On Sep 5, 2006, at 7:51 AM, Shel Belinkoff wrote: > Think of all the gear some people carry today - far heavier and more > cumbersome than a couple of bodies and lenses plus film (which could > usually be purchased just about anywhere, so there was little need > to carry > lots of film around as part of stock). When I read about what some > people > take to GFM, I cringe.
I recall some people with SLR systems 20-30 years ago carrying about the same load of gear as today in terms of lenses, bodies, tripods, batteries, light stands, lighting equipment, etc. I don't see much difference there. I've never seen the need to carrying all that gear for the kind of photography I do, but for some people's work it's necessary I guess. What they don't carry is a cubic foot of film that must be managed and cared for as it goes through security devices. The additional load for such a person today is perhaps a laptop computer or standalone storage device. I'll take the trade-off of a laptop over that cubic foot of film. (I've never been to GFM, but going on a Leica gathering I was shocked at how much gear people just carted around to show it off. I recall doing a quick addition of the cameras and lenses littered around the dinner table I was sitting at, with 8 other people, and estimated that there was around $100,000 worth of gear there. Now that's a heavy table.) Yes, film is available most places you travel, if you're not concerned with price or getting the same film as you prefer to use. I don't know about anywhere else, but carrying my two/three dozen rolls of film to the Isle of Man for a fortnight's shooting there generally cut my cost to about 1/3 what I'd have had to pay to buy film there, and I could use the emulsions I was familiar with. The Epson P2000 plus charger, plus a wallet with six 2g SD card in it takes up less space and weighs less than 24 rolls of 35mm, 36 exposure film, and provides the ability to capture an order of magnitude more exposures to work with. And presents much less risk with regard to air travel damage. Godfrey -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
