Spare equipment when travelling

[Richard Fenner]

I've recently wondered about the merits of carrying spare equipment when travelling with a camera. This particularly occurred to me as I had the thread on a tripod head go last year, and was able to get a replacement the next day - but what if I hadn't been able to? What if a gg breaks? Or the meter drops down a cliff?

While I appreciate some would respond, 'well, what if the camera drops off a cliff?' but it seems to me the smaller items tend to go more often (and spirit levels most often!). I now carry a spare spirit level, and am considering some of the other items.

I realise answers may vary according to the style of travel involved, whether you're based in a hotel or tent, moving each day etc, but a spread of responses could be useful. Thanks.

[paul owen]

an extra cable release is always handy as is a spare lens spanner and loupe!

[Ralph Barker]

I like to carry a few spare items when traveling far from home. How much is a matter of balancing the weight and expense of the spares versus the expense of a potentially ruined trip, I think. Most of my photo trips are car-based, so I just leave the spares in a container in the vehicle.

If you're traveling to someplace really exotic, Richard, you could always hire me as a spare, so I could take the photos if you drop off a cliff. ;-)

[Dan Fromm]

Richard, I have only one of most of the items in my travelling kit, so for me the question of spares is nearly moot. There are, though, too many items in my kit. For me the big problem is deciding what to leave at home.

Like Paul, I carry spare cable releases, which take up little room. Also two meters, LunaPro and Master V; both are small and light, and the Master doesn't need batteries. I carry three normal lenses: a macro that's no good at distance, a good slower one, and a fast one for those times when ... This is an extravagance, I suppose I could leave the fast one at home. I should carry a spare loupe, I dropped one once.

The two cameras in my kit use the same focusing panel so I don't carry a spare GG. Why two cameras? My barrel lenses can be used only on my Speed Graphic, but it is too thick for my shorter lenses. Travel would be easier if I could dispense with the shorter lenses (no way!) or the longest one in barrel (maybe).

Cheers,

Dan

[Bill_1856]

There have been at least two occasions when I've had total equipment disaster in the middle of a trip. It's amazing how much fun travel can be if one doesn't have to always worry about taking pictures.

[jantman]

I only have one spot meter, but I carry an incident as a spare. On any trip longer than a half-day, I carry a spare GG, screws, tools, tripod quick release (for MF), a variety of 1/4x20 screws, washers, and nuts, extra cable release and meter (second incident meter), hobby cement for bellows repairs, a small level, varieties of tape, cleaning supplies, etc. I keep all of this in the camera case.

[Rory_3532]

People who use 35mm and medium format cameras go on about the need to take along a completely manual camera when travelling, failing which the world might end.

Now we have users of completely manual cameras talking about the need to take along spare parts, although if one is really worried about this, it's probably easier to bring along a spare camera.

All of which reminds me of being told, as an ocean sailor, that I must know how to use a sextant, despite the existence of GPS, in case the sattelite systems go down.

The only spare parts I take along are extra batteries for my Nikon.

And yes, I do know how to use a sextant :)

[jantman]

Rory,

You can use a sextant, but do you know what the haversine is?

When your camera costs as much as a good view camera, it's pretty hard to bring a spare camera. And why do I need to? I am prefectly capable of making a field repair to any reasonable damage to my camera, lens, shutter, or other equipment. Why should I miss a great shot, or lose time at an amazing location, if it can be averted by simply bringing along a few tools and parts?

[MIke Sherck]

Duct tape, transparent tape, a good pocket knife or all around tool (I have a Leatherman.) If it breaks, fix it. :)

mjs

[Rory_3532]

Jason, I was joking.

The original claim in ocean navigation was that you had to use a sextant because the GPS unit might fail. Then it got to the point where you could buy a GPS unit and a few spares for the price of a sextant. At that point, the argument was that the satellites might fail. I have some personal experience with this issue, having wound up in the Bay of Biscay off the coast of France in the middle of the night with almost no wind and a failed engine. What came home to me, in very concrete terms, is that a GPS unit, unlike a sextant, works in the dark.

The question about cameras is of some practical concern to me. I was in Jordan last year and I'm thinking about going back with a 4x5 camera to some specific places. If I do this trip, I don't think that I'll take along a lot of extra gear. If I run into a problem, I'm quite satisfied that I can get a replacement, delivered to Amman, from Robert White or B&H or Grand Format in Paris in pretty short order, and that I can find other ways to amuse myself in the meantime. Or I can use my 35mm. In other words, there aren't a lot of places where I would worry about this. World communications and delivery are much better than a lot of people realize. At the same time, if I was on a camping trip, it's enough to carry around a 4x5 and a 35mm camera without worrying about redundancy for each camera.

[jantman]

Rory,

My issue is that for small failures (shutter problems, bellows problems, missing screws, tripod problems, etc.) I'd rather not miss any shooting. I do a lot of day trips, and don't want to lose the rest of the day because of something simple enough that I can fix in the field.

Sailing is something I've always wanted to do, but never have found the time for more than a few day trips. Sextants can be used at night, but you need the lunar and astronomic sight tables - I believe the set is about 19 hardbound volumes.

[Rory_3532]

Jason,

A sextant can only be used if you can see the horizon. The whole point is that the instrument measures an angle between the horizon and an astronomical body. The lunar system is workable, but tables for it have not been available since about 1920. That said, there are people (all of them nautical historians or hobbyists) who know how to do it. I was intrigued by your reference to trigonometry. Almost nobody knows spherical trig at this point. Using a sextant with trig, as Cook and others did, is very time-consuming. These days, just about anyone left who uses a sextant uses tables from the Nautical Almanach. The tables make it possible to make a calculation of position in about 20 minutes, assuming that the weather conditions enable one to measure three angles between the horizon and the sun or other (sunset or sunrise) astronomical body. Getting a GPS reading, by comparison, takes about a second or so. The Nautical Almanach is in one volume, not 19. Lunar tables, if you can get them, would indeed be more complicated and a lot longer, due to the movement of the moon.

[David A. Goldfarb]

I carry extra cable releases and a few spare screws and washers, but other than that it's enough just to carry one of everything. There is a certain amount of redundancy built into the LF kit, I suppose, since I have multiple lenses with multiple shutters (though more lenses than shutters), so if one shutter got stuck, I'd have other lenses to use, and some of them I could even use as convertibles in a pinch. If the meter dies, I can usually guess accurately enough for B&W.

[Robert A. Zeichner]

A friend of mine once jokingly suggested that all you need to fix anything is a can of WD-40 and a roll of duct tape. The WD-40 is used to get stuff apart that's stuck together and the duct tape is to stick stuff together that has come apart.

That said, I usually carry a lens spanner, a couple of jeweler's screwdrivers, a 4x4 square of inner tube rubber, a folding razorknife, a miniature channel-lock pliar, a 1" camelhair brush, some 3-M 235 and a piece of 12pt chipboard. This fits in my bag pretty easily. On a long trip, I'll pack a medium format camera in case of total disaster as well as a spare gg for the 4x5. Oh, and yes, several cable releases!

[John_3988]

Something useful I have found: I once dropped my Pentax Digital Spotmeter down a mountain in Turkey. I went to the local camera shop and suffered agonies while everyone and his uncle poked around trying to fix it. (They really did want to be helpful!) After quite a while, someone suggested the local TV repair man. He was much better. He confidently found the screws hidden under stickers and was not at all fazed by the electronics. Moral of the story: If it is electronic and you HAVE to get it fixed, try an electronic shop, not a camera shop.

[Christopher Condit]

I worry more about sore shoulders than equipment disasters, so my approach is the exact opposite -- what can I do without, to lower the weight? Do I take the 2lb Gowland, which can be quite fussy, or the 6lb Walker, which is completely intuitive?

Maybe my opinion will change once I do have a breakdown, far afield. The closest I came was dropping my Widelux on the sidewalk, where it bounced 4 times, but survived.

[David Richhart]

I always try to have a Visa card and a pocket full of cash when I travel... they can fix a lot of problems.

[John Kasaian]

My 'spares' kit is minimal: extra cable release and a second lens mounted on a board (if I've got the space) A swiss army knife or Leatherman tool, and a roll of gaffer's tape. Thats it!

[Doug Herta]

I carry a spare loupe, two extra cable releases, and two extra pieces of ground glass (I'm great at breaking them). As an aside, I was just backpacking for 3 weeks through Cambodia with quickloads (Velvia 50 and 100f) and found that if you pack well, the film did not suffer from extreme heat, dust, and being sat on in the back of a pickup. I was pretty concerned but it turned out OK. The film was in the mylar pouches in a stuff sack lovingly wrapped in (stinky) clothes.

Fear not! Get out there and take those pictures!