Author Topic: D600 Upgrade?  (Read 7434 times)

mxbianco

  • NG Supporter
  • **
  • Posts: 931
  • A teddy bear from the Alps, rarely fierce
Re: D600 Upgrade?
« Reply #60 on: October 01, 2021, 16:33:05 »
Considering the great reliability of modern cameras, I am curious how many of you make use of the backups?

Even the most reliable camera can go awry, given the appropriate environmental conditions...

I don't use a backup when I go out for a stroll in my hometown, but I took with me seven cameras in my recent July-August vacations. 4 of them had EN-EL15s (Z6, Z7, D500, 1V1), 1 had EN-EL14 (Df), 1 had EN-EL24 (1V3), and 1 had EN-EL20 (1AW1). I didn't travel by plane (I would have carried less). I only took 3 chargers with me, a modified one allows me to recharge both the EN-EL20 and EN-EL24.

Ciao from Massimo
 
 
Since evolution has given us TWO ears and ONE mouth, we are supposed (me included) to be doing more listening than talking.

Hugh_3170

  • NG Supporter
  • **
  • Posts: 1997
  • Back in Melbourne!
Re: D600 Upgrade?
« Reply #61 on: October 01, 2021, 18:10:26 »
I once had a dreadful fall that instantly "killed" my 28-300mm lens, although the D700 camera survived.  I have at least two cameras when I travel by plane and more if I travel by car.

Accidents do happen, although I have been relatively lucky over the years.


Even the most reliable camera can go awry, given the appropriate environmental conditions...

...........................................................
Hugh Gunn

Dogman

  • NG Supporter
  • **
  • Posts: 444
  • You ARE NikonGear
Re: D600 Upgrade?
« Reply #62 on: October 01, 2021, 18:17:54 »
When I was working as a press photographer (back when film was king and digital was an exam the doctor gave your), I killed a couple of Nikons and completely wore out at least three Nikkor lenses.  I'm a believer in redundancy.  I'm no longer a working photographer but I have about a dozen Nikon DSLRs and at least a half dozen Fuji X-Pro bodies today.  Mainly, I just buy newer stuff and keep the older stuff and use it all in rotation.
"If it's more than a hundred feet from the car, it's not photogenic."--Edward Weston

My Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/197057338@N03/

David H. Hartman

  • NG Member
  • *
  • Posts: 2778
  • I Doctor Photographs... :)
Re: D600 Upgrade?
« Reply #63 on: October 01, 2021, 19:38:05 »
Considering the great reliability of modern cameras, I am curious how many of you make use of the backups?

For anyone who shoots professionally no matter how modest their customer is a backup is required. This is particularly true of any event where you have only one chance. This is very true where there is great expense in bringing together the subject and props or rental of a location. A backup is an imperative.

On probably my first paying gig I brought a new Nikon F2 with a standard prism. I had owned and used the camera for a few weeks and experienced no problems. Probably as a manufacturing error the base plate of the camera was depressed where it was stamped to accept the O/C key. There were no problems using the camera with Kodak film cassettes. I loaded this camera with Ilford HP-5. The Ilford cassette was taller than a Kodak cassette. Film advance was extremely stiff and I was afraid of damaging the film advance mechanism. I was green. I had no backup. I owned a Nikon F as a second camera but did not bring it on this shoot.

This was a PR gig for a modest customer. The only film I had with me was HP-5 and the cassettes all fit very tight. I took a cassette and scraped the plastic end of the cassette on the cement curb. I heard my editor say to someone, "Does he know what he is doing?" I deburred the plastic lower end of the cassette with a key. I reloaded my F2 and it performed perfectly. My customer was very pleased with my work and I continued to work for this customer for about 15 years. If I had failed this shoot I would have lost not only this customer but several other associated customers.

I took this Nikon F2 to ACS (Authorized Camera Service) in Woodland Hills, CA and they tested with a Kodak cassette and said nothing was wrong. I then took it to Mel Pierce Camera and they tested it with a well worn Kodak cassette and they said it was fine. Having had two official Nikon repair shops deny that there was a problem I removed the base plate myself. I placed the base plate on a kitchen towel on a hard surface. I used a long socket for auto repair placing the flat end on inside of the base plate. I used a large screw driver handle as a mallet and tapped the base plate at the O/C key opening. I check the base plate each time with a drafting triangle. When the base plate was perfectly flat I reassembled the camera. This Nikon F2 never cause any problems again for as long as I owned it.

I had a Pentax Digital Spotmeter fail on a PR shoot for a hospital. It had a cold solder joint that I later repaired. I was carrying a Minolta Flash Meter III as a backup. I recently had a Wattson EN-EL15 battery fail. It came "free" with my D800. One day it worked fine. The next it did not. Always carry spare batteries.

Many professional photographers refuse to use a digital camera that does not have two memory card slots and they have the camera save duplicate images to each memory card. I've never had a memory card failure but others have. I would not use a digital camera on a paying gig or any important event without a second memory card slot. It's like going out into the outback without a spare tire. In the day better wedding photographers would carried not only a second body but also a backup of each lens as the lenses had in lens shutters that could fail. You take every reasonable precaution so as not to fail a customer or any non-paying important shoot.

That's my 2 cents and a personal story about carrying backups on any paying or otherwise important photo shoot.

Dave
Beatniks are out to make it rich
Oh no, must be the season of the witch!

Zang

  • NG Member
  • *
  • Posts: 630
  • You ARE NikonGear
Re: D600 Upgrade?
« Reply #64 on: October 01, 2021, 20:53:27 »
Hey, some great stories here. Thank you for sharing...

Yeah, it makes sense to secure your business when you get paid or make sure you have a backup when working in some extreme environments. However, I (almost) never do either of those and I hate lugging around heavy equipment. Lately, I started carrying two bodies with two primes just for quick focal length change.