Can one camera body be enough to fit all your needs? and how has more than one body they use enough?

[spudhead]

Ok so having read loads of threads on here regarding new camera bodies and all the for and against chats , I think I may have just realised something. Having spent the weekend playing around with the 3 bodies I have and thinking long and hard about what I really use and need going forward I now realise I maybe do not need to have the fastest all singing all dancing next gen body do I? So If I accept that I may not buy the highest quality primes Sony offer now for my animal and bird shots, is the leap in image quality going to change for me that much beyond a big pixel bump and the options that gets me? I for sure do not use 2 of my 3 bodies much. So if I went with the a75r that gives me a huge pixel jump and screw drive through Lea-5 for the older a-mount glass, I rarely shoot high frame rate on the a9 anyway mostly low because burst rate is fine but all images are for sure are not equal in a burst, too many factors in play.
So I can go on but if you guys are being honest about where you are in your journey, would the highest spec Sony offerings make up for the glass you have to hand or may buy, and the limits of your experience now?
Please answer the second question regarding current bodies and are they used enough? Thanks guys

 

[iain clyne]

I am down to one body, two if I use the wife’s A6000 as a second body and so far have not missed not having another bodie to hand. Admittedly I have the A1 now that is such a good all round body.
I would miss the blackout free shooting of the A1/A9 if I went to any of the other Sony cameras. As for glass, if I went for any of the primes it would mean the weight would go up. I changed to Sony to get a lighter system.

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

For me the second body is insurance as much as anything.

If most of my shooting was done locally to my home then the insurance of a second back up camera
Becomes less important.

The above said however, I recently experienced an A9 ii failure and in submitting to Sony servicing their advised 2 weeks
Repair time ultimately Became 5-6 weeks and even though I didn't travel much during that time nevertheless
when out shooting I was nervous about using my A1 alone.....the a9 failure was a pure component failure and
not brought on by accidents or related damage and effectivelyundermined my trust in Sony equipment.

Bottom line, I absolutely feel 2 camera bodies are essential for serious photographers, travelling or not, based
upon my recent Experience.

As regards If I use 2 camera bodies....I certainly do even though there are obvious capability differences between
my A9 and A1 their performance for me is close enough to be able to use them equipped with alternate lenses
For different combinations of shots I expect to experience in the field(macro/long, short to medium etc etc)
whist at the same time limiting my lens carry to 2 lenses only.

This seems to work for me...

 

[iamdlewis]

I have an A1 and A7Riv. The A7Riv is still around mostly as the backup for photo specific travel (this week leaving on a trip and just taking the A1) where on those trips it has the wide lens attached for a quick landscape shot. I do use the A7Riv for my "studio" macro stuff because 61mp is larger than 50mp and I can just leave the camera there with the setup ready to go. The A7Riv will often be used for the times I head out to see if sunset will be any good.

 

[Unframed Dave]

3 for me. A lot of my photography is done while travelling, where weight is a major issue for me. This would be a case for apsc and a couple of lightweight lenses. A city break with hand luggage only would be a7c with one zoom, most likely 24 - 70. If I'm in the car on home ground, it can be any combination of A1 with either of the other 2 and whatever lens suits the application.

I really like to keep lens changes in the field down to a minimum.

Another A1 would be nice, perhaps santa will be kind?

 

[Roland]

I use two cameras A9ii for wildlife and A7Riv for everything else. The A9ii is more or less permanently attached to the 200-600mm, which means no dust spots and that vor more than two years. I would not go on a trip without my two cameras since a second one does not take up much space or increases the weight.

 

[Landshark99]

I have always used two bodies, right now it is an A1 and an A7RV, for two main reasons, I do not like changing lenses in the field for again, for dust, accidents and for having the right lenses on at the right time, secondly to back up each other for any of the multiple reasons one body goes down. I will not be buying any of those big primes so the cost is not an issue.

 

[Clix Pix]

Currently I have three FF bodies, the A1, the A7R V and the A7C. My first FF Sony was the A7R IV, and although I had the RX10 IV bridge camera to use as a second body, it wasn't quite the same. In my Nikon days I'd always had two interchangeable lens bodies and I missed that. When the A1 came along, I weighed the pros and cons of trading in the A7R IV, but realized that the two cameras really would complement each other in many ways, so bit the bullet, saved more money and waited longer before I finally had the A1. Later when the A7R V was announced I decided that I would eventually trade in my A7R IV for it, and did so. The A7C is sort of an anomaly, purchased for travel but also comes in handy every now and then around home, too, and complements the other two quite nicely.

The A1 is my speed demon, the one upon which the 200-600mm and the 100-400mm spend the majority of their time. It's the camera I use when shooting birds on the water and birds in the air, squirrels scampering around the neighborhood, turtles on a log dozing in the sun, etc.

The A7R V is my macro queen, the camera which primarily hangs out at home shooting macros, closeups and occasionally tabletop scenes. She does venture outdoors from time to time during the spring and summer seasons when there are lovely flowers everywhere, too.

The A7C is the lightweight wonder, the one which couples nicely with my smaller, lighter-weight lenses and also goes out on walks around the neighborhood with me. This is the camera body which will be accompanying me on future trips.

When going to a local botanical garden or somewhere else, I usually take the A1 and the A7R V, and at the location have a long lens on the A1 for scenics while the A7R V sports a macro lens to capture the wonderful flowers there. Haven't tried taking all three camera bodies with me yet, but that is a possibility, too. I agree with Landshark and really prefer to do no lens swapping outdoors in the field. Much safer all the way around!

 

[spudhead]

I am down to one body, two if I use the wife’s A6000 as a second body and so far have not missed not having another bodie to hand. Admittedly I have the A1 now that is such a good all round body.
I would miss the blackout free shooting of the A1/A9 if I went to any of the other Sony cameras. As for glass, if I went for any of the primes it would mean the weight would go up. I changed to Sony to get a lighter system.

Iain a good point the no blackout, I guess I have had the a9 so long I take it for granted, if I can ask has the move to the a1 been a step forward

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

I've used one for the great majority of my photography life, as I never had the budget to buy 2 for most of my life. I did at one point have 2 Pentax K3's, but, to be honest, lugging 2 around was a chore. In the RiV I have found a near perfect (near) all around beast, and in the RV I think it will be exactly that if the AF proves to be up to standard.

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

I've used one for the great majority of my photography life, as I never had the budget to buy 2 for most of my life. I did at one point have 2 Pentax K3's, but, to be honest, lugging 2 around was a chore. In the RiV I have found a near perfect (near) all around beast, and in the RV I think it will be exactly that if the AF proves to be up to standard.

Don't disagree, but the first time you have a failure will be the time at which Murphy's law will apply and you will either lose the ability
to take more shots, at a critical moment, or lose a high number of already shot images....i used to disregard stories of such losses but after
having experienced such losses first hand i do what is necessary to disaster proof my work flow......caveat emptor.

The above said i do acknowledge the constraints of budget, as i have indicated previously - at the end of the day, it is the cost benefit of risk
versus reward.

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

For me the second body is insurance as much as anything.

If most of my shooting was done locally to my home then the insurance of a second back up camera
Becomes less important.

The above said however, I recently experienced an A9 ii failure and in submitting to Sony servicing their advised 2 weeks
Repair time ultimately Became 5-6 weeks and even though I didn't travel much during that time nevertheless
when out shooting I was nervous about using my A1 alone.....the a9 failure was a pure component failure and
not brought on by accidents or related damage and effectivelyundermined my trust in Sony equipment.

Bottom line, I absolutely feel 2 camera bodies are essential for serious photographers, travelling or not, based
upon my recent Experience.

As regards If I use 2 camera bodies....I certainly do even though there are obvious capability differences between
my A9 and A1 their performance for me is close enough to be able to use them equipped with alternate lenses
For different combinations of shots I expect to experience in the field(macro/long, short to medium etc etc)
whist at the same time limiting my lens carry to 2 lenses only.

This seems to work for me...

Thanks Roger/Deb...appreciated

 

[iain clyne]

Iain a good point the no blackout, I guess I have had the a9 so long I take it for granted, if I can ask has the move to the a1 been a step forward

Yes it has, the A9 is great but with the A1 things like the bird eye focus and the way it keeps locked on is amazing. The 50mp is a extra bonus.
A lot of money but to me worth it.

 

[Merlinator]

I have 2 A1 bodies. Last week I was photographing Great Grey Owls and had one A1 with a 600 F4 and one with either the 200-600 or 70-200 (sometimes with a 1.4 converter). That way I was set up regardless on how close the owls and owlets were. When travelling I would never go with just one body, just like I would never go with just one lens.

 

[AlphaWorld]

Two bodies, for three reasons:

• Backup - do not want to arrive at a shoot I am paying for and discover my camera is not working (I carry extra cards, extra batteries, extra lenses, and I own two bodies, so I bring both)
• Different needs - I use the A1 for fast stuff, and the A7RV for the rest
• sometimes I have different lenses on the two bodies and switch rather than changing lenses
• Backup

When I buy a new camera I do not always sell the old one - I have owned up to 4 at a time.

 

[Gaz]

At the moment, yes.

I see astrophotographers using weird kit. That might tempt me in future.

 

[andrewluke]

only one body as could not afford to have a second

 

[liggy]

The A1 is the best all around camera for me even after a couple years.

I have kept the A9II for various reasons - mostly related to event and wedding situations where it would be foolish not to have a backup at hand and I will run the Tamron 35-150 on the A1 and a fast wide or prime on the A9II.

Since adding Sony to my kit four of my photographer buddies have switched from other systems so it has kind of worked out. One of them is using my A9II to go with his A7R V shooting a wedding a few states away. It's fun because I get to shoot the RV without having to actually buy/rent one.

I don't want to go back to a non-stacked sensor (at least in Sony land) after tasting the silent blackout free, no rolling shutter speed of the A9/A1 family.

Bottom line - as long as da boss aka the wifey is good with it I'll always have at least two bodies for a number of reasons.

I could see adding the rumored A7CR as a travel / casual body as that use case wouldn't necessarily require a stacked sensor and it would be nice to have the luxury of cropping with a high res body.

At the same time I'm slowly selling off some Fuji gear so the overall kit is staying roughly the same.

 

[LeDave]

Ugh, I hate having one body. I hate having to swap between the 24-70 and 70-200 back and forth.

 

[AlphaWorld]

Ugh, I hate having one body. I hate having to swap between the 24-70 and 70-200 back and forth.

Second-best reason to have a second body.

I generally hang onto the previous body when buying a new one, but that means needing to be able to afford the new one outright, or trading in the body before my previous one.

If I could afford it, I'd enjoy buying two bodies at a time so both were the same, but that's, hmm, twice as expensive! Not something I can justify.

 

[Doug Herr]

a1 - The One - is my fantasy camera. Bird Eye AF, blackout-free viewfinder, 30 frames/sec, no rolling shutter, 50 MP: I ordered it the moment the specs were released as the a7rIII I was using at the time had significant limitations for a wildlife photographer specializing in birds. After 2.5 years The One is still my all-time favorite camera. I had kept the a7rIII as a backup and to use a second lens (usually a1 + 600 GM, a7rIII + 100-400 GM) but the difference between the two cameras was jarring and after using the a1 the a7rIII was frustrating so I replaced it with a second a1 body. No regrets whatsoever.

 

[andrewluke]

mine arrived from Panamoz today,alot of money but a good price at £4180, still around £6000 in UK,my biggest purchase ever.

 

[spudhead]

mine arrived from Panamoz today,alot of money but a good price at £4180, still around £6000 in UK,my biggest purchase ever.

Hi I am sat on the fence with this one my self I love the a9 but want a replacement which would probably be the a9mk3 if it ever arrives but I am sick of waiting, hope it is everything you hope.

 

[dragonsdreams]

Two bodies for me. Because I don't necessarily trust electronics especially in humid and adverse conditions when I'm on holiday and I feel much happier having a spare.
Costa Rica some years ago was a big trip but my then prime camera was the Canon 7D died after a couple of days in the very high humidity. Thankfully I had packed my lowly 450 as a spare so carried on with that. The 7D did eventually get resuscitated in some silica gel bags but I would have missed it on don't great wildlife shots of that was my only camera body.
The other reason is having two lenses available pretty well instantly. Uganda safari was a great example when you really need a 600mm (A1+ 200-600mm + 1.4x) for the birds but you'll suddenly come across a giraffe or elephant near the road and then you realise 200mm is still too long to fit the animal in the frame! So having a A7r4 with a 100-400mm on the seat next to you is very handy.
Also because most of the wildlife holidays I go on seem to be either very dusty it very rainy the days. I don't want to be changing lenses over in those conditions.

 

[dragonsdreams]

mine arrived from Panamoz today,alot of money but a good price at £4180, still around £6000 in UK,my biggest purchase ever.

Yes I've used Panamoz and think they are great - I've saved a great deal of money from them over the years. Though I noticed that some items on their list (Sony 1.4x converter for instance) aren't any cheaper than UK dealers, so worth checking.

 

[Gaz]

Two bodies for me. Because I don't necessarily trust electronics especially in humid and adverse conditions when I'm on holiday and I feel much happier having a spare.
Costa Rica some years ago was a big trip but my then prime camera was the Canon 7D died after a couple of days in the very high humidity. Thankfully I had packed my lowly 450 as a spare so carried on with that. The 7D did eventually get resuscitated in some silica gel bags but I would have missed it on don't great wildlife shots of that was my only camera body.
The other reason is having two lenses available pretty well instantly. Uganda safari was a great example when you really need a 600mm (A1+ 200-600mm + 1.4x) for the birds but you'll suddenly come across a giraffe or elephant near the road and then you realise 200mm is still too long to fit the animal in the frame! So having a A7r4 with a 100-400mm on the seat next to you is very handy.
Also because most of the wildlife holidays I go on seem to be either very dusty it very rainy the days. I don't want to be changing lenses over in those conditions.

My measuring scales got wet about 8 months ago so I’ve been putting on weight ever since.

I plugged them in last week to recharge it and, lo and behold! They work again.

A bag of rice on a window sill for my next wetted camera!