Re: [Leica] advice on India

[Jay Kumarasamy <jayk@cisco.com>]

Andre,

Sounds like you are going to do some heavy duty photography !.  

How long are you planning to  stay ?. 

Are you planning to rent a car. ?
Car cigarette lighters may not be the same/size type as here. Check that out.

This time of the year, the weather is quite nice, except in the south, where
it may have started to get hotter.

Films are available in plenty, unless you are particular for a certain brand.
The biggest market share is held by Konica, followed by Kodak and Fuji.

120 Films are slightly hard to find.  They are available only in photography
stores. 120 Films are mainly Kodak.  A high grade 120 slide film will cost
about Rupees 170.00 (about $4). Compared to here, film is cheaper in India,
but expensive for Indian Standard of living.

Processing is also cheaper than here. 

By large, India is a country of very hospitable people.  However, you must
watch out for you belongings !.  Petty thefts are all over the place,
especially in public places - train stations, bus stands, etc.  This is
not particularly targeted toward foreigners,  but happens to locals also.
But being conspicuous, does not help the situation.

Hope this helps.

- - Jay


> 
> i have been planning a trip to india myself.
> 
> the gear i will carry will include a LF camera (likely a 5x7), some Rolleiflex
> gear (a wide angle, a couple of 12/24 models in both 3.5 and 2.8, and a GX),
> most likely also a SLR (like a Pentacon 6 with a full range of lenses), and in
> the 35mm arena i will be carrying my new leica IIIf and a few lenses). of
> course, the wife will have her point and shoot :-)
> 
> for this purpose i purchased an electric igloo. it is a 40 quart cooler that 
you
> can plug into your car's cigarette lighter and turns into a fridge or warmer, 
on
> demand. this will keep all my film safely away from the heat. the cooler is
> available for about 100 bucks from places like Price Club, Sam's, etc. With a
> cheap AC/DC convertor you can use it later in your darkroom for holding beers
> :-)
> 
> each piece of gear will be wrapped in a calumet lenswrap (if it fits) and the
> smaller items will be in zip lock bags.
> 
> upon return i am sure the gear will need to be CLA.
> 
> 
> 
> "N.D. Koster" wrote:
> 
> > On another note, I know there was some talk about shooting in India not long
> > ago, although I didn't catch anything specifically about protecting your
> > gear from dust, elements and the like. I'm going there in two weeks and I'd
> > be thankful for any advice at all anyone can offer .
> 
>