I'm back from a week in what I consider to be one of the most
photographable and scenic of SE US cities; Asheville, NC. Though this trip
was nominally work related training during the day, I still managed to
shoot 12 of the 24 rolls of film that I had along. Photo-wise this trip
served as both a test of a recently CLA'd med. format camera, the first
trial of a new Sekonic L-508 light meter, and more importantly a sort of
shake-down trip for the OM equip. that I've aquired over the past 5 months.
One of my goals is to get the amount of camera gear that I take on trips
down to a useful, but not absolute minimum. My gear isn't fancy, fast or
expensive and the reason that I went with the OM system in the first place
is that it seemed to represent the most bang for the buck. What follows
are some rudimentary notes:
Gear: OM-4, OM-1n w/6 lenses: 19mm Viv. fisheye, 28/2.8,50/1.8, 50mm Macro,
135/3.5, 75-150/4. Left at home was the OM-2000 and Yashica P&S. (This
would prove to be a mistake on both counts; more later.)
Carry systems: As much as anything else, this trip was a test of several
low cost camera carry systems including a multi-pocket vest (meant for
cycling/hiking), a waist case (meant for fishing), a pair of small shoulder
bags, (one of them is actually a soft side cooler), and a non-camera
specific Mountainsmith lumbar pack. While I came to no conclusion about
which serves me best, the vest worked very well until the temperature got
over 85F. At that point the small shoulder bag pretty much seemed to be the
best choice for me. The waist case is a great idea, unless you routinely
carry non-camera gear in a lumbar pack, (as I do), which renders that space
occupied. There's a lot to be said for having a small shoulder bag that can
fit inside one's lumber pack or other back pack. There's also much to be
said for having a non-padded multi-pocket vest that can be wadded into
other carry systems when not in use. I mention all this because for the
cost of one dedicated brand name bag, one could easily have several
different carry options available, and if my experience of the past few
months is any kind of guide, sooner or later having the flexibility of
multiple carry systems becomes quite useful. Also, prior to this excursion
I swapped out the wide neoprene camera carry straps for narrower nylon and
leather used Contax straps because I was concerned that the plastic bits on
the more trendy "wonderbrick" straps might not hold up and because I didn't
like the way that the neoprene staps caused the cameras to bungee jump
against my Buddha-belly. This had the added advantage of allowing easier
vest pocketing of the camera/lens/strap when not in use. Considering that
compactness is one of the great OM system virtues, it makes little sense to
add bulk where it's not necessary.
Tripods: I'm still using a old beat up Tiltall that I got used for a small
bit of change. While I like the light weight, I still find myself leaving
it in the car more often than I should. I wish I'd read Ken Norton's ideas
about using the detachable center column prior to this trip. Two other
things I noted were that monopods are useless for timed shots, (duh!), and
that the shirt pocket sized plastic Ultrapod II, while quite useful for
point and shoots, is completely over tasked by an OM SLR body/lens. Still
the idea of a small pocket pod is too useful to ignore. Unfortunately I
left a clamp style mount at home, and either it or a beanbag would've
proved handy many times.
Film: I really hope that this marks the very last time that I attempt to
use films under ISO 100.
For the duration of this trip, the OM-1n was rendered virtually useless by
way of being loaded with Ektachrome Elite II ISO 50. The intent was to take
arborteum and botanical shots with the macro lens and slow slide film, but
the film was so slow as to make capturing gently blowing flowers almost
impossible, and was worthless for any other work. Really, I should've taken
this stuff out of the camera well prior to finishing the roll. It may
strike some on this list as sacriledge, but I think I'll standardize on
Fuji Sensia 400 (slide) and Fuji Superia 400 (print) for the bulk of my
color work, and for B&W I really like Ilford HP5+ 400. That speed may seem
a bit fast, but I really like being able to handhold in varying forest
light conditions, and also like the ability to pretty much leave a circular
polarizer on at most daylight times. For my use, I see more improvement
with the polarizer than I do with slower film, and considering that I
almost never have enlargements done over 8x10, the grain issue really isn't
that important to me.
Also, taken but not used was some new Kodak Portra 800.
Other items taken but not used: 19mm fisheye, 135mm/3.5, set of 3 ext.
rings, closeup diopters, and Sunpak 383 flash, assorted B&W filters. While
I thought I'd need the flash for fill work, the only time I was even
tempted to drag it out was in a small gallery where I wasn't sure whether
it'd be frowned upon. I'm very tempted to leave all this stuff out of my
'normal carry' kit from now on. (Except for the B&W filters, that is.
Normally, I use them all the time, just not this trip.)
I'd hoped to capture somewhat of the marvelous bohemian ambiance of the
evening sidewalk cafes with the Porta 800 and the 135mm. However, I'm
uncomfortable pointing a lens at total strangers, and the Fuji 400 proved
useful handheld outdoors up til at least 8:30pm and I like the cropping
abilities of the 75-150. However, there were numerous times when 75 wasn't
wide enough and 150 wasn't anywhere near tight enough for both city and
forest work. I'm not really sure how to solve for that within the OM system
without either going to great expense or winding up with far more lenses
than I plan to realistically carry.
Lens system gap: More times than I can count I wished for something between
the 28mm and the 50's. I wished for the 35mm on the Yashica P&S most of
all. As soon as practical, I think I'll get either a 35mm/2.8 or a 28-48/4
zoom. Having said that, I'm not at all pleased with the results from the
too soft 28/2.8 so perhaps for the next one I should spring for some better
glass.
Processing: For the third or forth time in as many cities, I noted that the
local pro lab charges less and does better work than the ubiquitous Ritz
(or Wolfe) labs. Why the overpriced teenager run mall shops even survive is
a total mystery to me.
Bonehead mistake: After inwardly smirking at the tales of others who'd
mis-loaded film in a past thread, I got to frame 28 (of 24) before
realizing that all the beautiful mountain laurel, rhododendron, trillium
and waterfalls weren't being captured on film due to my own misloading
adventure. This particularly irked me because I'd just finished going
through the area of Chimney Rock where some of the scenes from "Last of the
Mohicans" was filmed. Oh well, guess I'll have to go back. ;-)
I realize this long post is quite a departure from the usual in-depth
discussions of lpm tests and other such far more advanced postings, but
perhaps it'll drag other newer lurkers out of the void.
Mike Swaim
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