Cameras: main, spare, second

The main difference between a professional and an amateur is the ability to shoot and continue taking pictures in any situation.

There is no way for a professional to say “I forgot my memory card at home”, “Low battery”, or “Something happened to the camera”. Filming must continue. Show must go on!. For this, the pros have a spare or second camera.

I want to clarify:

  • The main camera is the camera that takes the whole picture.
  • A spare camera is a camera that only serves to replace the main camera. This camera does not shoot until the main camera is out of order.
  • First, second, third, etc. camera - cameras that can complement each other or work on a par.

Main camera

This is the workhorse that must plow every day. This is exactly the camera that you should get used to working with, hone its mastery of mastery. You need to know all the tricks, all the vagaries and all the intricacies of your main camera.

Key moment - the more often you work with the main camera, the more often you process pictures from it, the more graceful all actions become, the more thoughtful and harmonious the process of shooting and processing becomes.

Spare camera

The most painful point during the failure of photographic equipment is the breakdown of the camera. A damaged lens or peripheral can be easily survived. For example, in my photo bag I always have a different lens, a different memory card, a different battery, etc. In the event of a breakdown, shooting can almost always be continued, while the quality of the filmed material may not change at all. In the case of a camera failure, the situation changes dramatically.

For me, a spare camera is one that you only get out of your wardrobe trunk a few times a year. And it's better not to get such a camera at all.

Key moment: The backup camera can be any, but of the same system and type as the main camera. For example, if I am shooting on a Fuji mirrorless system, then the Fuji system mirrorless camera should also be a backup camera. It may be the cheapest camera.... The main task of the spare camera is to bring the photo to the end.

While working as a photographer and having several systems in the camera kit (Nikon DSLR, Canon DSLR, Sony ILCE), I ran into the problem of using a spare camera of another system is very inconvenient. If the main camera of a certain system fails at the shooting, then it will be very inconvenient for me to continue shooting using a camera of another system.

If you take the specifics, then a backup camera for my main camera Nikon D700 there was a camera Nikon D200. The reason is simple: both cameras use the same batteries, memory cards, peripheral devices (flashes, etc.) and have 80% related functionality. Over time, a lot of weight Nikon D200 I’m tired and I changed it to Nikon D80. Several times I even had to continue shooting on Nikon D40, while the customer did not feel the difference in the quality of the given material.

I recommend that the main and spare cameras be as compatible as possible for the components. Ideally, the replacement camera should be the same model as the main camera. Indicate your sets of main / spare camera in the comments.

Second camera

The second camera can simultaneously be a backup camera, but not vice versa. The second camera implies that the photographer periodically uses several cameras. Usually different cameras serve different tasks.

My favorite option when using two cameras with different lenses. Everyone knows that there are no lenses that are ideal for all types of shooting. Because of this, sometimes you have to acquire a whole collection;). Using different lenses on different cameras can significantly improve the quality and variety of images. True, only a few professionals use two cameras at a time.

I like to work in tandem with my colleague more - in the end we shoot with two cameras. Shooting alone with two cameras is not easy. If I shot with two cameras all the time, it would be two full-frame cameras with lenses 85 / 1.4 and 24 / 1.4.

For obvious reasons, I do not recommend making a “second” camera from a “spare” camera. For a long time I have been using the “1 main + 1 spare” method, but in the future I plan to switch to the “two cameras” methodology.

Thank you for attention. Arkady Shapoval.

PS Radozhiva updating, please do not flood / flame in the comments on the new domain.

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Add a comment: Vyacheslav

 

 

Comments: 96, on the topic: Cameras: main, spare, second

  • Oleg

    D700 + D90, although old, but much more can

  • Ed

    Canon 5d3 + 6d.

  • zengarden

    Some non-poor photographers carry 2 identical cameras with them, but with different fixed lenses (the principle of "one camera - one lens"), but this is acceptable only for the UPC, probably.
    But the second camera can use an advanced compact (the so-called "prosumer"), which not only in which case you can finish shooting, but also just carry around with you constantly.

    > Several times I even had to continue shooting with the Nikon D40, and the client didn’t feel the difference in the quality of the footage.

    It proves once again that a person shoots, not a camera :)

  • Tofik

    Nikon d610 (everyday) + d810 (if something big)

    • Arkady Shapoval

      It turns out: one daily / work and one "on the way out" :)

      • Yarkiya

        Not so, one is not a pity, and the second for show-offs.)

      • Tofig Babaev

        Like that))) while at work they did not give a full-time camera. All staff only through repair, so I have to plow my own (so more reliable)))) sometimes I dabble with the old Kropov ones, such as d300s or even d200. Great workhorses for outdoor shooting (due to low ISO)

  • Sashko

    Nikon D700 + Nikon D300s, although I haven’t yet been alone.

  • Lynx

    Amateur-166B and olympus-35RC

    • anonym

      But what about Fuji?

      • Lynx

        “No digital camera can match the warmth and grain of real film!” Bender S.R.

        • Bogdan

          I don’t remember for a long time, Aleksey Kushch Viktor Andriyovych Kazav, who has been robbing sasai from digital technology a long time ago :)

          • Lynx

            well, who is your jackpot and who is the great Bender!

            • Bogdan

              Bender will show up in 1000 years, and then - 40% will be stored from nonsense! :)
              Plus nevidomo, scho they have there with digital photography so that, as a planet, they’ve gotten a chance :)

              And Kushch - at once :)

  • anonym

    "The battery is irritated" - discharged, a small mistake, Arkady. but in the future I definitely plan to switch to the “two complementary cameras” shooting methodology. If possible, then, in short, what is meant by this term?

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Fixed. Yes, everything is simple - just filming with two cameras that complement each other.

  • Lynx

    In general, working with two identical or similar cameras is good for a reporter, without any "spare" ones, because simultaneous failure of both cameras is unlikely. Sobsno more or less noticeably earning weddings or reporters are carrying two identical FF carcasses. Well, sometimes - a second crop for a telephoto. So there is a "spare wheel", especially not needed, except perhaps some kind of "pocket" for backstages or "so as not to be fired."

    And a "spare wheel" for an artist, especially a studio worker ... well, of course, you can have two SF cameras, in case "one breaks down", for example, but somehow it’s expensive and unprofitable.
    And the "baby in the pocket" is still used for sighting and backstages.

  • Alexander

    Primary: Nikon Df
    Spare: Nikon F5 / FM3a / F3 - the film weighs very little (not counting the F5), and the quality is no worse

    • Dim

      The modern lens looks somehow wrong on Df, almost ugly or something.

      • Alexander

        It is not aesthetics, but how much it performs its function. It fits perfectly for my tasks

  • Mike

    The Nikon Df is a gorgeous second / backup camera as the case may be. Sometimes it lies idle at events where you can handle the main camera, and sometimes it gets out of the wardrobe trunk for filming in a restaurant, so as not to get so tired (lightweight ::)

  • Peter Sh.

    Main - D610
    Second and third - D200, Fuji S5pro
    Spare - D70s

  • THE

    The main one is D7100, the second is D3100, the spare is Kiev-19.

  • Eugene A

    Main d750, spare d810. Or vice versa. A completely spare d700 (sorry to sell). For light and not to attract attention - sony a6000.

  • Dim

    I am an amateur, but I have a "harness" for two cameras, recently I have not used it - it turns out too vain or something. I prefer to take one camera with me and one lens while trying to use this bundle for a week to get used to it. Recently I prefer to carry two or three flashes with me constantly.

    • Oleg

      Three flashes ... It's troublesome to prepare a scene, isn't it? And assistants, umbrellas / softboxes are needed

      • Dim

        Well, why, on my own coasters, I put them on benches, paths, garbage bins :) All three do not always succeed, and two can be spread out quickly, and the third spouse is in the hand if the child is photographed.

  • Oleg

    It would be interesting to know the failure rate of the main cameras on the set. Something seems to me that it is negligible for technically sound cameras with normal mileage :)

    • Anonymous # 2

      And if he still refuses? At least muzzle clean, as maximum condemn

      • Arkady Shapoval

        Recently, my d700 died at a wedding. The mirror stuck and did not stick during the general picture near the registry office. I understand that the picture is simple, but for the parents of a young couple is quite important. It took only a few seconds to get a spare camera from the backpack and ask to smile again. No one knew that the d700 was dead. Now under repair, rent a spare. The client should always feel comfortable and be confident in the professionalism of the photographer.

        • Anonymous # 2

          And if there were no spare bag?
          - Oh, excuse me, there will be no photos, let's take it tomorrow?

          • Arkady Shapoval

            I would have to call my colleagues, ask them to bring equipment in a hog to finish. I also had this :)

            • Anonymous # 2

              I can imagine how you felt while the boar was driving, and how the guests, young people, the manager / toastmaster / parents looked at you ... Epic fail

        • Oleg

          How long did the apparatus run before it got stuck?

          • pchel

            On my D700, the counter is more than 300000. There is also such a problem. Switching to LP and back is treated. The reason is the wear of the drive eccentric and a half-discharged non-original acc. There is a large internal resistance, the current is not enough. There is no problem on charged and on original accounts (even those that have shrunk).

            • Oleg

              abruptly

              • pchel

                I will add: recently it usually began to appear on the set of a series of frames, on the pulled trigger. On single, sometimes when the battery is already blinking.

              • Oleg

                And how many years (months) such a refuge?

              • pchel

                For six. The camera was with a professional, stood for five years on a tripod, connected to a computer. I took a year ago with a counter already over 300.

          • Arkady Shapoval

            Mine ran 330.000. The mirror sticks like an avalanche. As for the battery, pchel is right. But over time, the situation worsens and at one point the mirror no longer returns either by releasing the shutter again or by Live View.

            • pchel

              Thanks for the information. So soon to disassemble and edit the eccentric.

        • anonym

          How many frames were they shot at the time of the breakdown?

          • anonym

            Chukchi is not a reader - aha)

          • Arkady Shapoval

            330.000

  • Valery

    d700-Fuji S5pro-d90 no problem)

  • Den

    Main - Canon 100D
    The second is Zenit ET.
    There is no spare yet, but I am satisfied with this bunch.

  • Lera

    A replacement camera colleague with a kenon system. This tandem works great. This is not only a safety margin in technical terms, but also creative.

  • Andrei

    650D and 1100D -)

  • anonym

    D 7000 b D 200 ^) I have enough ...

  • Franz

    40d + 1000d ...

  • Stas

    Nikon d7100 is the main one; the nikon coolpix p7100 is spare, but the camera is a full day

  • Novel

    Canon 600D and 30d Meni whistachє with his head

  • Oleg

    Survey participants swaphotography? ;)

    • Valery A.

      Presumably, it’s worthwhile for an amateur to carry a spare tire with him. Unless to change the lenses.

      • Andrei

        It is so that the lenses do not change.
        I picked up dust in 4d in 1100 years. I wanted to take it to the service, but in Samara they take 2500 rubles for cleaning the crop, which is 50% of the cost of such a used one. carcasses. The toad strangled it and I followed the path of least resistance - I bought a 650d carcass for 25 tr before going on sale, and cleaned the 1100d matrix on occasion for 700 rubles in Moscow.

  • Yashenko

    The main Canon 6d, Second 5d mark II, most often a bunch of two lenses Sigma 35 1.4 and Canon 85 1.8.

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