second body

[Curious]

this was semi discussed in another thread but i wanted a dedicated thread for it.

recently bought a second body as an upgrade. the idea was to then sell my first body and it’s kit lens. i currently have a D5100, a 18-105 lens, a 55-300 lens. also a D3000 w/ 18-55 kit lens.

based on what i could get for the D3000 kit i could probably just keep it instead. but the money would be nice and i’m not sure how much i’d use the D3000 either as a second body or a back up.

to complicate matters i have a working minolta 7i which has very little resale value. FYI the 7i is a DSLR fixed lens 5MP 28-210 camera. it’s a real nice camera but i outgrew it.

some of your thoughts and/or experiences would be helpful.

[Yugoboy]

If Mrs. Curious is OK with the growing collection, and you’re not desperate for the cash. I’d say keep it. You have a back-up for any time you have to have one or the other serviced, and you can use both when at an event and want to have 2 lenses at hand without the quick lens change hassle.

If you have an idea of what you could get for it, and have a new acquisition in mind (lens, filters, flash, etc.) you’ve got the Minolta as your back-up. When you leave town, or are someplace where battery life may not be as long as the excursion, I’d bring along the Minolta just for back-up.

FWIW – I still have space (just) in my camera bag for my ancient Olympus. It just rests there contentedly waiting for need. When I go out of town, I grab 4 AAA batteries and load it up. This has come in handy a couple of times, mostly for my wife. Once in Italy her camera’s battery died, so she borrowed the Olympus (she’s very much a point-and-shoot person). Another time she forgot her camera and borrowed the Olympus again. For my purposes, if’n I ever do have my battery die, I’ve got it. I’m supposed to be getting a Polaroid P&S soon that’s a few more megapixels, but the lens is tinier, so I’m assuming the quality won’t be as good. That’s going to be the back-pocket/lives-in-my-car camera. It’s free, so… why not?

[Curious]

there is no Mrs Curious so that’s not an issue. and actually when there was there was also more money.

i really don’t usually shoot in places where really rapid lens changes are needed. otoh having a body that will accept all my lenses if needed is a plus. as far as battery life i have extra batteries for both the D5100 and the D3000. and 4 or 5 sets of 4 of AA for the minolta. i don’t run out of batteries in the field.

if i got what i wanted from selling the D3000 the money would offset half the D5100. and i really don’t want any other gear right now. well a nice flash would be a plus.

when i shot film i had (still have) 3 XD-11 minolta bodies. one with Tri-X, one with color negative film and one with color positive fim. but with the digital you don’t need that.

[ennuipoet]

Basically a second body is one of those things nice to have in most cases, if one goes down you have a back up. In busy situations where you need to switch rapidly between telephoto and wide shots, it is REALLY NICE but not mandatory.

I like having a second body, but when it came time and I needed the money it was the first thing to go.

[orionid]

i really don’t usually shoot in places where really rapid lens changes are needed

It’s also really helpful at dusty places. Whenever I was shooting at the racetrack in NY, if it hadn’t rained in a few days, I would get too scared to change lenses due to dust.

[Curious]

It’s also really helpful at dusty places. Whenever I was shooting at the racetrack in NY, if it hadn’t rained in a few days, I would get too scared to change lenses due to dust.

when i had the minolta 7D i had problems with dust on occasion. but the D3000 either repels it or the cleaner thingy works better. also haven’t had any dust problems with the D5100 but i’ve only had it a couple of months.

[Author]

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