"outdoor" photo equipment: 1 body + 3 lenses or 3 x (body + lens) ?

[ebolton]

For urban walks, I take one RF with one normal or wide-normal lens. Usually it's my Canonet (so the lens is fixed). I also carry a digital camera with a zoom to cover other focal lengths.

 

[Thomas78]

I recently tried the multiple camera thing with two Hasselblads (one with an 80mm and one with a 50mm) and a 5DII around my neck when I took some photos of a friend of mine. Was a nightmare. Even though I was just a short distance away from the car and we soon went on to the next location it was less than convenient. Only way I'll ever do this again is if I have an assistant to hold the cameras I'm not using.

I also once tried to do a shooting of a band with three MF TLR (a C330 with 180mm, a Rolleiflex 3,5F (colour) and my Rollop Automat (b&w) it was really a nightmare to carry all the cameras around, especially when you have to move around with all the camera equipment (and doing this in the dark).

When I have a specific "task", e.g. taking pictures at a party, i normally only take one lens with me (50 mm).
Also in cities I think I can work with only a 28 or 35 mm.
But for a walk at the countryside a bit more flexibility would be handy.

My idea is to use my big camera bag where is enought room to easily place all the bodies with its attatched lenses.
So I would only have to put the camere I have in my hands back into the bag and take the other one. (I normally don't use camera straps and I think of using barnack style bobies like the Zorki I which is quite compact has a weight of 404 g (I just measured it without a lens).)

 

[Jamie123]

Heh, heh. That's quite a visual.

Well, I did not have all three cameras around my neck. I had a 503CW with 80mm lens around my neck, the 5DII around my right shoulder and a Domke bag with a 501cm with 50mm lens, a few film backs and some rolls of film around my left shoulder. I felt quite stupid but there was no one around except me and the model.

 

[Mablo]

I prefer shooting with a single camera and lens. However I can handle 2 of each if I need to. Three cameras? I'd get them tangled together and not shoot anything.

Ditto. Whatever image opportunities I might see beyond my lens choice I will skip them all without blinking an eye.

 

[21-135 Apo All Good]

This is an interesting thread. Some would think that 2 bodies and two lenses would do fine, however it depends on how well you can "see" photographically while using one focal length and seeing another chance with yet a different one. It also depends upon whether or not you're on a "photo mission" or merely doing errands in your home town. Those that aren't trained to be able to "see" several focal lengths at once often shy away from carrying additional lenses. I on the other hand am a bit of an "oddball" and see several compositions from super-wide to telephoto with the same subject matter. It's something that was learned by starting-out with only prime lenses (no zooms), which I fear is something that has long been lost in this, the era of auto-everything P&S.

Has anyone here any experience with such things as the Leica lens carrier that goes underneath the base plate and screws into the tripod socket? I use mine once in a while when not using the Motor-M's I own. A 90 Apo makes a nice hand grip on occasion while holding the M6 over my head with a 21 or 28 attached.

 

[Godfrey]

My usual "go for a shoot" setup is one body and three lenses (typically 21, 40 and 90 with APS-C, 35, 50, 90 or 135 with "full frame"). I don't change lenses all that often, though, as I usually try to 'think in the field of view' and look for opportunities that whatever lens I have on the camera is able to capture.

I probably miss a bazillion opportunities a day because of this, but that doesn't mean there aren't 10,000 that I can exploit ... I only have time to do a couple of dozen to a couple of hundred of those anyway. ;-)