Extra Spare Camera

Has anyone purcahsed a backup camera just for the purpose of extending the life of the housing? I always see my backup camera as an emergency camera in case my primary breaks, etc. However, after recently going through a housing upgrade due to lack of replacement camera availability, I am thinking about buying another camera and leaving it in the box, in the safe. It seems that the price of the camera is the small part of the rig.

Does anyone do this or am I crazy.

Ryan

Very sensible if you can afford it. Thought about doing the same thing myself

J

very smart yes, i did it myself

oops... i just noticed this was in the video section.. hahaha

no, i don't have an extra camera for that....

but i didn't sell my old 950...

Well it's always good to have a backup. My PD170 was backuped by a VX2100.

However, depending on cameras,the more pro models have a model life of 2-4 years, depending on make and model. There are updates mid model life but usually they are the same form factor.

However, with the cost of the cameras now nearing $5k. I've gone the other route. I purchased a smaller camera with housing so I can have a backup housing that is small form factor. It won't be as good as the big boy but if the housing floods, it's dead anyways (electronic). A housing that is better for macro doubles as a backup in times of need.

If you have the cheaper cameras, buying 2 is always better economics since the consumer models tend to have a 1 year model life span.

Drew, interesting approach. So are you carrying 2 housings and 2 cameras?

My enclosure is the L&M Bluefin HC3. The enclusre was expensive, but the camera can be found for less than $1300 at any major retailer, I could even ebay for cheaper. I am carrying 2 HC3's with me on my next trip, one to backup in case of camera failure. But you are correct, if I have a housing flood, I am screwed anyway. I guess I could run it in 'ghetto' mode, start the camera manually and place it into the housing.

Ryan