Roll films and their journey to/from New Zealand

[Grumium]

Thank you very much for your great response. It's much more than I had expected when going to bed late and getting up early :-)

@ David
You (as also others) are probably right. I will reconsider the amount of roll films that I take with me. This will give me more time for concentrating on each shot, end up having probably more keepers and less hassle with everything else. I would be pleased if you could send me the email address of the guy in Dunedin just for the case that I am overwhelmed by the landscape and run out of films too early :-)

@ GPS
I am new to 617 and really don't have the time to follow the light in Switzerland. As it's the interchangeable version of the Linhof 617 I also don't mind using the 180 mm lens. It's just a matter of where you are, how close you can get and so on.

@ Lachlan
I don't expect any issues with customs at arrival. I am not a pro. Not at all.

[Tom J McDonald]

Remember he will only get 4 shots per roll:
People probably wouldn't think it was excessive to take over 100 rolls and use an RB67.

[r.e.]

Remember he will only get 4 shots per roll:
People probably wouldn't think it was excessive to take over 100 rolls and use an RB67.

As a matter of arithmetic, 300 and 400 rolls of 6x17 is 120 and 160 rolls of 6x7 respectively.

Taking the average (350 rolls shooting 6x17 or 140 rolls shooting 6x7), that is about 1400 photographs in five weeks, or about 40 per day, which, based on an eight hour day, is about five per hour, or one every 12 minutes.

Leaving aside the fact that shooting 6x17 and 6x7 is apples and oranges.

Great way to miss the country, and maybe get a divorce in the process.

P.S. I went to New Zealand with a Mamiya 7II.

[Lachlan 717]

@ Lachlan
I don't expect any issues with customs at arrival. I am not a pro. Not at all.

It's got nothing to do with being a pro; it's the volume of film you're trying to take in.

Anyway, it's up to you.

[Brian C. Miller]

Five week trip, 400 rolls. 80 rolls per week, 11 per day. I just finished a day photographing a local rally, and used nine rolls. Nine rolls, 6x6 for 12 shots per roll, no bracketing, 108 shots. And it wasn't scenic. A few times running around "locally" I've gone through 25 rolls in a weekend shooting 6x7, so I'd say it's not a bad estimate. Consider what your usage has been on your busiest weekend, and that should give you a good rough estimate.

If you are serious about photographing the countryside like a maniac, 400 rolls should cover it. I have no information about customs, etc., but I'm guessing that you might as well order in the film at a NZ store, and pick it up locally. If customs is going to nail you for VAT and all NZ taxes, might as well spare yourself the pain of bringing it in, and then just ship the exposed rolls home.

[Tom J McDonald]

As a matter of arithmetic, 300 and 400 rolls of 6x17 is 120 and 160 rolls of 6x7 respectively.

Taking the average (350 rolls shooting 6x17 or 140 rolls shooting 6x7), that is about 1400 photographs in five weeks, or about 40 per day, which, based on an eight hour day, is about five per hour, or one every 12 minutes.

Leaving aside the fact that shooting 6x17 and 6x7 is apples and oranges.

Great way to miss the country, and maybe get a divorce in the process.

P.S. I went to New Zealand with a Mamiya 7II.

Oops. I assumed this trip was a photography trip and not a holiday. I didn't see anything about the wife.

[E. von Hoegh]

My last trip overseas was Germany for one month. I used 6 (six) 36 exposure rolls of 35mm film and 4 sheets of 4x5 T-Max. I got every photo I wanted, and 95+% were keepers. All 4 LF sheets were of course keepers.

edit: The 35mm film was purchased and processed in Germany, Agfa 100 speed reversal. A bit over half the cost of Kodak, and for my purposes at that time and place, better.

[Grumium]

As mentioned by Tom, I will only get 4 shots per 120. Taking into account that I can only use the ground glass before loading the film, the need of some bracketing for slide films, slight movements of the ND grads to get them finally right, ... I consider one film as one picture.

Tom was also right in assuming that it is a photography trip. I am one of those lucky guys being married to a woman who shares the same passion for landscape photography. That's why we call such a photography trip also holiday ;-) We really enjoy to stay at one place for hours, waiting for the perfect light ... whether it turns up or not.

Thank you all.

[GPS]

As mentioned by Tom, I will only get 4 shots per 120. Taking into account that I can only use the ground glass before loading the film, the need of some bracketing for slide films, slight movements of the ND grads to get them finally right, ... I consider one film as one picture.
..l.

Thank you very much for your great response. It's much more than I had expected when going to bed late and getting up early :-)

@ David
You (as also others) are probably right. I will reconsider the amount of roll films that I take with me. This will give me more time for concentrating on each shot, end up having probably more keepers and less hassle with everything else. I would be pleased if you could send me the email address of the guy in Dunedin just for the case that I am overwhelmed by the landscape and run out of films too early :-)

@ GPS
I am new to 617 and really don't have the time to follow the light in Switzerland. As it's the interchangeable version of the Linhof 617 I also don't mind using the 180 mm lens. It's just a matter of where you are, how close you can get and so on.

...

Grumium
on the friendly note, I think you do well taking seriously the suggestions and the surprise of the posters here about the huge amount of film you intended to take.
I'm a long time (25 years of experience in the business) stock photo shooter, have about 20 cameras, special home made stuff and I love 120 film. My first though reading your post were - this is an enthusiast on his first exotic photo trip aboard. And yes, me too I have a Linhof 617 camera...
But look at it "coolly" - you say, you like waiting hours for the light to take a picture (hopefully you know the light will come, otherwise it would be a horribly ineffective way to take pictures). If you wait 2 hrs for a picture and you have 400 films (and you take those 4 pics just for one scene) it would be 800 hours of waiting. If you took pics just 12 hrs/day it would make 66 days of taking pics. You only have 30 days...

I agree with you that often-times one takes one scene on one film with these 617 cameras as it is a PITA to change the film in the middle of taking pics, so one avoids leaving 1 picture on the film length for a new scene. But these cameras don't shoot like a 35mm SLR either. Especially when you wait for the scene for hours. You only gain when you shoot and think with them as an "almost" LF camera.
When I was doing 1 month trips with this camera (not the only one) I would not take more than 80-100 rolls. For the ease of travelling and the right mind set-up. Knowing that you don't have a mass of films keeps you focused on keepers.
And yes, with 35 mm cameras I came home with 1500 pics, kept 500, sold 300 - but that is different shooting.
My advice is - in your case, less is more. And no, the trip won't be an Alice in the wonderland easy grand pictures all over, have no time to eat...

[Grumium]

I already got it ;-)