2nd body? (1 Viewer)

...I use a 500 lens for most of my bird photography but find that the close focus (4m) can be limiting, so I also carry a 100-300 zoom. I often find that just after I've switched the camera onto the zoom, something shows further away and I either miss the shot or rush to get the camera back on the big lens. I've been thinking that it would be good to have a second body so that I can keep one on the big lens and use a second one on the zoom, macro or wide angle...

So my question is, do those of you who already have 2 bodies find that you really do use both of them? Will I find this as useful as I think it will be, or would I be better off saving my money?

postcardcv said:

...I use a 500 lens for most of my bird photography but find that the close focus (4m) can be limiting, so I also carry a 100-300 zoom. I often find that just after I've switched the camera onto the zoom, something shows further away and I either miss the shot or rush to get the camera back on the big lens. I've been thinking that it would be good to have a second body so that I can keep one on the big lens and use a second one on the zoom, macro or wide angle...

So my question is, do those of you who already have 2 bodies find that you really do use both of them? Will I find this as useful as I think it will be, or would I be better off saving my money?

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In my film days I always carried two cameras, but generally in order to have two different types of film. Depends upon what make of camera, but if Canon, the 350D body hardly weighs anything. Alternatively, get a good shoot and point zoom camera for the landscapes etc, etc. My wife has such a seven megapixel camera which works fine.

Take care - ther be dragons!

After I bought my 20D, I soon found that swapping lenses all the time was a complete pain (just as you have found, Postcardcv), yet after the substantial increase in speed, flexibility, and above all picture quality the SLR brought over the P&S cameras, I wasn't really happy to go back to the 4500s or even the A95.

So I bought a second 20D. I wouldn't go back to one camera again in a blue fit. It is a mile better than buggerising about getting dust into the system and missing good shots. Yep: go for it.

One problem. Especially since I added a 500 to my 100-400, I often want a third body. Luckily, I haven't figured out a sensible way to carry all that gear yet, so I've restrained myself.

The (only mildly insane) two-camera setup works like this: big lens on one body (usually the 500, sometimes the 100-400 if I need close focus more than I need reach and f4), this one held in my hand or on the strap. The second body lives in a Lowepro Specialist 85 bag (superb bit of kit) that has a combo waist belt and shoulder strap, which sounds weird but works really, really well, and is easier to carry a decent weight in than a belt pack, a shoulder bag, or a back pack. On the second body I'll have the 10-22, the 18-55, or the 60mm macro, plus the other two smallish lenses, a 1.4TC, a 12mm close-up tube, and various odds and ends such as lens cleaning gear and an angle finder.

I can walk around comfortably, reach any bit of gear easily enough, and be ready at short notice for whatever comes along - be that bird or stunning landscape or tiny wildflower.

There are still improvements to be made, nevertheless.

First up, I want to figure out a way to carry the 100-400 without buggerising about reversing the lens hood. (I don't like not having it handy, no doubt for the same reason you don't like not having your 100-300 around.)

Second, though I can hand-hold the 500 well enough, and am finding that hand-holding is the way to go for most passerines, there is nothing quite like that absolute clarity you get by putting the big 500 on a tripod - yes, even when the light is perfect. So I want to figure a way to cary a tripod easily, so that it doesn't get in the way and yet I can get at it readily when required. Some kind of backstrap harness, I guess.

Third, I need to take Charles Atlas lessons so that I can carry all that gear around without feeling like I've escaped from a train wreck afterwards, and maybe wear snowshoes so that my feet stop sinking six inches into the ground with every step!

I'd dearly love to have a third body so as to avoid constantly swapping between macro and wide-angle lenses (I hate dust!), but I just can't see how that is going to be practical.

The long and the short of it, Postie, is yes, a second body is a very real improvement. Go fo it!

postcardcv said:

...I use a 500 lens for most of my bird photography but find that the close focus (4m) can be limiting, so I also carry a 100-300 zoom. I often find that just after I've switched the camera onto the zoom, something shows further away and I either miss the shot or rush to get the camera back on the big lens. I've been thinking that it would be good to have a second body so that I can keep one on the big lens and use a second one on the zoom, macro or wide angle...

So my question is, do those of you who already have 2 bodies find that you really do use both of them? Will I find this as useful as I think it will be, or would I be better off saving my money?

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Try one of the new high megapixel superzooms?. I had a look at Canon S2 IS this morning, only 5MP though!.

Hi postcardcv

This is a tough one. With my bird photography I rarely wish I had less magnification and closer focus than my 500mm offers, its usually a case of whether I have a 1.4x or 2x converter!
However I reckon in your shoes I'd be sharing your frustrations, and if possible would get a 2nd body - prices of 20Ds seem to be very reasonable at the moment...

Regards

Keith

If I were you, I'd go for it and get a second 350D. That way you have complete familiarity with the camera whatever the lens.

Certainly go for a second body, you won't regret it (apart, of course, from the time when you have to lug your gear for miles).

mcapper said:

If I were you, I'd go for it and get a second 350D. That way you have complete familiarity with the camera whatever the lens.

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Agree with mcapper. Trouble is, how do your tele converters fit into all of this? Maybe you'll have to do a bit of "buggerising" with them and your 500mm once in a while :eek!:

Postcardcv,

Your right, it is nice to have two camera bodies with different lenses for quick switches. However, when I'm in the field with my 600mm, the weight of the system is a real limiting factor for what other gear I can carry and quickly access. I keep a 100-400mm on a second body in my backpack, but its hard to get out quickly.

To get the birds inside the long lens close focus distance, I add a 12mm or 25mm extension tube to reduce the close focus limit. Thes tubes are light and can be changed quickly.

Well I got offered a very good deal on a 350D so have taken the plunge and now have two bodies... So far I'm glad that I did, it seems to be working well and the extra ~500g in the camera bag hasn't really noticed.