Backup camera
Jul 4, 2018 10:58:06 #
jackpinoh
Loc: Kettering, OH 45419
Ched49 wrote:
If a person is not a professional photographer and doesn't have the need to take hundreds/thousands of photo's a day to keep their business afloat...why does he/she feel the need to have a "BACK UP CAMERA"?
If you travel to take photos, a backup camera is cheap insurance. I am an an advanced amateur photographer; my wife is a beginner. We are traveling from Ohio to Ireland in August for a 10-day photo workshop. We will both have backup cameras with us. I had a camera fall off a defective ball head tripod mount last year in Zion NP. My backup camera saved my trip from being a horrible memory.
Jul 4, 2018 11:36:28 #
I am not sure I understand the need or requirement for a back up camera. I do appreciate that if it is difficult to change lenses due to environmental hazards such as sand or in high winds. I certainly understand that you use an older camera as back up to a newer camera for shooting close to your car. What I don't understand is why buy two cameras (possibly at a later time) that are the same make and model. I have been shooting for many years both film and digital. I hike to take landscape photographs. To take two cameras would be too much weight and in all the years that I have been shooting I have never had a camera, cd card or battery fail on me. Maybe I am lucky that I have never had a camera fail on me, however, maybe I am practical and cost effective.
Jul 4, 2018 12:36:50 #
I have all the same line and it keeps me making stupid errors. My primary cameras are Sony a99ii and the back up for animals and birds was a Canon SX50. Now, I have replaced the SX50 with the Sony HX-400 and I find it so much easier to transfer between the two. Note: that depending on the subject and situation. I may use a Sony a7s or a6000 as the primary. If I am primarily shooting birds and animals the HX-400 becomes the Primary, because of it's long reach Zeiss lens. I always have a back up, if only a cel phone. When shooting the Solar Eclipse, I had 4 cameras set up, 1 died just minutes before, and the best shots were from my SX50 back up. The only time that I had the same camera was back in the film days. Now days technology changes so fast that it doesn't make a lot of sense to have 2 of the exact same cameras.
Jul 4, 2018 13:06:23 #
amfoto1
Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA
seagull5 wrote:
Same camera make and model as a back up? I tried t... (show quote)
Depends upon what you mean by "backup".
I often shoot with two identical models fitted with different lenses, switching back and forth between them as needed. Mostly I'm shooting fast action/sports. In that case, I think it's easiest to use identical cameras.
But if you only shoot with one camera at a time... And/or if you shoot more sedentary things like landscapes, most types of portraits, a lot of macro, etc.... there might be argument for two different cameras. My sports/action cameras are APS-C... but I also have a full frame (with similar controls, layout, menus, etc.) that I like to use for these other things. Having two different formats allows me to "leverage" my lenses for more purposes (most are usable on both FF and crop... but I also have several crop only).
Jul 4, 2018 13:42:44 #
ORpilot wrote:
I have all the same line and it keeps me making st... (show quote)
Odd that you say you keep making errors going back and forth between your two "same line" cameras (which doesn't tell us what the differences are), yet you end up saying it doesn't make sense to have two identical cameras.
Jul 4, 2018 14:02:52 #
SteveLew wrote:
Exactly, I can understand a professional photographer taking more than one camera on a photo shoot, it's their life's work, but for a casual shooter, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I also understand there are casual photographers who take their photo's very seriously when on vacation. I use two cameras when on vacation, a DSLR and a advanced point & shoot but rarely use them at the same time. To me it's important to travel light. I think most people think it sounds great when they tell other people "I have a backup DSLR".I am not sure I understand the need or requirement... (show quote)
Jul 4, 2018 14:07:59 #
NBBPH
Loc: Indiana
Same make for backup? Yes. I started my slr life with Canon and followed up my dslr life with Canon and my back up is Canon. Two basic reasons: Lenses and knowledge of the functions. I work too hard at getting the image I want to have to worry where all the functions are; I want to be able to act instinctively. I would never go on a major shoot without a backup.
Jul 4, 2018 14:09:37 #
SAVH
Loc: La Jolla, CA
Linda, In our family, we call it the "fifty-fifty-ninety" rule. My wife admits freely to having problems with directions. We can go to a hotel on a trip and after four or five days, she will still turn the wrong way to get to the elevator almost every time. It's from, "If it is a fifty-fifty chance, I get it wrong ninety percent of the time." But she gets pretty much everything else right 100% of the time!
Scotty
Scotty
Jul 4, 2018 14:58:54 #
D750 primary, and D500 "back up". Use both, but primarily the D750.
My "real back-up" camera is either an F3, F4, or F5, and film. Sometimes they're the primary cameras, with the digitals as back up.
My "real back-up" camera is either an F3, F4, or F5, and film. Sometimes they're the primary cameras, with the digitals as back up.
Jul 4, 2018 16:16:24 #
photoman022
Loc: Manchester CT USA
If you're happy with your camera I don't see a problem getting another one and using it as a backup; better yet, put a different lens on it and you are ready for any situation.
Jul 4, 2018 17:08:52 #
seagull5 wrote:
Same camera make and model as a back up? I tried t... (show quote)
Same works best. You just use, concentrating on images/subject, rather than fighting the different controls.
I used to have identical Nikon F3s. I'd put different film stocks in them and swap lenses back and forth as I worked. That worked well for me. These days, I'm down to one digital body, but if/when I get another, it will be the same (or I'll sell what I have and get two of the newest).
Jul 4, 2018 18:21:09 #
I was on the Oregon coast when my main camera failed. I was really glad to have a back up. Both Sony.
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