Re: [Leica] two M cameras at once!

[TTAbrahams@aol.com]

Francesco, I usually carry 2 and sometimes three bodies at the same time.
Usually the body with the 35 around my neck, the 50 over the right shoulder
and the wide angle (21/24 or 28) in the bag on the left shoulder ( with film
etc). In the "good old days" I used to carry one shortstrapped around my neck
with the 35, a second with longer straps and a 21 on it. This led to some
severely deformed finders on the 21 ( physics come into play, what goes up,
must come down and the M2 on the top would bounce around and land on the
finder of the 21 at the downstroke). Several flattened 21 finders ( metal) and
some dented M2/M3 top plates was the result.
 It isn't to much trouble to swing the right shoulder body around and up to
the eyes, just extend the strap long enough that the baseplate/winder bottom
is slightly above your belt. That also gives you enough strap to wind around
the wrist and elbow as an impromtu "stabilizer". Longer lenses are trickier as
they tend to be heavy and slam against the body if you have to jump or move
fast.
 If you really want to see a master using multi M's, watch the movie
"Woodstock", in one short segment it shows Jim Marshall ( rock photographer
supreme) with five M bodies on him.
 Carrying M's without straps is tricky, sometimes you can get away with a
wrist-strap but I found it useful only when you carry one M body and a 35 on
it. Probably an aquired skill that I have yet to master. The key is to always
have one body ready to shoot with, nothing worse than have to start fumble
under a jacket or vest for a camera.
 Tom A