Recently I read a post in a photography forum in which a poster asked for advice concerning selection of a back-up camera body. If you do a lot of photography, eventually you will have gear fail on you. The last time this happened to me, my EOS 5D developed a shutter problem with no prior warning. In the middle of a night photography shoot the camera simply stopped working. I had no backup camera at that point, so my shoot was over – after driving nearly two hours to the location and making two exposures I packed up and drove two hours back home. If you shoot in remote locations, as I often do, or if you find yourself in other situations in which being unable to shoot isn’t an option, you need a backup camera strategy. (You might also want to consider how you would deal with a lens failure, too, though there are more ways to work around that possibility if you usually carry more than one lens.)

Rather than re-writing the whole thing, what follows is the text of my reply to that forum poster – with just a few contextual edits here and there. Note that I refer to Canon products, since that is what I use, but that equivalents from other manufacturers could replace those I mention.
(The original poster’s message/question is not included here, but he was essentially musing about whether to use an existing camera as a “backup” body, buy a second copy of one of his current cameras, or use some other strategy.)

I wrote, more or less…

This gets at what I regard as the primary question here: “What is the role of the back-up camera in the [your] shooting?”

The term “backup camera” can mean different things to different people.

For one person it may actually mean “second body,” and the plan is to often if not always carry both bodies outfitted with lenses, and to shoot both at the same time. For example, you might have a long lens on one and a wider lens on the other so that you can move between lenses without having to switch. (I’ve done this with certain kinds of sports photography, and I sometimes leave a long lens on one body when I’m doing landscape in case an interesting critter comes by and I need to be ready for “instant wildlife” photography.) In this case, there are arguments for two different approaches:

• Shoot with two identical bodies, so that there is no need to learn to different control interfaces and so that expectations as to focal length will be the same on both. Equivalent image quality comes from both bodies. Think of this as the “identical body” approach.
• Shoot with a cropped sensor and a full frame body. (Alternatively, with the equivalent of a 1Ds and a 1D body.) One body might be optimized for high-resolution, careful, tripod work – while the other might give more “reach” with the same focal lengths and perhaps provide higher frame rates. Think of this as the “complimentary body” approach.

On the other hand, “back-up” may literally mean “back-up” – a body that you hope to never have to rely upon, but which you have available because the thought or having no ability to make photographs in the event of a mechanical failure is unacceptable. (This is roughly how I now use my old 5D.) If you are shooting a subject where you absolutely must not fail to make the photographs or if you are traveling to places where broken gear cannot be fixed, but you could accept somewhat less than perfect performance in the event of an unlikely emergency, the back-up body may not need to produce equivalent image quality. Here, again, there are several options:

• You might obtain a decent but low-end cropped sensor body along the lines of a Canon t2i or possibly a t3i. These cameras can actually produce very good image quality in many situations if you know what you are doing, and the odds are that you would come back with fine work if your primary full frame body failed. These bodies could also have some value to some photographers for shooting less “serious” stuff on occasion or for shooting in situations where small and light is a Good Thing.
• Keep an older body around at the point at which you upgrade. (The OP more or less did that by obtaining a 5D2 while keeping the fine 50D.) At the point at which you buy the newer camera, the older body’s monetary value is probably quite low, and foregoing the small income from selling it can be a small price to pay for having a viable backup camera.
• Get a good point and shoot – perhaps something like one of the Canon G-series bodies or the smaller equivalents (or even something like a mirror less 4/thirds camera). In a pinch these can often produce quite good photographs, especially if the conditions are not too challenging. As backup cameras, called upon only in real emergencies, they can do a fine job.

In this case, I wonder – knowing how my mind works sometimes when I want some new, shiny thing – if the OP is perhaps sort of looking for a reason to justify an “upgrade” to the newer, shinier camera more than actually needing a backup camera. Hey, it could happen. If so, the primary question is not “what backup camera?” but, instead, “do I need a new Canon 5D3?”

The answer to that question is going to vary depending upon what the photographer shoots and perhaps other factors. I shoot a 5D2 and while I’m always ready to upgrade to a camera that adds functionality and image quality that affects my photographic product, I’m foregoing the 5D2 to 5D3 upgrade at this point. Yes, the 5D3 is a fine camera and objectively “better” than the 5D 2 in some ways… but the differences are, for the sort of photography I do, not really that significant and not worth the cost. That balance sheet might total up differently for other photographers, but I think one must put aside the potential for (new) Gear Lust when thinking this through.

Of all the circumstances in which a back-up camera might be needed, it is hard for me to understand how the 50D would come up short in the vast majority of them. My hunch is that our OP could hang onto the 5D2 and the 50D and do just fine.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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