Advice for Finland pics (snow, cold)

Hello.

I am planning a holiday to Helsinki, Finland. I will be leaving
Capetown for New York in October, and flying to Helsinki in November.
I will be staying in Finland until the end of the year.

I would love to bring one camera/lense combination with me, but I am
equally tempted to go on a giant shopping spree in New York (probably
at the infamous B&H) and buy a half dozen prime lenses and 2 or 3
bodies to keep loaded with various films at once!

Least cost scenario, I could bring a single point and shoot 35mm film
camera with me and keep it loaded with a medium speed colour print
film such as Royal Supra 200 or 400. This one bores me to death, but I
will have plenty of extra money for that fine Finnish beer and
reindeer steak!

Medium cost scenario, I could pick up an inexpensive EOS or Nikon body
and bring a single 28-105 zoom lens. Or I could keep a 50mm prime on
it and also keep a point and shoot. This would give me 2 perspectives,
35mm and 50mm, and I could keep 2 kinds of film loaded. Perhaps, I
could keep slide film in the SLR and print film in the p&s.

Expensive scenario, I could pick up 2 or 3 bodies and a bunch of
primes and tons of film varieties.

Risky scenario, I could pick up a prosumer digital camera and a bunch
of 1gig memory cards and shoot RAW files. I label this risky because I
have no experience with digital.

I was very impressed with the results of an advanced amateur Finnish
photographer named Pekka Saarinen. He has an excellent gallery of
images taken with the Canon G1 on his web site:

http://photography-on-the.net/gallery/list.php?exhibition=2

The images include some timed exposures, snapshots, macros, etc. His
site also boasts a DSLR Canon D30 gallery:

http://photography-on-the.net/gallery/list.php?exhibition=2

I was very impressed with some of the street shots of the city of
Helsinki, such as this panorama:

http://photography-on-the.net/gallery/G1_photos/thumbs/katajanokka_street_panorama.jpg

What should I do? As I said, I will be in New York before I travel to
Finland. I am probably going to buy all of my film at B&H before I go.
They seem to have the best prices, selection, and reputation for film.
How many rolls will I need for 6 weeks? I will also travel to Estonia,
Sweden, and northern Finland during 1 of the 6 weeks.

What films should I bring? It gets dark early (I hear) in Finland at
that time of the year, but that is not a problem. I will be shooting
mostly during daylight hours. I guess I could take a few rolls of
Supra 800 with me for evening shots. Should I bring 100/200 speed
colour print films? Would the reflection off the snow make things
brighter? Or would I need more of a 400?

What about slide film? I DO NOT want to shoot exclusively slides on
this holiday, but I would like a few rolls of cityscapes to project
when I get home. Any slide film suggestion for this? Is Velvia 100f
too saturated for this environment? Helsinki has beautiful
colours...the buildings and architecture are very colourful in a
"pastel" sort of way. Would I need a 200 or 400 speed slide film? I
heard somewhere that grain enhances a snowy scene. The thing is, I am
not 100% sure there will be snow on the ground for the whole time I am
in Finland. I know they do have a very long winter.

I will not be using any black and white films.

Does anyone in Finland know where I could buy film inexpensively in
Helsinki? Or should I just buy the film in NY first like I originally
planned? Any good lab suggestions in Finland?

Should I forget about the film and pick up a Canon G5 or G3?
http://photography-on-the.net has G1 images that look great, the G3/G5
improvements must be amazing!

HELP!

 

I will certainly try!

 

I'd say this all depends on your shooting style and gear. If you
plan to shoot handheld using slow zoom lens you'll need very fast
film most of the time at that time of the year. If you plan to
carry a tripod for more serious shooting I don't see too much
use for faster films excepts snapshots etc. Fast prime lenses will
make life easier.

Yes, there is daylight, but it's very short. Most of the daytime
sun will be very low. Reflection from snow won't make much
difference when there isn't too much light to begin with, and
I'm afraid conditions will be wet pretty often. Wet snow isn't
bright white at all.

Using a metal tripod in cold conditions isn't fun unless you have
really really warm gloves.

I don't really know where to get film cheap in Finland if you don't
want to mailorder. But as you are staying for a long time you have
plenty of time get almost any film you'll need if you didn't buy
it enought (or at all) from NY.

For some addresses visit:
http://www.fimeko.fi/
http://www.rajalacamera.fi/www/page.php?id=7
http://www.helios.fi/ for some reason only lists address of one of
their stores in Helsinki, Malminkatu 20.


And welcome to Finland!


- Petri

 

Polytone ... that is really cool answering yourself with advice...