Myanmar custom - Carrying your camera in Myanmar.
There is absolutey no problem to bring camera, digital camera, camescope in Myanmar. Nobody check or will control what your bring with you.
If you are using digital equipment, you should also carry a plug adaptor (preferably with a fuse).
Burning a CD - Digital photo in Myanmar
It is very easy to find a shop in Yangon or Mandalay to burn a CDrom. It is even quite common at Inle or Bagan.
You should have any trouble, price is very cheap (it is better to burn to CD, never know...).
You can also print you picture in Yangon or Mandalay. There is very good, far better than for film, that can print your pictures at a very low cost compare to outside Myanmar. Quality is very good as it is totally automatic printing machine.
Slide ("chrome")
Very difficult to find, even in Yangon. There is a Fuji shop which
sells PROVIA 100F but the conservation is not guaranteed at all.
The films are not expired
but theyr are simply stored in the open air... Bof.
Paper film ("color").
It is very easy to find photo film in Myanmar : Kodak, Konica and
Fuji. The conservation is not guaranteed either but, photo film (color)
can stand heat a little better than slide and stock are moving faster.
Lithium battery for camera
It is easy to find lithium battery In Yangon or Mandalay
(standard CRC2, CR12Á) and the price is very low compare to other country.
Batteries are exactly the same as the ones in Europe, Singapore or USA (Kodak, Panasonic, Sony)
but the price is around 3 euros instead of 8 to 10 euros.
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Printing your film in Burma
Shops are using very good Kodak or Konica equipment. Most of the problem comes from a lack of training (they do not really know how to handle film) and from quality control. They do not change the chemical products as often as they should do.
- Prices
are very cheap, around 5 euros for 36 exposures.
- Quality is not stable: from correct to very bad.
- If you use slides, do not develop the film in Myanmar. Cost is cheap also (not as much as standard paper film) but the quality is often very bad (and you have no frame for the slide).
I have being using almost only slides in Myanmar since 7 years and I really recommend to develop your film in a good lab back home (small lab in Thailand and Singapore have the same problem than in Myanmar).
Which film you should
use in Myanmar?
You have a lot of light in Myanmar, but if you take your pictures between 10.00 AM to 4.00PM, the light is very white, with a lot of contrast (too much). Be patient and wait after 4.00 Pm to take a good picture. Or even better, take a walk at 6.00 AM, it is definitively the best time in Myanmar, it is a real pleasure and you will get outstanding picture.
I use Fuji Provia 100 for day light, sunset ,and Provia 400 F inside (pagoda, house and around the pagoda during sunset time).
100, 200
or 400 ASA for most of the situation.
800 ASA or more for the ceremony inside the pagoda or at night.
Try to take some black and white. Myanmar is so colourful that we forget to use black and white, but the final result is really good.
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