Topic: Hassles of travel with a Hasselblad

[David A-W]

I'm off to Boston and Cape Cod for a couple of weeks, starting on Tueday this week, and for months I've had an urge to take just my Hasselblad 500cm,  80mm planar, a couple of A12 backs and about 30 rolls of 120 film. I've now packed them and it's a huge amount of heavy gear - please convince me to take it rather than my usual 35mm rangefinder + 3 lenses and 20 rolls which would be 50% of the space and weight.

[Late Developer]

My wife, Lara, and I drove Route 66 last October.  We were a bit paranoid about travelling light as we'd be in and out of hotels, living out of a suitcase.  As a result, I took 2 Nikon bodies and 4 small prime lenses + 20 rolls of film.  Don't get me wrong, I'm generally happy with the results.  However, if weight and ultimate convenience isn't at a premium, the extra quality that the blad will provide is worth the difference.  If I were arranging the Route 66 holiday again, I'd take my 500c/m, 50, 80 and 120mm lenses, 3 backs, Pentax Spotmeter V and 30 rolls of film, no problem....

[Terry]

I tend to agree.  I used to take two Exakta bodies and a couple of lenses.  Nowadays I tend to take the Bronica SQ with two lenses and leave a couple of extra pairs of socks at home.  No regrets--I can wash my socks in the hotel room!

[ManuelL]

I took a Chamonix 45F1 with 3 lenses and a Mamiya C33 with 2 sets of lenses on the last vacation and that was clearly a bit too much. I haven't decided yet whats going on the next trip. Probably a small camera + a 4x5 pinhole.

[Andrej K]

Trying to choose a camera (system) for travel can be more agonising than the actual lugging of the camera on the roads..

But I do know what you mean.. I have put together a nice kit of Bronica SQ system - few lenses and backs - but the whole thing is now almost as heavy and bulky as the 5x7 sinar... So I am now thinking about getting rid of it and replacing it with somehing lighter, more compact, but preferably with larger negative. Silly me.

[zapsnaps]

I'd go for the 500 c/m, the 80mm and just one back. But I tend not to jump too much between B&W and colour. The 500/80/A12 fits in my small Billingham shoulder bag with room for a small meter and a couple of rolls of film. That is more than enough to get me from the car to the location and back to the car or hotel where I could the bulk of the roll film. And the size/weight combo is the same as a lady's handbag, so there is no worries about airline weight allowance either.

[SLVR]

I frequently street around with my SQ-A, rapid grip, 80mm, and one back. Really, no need for extra lenses as my 150mm doesn't always give me the look I'm going for. Plus it isn't as easily hand held at low shutter speeds. If I want to be even more compact I can lose the grip and just throw the winder arm back on. There's a possibility I will be doing a nevada/new mexico trip this fall and am carefully trying to decide what to bring. I have some time to consider it though.

[Late Developer]

I frequently street around with my SQ-A, rapid grip, 80mm, and one back. Really, no need for extra lenses as my 150mm doesn't always give me the look I'm going for. Plus it isn't as easily hand held at low shutter speeds. If I want to be even more compact I can lose the grip and just throw the winder arm back on. There's a possibility I will be doing a nevada/new mexico trip this fall and am carefully trying to decide what to bring. I have some time to consider it though.

What really got me hooked onto the idea of shooting 'blad on a holiday (particularly a road trip) is Shannon Richardson's book of his photos from Route 66.  In my view, they're as good as there is. If you haven't see it, check out the link and Google his website / blog......

www.route66americanicon.com

[SLVR]

great inspiration.

Honestly I was just trying to write out what Id be taking on said trip and couldn't decide either.

[KevinAllan]

I've never been to Boston or Cape Cod but I've been through the same issues on UK-based walking and cycling trips. To me the difference is:

35mm will give me some images which are a reminder of where I went and what I saw, and make me want  to go back with medium format.

Medium format will give me the potential (subject to the limits of my own ability) to produce images that stand by themselves as worthwhile objects. 

[David A-W]

Ok ok ok! I'm taking it! 

[zapsnaps]

Yay! FWs won!

Have a great trip. Look forward to seeing the fab Blad images. No pressure, then.

[Late Developer]

Ok ok ok! I'm taking it! 

Great.  Looking forward to seeing the results.  Have a wonderful trip....

Paul.

[Aksel]

Ha! Glad to hear the Sweede gets to travel with you. Just remember a compact point and shoot for 35mm that can live around your neck/in your back pocket.  Aka Mju II / Yeashica T4 / Pentax AF35 or similar, snaps for memories, 6x6 for photography 

Safe journey, enjoy your trip!

[Francois]

I was thinking on the other hand about how to seriously annoy your better half: just say that you want to take all the vacation photos on large format wet plate 

But like others said, the 'Blad ain't that big. Just compare it to a professional Canon with the grip...

[jojonas~]

thanks! this made me decide to take atleast my yashica 635 for a trip instead of a 35mm camera.

[Aksel]

Not to be cruel here, but travels like these might also be the time to give in to GAS.
Plenty of reasonably priced 6x6 folding cameras such as Zeiss super ikonta, takes up less space than a 35mm slr

[Andrej K]

Not to be cruel here, but travels like these might also be the time to give in to GAS.

Amen to that There are also the Fuji 645 cameras that seem to be particularly travel friendly - just the other day I was eyeing the GA645Zi...

[David A-W]

Well, I'm back after a great couple of weeks in New England with the Hasselblad and I can happily report that it is a wonderful travel camera after all (though I've not developed any of the films yet...). I just took the 80mm lens and a couple of A12 backs, using one for colour the other for black and white. I have a Billingham Leica bag and it (just) takes the camera, spare back, lenshood, Sekonic L-208 light meter and a few spare rolls of film, so a very portable package.

I hardly took any photos with it for the first few days in Boston and Provincetown: not sure why this was but once I started using it then I took loads - around 15 films in total, with each shot carefully considered before pressing the shutter.

Having just the one lens was quite liberating - a couple of times I thought  a wider or longer lens would have been good but I just re-composed and worked with the lens I had rather than constantly changing. I might be tempted to take just the 150mm lens next time though as I do like isolating subjects or getting in a tight composition when I'm using the Hasselblad - the WLF aids in seeing things in new perspectives for me and a lot of shots were taken at quite close focus rather than the normal infinity setting I use with 35mm.

I'll wait to see what the results are like before jumping to too many conclusions though...

[Late Developer]

Sounds great, David.  Looking forward to seeing the photos.

I used to have the 150mm f4 lens but found it a bit too long for portraits and, as I'm more of a view / landscape photographer, I got rid of it for something else (can't remember what, though.  Old age.... ).  However, a friend of mine was selling his 120mm Makro-Planar and let me have a go with it.  It's capable of isolating detail (as it's a macro lens) and it is brilliant for portraits. They also do a 100mm lens - but that's probably not much different to the 80mm to make it worth having both.

Regards, Paul.

[Dave Elden]

For me the big issue travelling with MF is tripod/no tripod, this can really make a difference to the pictures you take, especially with an SLR. On my last trip I used a Bronica RF645, 65mm & 45mm lenses, didn't really use the 45mm though. No tripod, wish I had taken it.

Dave.