Ethiopia – Analogous with the XPan

At the beginning of January, the salesperson behind the counter speaks to me in a friendly manner. "Now you're completely losing it. It's gloomy winter weather outside and you're buying ISO100 films." It's much nicer to buy in a local shop than online. At least here, after all these years, I'm treated nicely and courteously. I like it that way. So I grin nicely and answer: "I won't tell you where I'm flying to tomorrow either." "Yes, that's better." "Ethiopia. 12 hours of sunshine and 25 degrees." "Asshole!" Now we're both grinning. I pay and put my Ektar 100 films in my pocket.

I take an analog camera with me on every trip with Viva con Agua. Actually, given that you spend an estimated 24 hours behind the viewfinder every day, this is pretty unnecessary. But around two weeks after the trip, I'm happy about lovely pictures that I hadn't seen before. And in which I don't have to put my own development work into. In Uganda are with the Fuji GW690 Some pictures were taken that I still have I'd love to see it today. Unfortunately, my 6×6 camera failed in Nepal and very few shots were usable. The most beautiful thing was available to buy at the last two Millerntor Galleries - but no one wanted it.

This time I took the XPan with me. The Fuji/Hasselblad collaboration that turns a 36 film into 20 images because of the wonderful format. The negative measures 24x65mm. With my 45mm lens this results in approximately 24mm optics in width. Of course, the height remains at 45mm. This is much closer to human vision.

However, the XPan format is hardly suitable for showing on any online platforms. Things are already getting difficult here in the blog. So please be sure to look at the pictures on your computer and click on the magnifying glass on the pictures. Thanks 🙂

After the return flight I briefly had beads of sweat on my forehead because the XPan films were in my normal luggage. However, X-rays are probably only a problem for analogue material at airports in isolated cases. I was probably lucky with the continental hubs of Addis Ababa and Frankfurt.

The films were developed and scanned at myfilmlab – I have never been disappointed so far. Outside the season, the team's work only took 3 days. I can recommend the laboratory, especially since Ektar Film is not that easy to process because of the high red content.

In my opinion, it's always worth taking an analog camera with you.