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Long trip -- Mamiya 7II or Xpan?
Old 05-07-2006   #1
StuartR
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Reykjavík, Iceland
Age: 35
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Long trip -- Mamiya 7II or Xpan?

I know that sometimes these threads are frowned upon, and I am not writing it to say "hey look at me, I have all this cool stuff". I realize I am lucky to own both cameras, but I was wondering if people could help me hash out the pros and cons of them with regards to long term travel.

I am going to be taking an Icelandic course this summer, which will have me three weeks at the university of Minnesota and then six weeks in Iceland. The last three weeks I will be on my own, free to travel and photograph the whole time.

So, my dilemma is whether to bring the Mamiya 7II or Xpan with 45mm. Both are great cameras, but I am having trouble deciding which is a better choice. The cameras will mostly be used for landscape photography, as the M stuff will cover more of the street photography in town.

The Mamiya has the huge negatives and the superb lenses (I have the 43, 80 and 150, but I would probably only bring the 43 and 80), but it is heavier, bulkier and a bigger system than the Xpan. It has the advantage of being able to create the same quality panaramas as the Xpan, as well as bringing the quality of MF to normal use if I need it. BUT, film in Iceland is extremely expensive and availability is scarce outside Reykjavik, so I would have to bring all my 120/220 with me. Given 10 shots a roll, 3 weeks of film is a lot, let alone the whole trip of 9 weeks. This is the X factor (no xpan pun intended) that is making me nervous about just bringing it along.

The Xpan uses 35mm which would make it a lot easier to standardize with the rest of my kit (a Leica M with a few lenses), but its MF quality only works for panaramas (which are quite useful in Iceland), and I only have the 45mm lens. That said, it is a great camera to work with, it is lighter and more compact than the Mamiya, has a better meter, motorized advance, and takes more shots on a roll. It also does not require an aux viewfinder for using the 45mm lens (the M7II does for its 43).

Otherwise, the systems are pretty much a wash...both have superb, but slow lenses. Is there anything I am missing?

For what it's worth, I will be living in an apartment, so I will not have to carry them with me everywhere all the time, though I will have to carry them to and from the airport and it carry-on etc.

Anyway, if anyone has any thoughts, biases or suggestions I would love to hear them.
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