"I've got three of those"

OlyMan · Sep 8, 2017

Seen quite a few people on here with several examples of the same camera. No criticism intended or inferred, but what drew you to buying several of the same model, or did they kind of just land in your lap?

My justification for having multiple cameras is they are at least all different and have their own qualities and quirks. (Bit of a weak justification, but there it is.) However I don't have two of anything. I guess if I found a really nice champaign OM-4Ti ridiculously under-priced I'd probably buy it because it compliments my black one, but I don't have an urge to proactively hunt one down because it's going to be just like the one I already own other than being a different colour.

dmr · Sep 8, 2017

I have two of the Canon QL17 GIII, one chrome and one black. I use both of them.

Chrome one was the first, and the one I re-calibrated to use ISO 1600 film, which has become scarce.

The black one was a surprise "win" on That Auction Site.

Les Sarile · Sep 8, 2017

We'll, you have to at least get a chrome and black version of the models don't you?

Or you have to be able to take a picture of the camera model through the viewfinder of the same model . . .

Paul Howell · Sep 8, 2017

I have 5 Minolta in A mount, I use all 5, carry at least 2, (well if I am shooting with a Sony just one) 3 Miranda EE, one black for black and white one in chrome for color, one for spare, same for 3 Konica Ts, and Petri.

R.Gould · Sep 8, 2017

I have 2 vitessa T's, 2 Ambi Sillette's, I also have comkplete set of lenses for both, sometimes, for some of the photography I do I need, say a 135 and a 100 lens, and it is handy to have 2 bodies each with a different lens on especialy rangefinders, which I choose over slr's, and changing lenses and viewfinder settingd can take time so having the 2 cameras and 2 diferent lense makes sense, I also have a LTM leica 3F and a canon 7, have you every tried loading a leica in a hurry, or change a LTM lens in a hurry?.

E. von Hoegh · Sep 8, 2017

At one time I had 3 Nikon Fs.
At present I have 2 Minolta 16IIs, 2 Pentax K1000s, 2 Kiev 4s, 2 Canon IIbs, 2 Zenit Es, and one OM3 in the box, probably never been used.

Les Sarile · Sep 8, 2017

E. von Hoegh said:
. . . and one OM3 in the box, probably never been used.

Hopefully not for long!

Cholentpot · Sep 8, 2017

I have 2 K1000s. And one died a few months ago so I till have one working K1000. Nice to have a backup.

dmr · Sep 8, 2017

Cholentpot said:
I have 2 K1000s. And one died a few months ago so I till have one working K1000. Nice to have a backup.

I have a wonky chrome K1000, but recently picked up two similar but not identical newer model ones, one black and one chrome ...

Marcelo Paniagua · Sep 8, 2017

I got several Rolleiflex SL35e (4 I think, one more on they way). Why do I get them? First, I really like the camera handling and the lens. Second, they are for backup if the main one die.

Also, they come in black and silver. Love them both

Regards

Marcelo

Frank53 · Sep 8, 2017

In stead of changing lenses, I prefer using 2 camera's each with it's own lens. So 2x OM4(ti) or OM1, or Hasselblad 500 + SWC.
Regards,
Frank

G1DRP · Sep 8, 2017

I have a few Canon A1 bodies but I only have two loaded with film at any time. It all started when I dropped one and a few weeks later my other one died. They were so cheap at the time, that I just kept on buying them. The funny thing is, I’ve never dropped one since, or had any failures......fingers crossed!

Cholentpot · Sep 8, 2017

dmr said:
I have a wonky chrome K1000, but recently picked up two similar but not identical newer model ones, one black and one chrome ...

I've got an ME Super and a Promaster 2500pk Super as my other K mount cameras. I'm a bit cool on the ME Sup after putting two rolls through it in the past month. I hate the shutter selector. In A mode it's pretty slick though.

BMbikerider · Sep 8, 2017

OlyMan said:
Seen quite a few people on here with several examples of the same camera. No criticism intended or inferred, but what drew you to buying several of the same model, or did they kind of just land in your lap?.

I don't have any 'identacle' camera bodies but a number wfrom the same manufacturer 5 x Nikon and 2 x Minolta (F601, F6, D90, D300s and a D700, Minolta XE1 and a Minolta SRT101b) The D90 and D300s are shortly to be sold..

The F6 is used when I am out walking as it is thoroughly reliable and always produces what I want. The F601 is the body I carry when riding my motorcycle. It is still reliable despite being old and should I come off the value is little if it is also damaged. The remaining D700 is used when I am feeling particularly lazy and cannot be bothered to use the darkroom

Svenedin · Sep 8, 2017

I have 4 Olympus OM4-Ti's. I will quite often have 2 bodies with me with different focal length lenses mounted or with different speed film loaded (or both). The third I bought for my partner but it isn't used often so is a spare. The fourth needs repair but is usable (just). I also have 2 of several different focal length lenses because I sometimes go out shooting with my partner and we will often both want the same focal length.

AgX · Sep 8, 2017

three cameras...

For a user camera my advice is the rule-of-three:
one sample to use, one as immidiate back-up and one for spares

If you work with several types of films, lenses, having several identical bodies in different set-ups at hand can be useful.

Aside of that, if you are into tinkering it is benefitial to stick to one model, thus acquiring several samples of that makes sense.

Alan Gales · Sep 8, 2017

A Doctor in town owned two Contax 167MT's for use in his practice. He sold them when he went digital. Since both were rarely used and looked mint, I purchased the pair. It's nice to have b&w loaded in one body and color film in the other.

Light Capture · Sep 8, 2017

Most of the time at least two 35mm bodies are in my bag. Loaded with HP5 rated at 800, some ISO 100 B&W (D100, TMAX or FP4) and slide. It's nice if they are the same or similar.

jim10219 · Sep 8, 2017

I bought two broken Nikon N2000's at a thrift store for $3 a piece the other day. I now have one working Nikon N2000 and a bag of parts. Does that count?

MartinCrabtree · Sep 8, 2017

I have 3 AE-1s because they were headed for the trash. Cannot let that happen to a perfectly useful camera. Yes they get used.

faberryman · Sep 8, 2017

I think to title of the thread should be "I've only got three of those."

btaylor · Sep 8, 2017

Linhof Color 45s times 3. Plus a Bi. I don't know why. Sometimes they are so cheap (sub $200) I figure they are well worth it just as parts, since so much of it interchanges between bodies. Someone chopped a 45s rail and put a bag bellows on it to make it a dedicated wide angle camera, so that's useful. Love the precision and engineering.

darinwc · Sep 8, 2017

I do have an assortment of Olympus OM cameras. My intent was to be able to carry two cameras with different lenses or different film. My previous system camera, the cannon f1 was too large and heavy to have two cameras.
But I have accumulated additional bodies either attached to lenses I wanted or because I picked them up for cheap.

I do have multiples of other cameras and perhaps I should start selling them off.
But for now prices on vintage gear are slowly increasing so I consider them an investment.

LeftCoastKid · Sep 8, 2017

I started my photographic journey with a pair of F2AS Nikons, and have always thought highly of the camera. When the 2008 meltdown happened on the other side of the 49th Parallel, and folks were unloading gear at bargain-basement prices, I picked up 10 or 12 additional bodies in various iterations. I kept the four best bodies for myself, gave away a couple to my nephews and niece, and sold a couple at a nice profit. A similar thing happened with the F3s. I purchased a pair of F3HP/MD4 sets when they first were introduced. When prices fell to giveaway levels in 2008-9, I picked up four additional bodies; one I gave to my niece, one I traded, and two I sold. No such luck acquiring additional 500 c/m Hasselblads or M6 Leicas for some odd reason...

BayG75 · Sep 8, 2017

During my early film photography days (late 70s and the 80s), I generally carried two Nikon FE (later FE2) cameras with me - one for B&W and one for slides (I had a black body and a chrome body, just to make it very easy to keep track of which was loaded with what film). If I happened to be shooting just one type of film, I often still carried them both, so as not to have to constantly change lenses.

Why two of the exact same model? I really liked the FE's viewfinder display, and with two identical cameras I didn't have to switch back-and-forth between different displays. A minor detail, perhaps, but it just made the photo-taking process a bit smoother. My initial second camera was an FM, chosen because I wanted an all-mechanical body as a back-up to the electronic FE. But after awhile I realized that if I were going to have two cameras with me most of the time, there wasn't really a need for one of them to be mechanical - after all, the odds of two FEs both losing battery power at the exact same time, when I had no spare batteries in my case, was pretty much zero. I like the FM/FM2 - it is a great camera and I do appreciate its all-mechanical operation - but on a daily basis the viewfinder factor took precedence.

Now that I am back to film photography after a 15 year break, my reasons for multiple bodies of the same model are a bit different. The cameras I prefer to use - the FE2, the F2, and other Nikons of that era - are now 30 to 40+ years old. The are well built and many are still functioning fine, but many are not, and repairing them - especially the electronics - will get harder with time. At age 54, I hope to still be shooting with these cameras for another 30 years or so. To do that I figure I will probably need several bodies of each model, just to have the proper parts to keep one or two functioning. So I am always on the lookout for good deals on F2s and FE/FE2s, and to lesser extent FM/FM2s.

"I've got three of those"

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