Photographed so many times...

I'm supposed to be the one doing the photography, but on a trip around Sicily last week I reckon I was photographed with the camera an average of ten times every time it came out of the bag... and half the people wanted to look 'through' it and had to ask why the image was upside down. Tricky as I don't speak Italian :)

It's going to take a while as I can only process six sheets at a time, but I'm starting the development tonight.

Treated myself to a new bag - a Vanguard UP-Rise 48 II, carefully selected for both carrying capacity and fitting Easyjet's carry-on luggage limit. Apologies for the phone's inability to focus, but you get the idea.

Attachment 170248

The MPP Micro-Press camera and film carriers at the bottom (right), then the Weston meter, wide angle lens, and filters; the space at the top fits four boxes of film and a changing bag for transport, but a jacket which I use as a dark cloth when on the road. There is a tripod which goes on one side, for a total weight of around ten kilogrammes. Surprisingly comfortable even at altitude (Scicily is a small island, but it goes from sea level to over 3000m/10000ft).

A few local tips: most of the official archeology sites won't allow tripods at all ("there's a law"): Valle Dei Templi, the Roman site at Piazza Armerina, and the Teatro Antico di Taormina for certain - but the less well known Greek site at Morgantino is so quiet that they didn't seem to care. And I was advised more than once "don't take that camera to Palermo, it won't come back with you", so I didn't.

Hopefully one or two pictures will be worth it.


Neil

We photographers should always post good pics... with good cameras and clean lenses... not ticking you off but the pic is awful! :)
Try third party camera apps... they work much better than oem software. Some even perform easy manual focusing.You will know how good phone cameras really are.
Yes, my bag used to be around 10-13kg. Now I have developed some spine issues and I have to reduce it dramatically. Don`t know how.
Same experience here. Wherever I`m with my camera people become interested on it. Comments I heard: "wow, that`s a truly vintage camera" (Canham DLC), "my Canon 5D is better and much smaller", and the opposite, "this is a real camera and not my Canon". Classics are comments like "is it a Hasselblad?", "why upside down?", "how much does it cost?", etc. Funny.
Post a couple pics if possible... congrats for your trip :D

Funny, I did a few days of shooting 4x5 in and around Berlin a few weeks ago, and didn't have a single person come up to me and hardly anyone taking notice - I'd had more attention with a humble Bronica or a Rolleiflex before! Re moving 4x5 equipment arround, in cities I now go for a decidedly un-cool shopping-trolley-type thing with large wheels. It doesn't look like it's got expensive gear in it, easily takes 20kg (though I try to stay well below that), and I can move around all day without much fatigue at all.

Oh, and it magically seems to reduce passer-by attention :-).

Though in real life it might also have had to do with the fact that I did get up very early for most shoots, when people everywhere in the world seem to feel less talkative...

Trolley would admittedly be useless at 3000m in Sicily though!

The upper steps at the Roman Theater at Taormina gave me a reasonable flat base. But it really didn't have interesting light around lunchtime.

Tripods are just about banned everywhere starting with the aircraft cabin.

The TSA website says that tripods are OK as carry on in the US. I don't know about Europe.

Yeah, I got a couple of shots (dunno if they worked, yet!) using the seating as a base. The attendant was friendly.

Mind you, someone buzzed the place with a drone, and one of the other attendants thought my camera was a controller for it...

Neil

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jim Andrada

The TSA website says that tripods are OK as carry on in the US. I don't know about Europe.

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Tripods are not allowed in the cabin as hand baggage on any European flights. Considered as dangerous as nail scissors and bottled "water"!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Steven Tribe

Tripods are not allowed in the cabin as hand baggage on any European flights. Considered as dangerous as nail scissors and bottled "water"!

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Really? I've just come back from a trip where I flew to Italy and then flew back from Zurich, both times with my tripod in the cabin.