Back-up camera to 1Dx

<p>Am kind of in a luxury ( happy ) position. I just got a new 1Dx at a great deal. I have a 1Ds Mark III and a 1D Mark IV. So I wonder what to do. Sell both and maybe go for a 5D Mark III as a back-up or just keep either the 1D Mark IV or the Ds Mark III.<br>

What would you do.</p>

<p>Thanks for your input. Appreciated.</p>

<p>Wim</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Depends on what you're shooting. If you're using super-telephoto lenses to shoot professional sports, birds in flight and wildlife, then the 1D4 will be superior, because it has the battery voltage to handle AF on the big lenses with TCs attached.</p>

<p>OTOH, if you're shooting landscapes, portraits and travel, then the 5D MkIII offers higher pixel-density in a sleeker form factor. I don't really see the advantage of keeping the 1Ds, once you've got the 1D X in the arsenal. </p>

<p>If you don't need to sell immediately, why not keep both for a while to see which one that you pick up the most? Also, borrow a 5D3 from Canon Professional Services to see how it fits your wants and needs.</p>

<p>I'd sit back and enjoy my problem. After that, the 5DIII starts looking pretty good.</p>

<p>Excuse my frustration, but if you own those 3 cameras and you really don't know what model of camera would be the ideal backup to a 1DX then you should sell all of them and buy a budget DSLR. </p>

<p>Hmmmm... Well, the rarified air makes me a bit woozy. I'd like to have any of these fine cameras. However, I'll give you a serious response: For a backup, I'd maintain a dual format system. If I were you, I'd just sell the 1DsIII and call it good. Having two formats lets you leverage your lens collection for more uses. Put another way, you don't NEED a backup to be of the same format as your primary camera. All you need for a backup is a functioning camera. So why not make your collection more diverse?</p>

<p>Hmmmm, I'd have to say Sarah is absolutely right - for casual use. The case isn't so simple for professional use though, where managing your output is an important aspect of your equipment's capabilities (including your backup), and ensuring your output's quality is your priority. Also, differing formats in fast and stressful shooting situations can easily lead to mental errors - which can easily cause disasters. Slapping the 16-35 (for example) onto a crop instead of your FF camera can be a disastrous mistake, and easy enough to do. </p>

<p>However, since (in this case) The 1Dx, and the 1D4 share a battery format (LP-e4) while the 1Ds is the odd man out, splitting your format improves your backup capability by increasing redundancy, additionally, the 1Dx's shooting performance is much closer to that of your 1D4 than your 1Ds (3Fps), and the difference in format is not huge (in this case). The answer is pretty evident to me, I'd stick w/ the 1D4 and 1Dx. (noting that I own neither ;) )</p>

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<p><a href="/photodb/user?user_id=2290293">Jamie Robertson</a><a href="/member-status-icons"><img title="Frequent poster" src="/v3graphics/member-status-icons/1roll.gif" alt="" /></a>, Feb 04, 2014; 04:32 p.m.</p>

 

<p>Excuse my frustration, but if you own those 3 cameras and you really don't know what model of camera would be the ideal backup to a 1DX then you should sell all of them and buy a budget DSLR.</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>This reminds me of the answer to someone thinking of the best way to carry a caseful of equipment on an airline- that he'd seen his work and advised him to leave his gear and his pretensions at home.<br>

I don't know how "psychic" we are supposed to be on such an issue, I really don't. I think the questioner has betrayed a non-professional outlook in not requiring a 100% like-for-like backup. So keep the 1D IV then...</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I think the questioner has betrayed a non-professional outlook in not requiring a 100% like-for-like backup</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>Huh?</p>

<p>^^^ ... sort of my reaction. Maybe it depends on what sort of pro you are. If you're photographing weddings, then yeah, I can see the use of like-for-like. However, if you're like me (a pro with a very sleepy business who doesn't want to take on the heartburn/anxiety of weddings), you simply need to be up and shooting if a piece of equipment fails you when you've made some commitment.</p>

<p>To me there's a lot of utility to a backup strategy that is intentionally very NON-like-for-like in almost every possible sense. I don't back up my primary L lenses with the same L lenses. Rather, I have a first-tier and a second-tier collection of lenses. The second-tier lenses are quite good, but not "fine" lenses. They are often lighter or smaller -- great for hikes -- and they are cheap enough that I don't worry as much carrying them into risky situations.</p>

<p>The only redundancy I maintain is that my cameras share the same batteries and CF cards, and all of my lenses (except that one very cheap/small/light 18-55IS) are full frame (EF), so I can share everything between my FF and crop bodies. Battery and card compatibility will change when I make my next big upgrade to a 6D. (Yeah, I realize I'm the poor cousin here.)</p>

<p>Anyway, I just wanted to debunk the myth that all pros use 100% like-for-like backups. Far too many pros can't justify this sort of expense. If you're high enough on the food chain to be shooting models for Vogue, then sure, yeah, I guess you'd have all your gear in triplicate -- and nothing less than the very best. And if you're shooting weddings, then sure, you might want that 100% like-for-like redundancy, as Marcus points out. However if all you're peddling is fine art, then you don't even need backups, and there's all sorts of gradation in between.</p>

<p>And there's also a myth that pros have the very best, top-shelf gear. Although some, top-of-the-food-chain pros probably have the latest and greatest, most do not. That's more for wealthy hobbyists. Pro photographers aren't generally all that wealthy. The only thing the questioner has betrayed/volunteered is that he's wealthy, probably not scratching out a meager living from photography. (Yes, I know some photogs are insanely weathy too. Please don't remind me.)</p>

<p>OH, and FAIW, in four decades of shooting, I don't think I've ever had any piece of equipment completely fail on me without considerable advanced warning, with the exception of flash equipment (for which I have ample like-for-like redundancy). I've had backup gear for all but 1 of these years (in the beginning) and have never had to use it (exception, flash). YMMV, of course...</p>

<p>In a nearby thread, one of the pros on his way to the Sochi Olympics shared his kit, which included 3 1D X bodies and a 5D MkIII body. Those are both full-frame bodies, but very different animals. They use the same cards, but different batteries. Most sports photographers carry two bodies when shooting, each with a different lens, such as a super-telephoto on one body and a 70-200mm or 200-400mm on another body.</p>

<p>With the three 1D X, I suspect that two are his regular shooters and one is back up and he probably rotates them. The 5D MkIII is probably there for landscape and street style, but then the 1D X comes out after dark for street shooting (if he does any of that at all).</p>

<p>To the OP, I'd sell the 1Ds and stick with the MkIV and X. I don't think you'll gain that much from the 5D MkIII, unless you do a lot of landscape and portrait work, where the higher pixel density might provide higher resolution.</p>

<p>1dx (B&H new $6800), 1ds3 (Keh exc+ $2370), and a 1d iv (Keh exc $3249)</p>

<p>Canon 10d (Keh exc $84) . My backup camera</p>

<p> </p>

<p>LOL! Mine is a 40D. It's an oldie, but goodie. I upgraded my backup from a 10D to the 40D long ago. I think I sold the 10D for $300 and bought a refurb 40D for $600. I have to say, though, that the 10D was a great camera, even at 6.3 MP. Part of my nonredundancy strategy was to get a crop camera with a high frame rate to complement my low-frame-rate FF body.</p>

<p>Didn't expect to set anyone off, but you need what you need. If what you need is a camera that uses 24-105 at a true wideangle, or if you need up to 10fps, then you don't have a true backup in an APS-C camera. It doesn't do the same thing and it will not allow you to carry on working as before. I'm used to seeing people with 2x D3 and maybe a D700 too, which does much the same. But they are usually agency-supplied. Bringing a 1DS III along with a 1DIV for example, would be bringing a <em>complementary</em> camera rather than an ideal backup because the former is a workhorse for a portrait studio and the other is ideal for sports. Hope I've made myself clear.</p>

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<p>"Excuse my frustration, but if you own those 3 cameras and you really don't know what model of camera would be the ideal backup to a 1DX then you should sell all of them and buy a budget DSLR."</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I was tempted to write something similar.<br>

<br>

When you write "back-up camera," you could mean any of several things:</p>

<ul>

<li>You want a camera on hand in case your primary camera has a functional problem and you cannot use it. This happens so rarely that typical photographers won't invest a ton of money in getting a high quality camera as a backup. Here a fine backup could be one of your older cameras that you have lying around, a low-end cropped sensor body in the "Rebel" lineup, perhaps the old 5D, a decent mirrorless camera, or even a high-end point and shoot. The idea is to not be left unable to make any photographs, but since the odds are low that you'll actually encounter this problem you don't want to invest in or carry a bunch of expensive and bulky gear.</li>

<li>Your work is so critical and you are shooting once-in-a-lifetime subjects in very inaccessible places and perhaps going there to work in some isolation for an extended time, in which case you might well bring a better quality secondary system, along with other duplicate gear. But then again, if you are in such a place, you might not be able to realistically carry all of that gear.</li>

<li>You do very diverse photography, and when you do each type you must work at the highest level of specialized camera performance because without doing so you will not be able to make the photographs. One day you are on the NFL sidelines with a pass shooting sports photography. A few days later you fly to Antartica on assignment for the National Geographic. (Not likely, right?) Here you might own/rent/borrow specialized equipment and use different stuff for each assignment, so your "backup camera" actually becomes your primarily and your primarily becomes your backup.</li>

<li>You have reason to shoot with two bodies at a time, with different lenses on each. Perhaps you are shooting sports again, with one wide angle equipped body and one tele equipped body. Here you might want your primary and backup to be the same.</li>

<li>You like collecting cameras because if feels so good to own lots of camera bodies and just because you can. Get whatever floats your boat.</li>

</ul>

<p>Dan</p>