One Camera Setup Around the World? What would you bring?

cuthbert · May 29, 2015

Hatchetman said:
Spotmatic & 55mm f1.8 because I take my best photos with it. I don't need anything else.

Good minimalistic choice.

dasBlute · May 29, 2015

Rolleiflex 2.8e, TMX/TMY, tripod, meter.

Peltigera · May 30, 2015

Hatchetman said:
Spotmatic & 55mm f1.8 because I take my best photos with it. I don't need anything else.

I would take my Voigtlander Vitomatic II for the same reason.

Dali · May 30, 2015

35mm SLR camera + 28mm & 50mm lenses. The third lens is superfluous.

benjiboy · Jun 5, 2015

Canon F1N-AE with FD 24 mm f2,FD 35mm f2, FD 50mm f1.4 and FD 100mm f2.

Hatchetman · Jun 5, 2015

benjiboy said:
Canon F1N-AE with FD 24 mm f2,FD 35mm f2, FD 50mm f1.4 and FD 100mm f2.

Oh, my shoulder hurts already!

TheFlyingCamera · Jun 5, 2015

That's not so bad if the F1N doesn't have the motor winder.

dpurdy · Jun 5, 2015

Rolleiflex 2.8F of course. Spot meter and film.

Strider · Jun 6, 2015

Olympus OM-1n
Zuiko 24mm, 35mm and 100mm.

Pioneer · Jun 6, 2015

Rolleiflex Automat MX-EVS. Just about anything can be photographed with that camera.

Cycler · Jun 8, 2015

Minolta X-700 with Minolta 35-135 on body, 2xVivitar teleconverter stowed, Cosina 19-35 also stowed and Sunpak MG-1 flash stowed in bag which has Weston Euromaster meter & invercone.

baachitraka · Jun 8, 2015

Rolleicord Va + Gossen Digisix + LOADS of HP5+

phil0 · Jun 12, 2015

Leica M3 with 50/Summicron, 90/Elmarit, 28/Elmarit and-horror-my 240. and a 20/Nikkor

As well as my Rollei 3.5 Planar with Mutars.
I can put this in a Domke f5 and carry it all day.

flavio81 · Jun 12, 2015

I'd pack either the Canon or the Nikon setup:

Canon
Canon New F-1, 28/2.0 lens, 50/1.4 lens, and perhaps the 200/4.0 lens (it is very light). Or a 100mm lens (if I had one).

Nikon
Nikon F2AS, PC-Nikkor 35/2.8 (shift) lens, a fast 50, and an 85 or 100 tele.

I'd also pack in a Rolleicord.

No need for back-up bodies because the above cameras will not fail!!

baachitraka · Jun 12, 2015

Any camera with 28mm lens or its equivalent.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

sangetsu · Jun 12, 2015

A Nikon. Either an F2 with 50mm, 28mm, and 20mm lenses, or an SP rangefinder with the same lenses.

Right now my travel kit is a pair of Leica M cameras, one with a 50, the other with a wide lens. I have a Rolleiflex in the bag as well,

Pioneer · Jun 15, 2015

flavio81 said:
I'd pack either the Canon or the Nikon setup:

Canon
Canon New F-1, 28/2.0 lens, 50/1.4 lens, and perhaps the 200/4.0 lens (it is very light). Or a 100mm lens (if I had one).

Nikon
Nikon F2AS, PC-Nikkor 35/2.8 (shift) lens, a fast 50, and an 85 or 100 tele.

I'd also pack in a Rolleicord.

No need for back-up bodies because the above cameras will not fail!!

They all fail sooner or later flavio81.

cuthbert · Jun 15, 2015

Pioneer said:
They all fail sooner or later flavio81.

No, Canon CANNOT fail, or at least according to Flavio.

Doesn't matter if the rewind sprocket got loose on my F-1N, this can't be possibl, especially in a 30+ years old camera.

flavio81 · Jun 15, 2015

cuthbert said:
No, Canon CANNOT fail, or at least according to Flavio.

Doesn't matter if the rewind sprocket got loose on my F-1N, this can't be possibl, especially in a 30+ years old camera.

Exactly. They cannot fail. A rewind sprocket loosening is not a camera failure. Any photographer would just screw it back into place. And of course he/she would always pack one or two little screwdrivers on the camera bag.

Those pro cameras could fail if you are a war photographer, but for tourist use, they shouldn't. My friend has an old F-1 that looks like back from Bosnia war, it still works fine despite the curtain being really kinked.

film_man · Jun 15, 2015

flavio81 said:
Exactly. They cannot fail. A rewind sprocket loosening is not a camera failure. Any photographer would just screw it back into place. And of course he/she would always pack one or two little screwdrivers on the camera bag.

Those pro cameras could fail if you are a war photographer, but for tourist use, they shouldn't. My friend has an old F-1 that looks like back from Bosnia war, it still works fine despite the curtain being really kinked.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

flavio81 · Jun 15, 2015

film_man said:
Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

My post is half joke and half serious. But also, i do repair any faults on the field, faults that other people would consider "failures". For example i was out with a Mamiya C330 climbing a tree (ok, there were some aids to climb such tree) and the C330 105/3.5 lens knocked more than once against the trunk. The viewing lens got loose. Camera failure? Well, i just took of the lens, tightened it back into place, and started shooting. No problem. I have another C330 which has got stuck in the past. Camera failure? Perhaps, but then i could unstick it after a few tries.

Yesterday i did a routine inspection of my cameras and the meter on the Nikon F2AS stopped working. Camera failure? It was just dirty battery contacts, i can't really say that is a "failure". Also, a photometer is just a nice-to-have (unless you're shooting slides).

On the other hand, i do have a camera technician and as soon as a camera gets too slow or has sticky mechanisms, it goes to the technician. I guess that's why i never experienced real failures (as in shutters not working).

I did experiment light meter death on the Nikon F3. It was gone, never to come back. No corrosion on battery terminals, no abuse of camera, no adverse storage conditions. But it died. My technician couldn't repair it. Dead dead dead. So I sold the Nikon F3, vowing never to buy one again.

MartinCrabtree · Jun 15, 2015

Human beings fail me far more than equipment.

cuthbert · Jun 15, 2015

flavio81 said:
Exactly. They cannot fail. A rewind sprocket loosening is not a camera failure. Any photographer would just screw it back into place. And of course he/she would always pack one or two little screwdrivers on the camera bag.

Those pro cameras could fail if you are a war photographer, but for tourist use, they shouldn't. My friend has an old F-1 that looks like back from Bosnia war, it still works fine despite the curtain being really kinked.

Yes a REAL photographer would rewind the film with HIS teeth.

...and then return to kill the Bad Guys in the war zone.

flavio81 · Jun 15, 2015

cuthbert said:
Yes a REAL photographer would rewind the film with HIS teeth.

...and then return to kill the Bad Guys in the war zone.

Exactly Cuthbert!! Good to see you understand what it takes to be a REAL photographer.

cooltouch · Jun 17, 2015

I just discovered this thread. After reading the OP's post, I'm wondering over his choice of words. He wrote "in a year or two," but does he really mean "in a year or two," as in a year or two from now -- or did he really mean "for a year or two," meaning for a duration of one to two years?

In a year or two will not change what I'd take now, cost is no object, but for a year or two, well that's an entirely different animal. So, I will assume the latter for an around the world tour, spanning as much as two years.

My favorite 35mm camera of all time is the original Canon F-1, actually the second version, the F-1n, but close enough -- followed closely by the Nikon F2. The biggest problem with taking the old F-1 is that it uses the now-extinct 1.35v mercury batteries, but I use the 675 hearing aid batteries for it now, which work well. Their only drawback is they last for only about 9 or 10 months. Not a big problem, though, since I can buy a card of 40 of them from Costco for $10. So I'd pack my old F-1 with a card of 675 batteries.

Three lenses, eh? Well, since cost is no object, I would pack the Canon 24mm f/1.4 L, the 85mm f/1.2 SSC Aspherical, and the 50-300mm f/4.5 L zoom. And maybe I'd sneak in a 1.4x and a 2x teleconverter also.

One Camera Setup Around the World? What would you bring?

Membership Council

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency