Gear question. It's too complicated. What do you propose?

[Pere Casals]

You have to know the kind of shots you are to take, but a tent suggests landscapes, so you may want the 90 or wider.

I would bring 90-150-210-300 and the wista, and no MF back, as those focals may limit your LF shots. Perhaps I would also take a light Nikon F80 (with excellent/cheap/light 50mm 1.8AFD and 28-80 3.3D) with with some rolls, as it's also a perfect spot photometer.

[mmerig]

....by taking the roll film holder to crop the image I can use the Fujinon A 9/180 as a telephoto lens for 6x7.

Besides saving on film, why take a roll-film holder to crop if you can crop during enlargement or a scan? The image size will be the same on a 4 by 5 as on the 6 by 7 if the same lens is used and you stand in the same place.

Regarding storing and securing the stuff:

My experience with LF photography in the mountains is to put the equipment in my pack that I leave outside the tent or bivy sack. The only "problem" I ever had was a curious bear pulled the pack around on the ground, but did not cause any damage. I take a smaller pack for carrying around my photo gear and lunch etc. for the day, and this goes in a big backpack along with the other stuff when I am moving camp. For me, the weight of my camera, compared to the lightest one available, is negligible compared to the total weight of the pack. I usually take two or three lenses. I would use Grafamatics to save space, but they don't work well with my camera back. Knowing where water is, and carrying the minimum amount of water, saves more weight than equipment choice.

I recommend some sort of case for the camera and lenses. I used to use wraps and other jury-rigged things, but the cases simplified the set-up and take-down, and protects the equipment with a minimum of space. My camera has a focus hood, but it did not work well for me, so I bring a dark cloth.

If you are not traveling very far, the weight issue hardly matters.

[jnantz]

id bring one camera and one lens. gear just becomes a distraction at a certain point.

[LabRat]

Oh, and don't forget about what you would need to change/carry sheet film...

Steve K

[Daniel Casper Lohenstein]

Hey, let me thank you sincerely for your additional answers. This thread is really stimulating!

@BrianShaw: At night I will let the camera in the car that stays outside the tent ... BTW. the new Intrepid was more expensive than the used Wista. I already thought to bring "The Brand 17" (US $90) with me. I love it. It is intuitive and built like a tank. I made a Technikardan style bellows for this camera. But "der Apparat" is a little bit too bulky because it does not fold and it does not allow to put a roll film holder in, too. - I experienced that people in northern Italy are honest and fair. You lose something, they look after you and bring it back. Especially if you are something like a "sportivo" by doing some trekking / hiking in the landscape.

@Pere Casals: Thinking about a spot metered camera - I have got a F801s - is not the worst idea. But it is distracting and heavier than the combination of a Sekonic L28c2 and L488.

@mmerig: I thought 10 frames in 6x7 are less expensive than 10 sheets 4x5, given the same material. But your idea to crop a sheet film isn't bad. I have an old Riteway holder whose dark slide is cut in two horizontal panoramic halves in 2x5 inch. I also could cut an rectangled hole in a dark slide to get two vertical halves in 4x2.5 inch and make two vertical pictures on one horizontal sheet. I don't know if this works without scratching the surface of the film, but I think I will let the roll film holder at home. Do you have experiences with this solution?

@LabRat: a light weight changing bag, 100 sheets of black and white film: Ilford FP4+ to get colours right and do some filtering in red, Rollei Ortho 25 to get some atmosphere and brighter shadows at the shore.

@jnanian: to bring one camera and one lens would mean that I should take a 135mm lens with me to get a slight wide angle effect by using the complete frame and a slight tele photo effect when cropping 6x7 out of the negative. This idea is charming, but the Fujinon A 9/180 does nearly the same without need for cropping so much. And the Fujinon NW 5.6/125 can emphasize the wide angle a little bit more. Both of them can be stored in the camera because their filter tread is 46mm. The Fujinon W 5.6/135 takes 52mm filters.

Regards

[Pere Casals]

@Pere Casals: Thinking about a spot metered camera - I have got a F801s - is not the worst idea. But it is distracting and heavier than the combination of a Sekonic L28c2 and L488.

Well, you can also bring a F65, it floats in the air, it has best meter one can dream, and it also takes shots so you may omit the MF back. This is important to me because sometimes I load a roll of same film than the sheets, so I bracket the scene and I learn if I could do things different, also as I develop roll first it helps me to determine development of the BW sheets with awesome precision. And Velvia 50 35mm slides are anyway awesome...

Also I use the SLR to frame the view camera, I've a table saying what focal I should zoom to match the lenses I have, in the vertical and horzontal position, so I can preview composition, and I know if the mountain range fits with a LF lens, when I field the view camera is because I have a shot well determitedm thanks to the SLR viewfinder, so I can also omit the binocular.

Also, as I bring a F5 brick, in case a bear attacks me I can throw the F5 to it, to kill the beast... (it also works killing angry elephants)

[interneg]

100 sheets of black and white film: Ilford FP4+ to get colours right and do some filtering in red, Rollei Ortho 25 to get some atmosphere and brighter shadows at the shore.

You'll have an easier time of it if you use Ilford's Ortho+ rather than the Rollei stuff - the Ilford is a normal contrast material, very like FP4+ without red sensitivity.

I'd also strongly recommend taking the simplest possible kit - a lens in the 120-135mm range & a straightforward incident meter (which you have). The rather baroque metering solutions otherwise being suggested involving 35mm cameras are far more trouble than they're worth. You can measure your contrast range rather more usefully with a handheld meter.

The less kit you haul, the better your images will be - less time spent changing lenses usually equals more time making images...

[faberryman]

It's too complicated. What do you propose?

Flip a coin and embrace the result.

[mmerig]

@mmerig: I thought 10 frames in 6x7 are less expensive than 10 sheets 4x5, given the same material. But your idea to crop a sheet film isn't bad. I have an old Riteway holder whose dark slide is cut in two horizontal panoramic halves in 2x5 inch. I also could cut an rectangled hole in a dark slide to get two vertical halves in 4x2.5 inch and make two vertical pictures on one horizontal sheet. I don't know if this works without scratching the surface of the film, but I think I will let the roll film holder at home. Do you have experiences with this solution?

Regards

I did not realize that you were "car camping" (sleeping in a tent near a parked car). So space and weight should not be that much of a concern. I'd bring anything you want, and fish it out of the trunk when you need it.

My comment on the roll-film holders assumed that space was limited. It makes sense to bring them to save on film; I would not bother with modified 4 by 5 film holders, unless you need the separate processing advantages of sheet film. Have a nice trip!

[jp]

I'd bring 2 lenses instead of 3 and use the extra room for sheet film. For B&W if you are familiar with the film and how to meter there is not need to bracket. If you're not sure how shadows are going to be for example, you are not really familiar with the film.