I have been thinking about taking one film camera with me as a 3rd backup camera/artistic capture during travel. Most likely it would be my Nikon F with standard prism plus 5 rolls of film (no battery needed, and I'd use the sunny 16 rule if all else fails). My main cameras would be a pair of digital mirrorless bodies with lenses, but I like the idea of having an indestructible tank of a camera in case all else fails (which actually happened to me once when both my digital cameras failed me, and I had to use my cellphone). Also, it would be cool to capture some unique images on film.
Do you travel with a film camera? What are some of the drawbacks (other than the price of film + developing)?
For me the biggest drawback of traveling with a film camera is dragging along a bunch of film with you. I typically come back with about 2000 to 3000 images from 3 or 4 weeks of travel. That would mean I’d have to carry 80 rolls of film with me. Not a fun thing to do.
I do travel with a film camera more and more often. To the point that now my digital camera is most likely to be the backup.
No drawbacks, besides the fact that I will most likely be limited to good lighting conditions and that I can’t afford to take as many pictures as I would have had with digital because of cost (so less room to experiment).
Also, you are kind of stuck with the same film/ISO until you finish the roll. But it is also what makes it challenging and fun.
You also have to keep in mind that an 40+ year old film camera might not be as reliable as a 5 year old digital camera.
If you are flying, the biggest risk is exposure from an x-ray scanner. The one time I flew with film, I was lucky that TSA agreed to hand check my film on all legs of the trip. And I was traveling with a pinhole camera, so there were no risks on that part. I had taken the film camera as a backup in case my digital camera were to die from the cold temperatures, but it turned out that the digital camera survived fine, so the pinhole did not serve much of a purpose.
I flew from London Luton to Geneva this year. Hand checking film at Luton was no issue at all. Geneva were a bit more reluctant but agreed to hand check relatively easily after a little explanation from me on my concerns.
theHUN wrote:
If you are flying, the biggest risk is exposure from an x-ray scanner. The one time I flew with film, I was lucky that TSA agreed to hand check my film on all legs of the trip. And I was traveling with a pinhole camera, so there were no risks on that part. I had taken the film camera as a backup in case my digital camera were to die from the cold temperatures, but it turned out that the digital camera survived fine, so the pinhole did not serve much of a purpose.
I read a TSA sign that said their x-rays don't harm film under ISO 800. They also mention that you can request a hand inspection instead. I've never tried taking film (exposed or unexposed) through an x-ray machine, so I have no idea if any damage would occur to the film. I would be curious to know if anyone here has had any film damaged after getting it scanned through an x-ray machine.
When I traveled extensively for photography not having enough film was the biggest problem. I shot mostly 120 film. That was before the new scanners. Once I spent $300 to FedEx 5x7 sheet film back because I imagined the worst when trying to explain to airport security why they can’t open that box! I am going to Hong Kong, Taiwan (maybe if no rain) then to Tokyo next month and will bring my Leica M2. I will buy film in HK. Airport security in HKG, TPE and NRT will hand inspect film no fuss.
opotopo wrote:
Travel With Film: Are Airport Security X-Ray and CT Scanners Safe? The ULTIMATE Test!
&t=47s
Thank you for the video link! Very eye-opening! I wonder if it would be best to just buy film when you arrive at your destination snd have it developed before you return home?
snegron7 wrote:
Thank you for the video link! Very eye-opening! I wonder if it would be best to just buy film when you arrive at your destination snd have it developed before you return home?
Personally one of the last things I would want to do on my travels is to look for a place where I can purchase film I want and then find a reputable place where I have to drop off the film and then some days later go back there and pick it up.
chez wrote:
Personally one of the last things I would want to do on my travels is to look for a place where I can purchase film I want and then find a reputable place where I have to drop off the film and then some days later go back there and pick it up.
Depends on where you go. If you are visiting a major city (NYC, Miami, D.C., Madrid, London, Prague, etc.), then it shouldn't be too hard to find film and a decent film developing lab.
chez wrote:
For me the biggest drawback of traveling with a film camera is dragging along a bunch of film with you. I typically come back with about 2000 to 3000 images from 3 or 4 weeks of travel. That would mean I’d have to carry 80 rolls of film with me. Not a fun thing to do.
I just returned from a three weeks in Japan where my wife and I shot almost 2000 images in total. Our goal was to produce one 100 page album and one 24”x36” B&W print to be placed next to the same size print from South Korea. In the end, we selected 135 images. My thoughts regarding my next vacation is to travel with two 645 film cameras. The idea would be not to shoot 1000 frames, but to be more selective in what I shoot. I use to do two to three week vacations with a Mamiya 7 and never had an issue with having enough film. So, what happened? Digital is what happened and I lost my ability to be selective. I think to travel with film, you have to be willing to miss many opportunities. For example, my M11 Monochrom doesn’t much care how high the ISO is set, but that doesn’t work at all with film. So from my perspective, shooting film is a personal challenge, which might end up as a total disaster, but I don’t have any clients to please. Talk is easy.. I’ll update after my next outing. My first step is in process. Pulled my film cameras and using them. I’ve yet to send out the film, but I’ll see if I’m still interested after copying the negatives. If I only like the 6x7 negatives, I think that my sense of a comfortable carry has changed and the Mamiya 7 is no longer compact for international travel. The 645 rangefinders are compact..
I travel with film regularly, but not as my main kit. I try to be somewhat selective when I shoot film, so I don't have to worry about traveling with 800 rolls as Chez suggested, I limit it to 4-5. I now have a folding Bessa III Rangefinder that is very compact, very sharp & great EDC focal length (40mm-ish) that has become my favourite travel film cam.
The older X-Ray machines are fine with film below 800 ISO as mentioned above, but the new CT machines that are becoming more and more common in airports can damage any film, including a roll of 100 ISO B&W film that was still in my camera on the way home from Ottawa once. For that reason, I make sure I fly both ways with all the film out of the camera, whether exposed or not so it can be hand checked. Also, some TSA Agent are uninformed about the new scanners, and will try to get out of hand checking by saying it's fine if it's under 800 ISO... For that reason I throw one old expired roll of Ilford Delta 1600 in the Ziploc, along with the 120 film I am actually going to use 'just in case' I run into a stickler.
That being said, almost every time the TSA Agents are more than happy to hand check. It can slow down going through security a little, but for me it's worth the bit of hassle.
I’ve only taken film on vacation when doing shorter car trips where I have plenty of luggage space. Every time I consider it for longer trips that involve flying, I always feel like my digital gear will do more and pack smaller with less hassle. My film gear is all primes, and lately I’ve been opting for zooms when traveling.
I usually throw my Yashi T4 in my backpack for any trip. Half the time I'm not even the one shooting it, it's a pass-around camera for my family and friends for different perspectives.
I usually only travel with film cameras, for a few years now. Granted, I'll occasionally throw in a small and old digital point and shoot for funsies. I've normally brought two bodies on trips. I've found for vacations I don't really like to make them entirely about the photography - it's just something I like to do while I'm exploring a new place, so the bodies I bring trend towards automated.
Logistically it adds some steps. I'll buy film online ahead of time and then have it shipped to wherever I'm staying, then ship it back once I'm done. Hotels will sometimes make this easy and they'll ship it out through their mailing room, but whenever that service hasn't been available, I've just run to a local post office or FedEx. Definitely worth an ask. This avoids the TSA issues around scanning entirely, but my experience with that has been pretty easygoing whenever I've done it. Never ran into a situation where they had me run my film through a scanner, and it's only added a few minutes even with them hand checking dozens of rolls.
On my most recent trip I actually changed things up a bit and decided to just buy film once I was on the ground. It was pretty great; I got to see a new photo store and it simplified things. This working so well was dependent on being in a walkable city with a photo store at a walkable distance but given that requirement is met for a surprising number of places I'll probably do it again in the future. That is the advantage of bringing the digital point and shoots - they fill in gaps where I don't have film while taking up very little space, i.e. the time in between me landing and getting to the photo store. As well, it may not even have to be a photo store. If you're talking 35mm then it's not too uncommon to find it at drug stores still.
With a bit of prep work, it can be really enjoyable, and even without the prep work, it still can be really enjoyable.
snegron7 wrote:
Thank you for the video link! Very eye-opening! I wonder if it would be best to just buy film when you arrive at your destination snd have it developed before you return home?
That's exactly what I had planned to do when I went to Switzerland earlier this year. I decided to give taking film through the airports and luckily it worked out. However, I think buying film and developing in country is a strategy that I may use in the future when I think that there's a higher risk of compulsory scanning.
I absolutely do. Actually off to a trip to Tuscany next week and I'll only bring film - 2 Nikon SLRs plus the Leica Minilux. I think I'll probably shoot around 5 rolls in a week, but I'll be bringing more film as I'm going by car so it doesn't really matter.
Flying with film can be a pain though so I imagine it's a bit different for you US guys where it's more common / necessary to fly - I can easily take trains or the car to places in France, Italy, Slovenia, Denmark, etc. which makes traveling with film much easier.
120 film is even more prone to scanner damage than 35mm, so I'd probably avoid anything beyond ISO 100 when flying. But I've regularly brought film when flying and will continue doing so in the future. Depending on the location I might buy the film locally, which at least halves the trips through the scanners (if they don't do hand checks).
If it's a place far away, and my first and potentially only time there, then I will typically bring digital though. Digital has a broader shooting envelope and just brings some piece of mind. But I'm thinking to return to some places and inclined to at least bring a film P&S when I do (e.g. the US west coast, NZ and Japan).
