[Leica] Second body (NOT back-up)

[Christer Almqvist <chris@almqvist.net>]

Does a second body significantly increase the number of good pictures?

I am thinking of getting a second body, not as a back-up, but to load with
a different film so that I can always shoot with the right speed film. I am
not thinking of having one body with color and one with black and white,
but to have b&w film in both bodies, low speed  film in one and high speed
film in the other.

Given the high price of bodies (at least $ 1500 for a used M6) and the low
cost of films ($3 per film here) it probably makes more financial sense to
use only one body and to change films even if the one in the camera has
been only half exposed. Even if one does not put the half exposed film back
in again, the break-even point is one thousand (!) films if each film is
used 50%. (Yes, if you count the cost of chemicals the figure drops a bit.)

But there is the psycological barrier against wasting film, and the
inconvenience of changing film, and the potential loss of the picture
opportunity while you change...

I guess a few LUGgers have gone through this, and I would be interested to
share their experience. It boils down to the question: Does a second body
significantly increase the number of good pictures?

- --
christer almqvist
eichenstrasse 57, d-20255 hamburg, fon +49-40-407111 fax +49-40-4908440
14 rue de la hauteur, f-50590 regnéville-sur-mer, fon+fax +33-233 45 35 58