[Leica] Nepal: gear

[henningw at archiphoto.com (Henning Wulff)]

At 1:44 PM +1000 9/17/04, firkin wrote:
>Ok, I'm climbing to over 5500 meters, the air is thin and the UV 
>must be high: now can I use (should I use) a UV filter?
>tips please on mountain photography:
>how wide an angle lens will I need?
>how much in the telephoto range would be useful?
>how can I keep the weight down?
>Cheers
>Alastair

Hi Alastair,

5500 meters? Are you going to go around Annapurna? We were in that 
area about 6 years ago. A former LUGger, Ian Stanley was living in 
Kathmandu at the time (we had dinner with him when we got there), and 
he gave me the best advice regarding preparation: Put on a backpack, 
and climb up the stairs of a 20 storey building a couple of times a 
day for at least a month beforehand. Then it doesn't matter quite as 
much what camera equipment you decide to take. At the time I took two 
Leicas with 21, 35, 50, 90 and 135. Also a Noblex 150 and a Mamiya 6 
with 3 lenses, and a Gitzo 1228 and ballhead. And lots of film. I 
didn't regret any of it.

As usual, I used the 35 the most. The 135 got used the least, but it 
did get used enough to make it worthwhile

The tripod can come in very handy when you're trying to take a 
picture after climbing up 1500m to get to that 5500m, and the good 
light is going. If you want to take a handheld picture, it might take 
15 minutes before you can do that. A tripod is quicker.

You don't need a UV filter for the Leica lenses, unless you want a 
sight bit of extra warmth. I didn't use any, except for the Mamiya.

Take a polarizer, and use medium contrast film. Velvia might be good 
for some shots, but for most stuff a gentler film is called for, as 
contrast is usually quite high.

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