A story...What are the odds (or a reason to keep old cameras)

[david_gard]

The Story...I am shooting an evening of boxing in Atlantic City 3 weeks ago.

Big HBO boxing night. Right before the big, final championship bout, my MkIIn

dies. YIKES! So, I get to shoot the big event with a 20D. The images turned out

ok, but was I stressed out. The 20D performed well, but what a time for my

front line camera to quit. The MkIIn is still at CPS.

Yesterday, my 20D freaks out at a cross country assignment. What are the odds

of this? Two busted cameras at one time. I had a borrowed and beaten MkII to

switch to, but when I return the MkII today, I will be left with my 10D as my

only functioning dslr.

Now the 10D is a fine camera as a "keep in trunk" rescue camera, but I don't

want to rely on it as my daily user while I wait to get the busted cameras back

from CPS. But I keep it around, in my trunk, because it is worth very little to

someone else in trade or sale, but it is worth very much to me as a save-my-

butt rescue camera.

The Moral...I read on this and other forums of folks trading in their older

cameras to buy new ones and I always think to myself "how much are you really

going to get for your older camera, especially in trade". Keep it if you can

afford to. I know that not all folks can afford to keep a stable of cameras

lying around, but my recent luck has shown me that one backup camera, or two if

you make a living as a photographer, can come in very handy.

Now, I'm off to drop the 20D at CPS and to look at a 40D. And to find my old

EOS 1 and a few rolls of film to throw in the trunk for a couple of weeks. With

luck like mine, I may need it.

[denisbergeron]

I always keep my older camera, even my films camera. I buy them between 2k$ & 3k$ and now I can sold them 500$ ouch!<br>

Keep one, turn the other one as a IR+visible camera. <br> If one die tomorrow, I can continue to take picture.

[alfred_maragh]

I agree fully. There is often little to gain by selling your older used cameras. The sale price is so low that it more trouble to find a buyer than just leave it in the cupboard.

Back up cameras are critical especially for a professional who must shoot to feed himself. Clients sometimes do not call you back if your equipment fails at a critical time during a once-in-a-lifetime event.

I have kept all the digital cameras I have ever bought. Only one film camera is kept from the original complement of seven. The other six were sold to suckers who refused to go digital in the early days. Can't find another sucker to take the last one so I kept it.

My cameras are kept and used to the point where there fall apart.

One of the problems with keeping too many cameras, especially digital, is that you have keep using them and keep checking and cleaning them. Often time your newer camera is better and so you hardly go back to using the older ones. Idle cameras go bad easily with dust, fungus and corrosion.

Maybe it is sometimes better to give the oldie to a relative or friend who will use it fully.

[steve santikarn]

you are a belt-and-suspender kind of guy, luckily you had your underpants on as well!

[marknagel]

I have one backup, which is usually my old camera. But I leap frog, my 5D is my main and my 20D was my BU, then I sold my 20D and bought a 40D. 40D still BU, but if you time it right, it pays off. I sold the 20D two weeks before the 40D arrived and still got $800 for it. So the upgrade (after selling kit lens) was only $250. Worth it for me. IF I waited I may not have got that price and it may not have been worth it.

 

I use the same logic with other things to like cars, bows, computers, etc.

 

m

[dana_swanson]

Hi Dave,

 

Wow what bad luck, I'm glad you had the backup. I was curious about your trunk camera. Does you car sit in hot and cold temperatures? I would love to have a lower end DSLR and lens in the trunk for those times when I say I wish I had a camera which can happen a great deal. I was always under the impression something may crack or be damaged by our cold winters and hot summers in Massachusetts.

 

How have other peoples trunk camera's held up?

 

Thanks!

 

Dana

[lee_shively]

I'm just amused that a 10D is referred to as an "old camera".

[anson_ko]

right now, I have 20D and 5D, 5D is the primary camera. Once 5D replacement comes out, 20D will be transformed into IR camera. it's always a good idea to keep a backup camera if you cannot afford stop taking pictures when the primary camera fails. Just like insurance...

[phule]

<<If one die tomorrow, I can continue to take picture.>>

 

I first read this as "If I die tomorrow, I can continue to take pictures" and thought to myself: "Well /there/ is one dedicated photographer..."

[david_gard]

Good question. When I say trunk, I mean the back of my super sexy minivan, so I crack windows on really hot days. I have never worried too much about the temperature of the 10D in the car. It lives in a bag with lenses, stobes and other misc. goodies I don't use on a daily basis. I probably should bring it in every night, but that would be one more bag to bring in. With laptop and lenses and lights and main cameras, I would be hauling stuff all night. As it is, I bring in 3 bags per night. I do not get called out on emergency photos too often, but, from time to time, I do need to be out the door in 5 minutes, so the fewer the bags to lug out to the van, the better. Besides, I usually need that 5 minutes to get pretty. I would like to know what temperature specs Canon designs their gear to. I would assume that heat is a bigger problem than cold. The inside of a car doesn't get that much colder than the outside, but a hot summer day makes for toasty cameras.

[William Michael]

I always keep a carboard box and a pin handy. . .

[dana_swanson]

David,

 

If you do use the 10D on occasion with no issues it sounds like it's done well in the minivan. I would think cold would be much worse on a camera than heat. Have you given the 10D a good workout after being the trunk camera?

 

When digiscoping on a cold day with my Nikon CP 8400 the lens motor made a noise that wasn't normal. I was shooting in 20F to 25F temps. I stuck to the manuals operational range after that.

 

One idea I had but have not done yet is purchase one of those digital temperature monitors for indoors/outdoors that has the feature to store the max temp recorded and minimum temp recorded. You could place the digital temperature monitor inside you camera bag and let the car sit for the day and then see what the max and min temp was in the bag.

 

I just downloaded the manuals to list the operational temperatures of the camera's you own and my D40. I don't know how storage temperature would differ from operational temp but I would guess it's close to the operational temp.

 

Here's the info from the manuals:

 

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

-Working temperature range: 0C-45C / 32F-113F

-Working humidity: 85% or less

 

Canon EOS 20D

-Working temperature range: 0C-40C / 32F-104F

-Working humidity: 85% or less

 

Canon EOS 10D

-Working temperature range: 0C-40C / 32F-104F

-Working humidity: 85% or less

 

Canon EOS 40D

-Working temperature range: 0C-40C / 32F-104F

-Working humidity: 85% or less

 

Nikon CP 8400:

0C-40C / 32F to 104F

 

See ya,

 

Dana