Norway in Summer?

[etn]

Hello Everyone,

after a crazy last 6 months my girlfriend and I will take a couple weeks vacation (at last!) We will be heading to Norway. We will spend half of the time in cities (mainly Oslo and Bergen), the rest in nature. As we will travel mainly by train + boat, I want to keep weight to a minimum and therefore only take either a Leica M or Nikon F3, 1-2 lenses, and some Tri-X. This is not a photo trip, but obviously I cannot say no to beautiful landscapes!

Question is, how is the light and how are the colors in Norway in this season? Will they give a lot of photo opportunities for color? If yes, I will add a Rolleiflex with Velvia 50 to the kit. If the colors are "that nice" and the weather "that good" I might even ditch small format B&W and take only the Rollie + Velvia.

Things I am not too keen on:
- take one camera and 2 kinds of films - the camera is always loaded with the wrong kind of film for what you want to shoot
- 35mm slides... once you do MF slides you cannot go back.

What do you think?

Thanks for your advice!
Etienne

 

[Saganich]

I was in Oslo last July and traveled north via plane and boat to Lofoton Islands (highly recommended) with a Leica MP, Summilux 50, TriX. I didn't feel disadvantaged equipment wise at all. The light in Oslo is less harsh than NYC but compared to Munich don't know but when cloudy its still bright enough for sunglasses but not a shadow in sight. On sunny days it looks like 4pm most of the day. Going north the sun hardly rises high enough to see it. For a week I never saw it directly but it was light 24 hours. Lots of green in the mountains and Fjords and grey on the sea. Bergen Fjords and Northern regions are definitely medium format territory while Oslo is 35mm P&S territory.

 

[Saganich]

You can look through my poorly scanned Norway trip here.

http://www.imagebrooklyn.com/Vacation 2017/Norway/Norway2017.html

 

[etn]

Thank you Chris!
Your pictures are beautiful and really inspiring! You provided a clear answer to my "will I miss out if I limit myself to 35mm B&W only" question (given that my cup of tea is primarily medium format color landscapes). I think that I can indeed use the opportunity which arises from my self-imposed weight limitation: get out of my comfort zone and try to concentrate more on people and experience (as you do very successfully.) Thank you again for your great insights.
Etienne

 

[halfaman]

I was some years ago during June in the south part and there are some stunning landscapes. Take color film with you for sure.

Here is what I get from my trip.

https://flic.kr/s/aHskm5D9y9