choice of backup camera

[rdm]

<p>I guess my backup would be my Kodak Signet 40 wit 400 speed film. I know its not the sharpest or highest quality camera i could use; But its always in my car encase i don't have a camera or something goes wrong with the camera i have with me and I never have to worry about the batteries being dead.</p>

<p>Funny you mentioned backup tho. Last week i joined my brother for a conference he went to last week in upstate NY. We left on Wednesday and came back on Saturday . I took along my Minolta x700 and bag with lenses and flash, and 3 rolls of B&W film. I figured on getting allot of shooting in while i was up there in Oswego. So when we were about to pass through Syracuse I figured i should load the camera in-case i see a photo opportunity. However as i was loading the film i discovered the camera was not working anymore . I could not fired the shutter and advance the the film sprocket. The batteries are fine and the light meter works. It just was not working.<br /> Unfortunately it was a rental car so i didn't have my Signet tucked away in it. But my brother did pick up the mail for me b4 we left and it included a box with one Bilora Bella<strong>, </strong>127 film camera that i bought off the bay. It takes 4x6 images on 127 roll film. It came with a vintage unopened roll of film (exp.1983). I ended up trying it out , and taking 8 shots while up there . SO i will see how it all turned out.</p>

[markdeneen]

<p>My <em>always carry</em> is now the Nikon 35Ti. It fits nicely in my fanny pack thing where I have my wallet. When I go shooting, I usually use 2 cameras as primary, and then I grab a really small camera as a kind of backup. That small backup has variously been a QL17, a AF35ML, and now very often I grab the Oly XA. Man, I love that XA!</p>

<p>So, I guess that means I usually have four cameras on any outing. But since the primaries are usually RFs and the other two are small, it's not a huge load to lug around. I'd rather have cameras with different lenses already mounted than trying to change lenses on the street. So, I usually have one RF with a 28mm or 35mm, and one with a 75mm or 90mm. I always carry spare batteries too for each camera.</p>

[red_buckner]

<p>Mark, that Nikon 35Ti is one heck of a backup. Is the lens as wonderful as I hear? </p>

[markdeneen]

<blockquote>

<p>Mark, that Nikon 35Ti is one heck of a backup. Is the lens as wonderful as I hear?</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>Red--<br>

I am not an expert on evaluating lenses, really. But I think it takes really fabulous pictures, and I like the feel of it, and the operation and the ergonomics. It's such a neat little toy. I could easily use it as a primary camera, and I have several times.</p><div></div>

[chuck_foreman1]

I always planned "the back-up" when I started in the early 80s. I had an SLR FX-2 and its back up was a Lynx 5000 and for MF I had a Yashica D and it's back-up was a Argus 40. That was the plan and the rationale! Now I've got too many "back-ups" :)

I guess in real life .. my go-to, or rather emergency was the Yashica T3 Super w/2.8. It almost always delivered the goods for those B-Days and family gatherings etc. For me though, I love shooting classics and instead of a backup I usually have both a 35 and a MF camera..but that's for me! Not really backup, just insurance that I have enough camera and film!!

 

The security stories take me back to 1985? I was working and I flew into the Denver area. My job was to test Cellular Radio coverage so I rented my car, and set up my equipment, a computer, a Loran C receiver, a cellular radio rcvr, (no handset) and a big Inverter to run the PC in the car. Besides my SLR I had my favorite travel camera then, the Zeiss/Voigtlander Vitessa 1000 loaded with slide film! I looked at the map as I drove out from airport and saw a major road headed west with lots of opposing traffic and So I took this road. Well I didn't know it then, but this was to Martin Marietta facility and it dead ends there! Once I got there and realized this, I stopped and the building was kind of interesting and the sun was shining nicely. I turned the vehicle around and got out of the car and started taking some pictures of the building. I shot about two or three and as I got back in the car suddenly three guys came out of nowhere one blocked the car another pulled a weapon and I about pissed my pants... One was talking on a radio and two more guys came around the side of the building and a security vehicle came around from the right side driveway! Well I was shaking so hard while I explained everything.I expected a long drawn out interrogation with lots of questions. I immediately offered them my film and that seemed to satisfy them.They eyed my SLR, but it wasn't even loaded which I readily demonstrated. They accepted my true story about all the equipment which truly surprised me and I was soon speeding back to the Interstate. About 2 weeks later I got my film unmounted returned but no photos of the Martin Marietta Facility! Oh well!

[Mike Gammill]

Several backups: for shirt or pants pocket an Olympus XA or XA-2. Larger pocket or belt case Rollei 35 or Rollei B35 or

Konica C35V or Olympus 35RC. In rain I step outside the classic zone with my Stylus Epic.

[tom_price1]

<p>I keep a Minolta Hi-Matic AF-2 in my backpack/briefcase. The 38mm f2.8 lens on this thing is fantastically sharp. The primitive autofocus works quite well, too. I got it at a local flea market for $2.</p>

[dennis_w3]

<p>Olympus 35RD. Tiny body, fast lens, great automation, fast street shooter. It's always either in my car or pack.</p>

[Mike Gammill]

<p>Here's a quick example: On the 31st I climbed onto the roof of my house to cover the two turbine vents. My stepladder is a bit short so I have to literally climb onto the edge so a big camera is not a good idea. Either an XA-2 or Stylus Epic in my pocket. For this one (since it was starting to rain) I chose the Stylus Epic.</p><div></div>

[cj8281]

<blockquote>

<p>Minolta x700. However as i was loading the film i discovered the camera was not working anymore . I could not fired the shutter and advance the the film sprocket. The batteries are fine and the light meter works. It just was not working.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>The dreaded Minolta dead capacitor. There is a capacitor that goes bad on those under the bottom plate something like a 4v 220mf. It is in the shutter circuit, the later Minoltas use an electromagnet to fire the shutter.</p>

[jeff_guthrie]

<p>Luckily I haven't had to use a backup camera, and in any case I usually carry three cameras in my bag. I mainly use an M6 with a 50mm DR Summicron, the others are an M4 with a 35mm Summaron, and a Yashica CCN. The M6 is used for most of my shots, I grab the M4 when I want a wider field-of-view (grabbing another camera is faster than swapping lenses). The CCN is my go-to camera for low light shots and indoor photography. I just added a small digital to my bag, a Lumix DMC-LX5, and I am having fun with it.</p>

<p>My Canon bag has an old F1n, and I carry also a FTb. I use only 2 lenses on these cameras, a 20/2.8 wide angle, and the wonderful 35/2 concave. Both cameras are incredibly reliable, and, once again, I carry two because swapping cameras is easier than swapping lenses. This makes for a heavy bag, but carrying it is good exercise.</p>

<p>I also have a Canon rangefinder kit with 2 bodies, both cameras are Canon 7 models, one black and the other silver (much like my Canon FD kit above). One is mounted with the 50/.095, and the other wears an early Idustar 22. I have been carrying this kit this week, and it is sitting on the chair next to my desk as I write. I sometimes use a 15mm Voigtlander SWH lens with these cameras, it's good for tight spots and narrow alleys.</p>

[alex macphee]

<p>My backup camera for years has been my 35RC. There are faster lenses in the Olympus 35 range than the RC's f/2.8, but few are as mechanically reliable as the RC. A backup camera has to have, in my view, a lens of high performance, else what's it backing up?, and the five element Zuiko on the 35 does the job. There's always room for it in a bag or a pocket, and it's light enough to hang round your neck without you feeling it's even there. It's only slight irk is that it uses a relatively uncommon 43.5mm filter size, and though I have some, I rarely use them anyway.</p>

[robert_marvin]

<p>I'm planning a trip to the Balkans in the Spring. My plan is to use my Rolleiflex 2.8E as my main camera with an Iskra as the backup. The problem is that the manual shutter cocking of the Iskra, combined with double exposure prevention, drives me crazy. I had the camera CLAed by Eddie Smolov and it works fine, BUT, if you try to release the shutter without cocking it first you can't cock it again and release it on that frame. BTW, I don't want to take a 35 mm camera as a backup. The Iskra is the only MF camera I have that's smaller than my Rollei.</p>

[User_4136860]

<p>My pocket camera is a Minox 35GT.</p>

[Andy Collins]

<p>On most occasions I have my dslr and a film slr with me but my Canon G12 (G11 prior to buying the G12) is always in my bag as a backup for (this week) my Canon 7D and Pentax LX or Canon EF. Over the last week I've gone out walking with my LX or EF with the G12 for backup, leaving the dslr in the house.</p>

[astral]

<p>When I feel the need to have a 'modern' backup <em>to a classic camera</em> it's a Mamiya 645. Conversely, If I go out principally with a 'serious' modern camera my usual <em>classic backup </em>camera is something very small like my Leica II & Elmar. Naturally the backup to the backup camera is always some sort of digital thingy.</p>

 

[jodys]

<p>My Rolleiflex MX-EVS has only been inside the house twice, and one of those times was when it came in the mail. The other, I was trying to fit an anamorphic lens to it.</p>

[cj8281]

<p>Really, only twice? What did it do wrong? It didn't pee on the floor or anything like that did it? Maybe I should be careful letting Rollies in. My wonderful Yashicas have never done anything like that. </p>