Camera Hunt Successful!?

(taken with my iPhone)

Hurray! It appears that I (with a little help from some friends) have successfully found the camera i’m going to be taking with me to Europe! The Canon Cannot 28 Rangefinder! F 2.8, 40mm lens, fairly light body with a hot shoe. It has fixed shutter speeds with 1/30 at f2.8 to 1/600 at f16 – so to quote my camera hunting friend: “its basically a Holga with aperture control”.

(taken with my iPhone)

So far this seems to be the easiest way to get creative with a film camera, with some amount of control yet easy enough to snap and go as quickly as I saunter around the busy streets of Europe!

(taken with my iPhone)

I’m a little nervous about not having much shutter speed control, and wonder how much its going to limit me. I’m also a little nervous over the meter system – so far I can’t quite figure it out yet. It looks smart – but I guess i’ve got some learning to do!

Next step: download the original manual (from the late 60’s), read it inside and out and practice practice practice!

To be continued…

Flights Booked, Looks Like It’s Almost Time For Take Off!…Almost…

(Above: Picture of my brother I took a few years back with a medium format Hasselblad 550 – developed by me, apparently with some mistakes, but I think it works in my favour!)

It’s official that my flights to Europe are booked! Since it’s a little to early to start packing, I better start researching the do’s and don’ts for a first timer. Clearly the first thing on my mind is WHAT CAMERA TO BRING?!

Which one? How many? What lenses? Film? Memory cards? Adapters? Flashes? Tripods? Really the list is pretty endless. Ultimately I want to take the lightest and littlest amount of gear possible, without compromising creative options, my shoulders!, and not to mention quality!

Creative control and expression is a big factor for me to consider. So I will be toting along a film camera; bringing some film with me but picking up some interesting and hopefully unique rolls along the way! A rangefinder will eliminate the need for lenses and other fancy do-dads, and also eliminate the need for chargers. Europe screams culture and beauty that I NEED to capture through my own photographic eye. This way I will be able to capture the trip just the way I want to, with photos I will actually want to look at come few years down the road.

Here goes the hunt for a perfect rangefinder! *fingers crossed*