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I don't think it's that serious. I shot with a KX and spotmatic in Florida, year-round, for several years. Despite being exposed to rain, truly excessive humidity (and I've been to Hong Kong, Macao, etc) and temperatures that can go above 40 it never even stuttered. A few years ago I "upgraded" to a Nikon F2, and that camera came on a month-long Hong Kong trip, in June-July, with me, seeing about 35 rolls of film in that time. It was (and continues to be) exposed to a lot of crap. On that trip it was caught in monsoon rain, had warm tsingtao spilled across it, was bled on, taken out on a speedboat, and on one particularly bad occasion ended up sitting in about 3-4mm of water for a few hours, because I stupidly left it on a desk below an open window during rainy season. On that occasion I put it in a bag of rice overnight, and continued machine-gunning through film the next day. No problems. It's since been living in Vancouver with me, very close to the sea, in high-humidity, and does still see rain, though nothing torrential. The 35mm f/2 that it usually carries needs the aperture ring lubed, but otherwise I can report absolutely no problems.
I'm extremely hard on it and often take it places I wouldn't bring my pricier digital equipment, but it's taken everything in stride.
From my experience owning an MX and KX I would say the Pentax cameras of the era feel like they're just a half-step behind in robustness (I'm looking at you, cloth curtains and thin MX top-plates...) but I wouldn't hesitate to bring one into the situations you're describing. They're photographic equipment, not collectors items, and for years mechanical cameras like them served in the worst imaginable conditions to bring us some of the world's finest reportage work. They'll almost certainly be up to your tasks.
Cold-storing film is definitely a real, beneficial, thing. In your position I would try to keep it cold-stored whenever possible (hotel-room or hostel minifridge, etc) but remember that opening whatever is holding the cold film (plastic bag, plastic can, whatever) will expose it to condensation. Somewhere very humid that WILL give you problems with sticking, peeling emulsions, etc. You'll have to decide if and how to cold-store film in a practical way for your travels. If it's a serious concern you might consider mailing home your exposed films at a few points during your travels, a few days in a small express-post envelope would likely be less traumatic than a week or two in heat pushing 50 centigrade. My Hong Kong films where cold-stored after exposure (my friends family thought it was a bit odd to find rolls of plus-x in the fridge, but didn't mind) and there weren't noticeable changes in the way the film handled developing/printing. Temperatures where mostly between 35-40, at times slightly higher.
For your trip I would be inclined towards a simple kit, perhaps a 35 and 105mm for walking around, plus a fast 50 and something wider, a 21 or 24mm, if you can carry it. For bodies I would bring a backup, especially if you'll be doing the whole journey without returning "home". I would carry the second body in a thick plastic bag with some silica gel, which is also how I would store my exposed film. B&W will be more tolerant of bad handling, and negatives will handle better than slides. For a good story about color film being horribly mistreated look up the story about the Lawrence of Arabia reels that almost were lost at an Egyptian airport.
Overall it's not an absurd or impossible goal to shoot a K1000 or similar, and it could be extremely rewarding to shoot the entire experience on film. You'll almost certainly find your images from the end of the trip will be much stronger than those at the start, if you have any taste for documentary, street, or reportage -type work it will be a wonderful chance to hone your skills through a mountain of shooting with very simple equipment.
PS-
I would be more worried about humidity with electronics and dust/dirt with mechanicals. No real experience with dry heat or dusty conditions though.
It seems we're trading essays.
Last edited by PGillin; 03-19-2016 at 02:54 PM.
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Originally posted by robgski 
Post #3 by PGillin
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