Cold-weather gloves
Lunch
Money for coffee
Cigarettes
Cold-weather gloves
Lunch
Money for coffee
Cigarettes
Like someone else mentioned, a light of some kind is very useful. For example, if you're photographing in a cathedral, focusing can be hard. I use a small mag light. If you set the light in the scene, you can focus on it. I've also heard that a laser pointer can be useful in such situations by focusing on the dot, but I haven't tried it.
I have a viewing frame, which is much faster to use than looking through the camera for compositions. It has a string with knots commensurate with the hyper-focal distance of my various lenses at f22.
I have a chart for focusing based on the distance needed to change the standards to get both the nearest and farthest scene elements in focus.
There's also a reciprocity chart for the film I use.
“You often feel tired, not because you've done too much, but because you've done too little of what sparks a light in you.”
― Alexander Den Heijer, Nothing You Don't Already Know
I've got my kit divided into two parts. One is the kit I carry in the field, the other is a bag and cooler that lives in my 4x4 and has lots of spare parts, etc. You will see from the list that I like to be away from civilization for long periods :-)
In the field, in addition to camera, holders, filters, tripod and meter, I always have:
a small flashlight plus an LED light or two (good for hiking out after sunset...)
a small roll of gaffers tape
a dentist's mirror for checking the camera levels when the camera is set up too high
a pair of 40 inch shoelaces for tying back trees, etc. or replacing one on my hiking boots
a pair of polypropylene liner gloves (for cold weather camera adjustments)
a pair of roofers gloves when I'm canyoning for sharp rocks (usually on my hands)
a notebook with exposure records, bellows ext. factors, reciprocity adjustments, etc.
a handheld GPS (I got lost once at sunset and almost had to spend the night in the high desert in winter... since then, I make a way point for "car" or "camp" so I can find my way back. I have a tendency not to keep track of where I'm going when photographing.)
a Swiss Army knife with screwdrivers and corkscrew (for back at camp...)
a large black plastic garbage bag
a homemade waterproof nylon drawstring bag that fits over my camera, can be filled with rocks/sand and used as a tripod anchor or, in a pinch, a collapsible bucket.
a homemade darkcloth made with white Gore-Tex on the outside, which is big enough to function as a poncho in an emergency and sure nice to toss over the camera when that unexpected breaker hits the rocks just below you.
10x loupe
a Ziploc-type bag with an extra cable release, spirit level, extra magnifier (a flat one in a leather cover in case I lose the loupe), string, a flat shutter ring wrench and twist ties
microfiber cloth for lens cleaning
a (now hard-to-find) Voss folding filter holder/lens shade
business cards
4.0 diopter reading glasses, clip on, for focussing
clip-on sunglasses (for when I'm not focussing)
I also usually wear a large white bandanna and a cap, which function as everything from lens shade and emergency dressing to their intended functions.
a homemade collapsible cover that just fits over the end of a film holder. This was cobbled together from black Kodak film boxes and goes over the end of the inserted filmholder after the darkslide has been pulled to keep the light out. I also use my hat and darkcloth for this, but for shots where I have to wait a long time for the exact right moment for the wind, etc. to stop moving and need the darkslide out for a longer time, this really does the job well (and doesn't flap around or blow off).
Oh, and one pocket of my photo vest has a few interesting sea shells I've collected. I especially like these in the desert :-)
This isn't really a lot to carry. The items are small and most fit into pockets on my vest. My entire kit (5 lenses) fits in a fanny pack, short fly-fishing vest and over the shoulder film pouch and weighs in a less than 25 pounds (I think).
My in-car kit contains:
an extra light meter and meter batteries
extra tripod leg-locks and tripod head lock knobs/screws
adhesive nylon patch material
duct tape, gaffers tape and masking tape
more flashlights (mini-mags)
extra exposure records, paper punch, scissors
extra notebook with extension factors and recip. info (in case I lose my other)
the lenses I'm not carrying (I make some decisions before I set out)
more cable releases
extra dark slides
extra film holders and film (in a cooler, for extended trips I take 50 holders)
Mido holders and clamshell (for extended, lightweight hikes)
blower brush
extra 10x loupe
jeweler's screwdrivers
miscellaneous other junk that I can't recall now...
extra tripod and head (I lost one once and had to make a long trip to buy another...)
I now carry a second field camera as well, with more extension for shorter hikes or close-to-the-car shots requiring longer lenses.
I often toss a couple of portfolio cases into the car for road trips as well, just in case.
I don't use all this stuff often, but, all of it is there for a reason, usually because I've needed something at one time or another and then stocked up so I didn't have to put up with a missing tripod head knob or the like in the future.
Heroique: Good thread!
Best,
Doremus Scudder
A few non-photographic items that always live in my camera bag:
- LED headlamp
- 500ml water bottle
- Compass, sometimes a GPS...but always the compass
- Ibuprofen (regular and "PM" varieties), Imodium, and Benadryl tablets
- A few assorted adhesive bandages
- Bandanna
- FotoSharp.com waterproof camera cover
- Microfiber lens cloth
- GoreTex lightweight raincoat
The rest of the gear changes according to the demands of the situation.
Brett Simison
http://www.brettsimison.com/
Small sticky notes to flag the transition on ND Grad filters.
Piece of twine
Small penlight
Black trash bag
Grey card
Extra light meter battery
The bellows extension factor tool mentioned on the LF Info site
Hyperfocal distance chart
Reciprocity data chart
Microfiber lens cloth
Matches
and...last, but certainly not least...
Toilet paper
Depending on where I'm going, how far and...
Topo map and compass
First aid kit
Extra food and water, and a water filter.
Lots of good ideas in this thread!
--P
Preston-Columbia CA
"If you want nice fresh oats, you have to pay a fair price. If you can be satisfied with oats that have already been through the horse; that comes a little cheaper."
One of those things you attach to the stems of eye glasses so they hang around your neck. Without it I have to hold my eye glasses between my teeth when I get under the dark cloth to look at the ground glass.
Brian Ellis
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you do criticize them you'll be
a mile away and you'll have their shoes.
Good idea. One of these days I am going to drop my glasses and lose them down a cliff or something. It will be an interesting walk out of the hills if I do!
Perhaps a spare set of glasses is something I should add to my list of things to bring. I can make a pinhole using my thumbs and two fingers and get some focus that way in an emergency. I have done that to find my way back to my towel after body-surfing. I suppose I could carry the 8x10 set up with a lens on it, and look thru the camera to find my way out, but that would be a bit awkward (and confusing.)
A super bright pen-sized LED flashlight, much brighter than conventional flashlights with D batteries and even smaller than a mini-maglight. If you are still using "old tech" flashlights, it is worth the upgrade. Mine has a dim and bright setting. The dim setting is perfect for looking at lens settings. The bright setting is perfect for shining out onto railings or anything else that I want to make sure is NOT in my city night shots in the corner of the frames.
Along the same lines, a copy of an email exchange I had with the New York City Mayor's Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting saying that it is perfectly OK to use my large format camera on a tripod without a permit.
A small plastic "A" clamp - used to attach a darkcloth to the camera so that it can shade the back during an exposure in bright sun that might otherwise cause a light leak around the holder that could fog the film.
Pretty complete lists above. Learned some new things. I love this forum.
A couple of additions.
I have a pair of progressive glasses with the distance vision way at the top (so I have to tip my head down to see far away. This puts the close up portion of the lens close enough so I can comfortably work up near the camera and use my glasses to focus on the GG. I just switch them for my regular glasses (most of the time) when I pack up and move on. I read on this forum years ago that some people flip the progressives so that the distance is on the bottom and the close up is on the top.
A much less expensive device is one of those paper holders that you attach to your computer monitor. It has two clamps, one on each end, and a flexible arm in between. I use it by clamping one end to the front standard and using the other to hold my small gray card. Then I maneuver it to block light from hitting my lens.
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