Carrying Cameras

Visian said:

Andy - about 10 years ago, I found this little tripod sitting in the dirt at a motocross race:

This thing is one of the most useful accessories I've ever had. It is really small, so you can always have it handy.

You can set it on nearly anything and easily level it up.

You can bend it around railings, tree limbs, etc.

The only thing it doesn't have is extendible legs and I can't think of a time I have ever needed those.

Ian

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I got one of those too, works great for my point 'n shoot type cameras but not with my D70 not nearly sturdy enough.
As for carrying my D70 I got a nice padded tank bag that straps and is magnetic with a lower and upper bag unit. I pad the lower part then put my D70 in the top part. that way it is easy to get to while on the road plus i can remove the upper bag when i leave the bike as I would not leave that much equipment when I can't see the bike. Mine is a Joe Rocket 2 piece that I got for around 100 clams. I used some velcro dividers from one of my camera bags to make some compartments for camera and lens so they don't move around and other stuff in there doesn't bang against the camera. Works great.

RM

Tankbag

I carry my camera in the tank bag for the simple reason that I'll use it more if it's handy.
That said, my Nikon D100s stay home because I don't want to subject a high-end digital SLR to the dust and vibration of motorcycle travel. I bite the bullet, buy a bunch of film, and pack the F5 with a 28-300mm Tamron lens for bike trips. It kills me to have to pay for film and processing and then have to scan the negs, but I use the D100s for my work and don't want to beat them up. The F5 is nearly bulletproof.

I do not think that my equipment is as sophisticated as the cameras used by several of you, although I have a Sony Cybershot and it goes in a Ziploc bag and into the rear right pocket of my Rallye2 jacket and that way I can get to it but it is kept waterproof for those showers. The main advantage though is that it is a small camera that takes big pics.

rocketman said:

I got one of those too, works great for my point 'n shoot type cameras but not with my D70 not nearly sturdy enough.

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Yer right on that one. I tried it with my Nikon film camera and it doesn't work too great. You can get it to work if you position the legs just right, but the weight of most lenses reduces the usefullness of this little tripod quite a bit.

indyGT said:

... my Nikon D100s stay home because I don't want to subject a high-end digital SLR to the dust and vibration of motorcycle travel. I bite the bullet, buy a bunch of film, and pack the F5 with a 28-300mm Tamron lens for bike trips. It kills me to have to pay for film and processing and then have to scan the negs,...

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Indy - ask to have a photoCD pulled when you get your film developed. It's usually only about $12 and some film places will not charge you if you ask for the CD instead of the prints. Most places use an optical scanner that's better than most consumer units on the market, and the scans res up really high if you use PhotoShop.

Ian

My solution of how to carry my Digital SLR

In looking for a solution on how to carry my digital SLR, I took into consideration:
1) How to isolate the camera and lenses from shock and vibration
2) How to carry the the camera/bag in a secure manner
3) How maintain good access to the camera and lenses

Since I almost always travel one-up, and have a nice wide passenger seat that is not being used, this is what I came up with to solve my problem.

I bought some cellular (ajustable) foam from Pelican (i.e.: waterproof camera cases) and customized it to fit my Cortech tail bag. Works like a charm.

Cortech Bag

Interior

Camera gear removed showing cut-outs

Cut-outs and foam padding for base

I have used this model of Lowepro with great success. The sling allows easy movement around to the front and easy
retrieval of camera and other gear without getting off the bike.

The website says:

Carried comfortably on the back, it easily rotates to the front so you can get to your camera quickly. The SlingShot 200 AW holds an SLR with mid-range zoom lens attached 3-4 extra lenses, cables and accessories and has a full access lid to make loading it a snap. This feature-rich bag also includes a built-in memory card pouch, micro fiber LCD cloth and two generous organizer pockets.

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I have found there prose to be right on target.

my ex Leica

All I know is there are pieces of Leica scattered all over US75 in north Dallas, along with several bottles of water, a towel and the remains of a 22L topcase.

I once again carry only what will fit in a jacket pocket.

Two summers ago on my 10,000 km ride, I kept my Canon 20D and a moderate telephoto lens in the a small backpack camera bag in my top box. Last summer, on a 13,000 km ride last summer, I kept my 20D in a smaller camera bag in the top case, with no additional lens, and a small Canon A540 in my chest left pocket. I used the small pocket camera more frequently than the SLR.

As much as I prefer the results of the SLR, I find that it takes up too much space. The last few trips of last summer were taken only with the small Canon A540 as I only require the images to be enlarged to 16x20. As an aside, the D20 survived in the Givi 50L top case, even with one tip over.

Paul_F said:

As much as I prefer the results of the SLR, I find that it takes up too much space. The last few trips of last summer were taken only with the small Canon A540 as I only require the images to be enlarged to 16x20. As an aside, the D20 survived in the Givi 50L top case, even with one tip over.

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I'm coming around to this conclusion myself.

The DSLR and bagful of lenses are used when I'm heading out to take photographs. I can carry my Canon 40D, six lenses, two flashes, a lightmeter, and miscellaneous accessories in a big that fits as though it's tailor-made for my GSA side case. I do worry about the vibration, but so far so good. However, on a long trip, I simply can't afford that space for camera gear.

When I'm going for a ride, I take along a compact camera. There are dozens of really good, very inexpensive choices. I just invested in a G9, which is great, but is by no means the only good choice out there.

oldpaul said:

All I know is there are pieces of Leica scattered all over US75 in north Dallas. . . .

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Ouch.

carrying cameras

I like carrying my D 40 in a Lowe case in the right System case, which is my "road bag" i.e. it affords a safer place to stand while opening it. I like carrying expensive stuff down low.

My point and shoot goes in the tank bag, and is also in a padded Lowe case.

I think if you're going to carry expensive cameras on a bike, you've got to be prepared to replace them if you crash. And in any event, if that happens, there will probably be more serious issues to deal with than camera replacement.

My old film Nikon SLR's were pretty tough; I've fallen on them while cross country skiing and they were unaffected. But I assume the digital versions are pretty fragile.

Rinty

rinty said:

My old film Nikon SLR's were pretty tough; I've fallen on them while cross country skiing and they were unaffected. But I assume the digital versions are pretty fragile. Rinty

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Well besides a tip over last summer, I did a low side on gravel at about 30 mph in Colorado, with the 20D in a small camera bag in the Givi top case. Even though I have another 20D, I used the trip 20D and shot three weddings and a fashion show after the low side with no ill effects on exposures.

rinty said:

My old film Nikon SLR's were pretty tough...

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remember the old nikon F ad where the photographer smuggled his nikon into a country by putting into a bucket of water?

i'm thinkin' that won't work with a digital.....

i've been thinking about one of these sling packs:



... it would work well for rapid access, not so well for crash protection.

good think i never crash.

I have a more global view. In addition to the bike, I want a bag that will be good when I want to hike in a mile or so, to photograph some birds.

I use the Tamrac Adventure and I have an exterior pouch for my circular polarizers that has stayed on during triple digit long tours.

Here's mine Forgive the brown taped tarp - someone stole my gear bag from a laundermat. good thing I had a tent tarp.

Tankbag

My XT has over 25K miloes on 3 continents, all in tankbags. I keep it in an Aerostich fleece bag which helps damp out vibrations yet makes it easily accesible. If I'm caryying other lenses they usually go in the right side bag.

I don't use the tailbag for two reasons, first it's hard to get at and as others have said they can come off (my 1200GS bag has the dreaded crack now).

I also usually take a small P&S as well, also in the tankbag. If the weather is bad, or I don't want to carry the SLR, I grab the little one. In the past I usaed an S70 as it took the same memory cards and battery as the XT, reducing the amount of stuff to carry. Now I'm using an S80, same battery but it uses SD. Of coure if I upgrade to the Canon, it's SD too, but then the battery won't match. Ah well.

Someone mentioned tripods. I have several, a couple of Cullmans, a SLIK tabletop, a $4 Wal-Mart super-mini that I use with the S80 sometimes. But for light bike travel I use the Ultra-Pod. I have the little U-PI and the larger U-PII. The Ulta-Pod II will handle the XT with and any of my lenses, it weighs only four ounces and the velcro strap attachment allows me to use the bike itself or nearly objects as tripod mounts. Very handy and quick to deploy.

http://www.pedcopods.com/products.htm

alan.

Late to the party, but here's what I use / carry, and where, on a bike trip.

Gear (Rolleiflex TLR and a 35mm Widelux pano) go into a Lowe camera bag, which then goes into a Marsee tankbag. The tank on my R100gs is pretty smooth, rubber-mountend and all that. Stuff in there is easy to get to, and pretty well protected in a crash.

I usually carry a tripod on bike trips, too. Whether it's big or small depends on how heavily packed I am. Solo, I'll take a full-size Slik tripod (with a joystick-type ballhead and quick-release), in its own bag, lashed onto the rear somewhere. Two-up, much more likely to take a small Fotomat tripod I bought prolly 25 years ago. Collapsed, it's about 3"-4" diameter and about a foot long.

Another option is a small bean-bag with a tripod screw mounted in it. The beans are plastic pellets, and it's shaped roughly like a hockey puck. It's a little slick, so I added some tacky plastic sheet to the bottom, like what you might put on your car's dashboard under a PDA or cellphone. Below is a link to the item:

http://www.amazon.com/POD-Camera-Platform-Bean-Bag/dp/B00009UTQ3/ref=pd_bxgy_p_img_b

The Amazon reviews point out that with an SLR, it may not work well, due to long lens and CoG. But with the squat cameras I have, it works OK in certain situations. Tripod is better, though.