How many cameras in the field.

[BadKarma]

How many of us shoot color and B&W and do you carry a body for both in the field?

I want to dabble in B&W but still want to shoot color too. Do you carry a color and a B&W ready to go? I have a Nikon N8008 and I just ordered a N4004s to shoot B&W so I only need one set of lenses.
As good an excuse as any I can think of to get another camera!! LOL
Anyone else crazy as I am?

 

[Sirius Glass]

When shooting 35mm I have two cameras, one for black & white and the other for color. When shooting 120 I have multiple film backs. When shooting 4x5 see the previous case.

 

[elekm]

I generally commit to either b/w or color. I found it confusing to try to remember which camera was loaded with color and which was loaded with b/w.

 

[frank]

B+w film only, but I often carry 35mm and medium format. Colour is handled with my iPhone. I see b+w but sometimes colour is the subject.

 

[Christopher Walrath]

Very seldom, if ever, do I shoot color film. It is, therefore, a no brainer for me. I used to carry multiple camera bodies when shooting 35mm. Any more, all I have in the fridge is black and white.

 

[winger]

I mostly shoot B&W these days (most color tends to be that other kind). Back in the day, though, I frequently did carry two bodies that took the same lenses. I always put B&W in the Pentax ZX-5 and color in the PZ-1p. That made it easy to keep track. I've ditched the ZX-5, so now the B&W is in my old screwmount Pentax. The PZ usually has color, but sometimes B&W, and is likely my least used camera.
This was really one of the reasons I added medium format (a Hasselblad) to my pile of cameras - one back has B&W, the other color. Switching midroll is very handy. The Pentax 645n usually has B&W. In 4x5, I haven't tried color, yet.

 

[BradleyK]

Same as Mr Sirius, except that I am currently without the 4x5 in my arsenal. Typically, an F5 or F6 will be used for E100G/VS and an F2 for Tri-X/HP5+. The A12s are, likewise, typically loaded with E100G/VS, Velvia 50, PanF+ or FP4+. I move back and forth between color and B&W on a regular basis, indicative, I am told, of a commitment to neither.

 

[benjiboy]

I try to carry only one body if at all possible depending where and how far I'm going to have to walk, how many lenses I need to carry and what I intend to shoot giving consideration the the weight, if I carry two bodies I usually take fewer lenses, the second body usually contains colour slide film.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

Taking both B&W (+ filters?) and color could be educational - or maybe take one B&W and another with B&W Infrared would be interesting, too.

I'm really lazy and don't like to carry much, so I just go out with one camera and one lens.

 

[Jim Jones]

I generally commit to either b/w or color. I found it confusing to try to remember which camera was loaded with color and which was loaded with b/w.

Cameras can be marked to indicate color or B&W film. An improvised film reminder in the hot shoe is one way. However, there can be another problem when carrying both. We use different criteria when choosing and analyzing subjects in B&W and color. I found it difficult to quickly switch mindsets from one to the other, and either missed good opportunities or got less than ideal results.

 

[Christopher Walrath]

And therein lies the rub, Jim. I see things in lines and shapes and relationships of light to dark. If color attracts me to a subject, I usually just admire it. I work on form and black and white is more suited for that.

 

[benjiboy]

Taking both B&W (+ filters?) and color could be educational - or maybe take one B&W and another with B&W Infrared would be interesting, too.

I'm really lazy and don't like to carry much, so I just go out with one camera and one lens.

I find it difficult to "see" in B&W and colour at the same time to me they are completely different ball games.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

If I carry two 35mm bodies, it's usually to have quick access to two different lenses, like a wide and a tele. Sometimes I used to travel with two rangefinders, one loaded with a medium speed daylight color slide film for outdoor shots and another with a high speed tungsten color slide film for indoors and night shots.

At any given shoot, I tend not to have both color and B&W, because it's just a different mindset for me, but if I'm traveling somewhere for a long time, I might have both, say with multiple medium format backs or large format filmholders with different films, or I'll do color rollfilm and B&W sheet film in the same camera (2x3" or 4x5").

 

[BadKarma]

Wow, all good replies. Great food for thought. Keep'em coming.

 

[Christopher Walrath]

Yeah, we're good for thinking and stuff.

 

[Bill Burk]

In a way, I miss the good old days when I would backpack with one camera body and four lenses. Then I would alternate, making the decision of which film to shoot next... at the time it came to reload. If I was shooting slides and having a good time, I'd just load another roll of the same. When I felt it was time to switch to black and white for some serious landscapes... I'd switch. I'd usually switch back to color a couple days later.

It's funny what this does to continuity, there will be these gaps in my slide shows. One trip I shot so much black and white that to make a slide show complete I ended up making color prints from black and white negatives, hand-coloring an acetate overlay with the complementary color... and then shooting copy slides of the prints. Here's what it looked like...

 

[snapguy]

these days

When I go out these days I usually carry one camera that I want to wring out. I have dozens of mostly inexpensive cameras and need to keep checking them out to see if they work properly. I am currently running a roll of b&w through a 60-yeaar-old Rolleiflex that I got for $180. "Back in the day" I sometimes carried four cameras. One for b&w, one for color, one for a telephoto lens and one spare body.

 

[narsuitus]

How many of us shoot color and B&W and do you carry a body for both in the field?

I usually shoot color or B&W. Rarely do I shoot both.

On those rare occasions when I shoot both, I shoot 35mm color slides and 6x7, 6x9, or 4x5 B&W.

 

[ww12345]

Full on Dennis Hopper mode for me - 2 F bodies, one telephoto and one wide angle, and a Hasselblad with both color and B/W backs.

 

[mooseontheloose]

When I travel I usually have 2 bodies (35mm), one for colour (or B&W infrared) and one for black and white. I also usually carry two film backs for medium format for the same reason. However, as others have mentioned, I find it hard to switch back and forth and it's usually better if I stick to one or the other. Similarly, as Bill has mentioned, I find that there will be gaps between what I've shot in black and white and what I've shot in colour, which can sometimes be frustrating. So I'm trying harder to go with just one camera, but to bring a few rolls of both black and white and colour (slide) and shoot what seems best at the time.

 

[Xmas]

Two or three cameras fast mono film hoods fitted set up for ambient at 2m ready to shoot one to hand on wrist strap behind back on wrist strap, eg 28, 35 and 40mm.

 

[BadKarma]

Well, I have arrived at this early conclusion............I'm gonna need a bigger bank account!!!!!

 

[Christopher Walrath]

G.A.S can wreck a photographer in a heartbeat. May God have mercy on your soul.

 

[BadKarma]

that should be on the disclaimer.

 

[frank]

How many cameras to take is determined by the kind of outing planned. If its a quick trip to the store then just my iPhone and an Olympus xa4. If its a once in a lifetime trip, then medium format and backups are required in addition.

Last summer I did a bucket list type solo motorcycle trip around the US. Here's what rode with me in the tank bag, all with b+w film: