I lived in Germany in the late 60's with an Exakta VX 1000 and a Soligor 350 with an extender. Aside from the Soligor being bottle glass, the truth is that I rarely saw anything in a dozen countries I needed it for. The shorter Schneider glass I had did a much better job. Eventually, 90% of what I shot was with a Rolleiflex TLR. There's some truth to when you are limited in your field of view, you view things more carefully.
Return trips before digital were with a Nikon 8080 and a Tamron wide zoom, Nikkor 50 1.8, 70-200, and a Tokina 400. Again, almost never used the 400. Eventually just dumped the bottleglass Tamron and went through a few WA lenses.
Next trip I've got the Nikon D90, 3200, and the old stuff plus the kit lenses and a new macro lens. I'm looking for the "ultimate' superwide zoom(s) and saving weight is a huge priority. The kit stuff is plastic and almost weightless. It's also cheap, so not the biggest deal if lost or damaged. (I got the Exacta after I dropped my first Nikon off a cliff over the Nahe).
Wandering the Alps means cutting weight unless you're being paid to shoot skiers or birds. I'll never lug the 400 out of an airplane again and buying a bigger is out of the question for travel.
Sure is. Marshall's Transparent Photo Oils are still sold at B&H and other places. Back in the 70's I was hand coloring 20x30 and 30x40 prints and selling them at art fairs and small galleries.
A B&W print has a much longer dynamic range, contrast, grey scale, and whatever, so you get much deeper contrasts than you can get in a color print. And, the silver halide emulsion has a reflectivity and luster that can't be duplicated with ink on paper. Add the almost infinite range of colors available (transparent oils mix well) a properly done, a hand painted print will blow the socks off of anything printed.
I'm tempted to try it again, but my magnificent C-330, and the negatives, are history, along with my darkroom, and it would be just too much to start over again.
If anyone wants to, dig out some old contrasty negs, get the Marshall's starter kit, a huge bag of cotton balls, and some good prints on matte paper, preferably mounted on Foamcore. If you've got the time and the eye, you will create some great stuff.
Now, if anyone ever makes a silver halide ink...
Your local guy might be the best bet, but just about every print shop makes cards-- even Staples. Local guys come in handy when the dog chews up the box and you need some tomorrow.
What I do is use Avery DesignPro to design mine and get a package of precut business cards from Office Max or Staples. DesignPro used to be easily downloaded at their site, but they started hiding it a while ago. I think they realized it was cutting into online print sales. Anyway, come up with a decent design and you can't tell them from print shop ones. DesignPro also comes in handy for all sorts of other things, like posters.
Of course, the card stock and ink aren't cheap, so you might actually save cash at a printer. Most places are almost giving away cards as loss leaders. Printer ink can smear, too, but some of the glossy surfaces don't like color lasers.