Film for trips

[Stealth3kpl]

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Trying to decide what to load up with for a couple of trips -Skiing Norway, Sea kayaking Greenland, then trekking in the Sawtooths, USA.

The Skiing might need to be Neopan 400 which I'm working my way through, but for the other trips it's a choice between HP5+ or Delta 400 or 100. Should I buy more reloadable cassettes and take HP5+/Delta Skiing?

Which of my stock would you choose for these trips?

Pete

[Narsuitus]

I normally shoot black & white with HP5+ and Fomapan 100. I would willingly change the Fomapan 100 to Delta 100.

It has been years since I used reloadable cassettes but if I were able to buy 100-feet of film for a decent price, I would gladly carry 100-feet of each in two bulk loaders.

On the other hand, I hate traveling with film on public air transportation.

 

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[andybarton]

16 minutes ago, Narsuitus said:

100-feet of each in two bulk loaders

Good luck with getting a couple of those suckers hand checked through security multiple times.

[oldwino]

I roll my own cassettes, but I always travel with a few rolls of factory film, sealed in the box. That way, when I run into the security person who's never seen or even heard of film, and they look suspiciously at my black plastic cassettes with the blue tape on them, I can show them an "official" version as well.

Plus, I don't make a fuss about running them through the hand luggage scanner. Once or twice isn't going to hurt. And then they (security) feel ok about the whole "old guy with the funny metal camera that doesn't even have a battery" thing.

[semi-ambivalent]

23 minutes ago, oldwino said:

I roll my own cassettes, but I always travel with a few rolls of factory film, sealed in the box. That way, when I run into the security person who's never seen or even heard of film, and they look suspiciously at my black plastic cassettes with the blue tape on them, I can show them an "official" version as well.

Plus, I don't make a fuss about running them through the hand luggage scanner. Once or twice isn't going to hurt. And then they (security) feel ok about the whole "old guy with the funny metal camera that doesn't even have a battery" thing.

I once handed over a sealed 10-roll brick of Tri-X to a TSA employee for hand check while flying out of Denver and she did not feel OK at all. In fact she stripped off the cellophane, opened every box and swabbed every container. Perhaps even every cassette inside them, I was still going through the wand business and couldn't see. It was obvious she hated her job but I despised her and her ignorance so the circle was unbroken. It did make the film easier to carry so that was a plus... 😊

[Stealth3kpl]

4 hours ago, Narsuitus said:

I normally shoot black & white with HP5+ and Fomapan 100. I would willingly change the Fomapan 100 to Delta 100.

It has been years since I used reloadable cassettes but if I were able to buy 100-feet of film for a decent price, I would gladly carry 100-feet of each in two bulk loaders.

On the other hand, I hate traveling with film on public air transportation.

 

 

Where are you? AGPhotographic have good prices for Fomapan 100, and Delta 100 and HP5+ aren't too bad

Pete

[oldwino]

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4 hours ago, semi-ambivalent said:

I once handed over a sealed 10-roll brick of Tri-X to a TSA employee for hand check while flying out of Denver and she did not feel OK at all. In fact she stripped off the cellophane, opened every box and swabbed every container. Perhaps even every cassette inside them, I was still going through the wand business and couldn't see. It was obvious she hated her job but I despised her and her ignorance so the circle was unbroken. It did make the film easier to carry so that was a plus... 😊

Well, you DID ask for the hand check. Sounds like she checked every box.

[rpittal]

I always carry bare cassetts (or 120 rolls) in clear zip lock bags and never have had an issue with hand inspection (sometimes they swipe each one individually, but mostly just the bag zipper). I put them in plastic JapanCameraHunter film containers (5 or 10 rolls) when in the field, and put them back in the baggies for the return trip.... Upcoming trip with 4X5 so hopefully they won't want to open the boxes (sealed going out but taped shut return)!

[Narsuitus]

In the past, I traveled by public air transportation from Texas, Illinois, or Wisconsin. I carried film purchased from Freestylephoto.biz in California. The last time I flew with film was in 2002. That experience was so traumatic that I swore to never fly on public air with film again. Now I fly with digital, or drive with film, or fly with film on a private aircraft.

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Traveling with Film by Narsuitus, on Flickr

Edited January 5, 2019 by Narsuitus

[Stealth3kpl]

I'll go with the Delta.

Pete

[Martin B]

It's a very personal decision which film is the most preferable - I feel more comfortable shooting with slower film than ISO 400. My preference for trips is Ilford FP4+ 125 film since I love its grey tonal range and low grain. HP5+ is a bit too grainy for me and lacks the wide latitude in grey tones which FP4+ still has. I often push FP4+ to ISO 200 and adjust my development time accordingly. I mostly use 35 mm based film from 100' rolls, but I roll several cartridges with this film before going on a trip. I never had trouble with taking self-rolled film in simple plastic containers (re-used from commercial 35 mm rolls) through security. I also didn't see a difference if I put the film into a lead bag or not - the outcome was the same after development. 

Another good idea is to take a few rolls of Ilford XP2 400 film with you - it is a C-41 based B&W film which allows to safely shoot at ISO 800. Since the development time for C-41 films remains always the same, you can change the ISO number during the roll of film which is in use. This comes handy in low light situations or indoors where ISO 200 doesn't cut it. 

Edited January 10, 2019 by Martin B

[Stealth3kpl]

Thanks Martin,

I have a stash of TMax 400 which I will shoot at 200 to increase the dynamic range slightly. There is very little grain, and it scans nicely. It will free up some space in the freezer compartment too.
Pete

[philipus]

I second Martin's suggestion of XP2 and develop it in HC-110 as per Chris Moss's instrux. It gives very good results. I'll be shooting that during an upcoming ski trip. In addition I'm taking Ektar and Portra, plus Provia and Velvia. All basically what I normally shoot wherever I go.

 

[Ambro51]

....no ektachrome?   It sounds like subject matter that would project beautifully.  I remember as a Cub Scout seeing a slide show at a meeting given be a bloke who had visited Antarctica.   Awe inspiring. 

[TomB_tx]

I agree now that Ektachrome is back. I’ve been using Ektar & Portra for trips, but would love to get back to projecting slides, if even for my own viewing. In recent times my projecting for an audience has been digital, mixing M9 and M6 scanned output.

[sblitz]

I would substitute the Ektar with the Ektachrome ... similarly narrow DR, but Ektachrome is less red and I find the color deep but not overly saturated ... here is a shot taken over the holidays in Jupiter, FL (the woman is my sweetheart who puts up with my photo taking because I get good shots of the grandkids 🙂 )

 

 

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[Steve Ash]

On ‎1‎/‎5‎/‎2019 at 5:21 PM, Narsuitus said:

..., or fly with film on a private aircraft.

Traveling with Film by Narsuitus, on Flickr

Jesus, some solutions to a problem are so straight forward that they get easily overlooked.  

[Chuck Albertson]

On ‎1‎/‎4‎/‎2019 at 10:42 AM, oldwino said:

Plus, I don't make a fuss about running them through the hand luggage scanner. Once or twice isn't going to hurt. And then they (security) feel ok about the whole "old guy with the funny metal camera that doesn't even have a battery" thing.

I usually have no problem with film going through a hand-baggage scanner (even TMZ can handle a few passes without heavy breathing), but TSA is gradually rolling out checkpoint scanners that use the CAT technology previously reserved for checked-baggage scanners. Those will fry your film, so BOTL for them.

If it's skiing (bright sunlight on snow), I'd use something slower than ISO 400 film. Delta 100 looks nice in that sort of light.

[oldwino]

18 hours ago, Chuck Albertson said:

I usually have no problem with film going through a hand-baggage scanner (even TMZ can handle a few passes without heavy breathing), but TSA is gradually rolling out checkpoint scanners that use the CAT technology previously reserved for checked-baggage scanners. Those will fry your film, so BOTL for them.

Thanks for that info. I wonder, how will we know it’s one of the new machines?

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Hallo,

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[Chuck Albertson]

2 hours ago, oldwino said:

Thanks for that info. I wonder, how will we know it’s one of the new machines?

Beats me. I never saw one when they were running trials at the Boston and Phoenix airports last year. The CTI ("computed tomography imaging") scanners they use for checked baggage are the size of small cars, so a bigger-than-usual checkpoint scanner might be a tipoff. It never hurts to ask the TSA officers if they're using a CTI scanner. If there's any doubt, you still have the right to a hand-check of your film.

　

 

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