Paris

Curt · Oct 10, 2005

Paris France, anyone from there or been there? I'm going for a week and would like to know if there are any great camera stores. I'm taking my 2x3 Busch Pressman, film holders and some Graflex holders, "6 shooters".
I plan to go to the art galleries and sites in the city center. I would like to go out of the city. Any suggestions on where to go in the country side? I would love to spend more time there and really photograph meet and experience more people.
Curt

P C Headland · Oct 11, 2005

Not from there, but have been quite a few times.

If you are only there for a week, you could easily spend your entire week just in the city. We find just wandering around on foot with no fixed idea of where we're going is a good way to see the "real" city.

However, the train service is excellent, so you can easily take a day trip out to the coast, or Rouen, Versailles. etc. for example.

There is a street with a few camera stores, but the name escapes me at the moment. I think there was a post in one of the other forums here that has the street name. Don't expect them to be cheap though!

Bring plenty of film with you if you are coming from the US as it will be cheaper.

Enjoy your trip.

Robert Hall · Oct 11, 2005

I found this interesting whilst bantering with the wife on photography in Paris.

Dead Link Removed

Just a little fyi

lee · Oct 11, 2005

you can use a tripod in Paris, Texas.

lee\c

herb · Oct 11, 2005

You can take a train to La Charitie, about an hour south of Paris in the Loire valley. Some of the most beautiful landscapes I have ever seen in person. The town is very old and quaint with the narrow streets etc.

Don't buy any camera stuff in france they have 16% sales tax (vat) built into the price, and while you can get it back on departure, you're better off bringing your own.

Curt · Oct 11, 2005

Thank you

Thanks to all who provided some much needed information. I was going to take my 2x3 Busch Pressman, with a piece of tape over the Bus h letters and shoot without a tripod, outch. My wife is not going to stand around and watch me under a dark cloth anyway. Interesting about the tripod use there. I wonder if they consider a monopod the same. or maybe my cane, extended at the right moment? Well, when in Rome do as the Romans. I want the largest format and the lightest weight. the 2x3 isn't an 11x14, but it's bigger than my 645 and 35. I have a month to plan so I will take everything in to consideration. The 645 is really fast to use and 15 on a roll isn't bad. I watched a woman go through security on a trip to Huston and she had about two dozen 35mm rolls and just dumped them out for inspection and she was good to go. I have an unopened box of 5x7 and was either going to have to open it for inspection or send it through the x-ray machine. It went through the machine. I have yet to develop the film and see.
Again, thank you
Curt

Mongo · Oct 11, 2005

I wouldn't worry much about the film that went through the x-ray machine. On my last European trip, I sent a lot of rolls of 120 (speeds 100 through 400) through x-ray machines at airports in Pittsburgh, Paris, Milan, the entrance to St. Chapelle, Paris again, and New York...and none of the film was worse for wear.

Depending on the weight of your camera, you might consider a Ultrapod 2. I took one to Paris with me and used it to hold a Bronica S2a...not the lightest of cameras. The tripod's so small that the police never bothered me, and I had no trouble finding things to set it on or to strap it onto. It really did make all of the difference in the world for me...I was able to shoot in Notre Dame with 100 speed film and no flash once I found a corner in which nobody would bother me.

The Ultrapod 2 seems too small to be of much use, but it will handle a lot more than you might imagine. Plus, the price is right.

Best of luck to you...Paris is a great city in which to be a photographer.
Dave

df cardwell · Oct 11, 2005

Paris is very friendly, especially toward visiting photographers.

Travel as lightly as you can. Leave the 20x24 at home. Have fun.

A gendarme helped me make a photo of the Arc de Triomphe, at night. It was all dressed up for Armistice Day. 4x5, a tripod, long exposure. Open the shutter, close it till the cars pass, open the shutter. From the middle of the Champs ElysÈes. But I wanted the photo. Gendarme saw me, came out to see how drunk I was (not, yet ). He politely inquired if I was suicidal (not yet). I explained my grandfather had fought in WW1, and had been wounded. Whereupon, gendarme began directing traffic around me. Got the shot, a big hug and a salute. Even caught the last Metro to where I was staying. Went into a cafe, and a waiter asked if he could practise his english with me, he was going on vacation to texas. OK, even for a Paris lover like me, this had become a completely surreal night. But it can happen, that's what it's there for.

Bvd de Beaumarchais, photo shops. The flea markets, also. Have fun.

Blow off Notre Dame. Go to Sainte Chapelle. For real, no tripods inside, or flash. Tri X and a 2.8 lens= heaven.

.

.

Curt · Oct 11, 2005

These sound great, it's more like I thought it would be. I can't wait, no business just visiting.

Curt · Oct 11, 2005

I just took a look at the Ultrapod II, It's small and inexpensive. I thing I'll get one. I can see where you could put it about anywhere handy and have a steady shot. Beats putting your camera on a dirty table or concrete rail etc..
Thanks for the suggestion.
Curt

Curt · Oct 11, 2005

What I meant was "I think I'll get one" These "things" happen. The spell checker can't help me write!

nze · Oct 12, 2005

Hi curt

you will find photo store on the Beaumarchais bvd closed to bastille tube station in the11th.

for the galley I suggest you to visit http://www.photos-site.com/
and camera obscura
you can find the address and program of most of the gallery on this web page

nze · Oct 12, 2005

I forget the link
http://www.photographie.com/?evtid=106401&secid=1&rubid=221

Curt · Oct 13, 2005

Again. thanks to everyone for the information. I'm afraid that if I take my Busch Pressman C that I will not be looking around at the sites. I even thought of bringing my Nikon F3hp and a zoom. I'm not too crazy about the film size but the number of frames are great and the camera is lighter. I could be shooting a lot and not looking around again.
Would I have a problem taking a Busch camera into museums?
Wow it's getting down to the wire and I have to make up my mind!

Mongo · Oct 13, 2005

All that I can tell you is that nobody bothered me when I took my Bronica into various places Paris. The Bronica's obviously not "just another tourist camera", but I was allowed to use it everywhere that photography was allowed. (Not being allowed to use flash is a much bigger issue than not being allowed to photograph.)

As to not looking when you're out with the camera: Depending on how long you'll be there, set aside a day or two at the beginning of the trip to just go look. Leave the camera behind (make sure it's securely locked up), and enjoy Paris. When you've done that, you'll learn what you really want pictures of and your photographic time will be much more efficient. Or at least that's how I did things...a few days of enjoying the city without a camera and then plenty of time to retrace my steps for the pictures I wanted. Even though my free time was restricted to weekends, it was worth it to me to see the sites without the Bronica. (I did carry a point-and-shoot just in case.)

Enjoy the trip...don't let your vacation become a source of stress for you.

Be well.
Dave

nze · Oct 13, 2005

Curt

In Paris you can put a tipod everywhere but not in some public part nor in the museum.

I did a lot of 8x10 shoot in Paris without any problem. In most casr it is better to say that you're not a professional and just take large format shoot for fun.

athanasius80 · Oct 14, 2005

I took a Kodak Vigilant everywhere with me in England, Paris, and Italy. No one said anything, but I was also shooting all handheld and interiors were sort of "open the aperture and pray." Blvd de Beaumarchais has the camera stuff, but you'll more drool than shop. Its expensive. Good luck!

Paris

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