There has been recently a thread of messages in relation to optimise the amount of gear. Following this thread I drop the following question:

Are body camera backups advisable when travelling?

I am not thinking of professionals, I am thinking of the average traveller or backpacker for who weight is always an issue. How likely is to have to use a backup body when one is carrying a reliable system (whichever brand it is)? I know that accidents can happen any moment but for the same reason do you carry two pen-knifes or two tents or two stoves…

I am a trekker and I have only needed a body camera backup once when I fell to the sea and in that occasion a second camera had meant a second soaked camera in my rucksack. I learnt the lesson and now if I am close to water I carry the camera in a small canoe-bag but I do not carry a second body because of the weight. Next time I break the camera while travelling, bad luck!, and I will enjoy the rest of the trip.

Kind regards

-- Javier (j_perezbarberia@hotmail.com), May 21, 2001

Answers

I like to at least carry a quality point and shoot as a back up, something like a Rollei Prego or similar camera with a good lens on it. That way, if your main rig bites the dust for any reason, at least you can still get some decent photos.

-- Andrew schank (aschank@flash.net), May 21, 2001.

For my system, a spare body weighs 560g, costs maybe $250. I'm miles and many hours from home, on a trip that will be hard to repeat. Yep. I take a back-up. But, it depends on the purpose of your trip and your experience with your camera gear. Colin Fletcher's "The Complete Walker" has a nice short essay on "The delight of non-photography." When friends and I were shooting every inch of Eastern Idaho in the '70s, we eventually worked down to the phrase, "when you've seen one scenic wonder, you've seen them all."

-- Joe Brugger (jbrugger@pcez.com), May 21, 2001.

Backup or not, depends on how serious you are about photography and how devastated you'd be to come home image-less. In my case, I'd be sick to death. If you're travelling in "civilzation" then you can always buy a camera/lens somewhere. I have so much stuff that I'd feel like a total idiot having to buy more gear (at top dollar and probably not the gear I want)en route, so I always carry backup of some sort.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), May 21, 2001.

Back up does not necessarily mean another identical body.

You can get a a made in Japan Leica Minilux, a Contax T2/T3 or similar camera as backup.

Or a Minox GT-E (genuine "Made in Germany") camera which weights only 200 g, put in a ziplock bag, even your backpack is soaked, the camera will be dry.

-- martin tai (martin.tai@capcanada.com), May 21, 2001.

If it is a family "fun" trip, usually one body suffices 'cause I can buy a disposable if need be... If I am going to be doing any serious photography, you can bet I'll have at least two bodies with me, and perhaps even some back-up lenses!

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), May 22, 2001.

Probably an appropriate story: About a month ago, I went to Spain for a week. I thought long and hard about which of my (too many) cameras to take, and decided on my Nikon FE2, because of its reliability in long use, amoung other things. (Yeah, I know, it's a Leica thread, but whatever. I'll defend my choice if anybody cares.) I had the camera CLA'd and thought I'd done everything right. Then, 18 hours into the trip, in the darkest corner of the Toledo cathedral, the wind lever fell off. Wasn't even using the camera at the time, just carrying it. The (black plastic) retaining screw disappeared under the feet of a thousand tourists.

As an afterthought, I had stuck a Contax G2, with just the normal lens, in a shoe in my suitcase (I have pretty big feet.) So I shot the whole trip with that.

(For those who are interested in the Leica/Contax debate, the results were superb. 20 rolls of Velvia without a single focusing error, exposures right on, sharpness and contrast noticably better than the Nikon. I can't say it's as good as my Leica M's, but there's not a single shot that would have been better if it was sharper. Does that make any sense? There WERE a number of shots that would have been better if I were a better photographer. :(

Anyhow, camera kharma being what it is, I would have to say that if you can't repeat the shoot, you'd better bring a back-up. Be well,

-- Scott Paris (asparis@ix/netcom.com), June 02, 2001.