One camera or two...........or three!

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Ages ago, I always had two bodies, either for backup or having one loaded with B&W film and the other with Kodachrome. Since digital, it’s either for backup or dust prevention with a second premounted lens (especially after one body was dusty enough to require the angst of having to perform my first wet cleaning of the sensor).
 
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I used to carry two cameras but now rely on one with the best quality zoom lens available; especially if I am doing a lot of walking. Nikon's top 70-300mm lens does everything from macro to distant wildlife very well and is my favorite lens to take on hikes or on the motorcycle. Usually when going for wildlife phots I may take a landscape lens but the 200-500mm telephone is kept on the camera and there is always time to switch to a landscape lens. Anyway how many cameras and lenses you carry is matter of personal choice and whether you are a. professional or hobbyist.
 
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Not A Speck Of Cereal said:
Two scenarios that finally convinced me to have to 2 bodies with me:
  1. When I'm doing time-lapse sequences. "Gosh, look at that over there. If only my camera wasn't busy with a 2-hour TL sequence, I could be using another body+lens to shoot other things". This could also be true for any other scenario where your tripod mounted camera is waiting for something and you don't want to dismount/change lenses on that body.
  2. When it's dusty, dirty, and windy. The autumn southwest US was this way a couple of months ago. Before, I would have to go to the car to change lenses (or risk getting a dirty sensor, far from home). And actually, I worry that even inside the car is dirty when I first get in, if I don't let the dust settle down). Now, with a 2nd body, I can mount the 2 anticipated lenses when I get there, before opening the door (1 or both may already be mounted accordingly) and not do any lens swapping

RELATED QUESTION: what's your favorite strap system for scenario #2 above? A slider system? Harness / vest?

Chris
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Yes I hear you there. I carry a rucksack with all my gear in and have two climbing carabiners attached, one on each shoulder strap. The right side strap is longer so the long lens is just above my right hip, the left is shorter but will still reach my eye.
 
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flyguy said:
What is needed is a single all purpose zoom lens, say a 14-500mm f/2.8? What body would you mount that on? How many lens elements for that lens?
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Canon makes a pretty nice all purpose lens for cinema: :)

www.adorama.com

Canon CINE-SERVO

CINE-SERVO 50-1000mm T5.0-8.9 Ultra-telephoto Zoom Lens with EF-Mount, 20x Zoom Ratio, 1.5x Built-In Optical Extender, 11 Iris Blade
www.adorama.com www.adorama.com
 
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Mr F Stop. said:
I was missing shots! Let me explain, I would be taking a great long exposure shot of the lake and a White tailed eagle would fly past, by the time I had changed lenses it was a distant speck. Then on the same trip only an hour later (after changing back to a wide angle lens) a Wild cat made an appearance and the same lens juggling act happen again. This probably happens at least once every day I spend out walking and taking landscape and wildlife photos. So I thought I must either concentrate on either wild life or Landscape or get another camera body. So I did the later buying a D7200 secondhand. So now I have the wide angle lens on my belt and carry the bazooka ready for action. Is this what everyone else was doing all the time?
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I have had two cameras with me 90% of the time and especially when using a large super telepho lens. The problem was that Nikon kept changing the controls layout on its cameras so one had to have two new bodies to have identical layouts. It got a lot better with the D500, D5, and D850 cameras and initially I had the D500 and added the D850. I sold the D500 and bought a second D850 so as to have two FX/DX cameras. The D850 is the best backup camera for a primary D850 camera. With the D500 one has a reduced field of view and with the D5 one loses resolution.
 
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Mr F Stop. said:
I was missing shots! Let me explain, I would be taking a great long exposure shot of the lake and a White tailed eagle would fly past, by the time I had changed lenses it was a distant speck. Then on the same trip only an hour later (after changing back to a wide angle lens) a Wild cat made an appearance and the same lens juggling act happen again. This probably happens at least once every day I spend out walking and taking landscape and wildlife photos. So I thought I must either concentrate on either wild life or Landscape or get another camera body. So I did the later buying a D7200 secondhand. So now I have the wide angle lens on my belt and carry the bazooka ready for action. Is this what everyone else was doing all the time?
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I am a very mobile bird photographer who shoots a few other things on the side. I use a Black Rapid double breathe camera harness which allows me to tuck a D500 with out a grip and a Tamron 18-400 essentially behind my back and out of the way but quickly accesible if I need it. So very helpful to have that set up along when birding with my D850 and 500pf or my other D500 with a grip and En El 18 battery and Tamron 150-600 G2.
 
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Okay, I finally had time to check out the Black Rapid Breathable Double Strap and see a problem: I have L-brackets on my cameras and like to keep them on. It would be a fair inconvenience to have to swap the L-brackets for the lugs that the BR system uses, the remount when going back to tripod work.

Does anyone know of a 2-camera strap system that is arca-swiss compatible, so the L-brackets can stay mounted?

Chris
 
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Not A Speck Of Cereal said:
Okay, I finally had time to check out the Black Rapid Breathable Double Strap and see

Does anyone know of a 2-camera strap system that is arca-swiss compatible, so the L-brackets can stay mounted?

Chris
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Ran into same issue with my Money Maker strap. My RRS brackets have a QD socket. I just got the male QD which has a loop for the clip and QD into camera.

Another option would be something like a Kirk mini clamp and screw the BR piece into the tripod hole on the clamp.

With either I would think about a safety strap. Lots of people trust one connection point but I don't. The RRS L brackets have 2 QD sockets and I have a safety strap to the 2nd one. Never had a failure but just in case!

Terry
 
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When walking near the beach and nearby cliff tops I carry a D500+500PF and Z7+70-200S in my back pack. Each camera and lens is in a separate case in the backpack. When travelling to Africa I take the D500+500pf and D750+300pf.
 
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Not A Speck Of Cereal said:
Okay, I finally had time to check out the Black Rapid Breathable Double Strap and see a problem: I have L-brackets on my cameras and like to keep them on. It would be a fair inconvenience to have to swap the L-brackets for the lugs that the BR system uses, the remount when going back to tripod work.

Does anyone know of a 2-camera strap system that is arca-swiss compatible, so the L-brackets can stay mounted?

Chris
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That's exactly the reason I swapped out the Blackrapid carabiner clips for Magpul QD fittings. Just press the button and the QD detaches leaving the L bracket or lens foot clear to fit onto Arca mounts. Nearly all Kirk and RRS L brackets and lens mounts are Magpul QD compatible now.
 
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Steve said:
It's not at all unusual for me to have two bodies going at once. I usually just shoot wildlife, so it's usually a camera with a long lens (600 F/4) and then something like a zoom in the 100-400 range.

However, keep in mind that no matter what gear you have, there will always be times it's wrong. Even with my setup, there are times it doesn't work - maybe I need a TC and don't have it attached (or vice versa) for instance. Nothing is ever perfect :)
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A question if I may, the Nikon 1.4 convertor series II versus the series III, is there a clear tangible difference in your experience, appreciate your views.
 
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I have a Z6 and a D7200, but I rarely shoot with them simultaneously. My Z6 literally goes everywhere with me, it's my primary body. I'm a little A.D.D. in some other areas of my life, so my photography outings tend to have little to no multi-tasking now (by design :)). Back when I worked for the paper I always used 2 cameras together (Nikon F3HP and an FM2, both with motor drives) and lugged around a Domke bag of heavy manual prime lenses. Ah, the good old days... my neck & back are in much better shape now :LOL:.
 
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