Shooting with two camera bodies

With a couple of wedding shoots coming up soon, I decided to grab an extra camera body. There are two main reasons why having an additional body at a wedding is important:

1. Backup. If your camera dies on a wedding shoot (eg, recurring Error 99 issues, dropped onto concrete, etc), then you want to have a backup on hand so you can keep taking photos.
2. Reduce lens changing. Having two bodies means that you can attach a wide angle lens to one and a long lens to the other. This greatly increases your flexibility in a rapidly changing environment. In my case, I have a 17-55 2.8 IS on one camera and a 70-200 2.8 IS on the other. Your day will be a lot less stressful if you don't have to keep switching lenses.

The main problem with having two bodies is that they are difficult to carry around with the standard neck straps attached. The best way to get around this problem is to use a harness which allows you to carry two cameras. I use the Black Rapid RS DR-1 Double Strap. This allows me to comfortably carry two camera bodies and have easy access to both whenever I need to shoot.

Handy Tip: Synchronise the time and date on both camera bodies.  This will enable you to sort your shots during post-production by time stamp.

Shooting with two camera bodies