Anyone use two or more M bodies at once?

[viramati]

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I use to M9's my grey one nearly always has the 28 cron asph on it and I use this for nearly all my street work. the black one has the 50 lux asph on it but this will be changed to the 135 3.8 apo for landscape etc or the canon 85 f1.8 for portraits. the body with the 28 is nearly always around my neck on a short strap so it is quite high up prefocused and on auto iso with a highish shutter speed so that I can shoot 'from the hip'. the other will either be over my shoulder or in the bag.

[SteveYork]

I have three Ms now, but rarely do I take more then a body and one lens, unless traveling.

[holmes]

I have three M's and prefer to carry two bodies with two different lenses. Generally my 28 f 2 ASPH and my 75 f 1.4. I can also change the 28 and take my 35 f 2 ASPH with my 75. Since I recently added one of the 'new' line of lenses, I'll take the 50 f 2.5 and the 28. Surprising what I can cover with a little thought and two bodies and two lenses.

[eric_bowles]

For digital a pair of M9's and for film a pair of M7's....28/50 for the film M's and 35/75 for the M9's.

 

Interesting... why do you use different pairs of focal lengths for film M and M9?

[doubice]

I have alwyas used at least two M bodies. During my last 'film days', it was an M7 and M6, prior to that 2 M6's, before that two M4's and before that probably an M3 and M2....... Always two bodies.

 

Either so that I did not have to change lenses at the most inconvenient moment or, to keep different film in each body (i.e. Kodachrome 25 and Ektachrome 400). For extended travel, I carried three M bodies - two with the same film and different lenses attached, the third one with faster film.

 

There will be a second M8 or M8.2 in my future again.....

 

Best,

 

Jan

[budrichard]

Two 0.85 M7's with Motor M's and 35mm Lux ASPH and 21mm f2.8 ASPH, same type of film. A 75mm ASPH in in my pocket but rarely used. No bag, just usually plain jackets or in the summer a vest.

Now if in an 'urban decay' type of environment alone, I usually slim down to one M7, either Motor M or Leicavit and the two WA lenses to keep a lower profile and reduce any possible loss!

Its training from my newpaper days where one always carried two Nikons and the KISS principle. The M7 with motor M is simply the fastest Leica film combination to date and probably the last. Using two different emulsions is just too fraught with the potential for error but if you have all day to shoot a shot, then I guess it will work.

Will purchase the next gen M9 and probably only one body as I can view the result in the field and its awfully expensive.-Dick

[erl]

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In my filmic days, I always had a minimum of two M bodies, but later I acquired a third. Specifically this was for stage work that had a habit of changing rapidly and I could not always change either lens or film in time, so the second and/or third body doubled in till the first lull in the action.

 

Now, I use the M9 as the main camera and I do change lenses on it. I have two M8's as backup only. I prefer not to mix 'n match either my ergonomics or my files, if it can be avoided.

 

For anything remotely professional you must have some form of reliable and compatible backup.

 

P.S. MPJMP, to properly answer your question at the start of the thread, I believe you must examine the brief of your assignment and your individual handling (and thinking) skills to decide whether you should work with one or two cameras. Only you can make this choice. Whatever, you must have a second as backup, even if you don't primarily work with it.

[peter_n]

Always have two MPs; a 0.85x mag and a 0.72x mag. When at home I can use any combination including your pairing of a 28 and a 50. Traveling I use 35 and 75 for 95% of the shots and a 24 takes care of the wide perspective a 35 can't handle. Same film in both cameras, usually B&W 100 or 400. I've got so used to two virtually identical cameras over the years I couldn't go anywhere with just one...

[Knomad]

Yes, I do this fairly frequently... usually with a 50mm on one body and a 35mm on the other.

[Xmas]

Three or four bodies, normally M2, identical film, normally 5cm to 25mm lenses, stuffed into Hadley, street shooting. Sometimes Canon Ps.

 

When you get to 36 you have the option to dig out another camera or reload the current one.

 

Noel

[Jaybob]

I have a newspaper background and 2 bodies were and still are the norm there. In the late 90's I used two Nikon film bodies, one with a 17-35 (or a wide prime) and one with an 80-200 (or tele prime) 2.8 zooms. Now its weddings, and I use 2 Nikon digitals in the same fashion.

 

However, I have yet to venture out into the street wearing 2 film M bodies. I purchased two bodies, an M2 and an M3, for that exact purpose, but for me, M shooting is not the same type of fast paced experience. Super wide and long telephoto aren't there, so it seems like overkill to me. Maybe if I had a 28 or a 24. With my lens lineup the way it is now, 35, 50, and 90, I'm actually thinking of selling the two bodies and looking into ONE M7, with an 85 finder.

 

Of course now that I said that, I'm going to miss something, either because I'm too wide, or too long.

 

Jay

[think]

These days 2 M6TTL's with HP5. A .72 with a 35 and a .85 with a 75. I usually have the CV 25/4 in my pocket or bag for a little wider option as it's small enough to be irrelevant. Sometimes I do color in one body, but rarely these days.