So what gear do I take to India??

I'm off on a trip to India in September / October for a couple of weeks. Everyone knows the photographic opportunities are immense there. I will be starting in Delhi, then to Agra (Taj Mahal) then Jaipur and Shimla (foot of Himalayas)

Obviously I don't want to over do it, but at the same time I don't want to leave behind something I later regret.

So looking for any advice from anyone....

At my disposal are a couple of Nikon FE2 and FA bodies + and F5. Lenses 20mm f3.5 non-AI; 28mm f2.8 AIS; 50mm f1.4 AIS; 80-200 f4 AIS; 85mmf1.8 AF

I have a Hasselblad with 50mm, 80mm, 250mm

I will also be taking a Super8 camera.

Anyone got any suggestions? I've never been to India before. Do I have a suitable range of lenses? THe itinery means a wide range of different types of photographic opportuinity from street to landscape and still life.

Also I will want to shoot both colour and B+W - for 35mm I would love to shoot Kodachrome for this, but I don't want to send the films half way around the world for processing - what is available today that can get closest to Kodachrome for colour, inclusing the skin tones? Any suggestions on B+W also gratefully received. A couple of years ago I would have definitely taken Velvia, but I sort of feel the "Velvia look" has been a bit over done and I fancy something a bit more muted, but not too much so - hence the Kodachrome thing.

Thanks for any advice - especially from anyone who has been there before.
Matt

PS - I am also aware there is a certain amount of beaurocracy as to what you can and can not take in and out of the country and I may need a camera gear permit - but I'm not sure?

That's an awful lot of gear. Are you bringing a sherpa? I've always thought that you should stick to one format. Switching systems in the field can turn into a nightmare. A lot of pictures can be lost while digging around in your bag. I personally carry a pretty standard but minimal setup, 2 bodies, 3 lenses, 28mm, 35mm, 50mm. If my back isn't bothering me I bring along a 75mm. The less gear you have to fiddle with the more attention you'll be paying to your subject.

As for film, I'm a bit of a purist. Kodachrome is the best color materail ever produced. Nothing else comes close. But if your tired of velvia and want decent skin tones, you might try some astia. When it comes to black and white, you can't go wrong with Tri-X. You can beat the crap out of that film or be off by 3 stops in your exposure and still get a perfectly printable image.

Good luck on your trip.

what gear do you mostly use when wandering around at home or nearby when you just want soak in/capture the ambience?

if it was me i'd take one body, Canon AE1 Program and one lens, Canon FD 35/2.8

The thing that comes to mind immediately is that you should take only that equipment that you can use hand-held. All the big sites round Delhi and Agra to my certain experience ( and quite possibly elsewhere) will not grant you entry carrying a tripod. You won't even want to try and set up a tripod on the street- or put a bag down. There are apparently government bodies that can grant permits to photograph in the monuments with a tripod but you'd need to expect legendary bureaucracy.

Be aware also that many monuments in India charge more if you're taking in a "movie" camera and indeed some might think that your Hasselblad is such- I certainly had this debate several times with a Bronica.

All of which impacts on your film choice as well as equipment selection. I used a lot more 400 ISO film than normal - though to be honest I didn't have enough. Today I think that means Provia 400X which is kind to skin tones and not unduly saturated. I think the 100F version of the same film might well be useful too. Personally I think Astia is a bit weak unless you want a deliberately understated approach. When I went there, albeit in December the light was very milky and glarey anyway (pollution?) and it was easy enough to avoid excess saturation. Further the light wasn't strong early and late in the day due to the haze which again put pressure on my 400 ISO film.

As far as equipment is concerned, what you take is one thing; what you actually carry with you to use daily is something else entirely. Above all else I'd be prepared to go out daily carrying a shoulder bag that you can work out of without putting it down.

You will be hot, sweaty and surrounded by wall to wall people a fair amount of the time. When I say wall to wall people, I mean wall to wall!

I have a LowePro shoulder bag that I bought 23 years ago, it has the best accessory ever, a waist strap!

If at all possible you want to ensure that you do not have to put your bag down anywhere, unless you are standing on it.

It is normal for me to slip off the shoulder strap, slide the bag to the front, change lenses or whatever, then put everything back without putting anything down or letting anything get out of my site.

I had a selection of lenses to choose, ranging from 18mm through to 600mm.

I took an F3HP body and 24 f/2.8, 55 f/2.8 Micro Nikkor and the 105 f/2.5 105. It turned out that these three lenses were perfect for a reasonably identical trip to what you are planning.

Within reason you can pretty much take virtually anything with these three lenses. Unless you wish to take a picture of a mountain top from the bottom, then you will have haze to contend with anyway.

I would suggest you pare down to bare essentials, it does get extremely sticky carrying around bucket loads of equipment.

An interesting conversation I had with a young American woman in Delhi as we were both awaiting our respective aeroplanes, was her explanation of the difference between first class and normal class seating, onboard internal Air India flights.

First class cost her $40 USD more, the only difference was that the first class seats, were fitted with seat belts!

Mick.

Last time I was in India for pleasure (about 7 years ago en route to the Maldives), I took my Nikon F4e and an older 35-70 f2.8D zoom lens. I'm thinking about going again next year. Though this time, I'll be taking my Hasselblad and maybe three or four lenses.

As for what I would recommend you take, it all depends if your are a 'traveller' or a 'tourist'. If you're a tourist, than I'd take the Nikon and the 28,50,85 lens combo. If you're a traveller, than take the Hasselblad and the 50 and 80.

The question about film is a good one. When I was there, I just bought the film there and got it processesd there. There were lots of excellent photo labs - interestingly, many of the high end and well known photo labs in NYC are owned by immigrant Indians. This time around wrt film, I will be asking a couple of my Indian buddies, one in particular whose father was a professional photographer in India before their family emigrated to Canada and my close contact at Duggal.

I was on the streets all the time with my camera - no tripod, no permits.

Regards, Art.

Just don't end up like this dude!

Last time I was on a trip (Spain), I took a Fuji GS645S and a couple of compacts -- a Mju II and a Minolta with a zoom lens. The whole lot could fit in a single shoulder back designed for an SLR with kit zoom and was no heavier than an SLR with a single prime lens.

Delta 3200 or Neopan 400 in the Mju, some 400 ASA colour print film in the zoom compact, and Acros or Reala in the Fuji. All bases covered.

Next time, I'd still take the Fuji, which I don't think can be beaten for a versatile medium format travel camera, but I'd probably take a rangefinder with a fast 50 and an 85mm lens instead of the zoom compact.

Not really advice suited to your particular gear set, but I'd definitely follow other people's advice to go minimal and hand-holdable. I'd never take a medium format SLR like the Hasselblad, for example.

I'd think seriously about taking a good quality pocketable compact. Lots of times we'd go out for a meal or a drink in the evening and I could just chuck the Mju in a pocket and know I'd get some good pictures without carrying any gear.

Matt5791 said:

I'm off on a trip to India in September / October for a couple of weeks. Everyone knows the photographic opportunities are immense there. I will be starting in Delhi, then to Agra (Taj Mahal) then Jaipur and Shimla (foot of Himalayas)

Obviously I don't want to over do it, but at the same time I don't want to leave behind something I later regret.

So looking for any advice from anyone....

At my disposal are a couple of Nikon FE2 and FA bodies + and F5. Lenses 20mm f3.5 non-AI; 28mm f2.8 AIS; 50mm f1.4 AIS; 80-200 f4 AIS; 85mmf1.8 AF

I have a Hasselblad with 50mm, 80mm, 250mm

I will also be taking a Super8 camera.

Anyone got any suggestions? I've never been to India before. Do I have a suitable range of lenses? THe itinery means a wide range of different types of photographic opportuinity from street to landscape and still life.

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My advice is to bring the Hasselblad gear and lots of medium and high speed film. Leave the Nikon at home. Take any street photos with the Hasselblad and fast film. There is no point in bringing two redundant sets of gear, and it is obvious that you get better results with a Hasselblad (if you are skilled enough.)

India is a photographer's paradise. I was there 7 years ago and made the grave mistake of taking too much gear with me. Don't do that. Take the minimum. You want to be able to walk the whole day without tiring. You may miss a shot because you left lens X at home, but you'd actually miss three others while trying to switch lenses had you brought it. As far as I remember, Taj Mahal requires a special permit (or maybe a massive fee) for medium format gear. That's why I would leave the Hasselblad at home. My suggestion is a couple of FE2 bodies with the 28 and 50mm lenses.
I have planned a three week trip to Nepal, possibly including a bit of India, in October this year and I plan to take along either a Bronica RF645 with 2 lenses or a Leica M6 with again 2 lenses (oh the agony of choice!), the small and superb Gitzo Traveller tripod...and plenty of BW film.

Good luck,
omar

Mike Kennedy said:

Just don't end up like this dude!

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Mike, that's hilarious

Mike Kennedy said:

Just don't end up like this dude!

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If he ever actually got down on those knee pads, how on earth would he ever stand up again?

Thanks everyone for the very helpful replies - very useful indeed.

At present I am starting to sway towards taking just Hasselblad - I know I can rely on this for any landscapes and quality in this respect.

Also I have used this camera quite a bit in the past handheld and "off the Hip", so to speak and I'm fairly confident I could cope - 35mm is more versatile, but I know if I take the Nikon, I will also take the Hasselblad so I might as well leave the Nikons and just go 'blad.

I can back the whole 'blad kit into a compact Lowpro bag.

I like the sound of the new Provia 400X - and I think I will test this out in the next few days.

Thanks,
Matt

The first thing you should expect is a lot of people - especially at tourist attractions like the Taj. Agra is extremely congested, and some areas are best avoided. This is true of any city, anywhere, so be careful where you venture - more so at night. The front desk folks at the hotel can help you with this.

As others have suggested, try to take as minimal gear as possible and never leave your gear out of sight even for a second. I think it would be much easier if you leave your tripod at home - you will avoid a lot of hassles. If you decide to take your Nikon gear, take just the Nikon; if it's the 'Blad, then just that.

Another piece of advice that you didn't ask for: if you are flying within India, try to fly Jet Airways. They have a lot of flights, and the quality of their service is excellent.

Good luck with your trip!


Best wishes,
Sanjay

Mick Fagan said:

<...> An interesting conversation I had with a young American woman in Delhi as we were both awaiting our respective aeroplanes, was her explanation of the difference between first class and normal class seating, onboard internal Air India flights.

First class cost her $40 USD more, the only difference was that the first class seats, were fitted with seat belts!

Mick.

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This statement is totally ridiculous, to say the least. The difference between first class and "normal" / economy class seating in internal Air India flights is the same as it is here in the US. I don't know about Australia. Air India flies Boeing and Airbus jets, and no Boeing/Airbus jet that I have flown had seat belts missing in economy class. You should stop spreading BS like this. Perhaps you should know that Air India was the world's first all-jet airline.


Best wishes,
Sanjay