love the shots from 2015, the 5th most of all, thanks, can't wait!

ac12 · Sep 22, 2016

All depend on where you go (shoot opportunities) and how much you shoot.
In the film days, I took 2 bricks (20 rolls per brick, so total 40 rolls + a few rolls of HS Ektachrome) of 35mm slide film on vacation, with a 2 roll per day plan + buffer. In the first week, I was over budget and had to make my self slow down. That could be good or bad, because maybe there really was a good reason for shooting a LOT, and then budgeting the remainder put a cap/crimp on my shooting. But if you shoot very selectively and deliberately, like the MF or even LF guys, maybe you only need to plan 1 roll (or less) per day. Bottom line, it comes down to your style of shooting and the opportunities given you.

How many rolls to take (on holiday?)

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