Overseas travel, what lenses, transporting film.

markbau · Feb 15, 2022

I'm hoping to go to Europe in a few months and want to take my 67 camera. I can't take all my lenses so was wondering what you would take. I'm interested in architecture and landscape mostly. The lenses I have are:
45mm
75mm (shift)
90mm
165mm
200mm
300mm
I think 3 lenses would by my limit so am thinking 75, 90 165 but maybe I could drop the 90 and take the 45. What do seasoned travel photographers think?

Also, I've heard that the new airport scanners completely destroy film. Does anyone have recent experience with asking for hand searches or should I just buy the film when I get there and have it processed before returning home?

Pieter12 · Feb 15, 2022

When I travel, I take the smallest camera and as few lenses as possible. If I am set on shooting film (which I am not--I prefer digital for travel) that would be a 35mm RF with a 35mm or 50mm lens. Buy film and have it processed over there if possible. Also, I never really set out to take photos that involve time-consuming set-up and fiddling around while traveling, it takes away from the joy and adventure.

But if I were to travel with your gear I would go with the 45, 75 and 165. Longer lenses take up too much room, require a tripod and don't get much use while on the road.

markbau · Feb 15, 2022

Pieter12 said:
When I travel, I take the smallest camera and as few lenses as possible. If I am set on shooting film (which I am not--I prefer digital for travel) that would be a 35mm RF with a 35mm or 50mm lens. Buy film and have it processed over there if possible. Also, I never really set out to take photos that involve time-consuming set-up and fiddling around while traveling, it takes away from the joy and adventure.

But if I were to travel with your gear I would go with the 45, 75 and 165. Longer lenses take up too much room, require a tripod and don't get much use while on the road.

I'll be taking a tripod as many photos will be low light, long exposures of street/cityscapes. 35mm cameras are out of the question.

MattKing · Feb 15, 2022

In the first instance, I misread the OP as saying that he intended to travel with 67 camera(s)!
Thankfully I realized my error almost immediately.
I tend toward wider angle lenses generally, but when travelling I tend even more that way.
I would probably recommend:
1) the 45mm, because I like wider angles;
2) the 90mm, because that would serve well if I wanted to take out the camera with just one lens; and
3) the 165mm, because it would be reasonable to travel with, but still supply a moderate telephoto effect well suited for portraits of people encountered on the way.
It is important though to remember that this is from someone who was happy with a 50mm, 65mm and 140mm trio with 6x7.

wiltw · Feb 15, 2022

Many years ago, right after I obtained a 24mm shift lens for my OM-1, I tried taking that as my ONLY lens on a trip to Europe. I was surprised to find that it could satisfy my shooting needs, and I left without experiencing any "I wish I had brought (n)". On previous trips I had found 28mm to be 'not wide enough' and 24mm seemed better in the often limited spaces of European towns especially in the historic areas. Your 75mm shift is a bit on the tight side for 6x7 format, equivalent along the short direction of the frame to 32mm on 135 format.

Raghu Kuvempunagar · Feb 16, 2022

Tetenal's Parvofin Tablet developer and fixer could be useful to you during this trip.

tokam · Feb 16, 2022

wiltw said:
Many years ago, right after I obtained a 24mm shift lens for my OM-1, I tried taking that as my ONLY lens on a trip to Europe. I was surprised to find that it could satisfy my shooting needs, and I left without experiencing any "I wish I had brought (n)". On previous trips I had found 28mm to be 'not wide enough' and 24mm seemed better in the often limited spaces of European towns especially in the historic areas. Your 75mm shift is a bit on the tight side for 6x7 format, equivalent along the short direction of the frame to 32mm on 135 format.

+1 The urban / city environments are very tightly packed compared to Australia. I found a 28mm on Canon FD was not quite wide enough but I made do. Your 45mm on 6x7 could be your main shooting lens The 75mm TS would be very tempting for architectural as its's also moderately wide-angle. Could also be a good carry around lens if not too heavy. If you take the 75mm the 90mmm becomes redundant. The 165mm then becomes your portrait lens.

Carrying film through airport security appears to be getting very difficult. You can do all the research you want and then find that the rent-a-cop mobs that are staffing the airports may insist on scanning your films.

henryvk · Feb 16, 2022

markbau said:
Also, I've heard that the new airport scanners completely destroy film. Does anyone have recent experience with asking for hand searches or should I just buy the film when I get there and have it processed before returning home?

I've just travelled from Frankfurt am Main to Denver, Colorado, and back again with a bunch of medium format film in the ISO 100-200 range. I did some research but it was all very contradictory so I decided to just ask the security staff to inspect my bag of film + loaded camera by hand. In Frankfurt a security person very kindly explained that their x-ray machine was safe up to ISO 1600 so I had them run everything through. The Denver airport website said that the TSA just installed a CT scanner which, according to the internet, pretty much immediately exposes any film. Again, I asked the lady who was guiding people into the different queues whether they could inspect my camera bag by hand. She said it was no problem at all, I had to wait a couple of minutes after passing through the scanner for an employee to look in the bag, do a swab and I was on my merry way.

I've scanned several rolls and they are all just dandy. No fogging, no nothing.

Down Under · Feb 16, 2022

Probably you are aware that film can be bought in Europe - though it isn't cheap. Buying it from say Holland or Germany may save you some grief when flying out of or arriving at airports. You may even want to have it processed there, though from what I've been told, lab costs are high and you will need deep pockets.

Post #8 in this thread is interesting and informative. I tend to think the airport scanner film fogging problem are sometimes overstated. At least for one or two passes of those damn machines. If you plan to do four, five or six countries, the fog levels may build up. Best to err on the side of caution.

Others have given you good advice about which lenses to take. Your camera and one lens weigh rather a lot, so you may want to consider taking along only one other lens, and planning your photography accordingly.

I did Europe and the Middle East in the '70s with a Rolleiflex with a few accessories and a Nikkormat kit (one body, two lenses). Even then I found it a chore to carry this gear around with me, especially in North Africa where the heat was fierce, though not much hotter than Australia and Southeast Asia are now. This said, I did my best photography with these two minimal (if not exactly minimalist) kits, but I was younger then, and I tended to pay more attention to my image-making than I do now in my old(er) age.

I live in Australia and no longer travel to Europe, a combination of Covid restrictions, high airfares and my age. Five or six hours to an Asian destination is about all my ageing constitution can stand now, although fortunately I'm not yet at the stage where such a flight would result in my spending the first 24 hours at my Asian destination in bed at my hotel. Alas, that will come in time, assuming I will ever get the opportunity to fly out of Australia again in my lifetime...

I do envy you the luxury of being able to go and photograph what you enjoy. Bon voyage!!

AgX · Feb 16, 2022

ozmoose said:
Post #8 in this thread is interesting and informative. I tend to think the airport scanner film fogging problem are sometimes overstated. At least for one or two passes of those damn machines. If you plan to do four, five or six countries, the fog levels may build up. Best to err on the side of caution.

That poster had it about one classic scanner, but also about one of the new fogging scanners. In the latter case he was able to find out about this in advance and even was lucky to be able to circumvent that scanner. If such is the typical case though is questionable.

henryvk · Feb 16, 2022

AgX said:
That poster had it about one classic scanner, but also about one of the new fogging scanners. In the latter case he was able to find out about this in advance and even was lucky to be able to circumvent that scanner. If such is the typical case though is questionable.

Multiple legs may have an impact. There is also the issue of cosmic radiation at airline cruising altitude affecting film although there is, again, considerable disagreement as to what extent. The consensus seems to be that the slower the film, the less it's affected by any radiation.

Some reading: https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.500.8893&rep=rep1&type=pdf

cjbecker · Feb 16, 2022

Over all my travels, I found the less the better. My pictures from traveling with just a rolleicord, delivered way more keepers then when I travel with a multi lens kit. Its very hard to leave lenses at home knowing it might be nice to have, but less is more. I recently traveled for the first time with a 35mm camera and with a 28,35,50, and 105. I returned home with lots of negatives but fewer keepers then traveling with a simple medium format camera and one lens.

As for airports. I always keep a roll of 3200 in my ziplock bag of film, but i have never had an issue getting hand checks at every stop.

markbau · Feb 16, 2022

Thanks for all of your replies. Regarding film. I think I'll buy it in Paris when I arrive. I've heard such awful things about the new scanners being way more powerful than the old ones where the film could stand a few passes. All it would take is one officious security guard to destroy all the film. Ilford prices in Paris aren't too different to what we pay in Australia. I haven't studied film developing prices yet but am wondering if I could take some metol and sulphite and a developing tank with me to make D23 and maybe buy some fixer when I buy the film. (What to use for wetting agent?)

Regarding lenses. good suggestions. I was thinking I'd really want my shift lens but maybe taking the 45mm would be a better idea for the cramped environs of Europe's cities. Of course taking the shift lens and leaving the 90mm at home might work too.

AgX · Feb 16, 2022

markbau said:
I haven't studied film developing prices yet but am wondering if I could take some metol and sulphite and a developing tank with me to make D23 and maybe buy some fixer when I buy the film. (What to use for wetting agent?)

As you can buy film in Europe you also can buy processing chemicals. Likely not local, but having it sent to your place.

BrianShaw · Feb 16, 2022

cjbecker said:
Over all my travels, I found the less the better. My pictures from traveling with just a rolleicord, delivered way more keepers then when I travel with a multi lens kit. Its very hard to leave lenses at home knowing it might be nice to have, but less is more.

Rolleicord and a monopod was my secret weapon. Less is definitely more; more often than not!

jeffreyg · Feb 16, 2022

Check the angle of view of your lenses so you don't take two that are close. I take two cameras. One with a wide angle and one with a tele, both with the same film so there is no confusion with settings. In my case they are Hasselblads with the 50mm and either the 150 or 250. I also take my Panasonic ZS100 just to have something that can fit in a pocket if carrying a camera is out of the question. Taking an image with a cell phone at each location records where (GPS) without having to take notes. Ilford Delta 400 is my film and hand checked is preferred (tell them you shot it at 800) but sometimes hand check was out of the question and there was no trouble with the film. If possible keep the rolls upright when the bag is flat so the x-rays just hit the spools. I take the film out of the boxes so they can see what it actually is. X-rays travel in a straight line.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

http://www.sculptureandphotography.com/

abruzzi · Feb 16, 2022

markbau said:
I haven't studied film developing prices yet but am wondering if I could take some metol and sulphite and a developing tank with me to make D23 and maybe buy some fixer when I buy the film. (What to use for wetting agent?)

"Honest, officer, this white powder isn't what you think it is!"

I actually like the idea, but in my universe, you'll never lose money betting against the intellegence and friendlyness of security people. I actually really like the idea of the tentenol tablets. I haven't tried them, but they may look less threatening than a jar or bag of powder.

And for wetting agent--how about dishwasher rinse aid? I've never used it but I've heard people say that that is essentially what photo-flo is. Or, since you're flying into Paris, I'd be surprised if there wasn't somewhere in the city that actually stocks photo stuff.

cjbecker · Feb 16, 2022

Since i have started fully using distilled water for processing. I have not needed to use wetting agent. Its also nice not having to watch my reels and holders now.

Pieter12 · Feb 16, 2022

I have never done this, but have you considered carefully wrapping the exposed film in an insulated bag, boxing it and shipping it back home?

Pieter12 · Feb 16, 2022

By the way, how are you transporting all this equipment? Checked baggage or carry-on? An adequate tripod plus all those lenses, camera and film is going to be both hefty and bulky.

Arthurwg · Feb 16, 2022

My advice: Buy film and process it on location. In Europe that should not be difficult. In France it would be easy.

markjwyatt · Feb 16, 2022

markbau said:
I'm hoping to go to Europe in a few months and want to take my 67 camera. I can't take all my lenses so was wondering what you would take. I'm interested in architecture and landscape mostly. The lenses I have are:
45mm
75mm (shift)
90mm
165mm
200mm
300mm
I think 3 lenses would by my limit so am thinking 75, 90 165 but maybe I could drop the 90 and take the 45. What do seasoned travel photographers think?

Also, I've heard that the new airport scanners completely destroy film. Does anyone have recent experience with asking for hand searches or should I just buy the film when I get there and have it processed before returning home?

I woiuld go with the 45mm, 75mm shift (both for architecture and the 45mm for general use) and a 200 mm (165mm is still too close to normal). Hopefully the 75mm works fine as a non-shift lens also, otherwise consider bringing the 90mm.

destroya · Feb 16, 2022

my only trip to Europe i tool my mamiya 6 and all 3 lenses along with a contax g with the 28, 45 and 90. I shot over 40 rolls and I think I used the 150mm/0mm lens on 8 shots. its easy to just keep 1 lens and the contax in my pocket and carry the other camera. I found that even though it made me look like an american tourist, cargo shorts were my friend!. lots of pockets for film and an extra lens. dont over think it. just be aware that tripods were not allowed inside many of the locations I went ( I didnt bring one, just noticed the posted signs). and in rome the police were giving outdoor tripod shooters a difficult time so keep that in mind. I would check out tripod restriction for the places you want t o shoot before you go, could make travel easier.

Paul Howell · Feb 16, 2022

I usually take a TLR when I travel, saying that when I did travel with my Mamiya Universal I take only 2 lens, the 65 wide and 100 normal, I found that seldom needed the 150 to make it worth my while in terms of weight. I have a good well padded case that will fit under a seat but did check a tripod which I found useful. I take an assortment of lens, mostly for the 100 but a yellow and orange for the 65 as well. It terms of film I travel with Max 400 which pushes quite sell to 800 and 1600 along with a few rolls of Tmax 100. With an 6X7 I assume an SLR if shooting color make sure to take a polarizer. Last time in Paris I took a few rolls of film then bought as needed. With the new airport scanners I would mail exposed film home to reduce the the risk of X ray fogging. Unless you are planning on taking a digital second body I would get a small point and shoot 35mm, nothing expensive, there is a recent threat on this subject with many good ideas.

Pieter12 · Feb 16, 2022

How long will you be in Europe? Will you travel to multiple locations, or just make day trips from a single city? Are you renting a car or taking trains or flying while there? Staying in hostels or hotels? Is the purpose of this trip mainly to take photos and are there others traveling with you? All these factors should be taken into consideration when planning on what to take along. Oh, yeah, speaking the language of your destination(s) really helps. At least try--the locals generally appreciate the effort most of the time.

Overseas travel, what lenses, transporting film.

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