Leaving second camera in vehicle

[vincedistefano]

I'm starting to wish I had kept my D70, instead of selling it when I purchased

my D80. Reason is, I find myself at least four or five times per month wishing I

had my camera with me on my various travels around the county, but of course

it's all packed up safely in my camera bag at home in-between uses.

 

If I had kept the D70, I could keep it with me as my "tote around" camera for

the occasional serendipitous opportunity. (I drive 65-100 miles a day and often

see some nice potential scenes, and also work in a small city that sometimes has

nice opportunities as well - and sometimes my employer has use for a few quick

photos).

 

So now I'm thinking of maybe getting a D40 with a basic lens, but my question

is: apart from concerns of theft (low concern), is there any issue with leaving

it mostly in my vehicle? We don't have extreme weather, and I mostly park

indoors (garage at home, underground parking garage at work).

 

I suppose I could bring it in from my truck every day, but with a briefcase,

laptop bag, and all the other accessories of my already over-complicated life,

that would get old fast.

 

I've tried using our basic point and shoot for this purpose, but once I went

down the road of SLR I find the results not too satisfactory.

[walter_morley]

It is always useful having one in your vehicle not least if you are involved in an accident and you think it is not your fault or for a 'newsworthy' event. If you get one with the same lens mount then you don't need to get another lens - and of course if your main camera breaks down you have a spare.You should not have a problem leaving it in the vehicle if your weather is normally benign but I suggest you take the battery out each night . Wally Morley

[m_.]

and just how difficult is it to keep your nicely packed camera bag at the doorway so that you can grab it before you head out of door? sounds like an excuse to me.

[diane_madura]

Vince, IMHO, I would never leave a camera in my car, but that's just me. But what I would suggest to you is to have an insurance rider on your camera. It's very inexpensive, and then you're covered for theft.

[steve_levine]

I own a small P&S Panasonic digital for this purpose. It is smaller than a pack of cigarettes, so it can be easily carried all the time.

[vincedistefano]

m - I understand what you're saying, but my "main" camera is my baby, and I use it a lot for paying jobs. I'm nervous about having that big investment with me all the time (three or four lenses, flash and batteries, etc).

 

And with two school age boys involved in school projects, Little League, etc. etc. and all the coats, hats, shoes, lunch boxes, backpacks, etc. it's actually very difficult to find a space in our foyer to park my gear. :-)

 

My main concern was environmental in terms of leaving my second camera in my Explorer.

[bwcombs]

I keep a disposable Fuji film camera in the center console of the truck. It's handy for those

spontaneous shots and emergencies.

[stevea]

A small point and shoot camera is good for "grab" shots on the run.

 

Leaving a camera in the car is a good idea if you are in a place that doesn't have hot weather. If it's 90 degrees outside, it is possible to have the temperature in the vehicle go up to 150 degrees.

 

Better yet, take your main camera with you for a while. If you seem to be getting a lot more good shots, keep doing it.

 

A back up camera is really not necessary unless you have more than one lens you want to use in a given shooting situation or you are a pro where you must deliver the pictures, guaranteed. I use two for birding. One has the long lens and one has a shorter lens. I switch constantly.

 

Steve Abramson

[at]

If you are set on keeping a dslr in the car I would try:

1) An old "igloo" hard sided lunch/picnic cooler.

2) Make it look ugly and old so no one will be tempted to bother with it.

3) Pad it as bet you can

4) Buy some cold packs, the kind that are in soft baggies. Not the ridig type. The purpose of the cold pack it to provide "thermal mass". They will heat up/cool down slowly which may help keep the

internal temp of the cooler somewhat stable (or at lease slow down the temp swings).

 

It can be done. Good luck.

Augie

[scot]

Consider an SLR holster. I have the same issues you have, and a holster makes carrying a camera along with all the work- related crap easy. (I use a Lowepro toploader, but there are many choices.)

 

scot steele

[oskar_ojala]

The only issues with keeping it in the car is theft and heat. In the summer, the car gets too hot in the sun. Conversely, a cold car in the winter will eat up your battery. Of course you can get around this by taking the camera with you when leaving the car in a potentially risky place.

[sampson]

Instant camera for emergencies? I'm trying to 'picture' some MacGuyver scene in my head whereby he needs to take the roll of film out of the camera to jerry-rig something, but the catch, unexposed film won't work, so he must find stunning landscape backdrops to expose otherwise the film will not have the proper light altering characteristics...

[r_johnston]

Ive always carried my camera everywhere since 1937, beginning with a vest pocket kodak, Leica,Rolli's, Nikon F, F2, etc, to my current D200. Not bringing a camera, would be like not bringing my right hand. Just make sure your auto insurance covers it, but even if I could not get insurance, it would be with me.

 

In all this time have only lost one camera, that was back in the 50's...Had multiple camera's, while using one, someone took one from the car. Never left it unlocked since then. Most of the time I keep them in the trunk, in a foam padded suitcase, in a cooler to help keep them out of the heat. Taking out what I need for my Bag, and locking the others.

[alec_myers]

Don't know the Nikon range at all, but a priority for me would be a camera that would run off dry alkaline cells. Because a pound to a penny the one time I wanted to use the camera I kept in the car would be the time I discovered that I hadn't taken it indoors recently enough and been bothered to charge the NiMH cells it used.

[gv]

I would not be inclined to leave any camera that I care about in my vehicle. In my rural

area I'm not as concerned about rip-offs as the extremes in temperature such a camera

would have to endure.

 

I have addressed the dilemma of having a suitable camera available most of the time by

getting a digicam that meets my imaging and size requirements. When I made my

purchase late last spring I settled on the discontinued Coolpix 8400. It met my primary

requirements regarding size and having a wide-angle capability without the use of an

adaptor lens. The 8400 has a 24-85mm 35mm film equivalent lens. At the wide end it is

a very respectible f2.6. It can shoot RAW, TIFF-RGB or JPEG images. It has a range of

automatic and manual configuration options. And it easily fits inside a very small shoulder

bag or fanny pack, so I am likely to take it everywhere with me.

 

It's primary limitations compared to a DSLR is the ISO 400 upper-end and, of course, the

noise in high-ISO images. But the noise in this case is reasonable and can be dealt with in

post-processing. The electronic viewfinder isn't so great, but it works and I can use the

LCD in conjunction with the EVF. And outside of "burst mode" the shot-to-shot and

writing-to-card times can seem to be glacial at times, but I'm not planning on shooting

sports with the 8400.

 

Ultimately, the pics made with the camera look really good and I haven't had to make any

deal-killer compromises to get the shot.

[mars790]

you sure have a lot of answers here. i'll add to them... i shoot with a D200 and some of

Nikon's best lenses. in New York, the extreme temps of winter/summer hamper me from

always having my camera in the car.

 

i really haven't used my D70 in the past year, since acquiring the D200 but i'm glad i have

it. unfortunately it only comes out on paid assignments for interior design work so i have a

backup. i sold my 18-70 lens but think i'll buy another and keep it on the D70 for the

same reasons you mentioned.

 

i was researching point and shoots for a long time and finally one stood out over the

others for my needs. i'll always be a Nikon guy for DSLR's but the Canon G7 is pretty much

at the top of the heap for p&s right now. you can find one for around $500 and it can

come with me if i go into Manhattan or be brought out of the car in extreme temps pretty

easily.

 

try out a G7 in a store. it has manual mode and offers a lot more

controlo than almost every point and shoot, has 10 MP and produces really nice images -

above my expectations. good luck.

[chromatic-aberration]

I have an old Olympus XA2 that lives in the glove box of my car, and a Panasonic FX-01 that I use as a pocket camera. Depending on your budget, you could always look at a larger P&S that would still fit in the briefcase and give you some of the benefits typically lacking in the dinkier models.

[rick_helmke]

I think the idea of a beat up cooler with a little foam padding inside is a good one. You drive an SUV I think you said so pick up a second body and leave it in the car. I do that with a film body most of the time while the daily use gear goes in and out each day, usually because I need to charge batteries. As for environmental concerns, the cooler will take care of most of those.

 

Rick H.

[dhgeyer]

I think leaving a second camera in the car is a great idea, given the lifestyle and conditions you describe. Rather than spring for a new D40, not that that's a bad option, you might think of a used D70, since it would be less expensive and you know the camera already. If something happened to it you wouldn't be as upset.

 

As another option, have you looked at some of the small "point and shoots" lately. I just bought my wife the latest Casio, and went through it so I could show her how to use it. No, it's not a DSLR, but it has pretty impressive capabilities. And it's very small. If you went that route, forget the car, just keep it in your pocket or your briefcase all the time! And, with a 2 gig SD card, that thing can take over half an hour of high quality, high definition, wide screen video with stereo sound.

[vincedistefano]

Wow, thanks for all the great responses everybody! Love this forum!