[Leica] Egypt photography

[Alastair Firkin <firkin@netconnect.com.au>]

> Hello,
>
> I am going into a trip thrugh Egypt in two weeks and I would like to
> know if any lugger has photographic experiences there. My main
> doubts are :
>
> 1.- To take Leica M or R. Which will be more suitable ??
> 2.- How to avoid haze produced by the hot climate. Is a U.V filter
> enough ?? Or is better a polarizer ??
> 3.- A 28 mm lens will be enough to take photographs of pyramids
> and local architecture ?? I don't have a 24mm nor 21mm. Maybe I
> can buy one of the Voigtlander lenses for the trip. Anyone has the
> 24mm Skopar ??
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 Xavier,

I had a wonderful trip through Egypt some time ago now. It is a fantastic
experience and one full of photographic opportunities. The equipment you
use will not make a huge difference, but in some respects depends on how
you are travelling. We were on a cruise boat, and so could take a bit more
gear than if we were on our own. Egypt was the place I was talked into a
Rollei TLR. How could I go to the Pyramids and not record the event on the
best possible film format I can muster. I could not afford to take the
blad, so a good friend suggested the Rollei as the "best" travel camera
available. He was right. The locals do not badger you for "bashesh" all the
time because the camera is quite, unobtrusive, and unusual. They are
unaware of the camera, as you can interact with them whilst taking the
images.
You can see some of the results at the Rollei TLR club.
To get back on track however, I think you will be best served with the M
series, especially if you practice using it a la HCB. You do not "need"
wide angles to photograph the pyramids, and in some ways, you will be
better placed to move away and use a short tele. My wide shots from the
base of the pyramids stress the size of the damn things, but are not the
classic images I was able to get from further back. In the streets, a 35 to
50 is enough, in the tombs, you are not supposed to use flash, but
everyone did [except me who left it on the boat because I was told it was
forbidden], so I'd take a small unit. The Noctilux would be a great lens in
Egypt, but sadly my trip was BN and BL [before noctilux/leica].
As for haze, its there, I'd use a polarizer if you wanted. I'm now one of
the anti-filter crowd here on the LUG, but I have to say that in Egypt, you
can justify the use in terms of protection. Sand storms were common, and
the streets are very dusty. Makes for fantastic B/W images of the markets
however.
Oh and unlike my collegue, I'd bring a tripod.

You will have a fantastic trip, so do let us hear about it, and see some of
the results. Let me know if you want more info, though by now I'm a bit out
of date [well OK not much changes in a decade in Egypt ;-) ]

Cheers

Alastair Firkin

http://users.netconnect.com.au/~firkin/AGFhmpg.html