Gwanghwamun Square


Gwanghwamun Gate


Gyeongbokgung Palace

Bongeunsa Temple


Gangnam


Apgujeong


SM Entertainment


JYP Entertainment


CUBE Entertainment & CUBE Cafe

When I was backpacking around Europe in the late 1980s, I used a Contax 139 Quartz with Zeiss Planar 50mm f1.7 lens, a small bag full of Fujifilm ASA 100 film rolls and a Yashica flash. I probably took some of my best photos in my life then as the camera was light and great for candid and very sharp shots. And I always remembered my zoom, i.e. my legs! Just a matter of walking closer or further from your target.

I used to shoot with primes then, namely, a Zeiss Distagon 35mm F 1.4 lens, Zeiss Sonnar 85/2.8 and Zeiss Sonnar 135/2.8. They were very heavy and it was not often I would bring the whole set for travelling. But for sharp, beautiful bokeh and generally lovely warm shots, they could not be beat, even up to now. Zooms at that time were bloody expensive and not as good quality as primes then. The only exception being the legendary Angénieux zoom lens which costs the price of a Leica to buy and were so much more superior to Carl Zeiss zoom lenses.

I also had a Nikon F3Ti with a 35-70mm F3.5 lens but it seldom saw much service because it was heavy and the lens was not as sharp as the Zeiss lens. I would only bring it when I needed a camera for quick general use. It was built like a tank and weight like one too with the zoom attached.

Fast forward to the present, and I was late convert to Digital SLRs, with my first being a Canon 500D. After getting used to it, I moved on to my present travelling kit of a Canon 7D with Canon 24-105L lens and a 70-200L F4 lens. The zoom lens kit is relatively light and takes sharp photos and I've taken some great photos but in terms of almost 3D look, I still treasure the photos that I took with my Contax and Zeiss prime lenses.

However, I'm now feeling the weight of carrying the gear that comes with using Digital SLR cameras. When I was backpacking with my Contax 139, all I needed to carry was that and film rolls. Spare battery which consisted of 2 watch size batteries, a polarising filter, flash and some AA batteries. Quite a small and light kit, which I squeezed into a small carry bag which did not look like a camera bag at all. Could use it in almost any situation without attracting much attention. The F1.7 helped a lot in places like musuems which forbade flash photography.

Now, I have to carry a full camera backpack for my Canon 7D, 2 zoom lenses, spare canon battery, battery charger, cable for charging and connecting to a tablet, backup drive to duplicate my shots, spare memory cards, tablet or small laptop, flash unit and batteries for it. Total weight more than double than my old travelling kit.

Small wonder, I've recently started moving towards using a Pentax K-01 with 40mm XS lens and Tamron 28-75 F2.8 zoom lens. Much lighter and capable enough of producing some good shots.

But sometimes, I dig out my old Contax gear and sling them into a small camera bag, get a few fujifilm 100 ASA rolls and just go out shooting with them. I miss the Fujifilm Velvia film and also Kodachrome 64ASA films. Really beautiful grain and colours that I can't seem to obtain nowadays from my digital files. However, with the growing scarcity of good film stock and its increasing prices, I will probably fully stop using them one day.

This post has been edited by xenotzu: Feb 21 2013, 08:09 PM

Zeiss Prime...
maybe you should take a look at those mirrorless APS-C camera? I believe they will reduce the bulk of your current gear set.
but not so sure the lens available now is good enough for you since you already addicted to the Zeiss...

ditch ur digital n return to film
remember film is not dead
more supporter the better

wow, very long and fruitful experience. Thank you for taking time to write and sharing with us.

Since u miss the Fujifilm Velvia film and want something light to carry around,

You should consider and try Fuji X series camera, it comes with film simulation, you can output your photos as Velvia, Astia etc,

And, don’t underestimate fuji lens too.

I try but you don't get the variety or fresh stock anymore. That's the problem. Actually, I find that I've grown more lazier in terms of technique but busier in terms of appreciating my work.

When I was taking film, I used to go on Manual mode and take time to compose my photo and check the lighting situation. I knew that once I snapped that photo, there was no going back and what I took was what was going to be developed. I developed my photographic skills, ranging from learning how to hold a lens still up to using spot metering for accurate light metering. But I did not have do anything after I snapped the photo, all that was left was to get the film processed.

Now, because I have a computer in my digital camera which more or less takes care of most lighting situations and shake reduction, I've become lazy in composing my photo, knowing that on review, I can always delete the photo and shoot again and again until I get it right. I've gone to Aperture priority now, more or less use evaluative metering or centre metering most of the time, and take less time composing my photo. I've even stop carrying a tripod around because you can push ASA up to crazy levels and still get acceptable photos compared to grainy Ektar 800 ASA or 1600 ASA film.

Further, I do so much more post processing now with my lightroom software. Checking the photos and editing them until they turn out the way I wanted them. I've estimated that what probably took me about 1 to 2 mins to take a film photo and forget about it, will now take about 15 secs to take a photo and about 5 mins checking and processing it after taking a digital photo.

Sometimes, I wonder if its really progress. At the end of the day, although there's so much more bells and whistles that comes with digital photography, I sometimes wonder if its more about the machine and less about photography technique? Oh, at the end of it all, I still send my digital photos to be developed into prints. Yes, digital photos are good for sending to others but when you actually want someone to really appreciate your photo, nothing beats a print which you can hold and look at. Physical touch is still important!

Thank you for your kind words. I've have been thinking about the Fuji X series but I'm afraid I've sort of committed myself to other mirrorless cameras. Besides, my big boss, i.e. my wife, is giving my trouble about my photography hobby. I tend to collect camera and lenses and never sell them off. I have 3 large dry cabinets with my camera gear in them. They include Contax RTS, Contax RTS II, Contax 139 Quartz, various Contax Zeiss prime lenses, Olympus OM1 and OM2 with some Zuiko prime lenses, Nikon F3 Ti with zoom lens, Canon EOS Elan 7E (oh, this had the eye control focus which was quite interesting to use, always wondered why Canon never implemented this in its other cameras, seems to have been a one off and dead technology), Canon EOS 500D and Canon EOS 7D.

Lately, because of weight issue, I've started to experiment with mirrorless cameras, starting with Panasonic G3 with the double kit zoom lens, Pentax Q and now Pentax K-01. The latter is light, fun to use and good shot with the kit prime 40mm XS lens and Tamron 28-75 zoom lens. Problem is I missed the viewfinder. The G3 view finder is ok but needs more development.

As you can see, I'm about broke buying cameras and lenses So, might have to wait for a while later to get new equipment. Oh, unfortunately, my kids are not into photography, so, looks like I might open a camera museum one day

This post has been edited by xenotzu: Feb 22 2013, 03:51 PM

Yes, I have had a look at mirrorless APS-C cameras. I've bought recently a Panasonic G3, Pentax K-01 and Pentax Q. Great for playing around and carrying in a small bag.

I am and will always be addicted to Zeiss lenses. Unfortunately, the reason I switched to Digital cameras was because my eyes were going and it was getting more difficult to get sharp photos with my manual primes. I had to use auto focus lenses to compensate. The problem with digital cameras are that they are not designed to be used with manual prime lenses. They don't have the split or prismatic focusing screens which is a great help in focusing manually. The older digital slr used to have exchangeable focusing screens but nowadays, they seem to be getter rarer or move totally up to professional DSLR.

I've experimented with focus peaking on the Pentax Q and K-01 but its not the same. You can't focus exactly on the spot you want for manual focusing. Take for instance, taking a photo of a person. I learn from my father that you should always focus on the person's eyes. Once that was in focus, the rest of the face will fall in line. With focus peaking, you can't really judge when the eyes are in clear and sharp focus.

I dont really have a problem of getting fresh stock.

Reading ur comments its the same reason i went to film, unlike u, i didnt started with film, and now im fascinated by it
either u make it or u dont, no trigger happy fingers

come back xenotzu.......

hi everyone here! i'm travelling to new zealand soon, thinking to get a tripod with my dslr to do landscape photography. any good brand/model to recommend? prefer light weight one and budget not more than RM200 (doing road trip -.-)

seriously suggesting gorilla pod. Light, flexible, easy to store and carry. Moreover, its budget. If ull using dslr, buy the dslr version. With or without ballhead also nvm
ah... One more, gorilla give u different perspective from others.

check out my Bali trip at my site, landscape i use gorillapod only for long exposure

http://www.mokochan.com/#!travel---bali-in-color/c86p

Gorillapod is VERY useful but for landscape in the country side, you might find it difficult to find something for the Gorillapod to cling onto.

maybe try to get a second hand tripod?

Boston City by michaelboon.com, on Flickr

at boston

1.15kg. im using this. the price is not too bad either. looks decent too.

put it on the floor then. Not perfect, but efficient

Of course.. thats what I did for this one but what I mean is that in the country side you lose a lot of composition possibilities with the low height of the gorillapod


IMG_1189_90_91 by vmwt, on Flickr

Just want some opinion from the Sifus here.

is it enough to go traveling with just a 50mm 1.4G nikkor with d600? Or should I get a wide lens too?

thank you in advace!!

where r u travelling to?