Tools or backup camera body while travelling?

[Jeff Bannow]

I'm already carrying around a small repair kit for minor repairs in the field (mostly Hasselblad repairs so far). As I am shooting more 4x5, I'm wondering if I should be preparing better for future LF problems. I'm trying to keep my kit lightweight since I fly with it a lot, but at the same time I don't want to be stranded without a camera while out of town.

I also use a rollfilm back on my Chamonix, and as a result have to remove the ground glass back a lot. I know some day I'm going to drop the glass, so that has led me to considering a backup back, or maybe a backup camera entirely. I don't think I would need spare lenses since I have multiple lenses already with me.

So, what do you all carry for in the field tools? Do any of you travel with a spare camera?

Also, anyone have a recommendation for a small pair or needlenose pliers? No China junk and needs to be light and small.

[Jeff Bannow]

I suppose I should mention that the tools and/or body would stay in the trunk for the duration of the trip unless needed.

[Kodachrome25]

I have a spare ground glass set for my 45N-2 at home. I also use a pair of roll film backs quite often too, just work at a steady pace and you will be fine. I find the crap hits the fan when I speed up too quickly and get out of sync with my normal pace or operation. As far as field tools, I keep one of those screwdriver pens that have caps on both ends, switchable sizes in the same pen in almost every bag. I also have pieces of black gaffers tape on darn near everything, tripod legs, lens shades, etc. I find gaffer's tape is by far the best tool out there in a pinch.

But a spare 4x5? For me, probably not although I do love the Chamonix enough to get a second one...

[vinny]

I carry a piece of gg sized plexi with magic tape on it as a spare.
Mini Husky screwdriver set. Super glue. Stovepipe wire. Zip ties. Gaff tape. Gerber multi tool has plenty of shitty tools on it.

[Frank Petronio]

Wera makes nice expensive German screwdrivers ;-)

A Hasselblad is 100x less reliable and repairable than a 4x5 but the back is the weak point - besides the glass, the springs will also fail sometimes (although I don't have a Cham to look at and judge but I've had Linhof arms and springs go bad so anything less could too).

I use a Sinar and have spares of everything pretty much, at least enough to function. I do keep an entire back assembly in a box in the larger travel case and it is easy to bring along just in case.

A good strategy for a spare might be something like a Crown Graphic, something that can be cheap and used as a beater, handheld, in the rain, etc.

[Jeff Bannow]

A good strategy for a spare might be something like a Crown Graphic, something that can be cheap and used as a beater, handheld, in the rain, etc.

Good idea. I assume I couldn't make a Crown accept Linhof boards, so I would have to remount the lenses though.

[Frank Petronio]

Just get one with a cammed 135 Xenar/Optar/Ektar for $10 more than one without, all good lenses and then you can handhold when the tripod breaks!

I've had pretty good luck lowballing cheap ones over the years although I do not own one currently. I know eBay listers want $600 for them but if you are patient you can do much better. And unless they were stored wet and nasty, the lenses are usually nice.

[BradS]

When I travel with 4x5, I usually bring along a very basic small format kit as backup. It used to be a Spotmatic with one lens or a pair of Nikons with a handful of lenses (depending on how "light" I needed to travel). Lately though, I just throw an old 6x9 folder in the bag and call it good. I guess this is more like disaster insurance.

The only cameras I've every had break in the field were a pair of Nikons...Last time I was in a small village in Peru at the time...repairs consisted of judicious use of packaging tape and using sunny-16 and the M90 shutter speed setting for the remainder of the trip.

[Jeff Bannow]

Just get one with a cammed 135 Xenar/Optar/Ektar for $10 more than one without, all good lenses and then you can handhold when the tripod breaks!

I've had pretty good luck lowballing cheap ones over the years although I do not own one currently. I know eBay listers want $600 for them but if you are patient you can do much better. And unless they were stored wet and nasty, the lenses are usually nice.

For under $200, this would seem like a good way to go. I could probably even store my tools inside the shell of the camera, making it a compact little emergency kit.

[Jim Jones]

A 4" Vice-Grip is handy; it's not the perfect tool for anything in the world, but the best imperfect tool for thousands of emergencies.

[Drew Wiley]

I have done all kinds of field repairs over the years. Inevitable when you spend so much time in the backcountry. A buddy recently dropped an expensive Zeiss lens and dinged the
filter thread. He beat it back out using a rock and stick, since none of us had a pair of pliers in the pack. Guess if it worked for Pithecanthropus it should work for us too. I usually carry some miniature screwdrivers and some sort of multi-tool or Swiss Army knife. The only plier brands which are still US made seem to be Crescent and Klein. German-made ones like Knipex are even better, if you can afford them. I sell them, but my customer base
is pro and doesn't blink an eye at spending $50 or $60 for a pair of pliers.

[Jeff Bannow]

I have done all kinds of field repairs over the years. Inevitable when you spend so much time in the backcountry. A buddy recently dropped an expensive Zeiss lens and dinged the
filter thread. He beat it back out using a rock and stick, since none of us had a pair of pliers in the pack.

Sounds like I need to carry a rock and a stick. :)

[Drew Wiley]

Ooops ... I meant to say Channel-Lock pliers are still US made, not Crescent. I still use my
Great-grandfather's Crescent needle-noses made in the 1800's; but a pair nowadays won't
last a week. And somewhere I misplaced a miniature pair of old US Channel-Locks adjustable in a size they no longer make, which was super light and nice for emergency use. Since I can't locate it, I bought a miniature US-mfg multi-tool with small plier on board. But the rock and stick concept still works best for certain other things - like the rattlesnake which slithered right into camp at dusk one night!

[mikebarger]

I carry and extra ground glass, small tool kit, duct tape, super glue, and my Hasselblad system in the trunk as backup.

[Kuzano]

A good strategy for a spare might be something like a Crown Graphic, something that can be cheap and used as a beater, handheld, in the rain, etc.

Crap Frank... You just described my primary camera...except you did not mention the camo paint job on the exterior!

But, Hell Yeah... I'll carry the tool kit and when I have a problem, I'll sit down beside my car in the gravel and tear my camera apart, and then......(well 4 hours later digging through the gravel for tiny screws.. forgot to bring a magnet)

Sorry, When God breaks my camera, She's telling me to "Go HOME!!! Yur' done for the day!" (I do equate God to at least one of my three X-wives, if not all??)

[Kuzano]

Do what I do... mount the lens in a Crown lens board for my primary camera, and then (in my case) modify a Linhof board so the Graflex board will mount to it, in case I ever get a better camera than the Camo Paint Crown, such as a Linhof or other "picky about lensboards" camera.

[BradS]

Crap Frank... You just described my primary camera...

me too..but, then again, I know Frank has used more than a couple of Crown Graphics as his "primary" camera too.

[Vaughn]

Long trips I carried an extra GG in a 4x5 film box, and a pin-hole on a board in case I broke my lens. Small needle nose -- don't care about where and when it was made -- as long as it works the two times a year I need it. Small adjustable spanner (crescent wrench). Small screw driver and/or a Swiss Army knife (I like the Tinker -- a minimal knife with a philips screwdriver instead of the corkscrew).

Some electrical tape wrapped around a leg of the tripod for emergencies (repair bellows, etc).

[Kirk Gittings]

I carry tools and replacements for known weak parts like ground glass or bail springs.

[Noah A]

On my last few international trips my baggage was so close to the size limits (carry on) and weight limits (checked bag w/clothes, tripod, etc) that another camera wasn't really an option.

I carry a few precision screwdrivers in appropriate sizes, a spare bellows and a spare groundglass. Also a spare loupe in case I lose one, more filmholders than I normally use, gaffers tape, etc. Also don't forget whatever tools you may need to fix your tripod or head.