Which one should I take?

[ToddB]

Hey guys,

My vacation is rapidly approuching.. Diffently taking my Rollei's. But want to take a 35mm. I have the Nikon F4 and the Nikon FE. Which one should I take?

ToddB

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

If you must take a 35mm, take the FE - the Rolleis are already big and heavy enough. Take the FE and no more than two primes or one zoom.

 

[ToddB]

Thats what I was steering towards.

Todd

 

[one90guy]

Even though I always consider weight I would take the F4, remove the battery pack if you like. I sold my F4 to get into medium format and have regretted ever since. So my advice is jaded:^)

David

 

[Chris Lange]

Keep the F4 at home, take the FE and a 35. Bring an 85 as well so you feel comfortable with yourself, but chances are it'll stay in the hotel.

 

[baachitraka]

Rollei(presume it is MF) is good, if you have time and tripod to take photos. Otherwise, a good auto-exposure(OTF metering) camera will do for traveling.

 

[Tom1956]

Yeah, the Rollei is very restrictive. I'm afraid as well regarded as they are, they're really a mostly useless camera.

 

[Uncle Bill]

Take the Nikon FE along with a 35 f2 and a 105 f2.5 lens and you're covered.

 

[baachitraka]

Yeah, the Rollei is very restrictive. I'm afraid as well regarded as they are, they're really a mostly useless camera.

Try to put it on a tripod. ;-)

 

[MattKing]

Yeah, the Rollei is very restrictive. I'm afraid as well regarded as they are, they're really a mostly useless camera.

:munch:

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Yeah, the Rollei is very restrictive. I'm afraid as well regarded as they are, they're really a mostly useless camera.

Ok- I'll feed that troll... unless you're fishing in a backhanded way to get someone to give you their Rolleiflex, you're so far out of line. No, they don't zoom, and no, they don't auto focus or auto expose. But they are incredibly good travel cameras, very handy, quiet, and inconspicuous when you're taking pictures (unless you're like me who takes forever to focus and compose regardless of the camera you're using). They're also great friend-makers - I get more smiles and positive comments/compliments from using mine than from any other camera (I get more comments per capita from the view cameras, but a good third of them are snark about "wow, you can still get film for that?", and the remainder require a 15 minute dissertation on using view cameras). You do NOT need a tripod to shoot a Rollei. A tripod is helpful if you're shooting slow films in low light, but that's true of ANY camera. I routinely hand-hold my Rollei at 1/8 or 1/15th of a second and still get sharp pictures thanks to the lack of a mirror between the lens and film.

 

[Tom1956]

oops, sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have said that. Had a Rollei 3.5E I used for years, and it IS on occasion--worthless. Try standing on the beach looking down into that dark screen. Try standing in the sun trying to see somebody in the shadows. You can't see ZILCH. They're slower to use than your Nikon, no close focus at all. Twelve pictures on a 5 or 6 dollar roll of film demands frugality.
Stack that against a 35 with 36 shots on a roll where you can shoot anything and everything and do your culling later. Remember, you'll be far from home with only that Rollei. You'll miss a lot of shots that you wouldn't have missed with the 35. On top of that, a Rollei is a "collectors item", which means you have to protect it all the time. Like carrying around an antique crystal vase the whole time on your vacation.

 

[MattKing]

Like carrying around an antique crystal vase the whole time on your vacation.

:munch::munch:

Do you think a Leica rangefinder would be a better choice for travelling? I wonder what Umut thinks?

 

[Tom1956]

I'll butt out. As for me, I don't much care for collectors items. You can't take them out and use them freely, so they sit at home like clutter. As for my house, I have too many hobbies, and way too much clutter. Shoot the Nikon and watch your grain situation, and if you bang it on something and dent it, so what? It's supposed to be a vacation. Why spend it worrying about your collectors item camera?

 

[jp498]

oops, sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have said that. Had a Rollei 3.5E I used for years, and it IS on occasion--worthless. Try standing on the beach looking down into that dark screen. Try standing in the sun trying to see somebody in the shadows. You can't see ZILCH. They're slower to use than your Nikon, no close focus at all. Twelve pictures on a 5 or 6 dollar roll of film demands frugality.
Stack that against a 35 with 36 shots on a roll where you can shoot anything and everything and do your culling later. Remember, you'll be far from home with only that Rollei. You'll miss a lot of shots that you wouldn't have missed with the 35. On top of that, a Rollei is a "collectors item", which means you have to protect it all the time. Like carrying around an antique crystal vase the whole time on your vacation.

Wow. Trolling bigtime. Maybe you should stick to digital if getting lots of shots to cull is important.

My rolleiflexes have a magnifier atop the hood and when I put my eye up to that, it blocks the light so I can see well. I shoot them in all weather and lighting conditions. Out of twelve photos, I usually have a couple I am pleased with. That's all I ever want, whether it's a roll of 36 35mm, a hundred or digital photos, or 6 sheets of 4x5 film. I traveled across the country to the pacific coast and with only a yashica TLR, shot 3-4 rolls of film and had a bunch of photos I really enjoyed scanning or printing. It's not a do-everything camera, but TLRs can be deceptively good for general purposes.

 

[Chris Lange]

What's the point of owning a Rollei/Leica/Hasselblad if you are too scared to take it out of the house.

Several nights spent on the streets of NYC shooting have taught me that trouble rarely comes to you because of the brand of camera you are holding. Act like a dumbass in the wrong part of town and you'll have a problem, but it won't be because you were acting like a dumbass with a Leica. Do you really think a petty thief is going to know the difference between a Rollei and a Yashicamat? A Leica and a Zorki 4? Just because we do, doesn't mean they do as well.

The Rollei takes up, what, like 4"x7"x4"? It's the camera or an extra bottle of gatorade, big deal.

I'm redacting my previous statement on page 1 and just saying bring whatever you're most comfortable with. Shove a 'flex and a 35mm SLR in your bag and have at it.

As for the "Rollei on the beach" conundrum, if it's really that bright then focusing with the GG shouldn't be an issue because you'll be down at like ƒ/11-22 anyway. All you need is a rough idea of your composition. In my opinion it's far more difficult to focus a Rollei or Hasselblad in very -dim- light than very bright light.

 

[ToddB]

Didn't expect such a responce... Thanks guys. Traveling on west coast in San Fran and going down Hwy 1 to San Diego. didn't want to short change myself in beatiful images and street photography. Be passing off the point and shoot digital to wife for all the fun goofy stuff with the kids.

 

[Tom1956]

Didn't expect such a responce... Thanks guys. Traveling on west coast in San Fran and going down Hwy 1 to San Diego. didn't want to short change myself in beatiful images and street photography. Be passing off the point and shoot digital to wife for all the fun goofy stuff with the kids.

I didn't expect such a response either.:confused:. Enjoy the trip. Why not take both? That way there'll never be a quandary as to which you SHOULD have brought?

 

[Nick Merritt]

Using a waist level finder "at the beach" is easier than trying to look at an LCD screen held in front of you....

I go on vacation tomorrow and am thinking I'll leave the Rolleis at home in favor of a Mamiya C220, handgrip, CDS finder and three lenses. Not unobtrusive, I know! Or maybe I'll just bring a folder. I'll be dithering about this right up until I leave.

 

[ToddB]

I plan on it.. Rollei and the FE.

Todd

 

[Vonder]

I don't understand the need to leave anything at home... you can't take pictures with no camera. If you come across a great slide/color/b&W opportunity and don't have a camera loaded appropriately... well...

I too am vacationing soon, taking a Nikon F6, F100, F3, D600, D7000, Pronea 6i, and maybe my Rolleicord. If they sit in the car or hotel, so what?

 

[wblynch]

...Traveling on west coast in San Fran and going down Hwy 1 to San Diego...

That's a loonnnnnggggg ride.

You will definitely want the medium format and tripod for Big Sur. Great scenery and bridges.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

I don't understand the need to leave anything at home... you can't take pictures with no camera. If you come across a great slide/color/b&W opportunity and don't have a camera loaded appropriately... well...

I too am vacationing soon, taking a Nikon F6, F100, F3, D600, D7000, Pronea 6i, and maybe my Rolleicord. If they sit in the car or hotel, so what?

Too many choices, too many different formats - if you're ready for every possible photo, you'll end up taking none, or at least not getting any good ones, because your head space will be on a different camera/film/format, and you won't have one at the ready when the moment passes. And it means packing three film formats- if you run out while shooting with one, you might be stuck with no additional film for that camera, so you'd have to turn around and go back to the hotel/car to get a different camera for which you still have film. Same with batteries - if they're all different, if one conks out, you can't grab a spare from the other camera and keep shooting.

 

[Newt_on_Swings]

oh yes, very restrictive, and most useless... please send them my way so I can dispose of them properly

haha, but really, maybe both nikons would be good. I always like to have a spare backup body, loaded with different film for changing light. And if you just bring Ai, or AIS lenses you can swap them around easily on both bodies. Maybe even pass the FE around to the wife a kids to have fun with(and to carry a bit of the weight hehe).