{"id":2120,"date":"2012-10-23T16:37:56","date_gmt":"2012-10-23T07:37:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2012-10-23\/2120"},"modified":"2012-10-23T16:37:56","modified_gmt":"2012-10-23T07:37:56","slug":"my-approach-to-shooting-with-two-camera-bodies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2012-10-23\/2120","title":{"rendered":"My Approach to Shooting With Two Camera Bodies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
\nNOTE<\/b>: Images with an icon next to them have been artificially shrunk to better fit your screen; click the icon to restore them, in place, to their regular size.\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 handheld — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>800 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nDandy Hat<\/span>\nJidai Matsuri (“Festival of the Ages”) \u6642\u4ee3\u796d<\/span>\nKyoto, Japan\n
Vertical Desktop-Background Versions<\/b>\n\n\n1050×<\/span>1680<\/a>  ·  1200×<\/span>1920<\/a>  ·  1600×<\/span>2560<\/a><\/small><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 70mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>4000 sec, f<\/span>\/3.5, ISO 1000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nWider View<\/span>\nvia a wider lens on a second camera body\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 handheld — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>800 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nMovin' Along<\/span>\nback at 300mm on the main camera body\n
Vertical Desktop-Background Versions<\/b>\n\n\n1050×<\/span>1680<\/a>  ·  1200×<\/span>1920<\/a>  ·  1600×<\/span>2560<\/a><\/small><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

I did something yesterday that I'd never done: I went<\/span> out shooting with two camera bodies.<\/p>\n\n

I often go out shooting with one body and many lenses, changing lenses\nupwards of 70 times on a long<\/span> and interesting outing, and this works well\nfor what I like<\/span> to do, but when I added<\/span> the Nikon\nD4<\/span> to my Nikon D700<\/span> at the start of the\nsummer, I specifically<\/span> thought it might be nice to have two bodies when out\namong the festive crowds\nat Kyoto's Gion Matsuri<\/i> festival<\/a>, one body with the huge Nikkor 300mm f\/2<\/span><\/a>, and another with a wider<\/span> lens for\nthe occasional “establishing” or “context” shot.<\/p>\n\n

With two-body shooting in mind, sometime back in the spring I bought<\/span> a\nPeak Design “Capture” camera\nbelt mount<\/a> system. It's a smartly<\/span> and lushly-fabricated piece that\noozes quality, and the color palette aside, it feels like something Apple\nwould design.<\/p>\n\n

I've never used it.<\/p>\n\n

Not long after receiving my Capture<\/i> unit, I got an<\/span>\nout-of-the-blue email from the folks at b-grip<\/a>, about their belt-mount product, asking\nif they could send me one because perhaps then I'd blog about it.\nI replied<\/span>\n“Sure, why not?”, and\neventually got a box<\/span> full of belt\/backpack camera-carrying accessories from\ntheir Japanese\ndistributor<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

I'd never used them, until yesterday.<\/p>\n\n

When accepting b-grip's offer, in my mind I created<\/span> an obligation that,\ngood or bad, I must indeed<\/span> write about it. And if I<\/span>'m going to write about\nit on my<\/i> blog, I want to<\/span> have real-world experience to share, and\ntherein lay the problem: I soon<\/span> realized that in most situations I\nphotograph<\/span> in, I'd feel like<\/span> a total<\/span> dork with an extra camera jutting out\nfrom my hip. (Conversely, I feel just<\/span> fine with my hip-mounted camera\nbag<\/a>, though perhaps ignorance is bliss.)<\/p>\n\n

Gion Matsuri would have been a great opportunity, but it turns out that\nI didn't<\/span> get the chance this year<\/a> because Anthony\nhad just broken his finger. So, I refrained<\/span> from using either belt-mounted\nsystem at my disposal until yesterday, where two perfect opportunities\npresented themselves.<\/p>\n\n

The first was the Jidai Matsuri<\/i> festival (“Festival of the Ages”,\n\u6642\u4ee3\u796d),<\/span> as I wrote\nyesterday<\/a>, it's more or less a big<\/span> re-enactment parade, and is one of\nKyoto's three main festivals (along with Aoi Matsuri<\/a> and the\naforementioned Gion Matsuri). There are lots of old\/interesting costumes,\nbut it's difficult to get a shot<\/span> not ruined by a gas<\/span> station or power line\nin the background, so I thought<\/span> I'd have better luck with a telephoto<\/span> lens\nthat throws the background out of focus, and hence I broke<\/span> out my 300mm f\/2,<\/span> which is about the size and weight of a\ntank<\/span> turret, a sight<\/span> that always brings out big smiles of wonder. With that\nlens in action, I could<\/span> attach a small<\/span> car to my hip and people wouldn't\nnotice, so it was a great<\/span> chance to try the hip-mounted second body.<\/p>\n\n

I attached The Big Heavy Lens to my everyday camera-carrying accessory,\na Sun Sniper<\/a> Pro slider strap (similar, I believe,<\/span> to a popular<\/span> product from\nBlack Rapid). I like it<\/span> because it lets me just drop the camera to my side,\nor sling it around to my back to get it out of the way, but the camera is\nalways instantly available. I use this<\/span> strap almost every time I go<\/span> out, regardless of lens.<\/p>\n\n

(Warning: if you get one of Sun Sniper's straps and decide you want to\nupgrade the\ncamera screw part<\/a>, you won't find out until you get it that\ninstallation requires cutting the strap and sewing it back. Yikes!)<\/p>\n\n

For the second camera body, to be worn on my hip, I used a<\/span> simple (but still\nlarge) Nikkor 24<\/span>-70mm f\/2.8<\/span>. I specifically<\/span> chose\nthe b-grip solution over the Peak-Design unit because the base part that\nattaches to the belt extends far enough down to keep the camera comfortably\npointing straight down; with the Peak-Design unit, the heavy camera torqued\nthe belt attachment, twisting it uncomfortably, causing the lens to flop\ninto my leg. I can mitigate<\/span> the problem to some extent by removing the\nD700's vertical grip (and I did<\/span> that yesterday anyway), but in this respect\nthe b-grip seemed better for me.<\/p>\n\n

And so I went out to catch the tail end of the parade...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>800 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 2200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n\u5e73\u5b89\u8b1b\u793e\u7dcf\u9577<\/span><\/span>\nSecretary general of the Heian Shrine Religious Association\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>800 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 1250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nHis Driver<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 31mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>2500 sec, f<\/span>\/3.5, ISO 1000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nTheir Ride<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>800 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 1800 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

When I ventured out, a ripple of “what a camera!<\/span>” went through the\ncrowd, which tickles me. When I brought<\/span> the camera up to bear on the “dandy\nhat” guy whose photo leads this post, he immediately noticed and kindly\ngave me some nice poses while holding eye contact with the lens.<\/p>\n\n

(I also noticed that my light workouts have paid off handsomely... I could<\/span> hand-hold the 8kg lens quite easily. The shots<\/span> of the “dandy hat” guy\nare all hand held, though after a while<\/span> I did<\/span> sometimes switch on and off\nto my monopod<\/a> as\nwell.)<\/p>\n\n

I wore the second camera body on my right hip (I'm right handed), and\nrealized that was a mistake<\/span> with the b-grip unit because it requires two\nhands to get the camera out (which is an advantage of the Peak-Design\nunit... you can unlock and release the camera with the same hand that holds\nthe camera, so with practice you can do it all with one hand in one fluid\nmotion.)<\/p>\n\n

It felt awkward to reach across my body with the left hand to release the\nlock, so when the second two-camera opportunity came a few<\/span> hours later, I put the<\/span> hip-mounted camera on my left side, and it felt much better to reach\nacross with my right arm to grab the camera while the left hand released the lock.<\/p>\n\n

That second opportunity was the Kurama Fire Festival, a half<\/span>-hour\nscooter drive into the mountains to the north of Kyoto. It has a<\/span> lot of\nfire and ash, so I did<\/span> not want to be changing lenses. I picked<\/span> my longest\nand shortest f\/1.4 lenses, my 85mm f\/1.4<\/span> for the\nmain camera on the Sun Sniper Pro strap, and the 24mm\nf\/1.4<\/span> for the hip-mounted spare.<\/p>\n\n

I should point out that the b-grip belt mount comes with a nylon<\/span>-webbed\nbelt, as seen on their home page<\/a>. The one I<\/span> received was just a tad<\/span> too big to easily thread into the unit, but I\ndidn't<\/span> want to use it anyway... I just threaded<\/span> my normal belt through it,\nleaving a crisp,<\/span> clean solution that didn't invite pathetic apprehension\nabout geekiness.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/1.4, ISO 3200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nPropping Up the Torches<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f<\/span>\/1.4, ISO 2200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nWider View<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/1.4, ISO 4500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSpectators<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

All in all I felt pretty happy with my two-camera solution, so will definitely use it again when the opportunity presents itself.<\/p>\n\n

The Jidai Matsuri posts are continued here<\/a>,\nwhile the Kurama Fire Festical posts are continued here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I did something yesterday that I'd never done: I went out shooting with two camera bodies.<\/p>

I often go out shooting with one body and many lenses, changing lenses upwards of 70 times on a long and interesting outing, and this works well for what I like to do, but when I added the Nikon D4 to my Nikon D700 at the start of the summer, I specifically thought it might be nice to have two bodies when out among the festive crowds at Kyoto's Gion Matsuri festival, one body with the huge Nikkor 300mm f\/2, and another with a [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,7,1,2,26,6,4,10,25],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2120"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2120\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}