Eeek - too much gear - what to take?

[butterfly]

Hello all,

Ok - here's the issue. I fly to Iceland in 4 weeks. Baggage limit (take on) is 10KG.

I was planning to take my Canon digital SLR and a couple of lenses and my Ebony.
Well just adding up the weight of all this stuff is going to be near on impossible to get on the aircraft, and there is no way I'm putting it in the hold.

In the past I've travelled with just the digital, taken up to 200 shots in a week with about 20 real quality keepers, so I am wondering if I should leave the Digital at home and concentrate on the 4x5. I will be taking landscapes almost exclusively, and hope to catch the aurora (anyone done astro night stuff successfully with 4x5?).

I am thinking I should go, enjoy, take a shot only when it is really worth it (the essence of LF isn't it?). I can take snaps to satisfy my family with my tiny Leica 35mm compact!

Finally, I love Velvia but wonder if I should rely on this or shoot Colour neg?

Any thoughts appreciated. It's decision time for me on this.

Steve

[Peter Lewin]

I would ask myself two questions: (1) Are the prints I like enough to hang on my wall predominantly LF or DSLR, or evenly mixed? (2) Do I enjoy the process of working with LF negatives or positives more, less, or the same as working with DSLR files? The answers should guide you. My situation going to Europe this past summer was similar, excluding the digital aspect, whether to bring my LeicaM6 along with my 4x5. My own answer was that I love working with 4x5 negatives, virtually never print anything from 35mm "seriously" any more (just quick RC work prints), and therefore took just the 4x5. Personally, in your situation, I would take the 4x5 and the mini-digital, but you obviously may respond differently to my hypothetical questions.

[butterfly]

Thanks for the response Peter. I've taken some decent shots on the DSLR but find the whole process dull and soul-less. I really enjoy the challenge of 4x5. For me, nothing beats looking on that ground glass having considered all things before deciding to shoot. I'd rather just come back with a few 'wall hangers' from professionally scanned velvia slides. I'll have the time to set up and shoot LF when I am over there, so I am thinking yes, I agree with your rationale and it's what I will do.

Regards

Steve

[JPlomley]

If you take the DSLR, you will want to go back in two years time with the next generation DSLR with higher MP count to improve your print quality. If you take the 4x5, you can be rest assured you have captured your vision with the ultimate in image quality. I took many landscape trips when I was shooting 35mm and medium format that I now need to repeat since picking up LF last year. I wish I had just done it right the first time.

Why can you not shoot both Velvia and Color Neg? Shoot the Velvia in low contrast lighting and the color neg when you need 8-9 stops of latitude. That is the beauty of sheet film over roll. Not to complicate the issue any further, but are you going to shoot with B&W at all?

[PViapiano]

I went to Maui back in Oct-Nov and decided to bring both my Ebony and dSLR.

dSLR with one lens only, a 20mm prime, perfect for travel. If I had a 24-70 L zoom, I would've brought that, although it is heavier.

Ebony 45s with 210mm, 150 and 90mm lens. Never used the 90mm. Had my Provia quickloads shipped via Priority Mail, and carried a box of TXP in my camera case. Also, in my case, was a loupe, 545i holder, light meter, 4 film holders and various filters. Tripod fit in my checked luggage...

Ended up shooting 25-30 quickloads and 5 B&W TXP images in a week...all of the above gear fits in a Tamrac Cyberpack backpack and includes a spot for a laptop. Great backpack and still compact! So many folks seem to overlook this one...

Although some may find it essential to have their whole kit with them always, truth is your vision will benefit from working with one or two lenses only. Really what else do you need?

[Bill_1856]

If you're shooting B&W take the Ebony; if color take the digital.
There -- wasn't that easy?

[gary mulder]

A while back I took a trip to Iceland with exacty the same problem as you have, I took my dSLR and Linhoff with me. Afterwards I came to the conclusion that images taken with the dSLR were useless side by side on print with the Linhoff images because they lacked the necessary quality.
You can look at some images I made in Iceland at
http://www.xs4all.nl/~hamses/ijsland/index.html

[Diane Maher]

I am pondering this same thing for a trip I am taking to Seattle. I am planning to take my whole plate camera, two lenses and three holders (unless I can fit the above into my computer laptop bag (which is used strictly for photography) and I might take all five holders. I agree with the other replies in this thread.

[Daniel_Buck]

If you take the DSLR, you will want to go back in two years time with the next generation DSLR with higher MP count to improve your print quality.

I think it depends on what size prints you are going for.

[JPlomley]

I think it depends on what size prints you are going for

I generally follow the truism: It's better to have it and not need it, then it is to need it and not have it.