Travel and photography can be such an amazing and creatively rewarding thing to do. Discovering hidden gems, the trial and error of being there at the right time, the wins, the losses, it's all part of the journey for a Landscape Photographer. We rely on our camera equipment to function perfectly, much like a swiss watch. The film cameras I use are very robust, which is a good thing given the harsh environments I find myself in. Blazing sun, dust, snow and sea spray have thrashed my poor gear for years and even though I am fairly rigid in my post shoot cleaning, eventually you are going to get a failure of some description.
I've had all the usual issues, like losing bolts from tripods, scratching filters, seizing lenses through dust abuse and dropping cameras, but probably the most stressful issue I've had happened in Mallorca, Spain. I was travelling with a single camera body, a Fuji G617, something I no longer do. I was halfway through a 5 week trip with my now wife, Lucy and we were in the north west corner of the island, a beautiful village named Pollenca. One evening I was rushing to capture a storm that was brewing over the sea and changing a roll of film. Quickly. I get caught up in the excitement at times like this and once the film is loaded in the camera I have to wind it on several times. To say my winding action is gentle would be a stretch. Some might call it overly enthusiastic.
Years of winding the film on this manner finally took it's toll and the camera jammed. No amount of wiggling, winding or forcing the lever had any effect. The nearest camera repair store was several hours away by plane, so I turned to youtube. I eventually found a video on how to disassemble the camera and access the winder.
A tiny lever, only a few millimetres wide had worn out. Thankfully there was a solution.
Once I had found my shot and settled on a frame, I would remove the top of the camera including the viewfinder very carefully, ensuring I didn't bump the frame. I could then access the winder and offending lever with a small screwdriver. Pressing on the mechanism would release the winder and I could advance the film. Carefully. Every time I framed a new shot I would have to go through this process. Making sure I didn't drop any of the tiny screws in the process.
Success!
The only issue I now faced was that I couldn't be sure that by removing the top of the camera I wasn't get a light leak. Thereby fogging my film and ruining my shots. I had no way of knowing until I returned to Sydney and dropped off about 85 rolls of medium format film several weeks later. An expensive roll of the dice. During those few nervous weeks I shot some of the most amazing places I have ever been. To say I was stressed is an understatement.
Thankfully there was no fogging and my worry was a waste of energy. Since then I have always travelled with several cameras, lots of film and a small tool kit, should I need to do on the road maintenance. If you don't have access to a detailed camera manual then do as I did, find a video on youtube! If you have a phone signal of course!
Matt
