Why more than one camera?

[TimBrandt]

I was wondering why some people have more than one dSLR? I just read at post where one had 6 dSLR's, including 3 of the same ones. I get it that you might want one that is good one thing, and another that is good at another thing. But 6 cameras, and 3 of the same. Why?

 

[Leejay Wu]

Three reasons come to mind.

One is that a professional will want a backup camera just in case his main camera decides to quit working during a job. Bad for the client relationship if everything goes fubar during the event one's covering.

A second is that if you're going to be switching shot types and speed is critical, it may be reasonable to have multiple bodies with different lenses attached to them. This gets expensive and heavy, but people do it anyway. For a fairly extreme example, see
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1021&message=10352147

This might also apply if you're shooting in environments where switching lenses is an extremely bad idea.

A third is that not everybody sells old gear when they get new equipment. This doesn't really hold for the identical-camera cases, but it does apply to some frequent upgraders.

 

[floyd77]

I fully agree your opinion.
Floyd77.

 

[Johanfoto]

I have a Canon EOS 1Ds MkII and a Canon EOS 5D for exactly the two reasons you mention: The 5D is my backup camera and the camera with another lens in situations where switching lenses is not an option (because of dust, or because it's too slow). It's a matter of time before I buy my third DSLR. I don't expect to ever use six DSLR bodies, but there may become a time when I own six bodies. I did own something like that in the analog days.
--
Johan
http://www.johanfoto.com

 

[Lin Evans]

Different cameras for different purposes. For example, I use a Sigma SD10 and a Nikon D2X for wildlife. I frequently keep a long telephoto on the Nikon and a shorter telephoto on the Sigma. If you have ever had a great shot opportunity come along while you had a 500mm lens installed which required a 100 or 200 then you might realize how frustrating it is to loose that shot because your subject doesn't sit still why you fumble around changing lenses.

Then there is the full frame/crop factor issue. For wildlife I use crop factor cameras for the greater telephoto FOV with less glass. For portraits or landscapes I sometimes prefer full frame.

What if you want to shoot at 6000mm? Unless you own Canon, Inc., and can afford a 1200 F5 ($80,000 +) with a 1.4x tele converter attached you are limited with an SLR to around 800mm (Sigma 300-800) and 1.4x tele gets you an effective 1792mm with a 1.6x crop camera such as a Canon 30D/20D/D30/D60/DR, etc. That's a bit short for extreme birding at digiscoping focal lengths. So you may want a Nikon CP990 with a Swarovski HD80 attached, or a Meade ETX-90 to shoot at 6000mm. Can't do this with any SLR or dSLR.....

There are many reasons for having multiple cameras.

Lin

I was wondering why some people have more than one dSLR? I just
read at post where one had 6 dSLR's, including 3 of the same ones.
I get it that you might want one that is good one thing, and
another that is good at another thing. But 6 cameras, and 3 of the
same. Why?

 

[TimBrandt]

Cool. Thanks you guys That answers my question. Now I think a whole bunch of people, is a lot less strange

 

[Wayne Larmon]

A second is that if you're going to be switching shot types and
speed is critical, it may be reasonable to have multiple bodies
with different lenses attached to them. This gets expensive and
heavy, but people do it anyway. For a fairly extreme example, see
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1021&message=10352147

This might also apply if you're shooting in environments where
switching lenses is an extremely bad idea.

Ah, Alex Jackson. I remember this thread. See these posts (from his former assistant) for more about him:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1021&message=10369537
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1021&message=10381831

Mr. Jackson's photography studio site

http://www.x2digital.cc/index.htm

Wayne