Related Links:
Camera Bag Alternatives
Economics and Camera Reliability
Henry Posner on Need for Backups!
Turning Semi-Pro
Backups are important, especially to serious amateurs and semi-professional photographers. The approach suggested here takes advantage of the usual photographer's growth path to make backups a relatively low cost process.
Motivation - Stolen Gear:
Some years ago I had my main 35mm photography equipment stolen during a scuba diving trip. Unfortunately, the car owner wasn't insured, and my insurance didn't apply, so the replacement of my professional cameras and prime lenses has been a long and expensive learning process.
However, that process has been aided by the fact that I didn't have all of my cameras stolen. I was able to fall back on my old Nikkormats and pre-AI lenses. These older backup camera items made it possible for me to continue taking some ranges of photographs, albeit with slightly less capabilities. I have learned a number of lessons that I will try to share in this article.
Camera Bags:
The first lesson is to pick a bag that doesn't look like a camera bag. I suddenly developed a preference for bags that didn't look like camera bags or anything else worth stealing. My choice was a series of diaper bags - you read that right! A diaper bag is about the last thing a thief would steal, full of baby bottles and smelly soiled diapers But bottles look like lenses, and lenses fit nicely in the bottle holders. Diaper bags are waterproof too, as well as nicely padded to protect the bottles or lenses inside. The straps are usually thick, and easy to carry. You have your choice of colors - baby blue with boats or pink with flowers. Most places let you carry this bag in, even if a camera bag would have to be checked, because they don't want to have the mess and smell around either. It would be very hard to find a cheaper, better built, and less likely to get stolen bag than a standard diaper bag. Check it out and convince yourself.
Multiple Bags Technique:
The second lesson is to use multiple bags. Two bags are better than one in nearly every case. For one thing, it is lots easier to spread the weight around using two small bags. More frequently, you can grab what you need from the big bag in the locked car trunk, and carry it more easily in the smaller bag. You can extend this principle by simply taking a few lenses with you on local shoots, rather than the entire shooting collection. You aren't likely to need every single focal length lens you have, especially if you have a zoom lens or two and some teleconverters.
The second level of multiple bag technique is to split up your camera gear so you have a series of stand-alone packings. For example, I might have one bag with my Nikkormat with a 70-210mm zoom, a macro normal lens, and a 28mm wide angle lens plus a teleconverter. The 2x teleconverter provides 56mm normal (28x2), 110mm portrait range (55x2), and 140-420mm tele-zoom equivalents. Another bag might have a Nikon F, 400mm T-mount telephoto, and a 105mm portrait lens plus a 28mm to 210mm zoom lens with macro setting. Between these two bags, I have a lot of firepower on hand, including 28mm, 55mm macro, 105mm portrait, 400mm, and a 28-210mm and 70-210mm zoom plus teleconverter combinations. Loss of any particular camera body or lens won't greatly hamper my shooting capabilities. Should the Nikon-F bag be lost or stolen, I can carry on with the older Nikkormat and zoom lens.
Single Point Failures:
Let us look at the concept of single point failures, and how it can adversely impact your photography. A single point failure is one in which a breakdown in that item can put you out of the photo taking business. For example, an electronic camera that has its battery fail may not be able to take photos at any shutter speed other than B or perhaps one fixed shutter setting (1/60th). A failure of a PC flash cord to work means you may be unable to take any strobe photos. Forgetting your light meter might mean having to guess at exposures. Each of these failures would put you out of the picture taking business if they failed - unless you have backups. You might have spare batteries, PC cords, and a backup lightmeter - or an entire set of backup cameras and gear.
For many critical situations such as a wedding, you don't want to risk certain other possible failure modes. For example, a lightmeter could fail on one electronic camera, resulting in all the photos with that camera being bad. This situation obviously calls for splitting your shots between at least two cameras. Each camera backs up the other here. Similarly, a bit of dust or loose screw in one camera could put scratches on film run through that camera. Here again, a second camera setup is the only solution.
But what if your film processor develops a burr in their processing machinery, and scratches all the film you send them in your wedding photography batch. Ooops!! This problem can only be off-set by carefully splitting film processing. Arrange it so not all film from one session is developed at once or perhaps by the same lab (for the truly paranoid). You may have to extend these ideas and cautions to cover whatever could happen to your film after you fire the shutter. Sooner or later, you will find these failures out the hard way, by experiencing them, unless you learn, listen, and think about them beforehand. Prevention is much easier than recovery.
Point and Shoot Backup:
The simplest and cheapest backup is a second point and shoot camera. This backup camera should use the same film size as your main 35mm camera. If your point and shoot camera only uses 100 or 400 ASA film, you have to have enough along to cover your immediate needs. Some point and shoot cameras offer a variety of features, including zoom lenses and metering, that provide a lot of capability for a low entry price. They are also small and easily packed. I often find I can buy some nice used 35mm point and shoot cameras at garage sales for less than the price of a roll of film with processing.
Many amateur photographers find that the point and shoot camera is also useful just because of their low size, weight, and cost. You don't mind taking them out while on the way to work, on the bus, or other times when you aren't planning on making any photographs. Yet I find that having a camera along makes me think about photography. I can and will make photographs that I would never had made because I wouldn't have been carrying a full-sized 35mm or medium format SLR. Sometimes, I will come back and rephotograph the subject discovered earlier to take advantage of what I saw earlier. The small camera is also very quiet, so I can take photos in church or other settings that my noisy SLR would be objectionable to others. This idea may suggest a quiet rangefinder or other low noise camera for some readers with these sorts of needs.
These positive experiences have led me to purchase some of the more functional 35mm clam-shell cameras (e.g., the Olympus XA series) with mini-strobe. Carrying a small cigarrette package camera around isn't much trouble, yet you can make good quality photos anytime. The small strobe makes it possible to take photos indoors and use flash-fill outdoors too.
I also carry a small zip lock bag and an extra roll or two of film around with the strobe. If it rains, I can put the small camera into a zip lock bag. As for the large cameras, I have Ewa marine bags for them, and prefer to store lenses in zip lock bags to keep out moisture and dust too. A cheap black plastic garbage bag can also be pulled out and put to use quickly in the event of really foul weather - including a spare for the photographer himself! Again, by using double bagging, I reduce the chance of failure of a single zip lock bag causing a loss. But a hole in the cheap plastic garbage bag won't flood my cameras or lenses either.
Interchangeable Lens Mount Upgrades:
Most photographers will upgrade their 35mm cameras as more features become available and desirable. This upgrade path suggests that you probably already have an older 35mm camera body and perhaps some lenses sitting around. I suggest that the utility value of this camera as a backup is greater than the modest prices you are likely to get from most camera dealers for trading it in.
Many earlier camera model lenses can be mounted on new bodies, albeit with some loss of automatic features. See my companion article on camera lens interchangeable mounts. These lens mount adapters make it possible to not only mount lenses within the same camera maker's body series, but also between camera types and makers. So older Minolta MC/MD lenses could be mounted on Nikon cameras or to a Canon FD body using an adapter. Older screw mount lenses are very cheap, yet can be mounted to many camera body types. So if you have a number of lenses in your old camera body mount, consider keeping them and looking into possible adapters for your new mounts.
You might also be influenced to buy a given camera because you can retain the ability to mount your older lenses. A few brands such as Nikon have retained the ability to physically mount lenses from their older body series on some of their newer professional cameras. You can also buy a Nikkormat or low cost consumer series camera body that can mount a range of lenses. If you pick a Nikon professional camera, your logical backup camera body would be a similar Nikon camera body. A good choice might be from the same series, but with fewer features and a lower cost. On other brands, you may have to buy an adapter to use the older model lenses on some of the newer camera body mounts.
I also know a photographer who bought a late model screw-mount body (Yashica) so as to get automatic aperture priority features with his older screw-mount M42 lenses. Cost was under $75 US. He can use an adapter to mount the M42 lenses on his new camera body, but prefers to use them on the older Yashica M42 body. His original pentax spotmatic camera became a backup for his backup Yashica ;-). He usually loads black and white in the pentax, color slides in the yashica, and color print film in the new Canon. Had he sold his older lenses and pentax body, he couldn't have bought even one new lens for the new Canon autofocus camera. But keeping those lenses has enabled him to avoid buying some wide and telephoto prime lenses that would have been very expensive in the new mounting. He has the fun and features of the new camera, but spending $100 on an M42 adapter and older yashica body has saved him twenty times that in lens costs. He also have automatic backup capabilities and overlaps within these 3 cameras.
Another useful backup approach is to consider buying lenses which can be adapted to multiple camera bodies. Examples include the Tamron Adaptall-2 series lenses and the popular T-mount lenses. While you may lose features such as automatic diaphragm operation on the T-mount lenses, the low cost of these earlier lenses may be quite attractive, especially in the longer telephoto examples which are very inexpensive compared to current models. Similarly, selecting an interchangeable lens mount lens now may make it possible to reuse the given lens in the future on different camera body mounts.
The cost of an adapter is much less than that of a lens, and one lens mount adapter can be used to mount many lenses (albeit one at a time) on the same body. In my case, many of my earlier wide angle lenses use interchangeable lens mounts. So now I can move these 18mm, 21mm, 28mm, and 35mm lenses onto another camera for the price of a single lens mount adapter. I can also buy a low priced interchangeable lens in the "wrong" mount, use my present nikon mount adapters, and keep the extra lens mount adapter in case I buy a matching body in the future.
For under $15 US, I can buy a used T-mount adapter, and add 250mm, 300mm, 400mm, and 500mm lenses plus 2x teleconverter on each lens (i.e., 500mm, 600mm, 800mm, and 1,000mm equivalents). So for $40-50 US, I can use these same Nikon mount lenses on another camera body such as Canon and Minolta, possibly retaining automation on the wide angle lenses with the right adaptall mounts.
So using this backup approach, it is much less costly for me to trade up and add the features of a new camera body. I can retain many of my older and cheaper camera body and lens capabilities, while avoiding major upgrade costs, and still have extra backup capability too.
Two Zoom Approach:
A recent set of articles in Shutterbug suggested limiting oneself to two lenses during travel photography, for maximum portability. The lenses suggested were a super wide angle zoom, such as the Samsung 18mm to 35mm zoom, and a broad range wide angle to mid-tele zoom, such as the Vivitar 28mm to 200mm or 50mm to 300mm zooms. The tele-zoom models also offer some macro-photography options.
I also see such a dual lens setup as a good starting point for an economical backup. I prefer prime lenses for both quality and speed over these lenses, especially at the super-wide and super-tele extremes. But such super-zoom lenses make a great backup to my collection of prime lenses.
I usually don't want to carry an entire range of prime lenses. In that case, these backup wide-range zoom lenses might end up getting carried along with a prime lens or two in my pack. Besides being lighter, the theft or loss of these lenses wouldn't have quite as much of an impact as the loss of six or eight prime lenses that cover the same range. These super-range zooms cost less than any of my prime OEM lenses, but provide backups to many of them in this 28 to 210mm range.
Lens Wide Angle Adapters:
Most of us would like to have prime fisheye lenses, but they are just too expensive for the number of times we can use them. Fortunately, there are a number of optical adapters that fit in front of the normal and other lenses that provide a wide angle or telephoto effect.
My favorites are the fisheye adapter and the wide angle adapters. These adapters screw in front of the lens, into its filter ring, and provide a wide angle effect. The fisheye provides a .18x factor, while the common wide angle adapter provides a .42x superwide factor. So a 50mm normal lenses would act like a 9mm circular fisheye lens using the .18x fisheye adapter (about $50-100 used). The same 50mm lens with .42x superwide adapter ($25-50) would act like a 21mm circular wide angle lens (not rectilinear). However, you can use lenses from circa 28mm to 200mm with these optical adapters, to get a wide range of fisheye effects. So a 100mm portrait lens with fisheye would be an 18mm circular fisheye (180 degree) optic. This approach makes it very cheap to have some fun with superwide and fisheye photography, using your existing lenses.
Since these adapters can mount on most lenses with a cheap adapter ring ($10 US), you can see why they can add a lot to your photographic capabilities. But from a backups perspective, you can use the same optical fisheye or superwide adapter on many different lenses and cameras. This approach provides a very cheap fisheye and superwide option for many cameras, simply by adding a cheap filter ring adapter. The same optical adapter can be used on multiple lenses with the same filter ring size (e.g.,. Nikon's 52mm common filter thread).
Lens Capabilities:
Another related issue is learning to get the most out of the lenses you already have. For example, many wide angle lenses can also be used to take great closeups from as little as six or eight inches away from the subject. Superwide angles can take full-body portraits, if you learn to control their distortion. A macrolens, such as the 55mm micro-nikkkors, can be used as a normal lens, and as a portrait lens with a good quality teleconverter. A tripod or monopod may greatly extend your slow speed capability, opening up a new realm of available light photography. The goal is to get more from carrying less, by learning what your lenses really are capable of doing.
Primes vs. Zooms Overlaps:
Many people are skipping the purchase of prime lenses, relying on available zoom lenses. I believe that prime lenses still offer many benefits, including faster speed lenses and better quality, that will appeal to the serious amateur or semi-professional photographer. Many zoom lenses have their peak optical quality in the middle of their ranges, so the widest and most tele range settings are relatively poor optically compared to this "sweeter" range of higher optical quality.
Yet I often find myself pushing to the very limits of my 28-210mm zoom, where I know the optical quality is lower. Either I accept the lower quality, or I get multiple overlapping zooms, or I add in primes as needed to match my needs. Using either multiple overlapping zooms or a mix of primes and zooms is an inherently backed up approach, right?
You may find yourself with a variety of overlapping lens choices. For example, you may have a regular f2 normal lens, a fast f1.2 normal lens for available light, and a slow macro normal lens for closeup photography. Your zooms may overlap on some ranges too. Here again, a failure of one lens or zoom is less of a problem if you have enough overlap to ensure some needed coverage.
Some folks also will buy a relatively cheap and slow prime lens, often made by a third party manufacturer, to save costs starting out. Later, they decide they want the extra speed of a faster lens. Or they may decide that the quality differences of a prime original manufacturer's lens is worth the higher cost too. The older third party or slower lens can become a backup to the newer faster or better OEM prime lens.
I have also been in the situation of adding a faster third party lens just for the speed and backup potential, while I already had a slower OEM prime lens. The much faster vivitar lens was only a third the cost of a similar speed prime lens, yet very nearly as sharp and contrasty. If you have a favorite wide angle lens, say, you might consider buying a low cost slower OEM or third party lens to backup your favorite prime lens. In the event of a failure or loss, you could still carry on.
Cost alone can be a factor. I added a 28mm nikon mount lens by a third party because its cost was so low ($10 US!) that it was worth it for the UV filter and front/rear caps alone. It turned out to be a surprisingly decent performer and backup prime at one of my favorite focal lengths. Now if I am going in the 'hood to photograph some of the colorful spray paint art in the projects, I like to take a low cost body and camera and my wicked looking monopod with me. So this 28mm lens with older Nikkormat body represents a total investment of $75-100 US. But the photos are very decent quality, and hard to tell from ones taken with a Nikon prime lens on my F2.
In other words, you don't have to spend large bucks to get a lot of backup capability by using third party and slower lenses. In most cases, you can take excellent pictures by using these low cost lenses, provided you stop down sufficiently and have fast enough film available to minimize problems.
Beyond Lens and Cameras:
So far, we have focused on some of the issues about backup camera bodies and lenses. The bad news is that for ultimate backup protection, you can't stop with just camera body, lens, and film. All those little photo items you regularly use need to be backed up as well. Some examples include polarizing filters, camera straps, tool-kits, filter wrenches, and so on.
Strobes:
Let's start with a strobe unit. Most of us have a major automatic strobe such as the popular Vivitar 283/285 series, with brackets and light sensors and so forth. Now what if that strobe is stolen or dies on your next trip? What can you do? The best answer is to have a second strobe of the same or similar model that you can pull out and keep working, with minimal changes. This approach is obviously the best, but also the most expensive.
Another option is to get a slightly less powerful strobe, with slightly fewer features, and plan on using that as a backup. This second strobe can also be used as a side or fill light strobe, if you add a slave strobe adapter. But keep it in a second bag separate from the first, so it won't also be stolen, crushed, or lost with it too.
You can also possibly find space for a small strobe, with automatic features limited to one or two range settings, and standard PC cord or hot foot mounting. These mini-strobes can perform a lot of the casual work of the bigger strobes, especially with faster film, so you can keep on shooting even if the bigger model crashes or is lost.
Filters:
Filters are a touchy subject for some photographers. I use a fair number of filters, but rarely. For holiday night lights, I like to have a cross-star filter along. A polarizer finds lots of uses, not just during sunlighted sky and water photos (it can also be a ND filter too). I like to have a split yellow filter for sunsets. Once in a while I pull out my gradient or multi-prism filters. Some of these items came in package deals, so I am not complaining. But I am not backing them up due to the cost versus frequency of use.
Filters of larger size can often be used with smaller diameter lenses using adapters. I am still buying a number of filters for the larger diameter zoom lenses I have, chiefly series VIII and IX filters for their high quality and low cost. So when I see a buy in a larger series VIII filter, I buy it. But I also have an inexpensive adapter that lets me use these larger series VIII and 67mm or 72mm filters on my regular 35mm camera lenses. This way, I can use my larger filters to backup my smaller ones. I also have adapters on a few odd-ball camera lenses (e.g., a 49mm to 52mm adapter), so I can use my regular filters on these odd-ball lenses.
Misc.:
Lots of us start out with moderate priced accessories such as tripods, and then decide we need more and trade up. If so, you obviously have a potential backup for many situations. On other items, such as camera and lens cleaning items, the costs are low enough to justify a second set. Even small tools can often be purchased at low enough costs to be worth the few dollars spent.
Film:
Film can also be considered a backup system. If you have both a Nikon F2 and Nikkormat setup with film, you can backup the photos taken on one camera with a photo taken on the second. I often like to have two cameras, one with a zoom lens and the other with a prime lens or two in the bag and on the camera. This approach makes it easy to shoot fast with one or the other camera, should a sudden event happen like a car or plane crash. You have more film loaded, and you can easily switch lenses.
If you like print film for some work, and slide film too, then you can have both loaded in each respective camera body and just switch lenses as needed. Early on, I used to shoot and process a lot of black and white film, using bulk-loading. The use of two cameras meant I could shoot lots of practice photos with my Nikkormat loaded with black and white, and color photos with slide film in my F2.
My point here is that you can use multiple camera bodies to provide you with multiple film types. This approach gives you much of the flexibility of some medium format camera systems with multiple backs, with the added benefit of 36 exposure film roll sizes.
Darkroom:
The focus here has been on cameras and lenses and items you would normally carry around to make photographs. But if you do extensive darkroom work, you should also consider developing your backup capabilities here too. You would not want a cracked developing tank to put you out of business at a critical time (Murphy's Law).
Lots of basic darkroom materials are available quite cheaply, and can be quite useful. I personally like to setup a series of developing tanks and simply move stacks of film reels between tanks to develop them. Less pouring chemicals, and better time and processing control. But this takes multiple tanks and film reel stacks. So I am inherently backed up.
My 6x7/6x6 capable enlarger also does 35mm, and my old cheapy 35mm enlarger is just a garage trip away. I have multiple bulk film loaders, as it is easier to have a spare loader with TRI-X or ektachrome loaded, than load and unload bulk film rolls from my Watson bulk film loaders. This extra capability was bought very cheaply, from some surplus darkroom in a box yard sales.
Slide Projectors:
If you do a lot of slides, you may also consider light tables, slide viewers, and even projectors worth backing up. If you do slide shows, multiple projectors and screens may just be the result of past bad experiences with Murphy's Law. I have a slide projector for 35mm, but my 6x6 projector also does 35mm slides too. I have several slide viewers, including one that does both 6x6 and 35mm slides. I have several loupes that could be used with either format.
My point is to consider where you might lose out if a particular piece of equipment should happen to fail, and then backup that equipment when the cost of doing so is suitably low enough. However, I do keep things in different places, with my spare 35mm enlarger and projector boxed in storage (labeled with a number only, not contents). Should a thief break in and take off with my favorite projector or slide viewer, I would be mad, but still able to keep on working effectively.
Multiple Formats:
A few words also need to be devoted to multiple format backups. You can obviously use a twin lens reflex or pricey medium format SLR as your prime camera, and back it up with a 35mm SLR.
Many photographers think they should sell-off their 35mm camera before going to medium format, but resist that urge. You will find many ways to use your 35mm cameras, especially with zoom lenses, that would be impossible or very expensive to do in medium format. A minor disadvantage is the need to carry multiple types of film in each format.
For those medium format cameras that permit you to use interchangeable backs, you can have multiple film types readily available with this option. However, that camera could break down, so be sure to have similar film speeds and emulsion types in 35mm available if you intend to do any extended field work with such a dual format setup.
Natural Upgrades Yield Backups:
While this process of backups sounds cumbersome and expensive, in practice it isn't hard or costly to implement. The simplest step is to retain photography equipment you have and already know how to use when buying new and used. This approach costs a bit in lost trade-in dollars, but you will usually find that you can do better later selling directly to another individual anyway.
You may discover that your new camera has a defect in it out of the box, and so be stuck with your backup. I have friends whose honeymoon photos were taken with their old but trusty 35mm backup camera, using the techniques described here. Never take a new camera or other major photo item (lens, strobe..) into a critical photo situation without a break-in and learning period!
A second recommendation is to carefully consider your new camera purchases in light of possible reuse of camera equipment, especially any lenses you may already have purchased. If you can reuse your old camera bag, strobe, filters (using an adapter), toolkits, and lenses, then your new camera body may be much less costly in the final analysis. But if your new camera body means you have to start all over buying lenses and flash and larger filters, then the overall costs will be dramatically higher. As the pages on camera lens mount adapters suggests, there is a lot more flexibility here than most people know exists.
Counterpoint:
Not everything needs to be backed up in every person's
photo bags. As I suggested in the section on filters, you have to consider
frequency of use and cost questions. I so rarely use the multiple prism
filter attachment I got in a package deal that I probably wouldn't replace
it if stolen.
I might not replace a lost 400mm T-mount lens given that I have a 2x teleconverter and fast 200mm auto-diaphragm lens. I might prefer to carry some tungsten film rather than sets of conversion filters. But I will know what items I have chosen not to backup, and why.
Another useful idea is to make a listing of the your photo items carried in each bag. A master bag contents list with serial numbers can be easily cut and pasted and printed. Now if the bag is stolen, you have instant listing of serial numbers and contents to give to the police for a police report. If you use your equipment for tax deductible as well as personal uses, you can record and document use this way too.
Make a note of all the items you did not use, and items you wished you had available but didn't. For example, I have made teleconverters almost mandatory since discovering how often I needed a longer lens on travel projects. The cheap, small, lightweight teleconverter made it easy to replace a longer bulky 500mm f/8 lens.
The same logical process highlighted the need for at least one fast lens in each kit. Now I have some faster normal lenses, but also some faster wide angle lenses too - including a 35mm f/2 that can substitute for a normal lens in many situations. I have trained myself to see if I have a fast lens, and if not, to think hard about either loading faster film or adding one to my lens mix.
At the same time, I find myself cutting out some lenses that I don't use very often except in specific situations (e.g., 500mm, 135mm, 18mm). I used to often not carry a strobe. But after my point and shoot experiences, I use one much more frequently for flash fill now. Should this flash fail, I either grab one from my second camera bag or pull out my clam-shell pocket camera with strobe and use it. In the past, I probably wouldn't have had a flash at all, let alone a backup. I certainly would not have had a spare camera and flash in my pants pocket. So this backup awareness does change how you gear up and pack and think about your possibilities as you are shooting.
Since I have picked up several surprisingly cheap 28-210mm zoom lenses, I find I like to keep one on a camera, then switch to the prime lenses as I enter a specific situation (macro normal lens, portrait lens, or superwide angle lens. Sometimes I use the 28 to 210mm zoom lens to highlight and select one of my prime lenses. In a fast changing situation, I can just shoot with the zoom lens. At other times, I will reject doing a 28mm wide angle shot after seeing the effect using the 28mm setting on the zoom lens. In this case, my zoom is acting as not only a backup to my prime lens, but also an extra tool to my photographic composition efforts.
Conclusions:
In short, it is relatively inexpensive to extend your photographic backup capabilities by keeping your older equipment, upgrading wisely, and filling in holes when low prices make this process affordable.
Use of multiple low-theft profile camera bags makes it easier to split up your equipment, carry it, and potentially reduce the amount you might lose at any one time.
Zoom lenses make it easy to cover a wide range of focal lengths, and supplement by one or two prime lenses for the contemplated photography project of the given day.
While this approach adds some extra costs, it greatly extends your ability to keep making photographs after Murphy's Law has struck. The costs can be quite low, and even save lots of money if you can use your older lenses and filters with adapters on your new camera bodies.
One of the unsung benefits of this approach is the greater ease it brings to your photography. Not only do you avoid carrying everything at the same time. You may even focus on learning more about the fewer items you are carrying so as to get the most out of your lenses and equipment. You can reduce the chance of new equipment glitches or failures ruining a trip by using a mix of old and new camera equipment. You can avoid single point failures that might ruin your photographs, including not just cameras but also film processors as well.
I have also found that I am now carrying a small clam-shell camera directly as a result of my positive experiences with a point and shoot backup camera on some weight and cost conscious camera trips.
You have thought out your backup options logically, so when those inevitable failures do occur, you can simply quickly adapt using your backup systems.
Finally, one of the differences between an amateur photographer and a professional photographer is that the professional must and will "bring home the bacon". If you want to become a more serious amateur or semi-professional photographer, you must also be able to guarantee that you can overcome adversity. You have to be able to create those photographs, regardless of what disasters strike your equipment. I have highlighted some of these dangers here, and how backups are often part of the solution.
I hope that these ideas and tips may help suggest a new way to look at how you prepare and work in making photographs. After you have successfully overcome one or more major problems using these techniques, you will soon find yourself becoming an equally enthusiastic fan of backup options. Good luck!
My girlfriend and I and two of our friends went to a Renaissance Fair a
couple of weekends ago. Truthfully, these things are basically outdoor
malls where some people can dress up, but it was amusing. Anyways,
thinking that there might be something interesting to photograph, I packed
my little bag with my simple Hasselblad outfit: 501C/M body, 80mm lens, a
couple of film backs and a spotmeter.
As we were walking around, we noticed a middle-aged man with this huge
tripod. Attached to it was a huge zoom lens of some sort, attached to a
35mm camera. Attached to the camera's hot shoe was a smallish flash. My
friend Will commented that the tripod had a video pan-head, and the whole
kit-n-kaboodle must've weighed about thirty or so pounds. Then the guy
turned around, and we saw another 35mm body (with another small flash on
the hot shoe) attached to another huge lens! At this point, I commented
that he was a "burro."
It's clear that it's impossible for him to get any kind of "grab shot."
By the time he gets the tripod set up and the lens cap off, the shot's
gone. And judging by the size of the long lenses attached to his cameras,
it's a pretty good bet that they can't focus close enough to be effective
for fill flash (especially given the guide-number-of-80 flash). I can
only guess at his chiropratic bills.
And this guy isn't the first person I've seen carrying as much gear as
possible. Two other guys were running around with Nikon or Canon outfits
with big lenses and handlemount/battery-pack-powered flashes.
Now, I know that I'm guilty of "gear-itis." My photo gear (the Hasselblad
outfit described above, as well as two OM-1Ns and an assortment of lenses)
is overwhelmed by my collection of guitar amps and audio gear. And now
that I just bought a house, I have this need to buy power tools (which,
alas, has pushed my acquisiton of a 50mm Hasselblad lens into the
background). But, I also have no need to be a pack-mule and carry
everything I own!
In my smug little world, it's clear (at least to me!) that the burro is more
interested in showing off how much gear he has than in actually making
photographs. This became obvious when I went to take a photo of my
girlfriend:
I pulled out the spotmeter out of my jacket pocket, determined the
exposure, took the camera out of the bag, pulled the darkslide, futzed
with the polarizer, took the picture, and put the camera back in the bag.
Sure, this process is not a quick one. Out of the corner of my eye, I
noticed the burro staring at me: "damn, that kid has a Hasselblad... :( "
I guess he was stricken by a case of gear envy, which to me seems kind of
silly because if you consider dollar amounts to be the only measure, the
Nikon F4 wins over my 501C/M.
This whole scene just amused me. Maybe this guy was a real good,
published photographer. Maybe. More recently, my girlfriend and I went
to Ted DeGrazia's house on Swan Rd here in Tucson. It's a wonderful place
to photograph. We ran into a kindly older gentleman, armed with nothing
but a Leica M6 w/35mm lens and a straw hat to shield the sun. He was
considering the light, the exposure, the composition, the PHOTOGRAPH, and
made a handful of exposures. We chatted, and he mentioned that his work
is on display at the Jewish Community Center in town. I've not seen his
work yet, but I'm sure it's wonderful. And it has nothing to do with the
Leica.
-andy
Andy Peters
Senior Electrical Engineer
National Optical Astronomy Observatories
950 N Cherry Ave
Tucson, AZ 85719
From: "Michael Hall" mhall004@sprintmail.com
Newsgroups: rec.photo.equipment.misc
Subject: Re: Camera bag advice
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1998
(Kevin Goodier) wrote: >> What I want in a bag: *some* other way to carry it in addition to on >> the shoulder; around the waist or a backpack, for example. I plan to >> carry my camera while biking, walking, and traveling, so shoulder-only >> is bad. I want the bag to be small-ish, but big enough to hold all my >> equipment. I'd also like to be able to leave my lenses on the camera
Kevin
Many years ago, around 25, I was carrying two bags. I couldn't get it all
in. On a shoot at a state prison I took the opportunity to get on the scale
in the infirmary. With equipment I was 65 pounds heaver than I was without.
I decided I did not need everything all the time.
I live in Wilmington, Delaware, reasonably close to Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. This fact is only germain because a gentleman by the name of
Domke worked for, maybe he still does, The Philadelphia Inquirer. He cold
not find a bag to suit him, so he had one made. Other photo journalists
were so envious they persuaded him to make one for them. I bought one. It
cost $90.00 in 197- something, and I am glad that my wife still has not
found out how much the bag cost.
I routinely carry three bodies and at least five pieces of glass. Lens
cleaning stuff, hand held meter, flash, flash bracket, little Kodak photo
book, film., maps, notebook, ... I hope you get the idea. Within reason a
soft bag is infinate in size, you always seem to be able to fit more in.
I bought the backpack straps that they have. I can't work with the bag
behind me, and the bag hangs low in small of back when carrying that way
so I do not often use them, but they are available. There are D rings to
tie things, like tripods, light stands, umbrella, plastic rain coat onto.
Could not ever be happy with anything else, and when I bought mine you cold
not choose a color. You could have any color you wanted as long as it was
Navy blue.
For the hiking I am anticipating buying a vest this summer. Gues what Domke
makes those two, and if the vest lasts as well as the bag it will be the
last camera carrying apparatus I will purchase. I was a young man when I
bought the bag. Just almost to old to be in the Jaycees.
At eighty-five (35+50) I will be happy to carry one camera, loaded. It will
probably be the 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 graphic. Oh bty I work with it out of the
Domke also.
73's es cul
de WB3FUP (a Salty Bear)
From Bronica Mailing List;
d
Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1999
From: budd gottesman dophotography@yahoo.com
Reply to: bronica@iList.net
Karen,
It's definitely embarrassing (like tripping in front
of people), but you probably came off as a pro when
you immediately were able to replace the broken camera
with your backup. Hope you have another backup for
your next...AND I know you have backup lenses, flash,
etc. ).
You'd be surprised at the number of clowns
(I can use no other word for it) who go out with no
(or little) backup. Assuming that they like your
results, this could become really GOOD word-of-mouth
for you....."these pix are great...and that's after
her camera fell on the ground and smashed and she had
to switch cameras!" That is, of course, assuming
that they remember that it happened in the first place
(big assumption).
Budd
From Contax Mailing List:
Date: Wed, 03 May 2000
From: "Bob Shell" bob@bobshell.com
Subject: Re: [CONTAX] when you change lens...
Traveling with just one body is always risky, since you never know
when one will die on you. If I am venturing more than a few miles
from home there will always be two cameras in my kit. Nothing is
more frustrating than contemplating a once in a lifetime photo with
a broken camera!
Just don't do what we did once. My wife and I went on a vacation/photo
trip and checked, re-checked, double-checked, and everything to make
sure we were not forgetting any lens, body, meter, accessory, etc., we
might need. When we made our first stop several hundred miles later
we realized that we had brought everything......except.....film! Talk
about a forehead slapping moment! Luckily we were able to find stores
along our route selling the types of film we wanted to use.
Bob
From Contax Mailing List:
Date: Tue, 16 May 2000
From: "Bob Shell" bob@bobshell.com
Subject: Re: [CONTAX] AX battery and ringing problems
I probably should make the point here that this is not a Contax only
problem. I have had sample cameras from most major and minor brands
suffer problems after long or particularly rough flights. That's why
my repair kit is always with me. After one bumpy flight from Virginia
to Florida I had my Rollei 6006 die on me because the clamp which
holds the mirror to its backing plate had come loose. The screw which
held it on had worked loose. Luckily The parts dropped out of the
camera when I took the lens off and turned it face down over a sheet
of paper. I put it all back in place and was up and running again
in a few minutes.
In some cases I have been unable to revive the camera, and that's why
you NEVER travel with only one camera.
Bob
From: I DON'T LIKE SPAM!!! spam.spam@spam.spam.com
Newsgroups: rec.photo.technique.nature
Date: Sat, 08 Jul 2000
Subject: Re: Two camera bodies... just for pros?
> I'd like to know how many of you have two cameras and if so, do they >both get used much? Are you glad you have two? > > Thanks, Mark
I have two Canon A-1 Bodies (the 20 year old variety), and would
consider buying a third. They have both seen a lot of wear, and with
the money I have invested in lenses, I can't even think about moving
to more modern technology.
A couple of points, some which may not apply to you.
The older technology, in good condition, is still cheaper than a lot
of newer cameras.
It seems that my bodies get more wear and tear than the lenses. Lenses
are relatively more simple and rugged (at least the old manual focus
ones) than the bodies they are used on. I have yet to do any major
damage to a lens, but I have dented, scratched, and lost non-critical
parts to the bodies. As far a resale value of my gear, most of my
lenses are probably still worth close to what I paid for them (used),
but I doubt anybody would give me much for the bodies, even though
they are completely functional.
I often use different films in the two bodies. As subject matters and
lighting change throughout a field excursion, it is nice to shoot a
subject with the film I like to use without finishing a roll part way
through. Changing film takes me more time than swapping bodies.
The two bodies also have different viewing screens. I have never liked
the standard split ring viewing screens that most bodies come with,
and, as far as I know, user interchangable screen technology never
seemed to catch on. One body has a simple matte screen, and the other
has the "architect's grid". I find both very useful in composing
shots, and when shooting macro and close-up I don't get the annoying
blacking out of part of the split rings.
Like someone has already said, when you invest the time getting to a
special place for a shot, having an extra body available just in case
something happens, is a good form of insurance. Unless you are really
cramped for space, an extra body does not take up much room.
I hope this helps.
(Sorry, I have no web site at which to view my photos. You would have
to come to my place and see what is hanging on the walls.)
From: miaim@mindspring.com (MPS)
Newsgroups: rec.photo.technique.nature
Date: Sat, 08 Jul 2000
Subject: Re: Two camera bodies... just for pros?
"MKHerrick" mkherrick@uswest.net wrote:
> I'd like to know how many of you have two cameras and if so, do they >both get used much? Are you glad you have two? > > Thanks, Mark
I hardly go on a shoot without at least two bodies. It's not just for
insurance, it's for flexibility. Typically one camera will be loaded
with one kind of film and the other with another type. Sometimes one
has color slide film and the other has B&W.; Sometimes they both have
the same type of film, but at different speeds, and sometimes they
have identical film, but I've set the ISO ratings differently.
The fastest reload is a spare camera (or gun ;-). The fastest lens
change is a spare camera. Quite often I'll be set up with one camera
on the tripod with a long lens, and another around my neck with
another type lens. Often one, (typically the one on the tripod) will
have a motor winder mounted, and my 'carry around' one won't, and will
be fitted with a lighter, faster lens.
The last dozen or so times that I've been out on a dedicated shoot,
(as opposed to the times when I just grab one camera, one lens and a
roll of film and wander around hoping to see something), I've used
both cameras about equally. In fact, recently I've taken to having (2)
35mm's and an MF camera lurking nearby in the car.
This morning I was on a 2 hour shoot in which I shot 60 frames with
one 35mm, 37 with the other and 11 with the MF. Of those, I hope to
have maybe 1/2 dozen or so that are worthy of turning in for a student
assignment next week. I mention that just because I used to think that
folks that talked about dragging along a bunch of gear and firing off
a bunch of shots weren't really making the best use of their gear. Now
that I've got somebody else suggesting to me what kind of shots they
want to see, I've got a whole new appreciation for what I call the
'shotgun' approach. When I'm not under pressure to produce, it would
not be my choice of a method of opperation, but even just going on a
vacation or trip produces it's own sort of pressure to perform.
Anyway, I don't think 2 or even 3 bodies is at all excessive even for
an amatuer.
mps
rec.photo.equipment.35mm
From: beenee laughter@kiva.net
Date: Thu Jun 29 2000
Re: Changing lenses FAST....any tips???
the fastest way is to carry more than one camera body with different
lenses on each. then all you have to do is switch cameras. some people
walk around with three bodies hanging around their neck.
Natasha wrote:
> I'm curious if any of you have any tips regarding > how you change lenses quickly....where do you carry the lenses....etc? > > N.
From: carbon_dragon@yahoo.com
Newsgroups: rec.photo.technique.nature
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000
Subject: Re: Two camera bodies... just for pros?
"MKHerrick" mkherrick@uswest.net wrote:
...
> I'd like to know how many of you have two cameras and if so, do they > both get used much? Are you glad you have two?
There are two reasons to have a second body -- convenience (if
you have a second film type) and as a backup in case of a
malfunction.
I do the first if I want a body with Black and White infrared
film as well as whatever the more normal film I'm shooting is.
Color slides can be turned into color prints or black and white
in photoshop, but it's harder to create the infrared effect.
I have had situations where my main camera has become unavailable
and I indeed used my backup. Most of the time it was my own fault
rather than the fault of the camera, but it was always nice to
have a backup. My "primary camera out" situations were as a result
of:
1. Dead battery
2. Dropped camera (this one was expensive)
3. Getting my camera in a strange mode that it took some time
with the manual later to figure out.
4. Trying to wind a roll of film further thinking it had more
exposures and ending up winding it off the reel (and hence
needing time at home with my changing bag to get the film
out without exposing it).
Most of these are avoidable, but stuff happens to everyone,
so I think a backup is a good idea. P&S;'s can perform this
role, but don't try this unless you're really ok with losing
the use of your primary camera because especially on a trip,
it will be all you have if your primary camera fails.
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000
From: friesian@zoocrewphoto.com (Meghan Noecker)
Newsgroups: rec.photo.equipment.35mm
Subject: Re: Owning Multiple Cameras
"Ian Klimon" iklimon@home.com
wrote:
>I carry around an EOS1VHS and a EOSA2, but I'm seriously considering going >the same route that you have. Carrying around all my gear is killing my >back.
The first time I decided to take only one camera body, it broke after
only one roll of film. I spent the whole day miserable that I was too
lazy to carry both cameras.
Since then, I have had a defective camera with a light leak in the
shutter, a bad connection with a motor drive, and a loose lens mount
(for 3 shows before I figured out the problem).
In each case, I shot with two cameras, and still had good pics from
each show. Having that second camera is a life saver.
I have shot only once with a single camera since that first mistake
several years ago. It was while the loose mount was being repaired. I
felt very uneasy about it.
I will never intentionally go with one camera again. When I have more
cash on hand, I will get a 3rd. I prefer to shoot with 2 cameras, so
having one out of commission, really leaves me uncomfortable.
Meghan
Friesians in the Northwest
http://www.zoocrewphoto.com/friesian.htm
From: Torsten Wiens twiens@hrzpub.tu-darmstadt.de Newsgroups: rec.photo.equipment.medium-format Subject: Re: Cheap Kievs from Russia - risk assessment Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2002 fotocord schrieb: > Like I said in another post, if I go somewhere when I want to be sure I can > bring back some shots, I ALWAYS carry a spare. While I consider this generally a necessary approach, a spare body won't bring you back an important shot that's been ruined by the gear. At least for me it's not about getting some shots back (under any circumstances) but to get the single shot that's really important in two or three rolls. Regards, Torsten.End of Page