I will soon be setting off on a road trip around Europe with a good long term friend of mine (Alex) for approximately 6 weeks. We are travelling through France, Belgium, Germany, Hungay, Czech Republic and Italy. We are almost ready to go, and have everything prepared that we can think we may need. However the most indecisive thing for me to decide on was what photography kit to take. The pressure was on from the planning days over a year ago for me to sort this out, and initially I though I would just take my 5D mark 2 and a 50mm 1.4. Sorted…or not ? After thinking about it I realised I had an opportunity here to really do something a little different. After much deliberation with friends and myself in particular I have opted to leave all my pro digital kit behind and instead take my 35mm Canon 1N film body and 30 roles of film.
However I knew I couldn’t go completely digital free, because myself and Alex wanted from the outset to create a daily blog while we are away. Therefore I have also bought a Digital compact for Alex to use (mainly), I don’t think I will go the whole trip without using it. I opted for the Pentax WG-1 GPS, it is small yet built to withstand the elements, and its size means I may even keep it when I get back. The one thing I dislike about the majority of compact cameras and hybrids is the delay that occurs when you hit the shutter before the picture is taken. However first impressions with the Pentax, that I have only owned a few hours, is that the delay is ruffly under half a second.. so not bad for something that cost just over £200.
Back to my film set up, I intend to take three prime lenses, my trusty 50mm 1.4, my 20mm 2.8 for landscapes and my 100mm 2.8 Macro. There is no doubt that film makes you think a little bit more about what your shooting, especially for those of us who were brought up in the Digital age, however I’m feeling quietly conferdent about my choices and just want to get going now. I will share my results on this blog in a couple of months, we aim to arrive back in the UK around the 15th of August.
I will do my best whilst away to update this blog a couple of times with some of the Pentax pictures and other stuff I may have on my laptop, however if you are interested you can also follow our daily updates at www.ineurope2011.com which will consist of a few words from myself or Alex and a picture or two on a daily basis. (internet connection dependent).
The picture above shows the cameras, lenses and film I am taking, you may also notice that my iPhone is in there as well. I really do love the ‘Hipstimatic’ app and highly recommend it.
– BW
