Pictures anyone? Cameras and Packs

[Misael441]

I love photography and always see things I would like to take pictures on while I am riding. The point and shoot just doesn't cut it any more and I am itching to ride with my DSLR. Does anyone every carry theirs with them? and if so what pack do you use? I currently have a dakine ridge pack ( hydration and versatility is a must, I also snowboard) and was thinking of getting onw of the tamrac explorer or express carry cases and sticking it in the dakine ridge for riding. any suggestions?

[foofighter]

that's been my quandry as well because some big group rides i'd like to break out w/ the nicer cameras...but i dont want to go OTB and trash my camera. The Point and Shoots nowadays have come a long way look at keepwhathappens photos very nice quality for a P&S

[KeepsWhatHappens]

Any Canon Point and Shoot is suitable for rides. A DSLR is just too big and bulkly. The Canon SD 1000 is an AWESOME camera for biking. I own a 1dsMk2 and Mk3 and would never take them riding. No need to with the SD1000 available. If you need more check out the Canon G9. It doesn't realize it's a point and shoot.

I use the SD 630.

No matter what you MUST go Canon as they are in Irvine in the Spectrum for maintenence. You simply CAN NOT beat that!!!

Canon has AWESOME customer service. And NO I don't work for Canon.

KeepsWhatHappens

[foofighter]

speak the truth brotha...i did forget about canon being in irvine.

[2wheel_lee]

Winston is our "house" pro photographer who rides the gnarliest DH stuff with his pro gear in a pack on his chest for quick access. Hopefully he'll chime in soon, because his pack setup is really nice.

[allison]

I had to send my Canon back to like Illionois or something for service


That being said, while I guess I'm not Winston or John, I had a big 8MP camera that I tried carrying around in a handlebar bag, but the camera just got too beat up. I wound up replacing it with a really small Canon P&S and the photos are great, even without all the fluff of the options. My small camera I guess got pretty beat up also, but I took over 28gig's of photos/videos last year, so maybe it just needed some TLC.

[ThinkFast]

I replaced my lost camera with a Canon SD1000 after seeing John and Allison's great pics. I'm kinda glad I lost my other one now. It takes great shots and is very quick and easy to navigate to different settings.

[SheDevil]

Originally Posted by KeepsWhatHappens

Any Canon Point and Shoot is suitable for rides. A DSLR is just too big and bulkly. The Canon SD 1000 is an AWESOME camera for biking. I own a 1dsMk2 and Mk3 and would never take them riding. No need to with the SD1000 available. If you need more check out the Canon G9. It doesn't realize it's a point and shoot.

I use the SD 630.

No matter what you MUST go Canon as they are in Irvine in the Spectrum for maintenence. You simply CAN NOT beat that!!!

Canon has AWESOME customer service. And NO I don't work for Canon.

KeepsWhatHappens

Agreed completely....anything else is well...not a Canon!! Top photogs in the world use them.

Speaking of one ...here's a friend of mine.

www.garphoto.com

[ericfoltz]

I have three options I use for transporting my camera equipment on rides.

If I'm just doing snapshots that aren't for publication, I'll bring my P&S (Canon 430) in a small case on my camelback waistband.

If I want a little better quality, I have a Tamrac chest bag that can carry my Canon 10D (DSLR). I just clip it on to the shoulder straps for easy access.

If I'm heading out to get good shots for publication/stock, I usually pack my IDs MKII in a large camelback with two lenses (28-70mm, 70-200mm) and a flash.

Sometimes I use my bike to get into places for landscapes.

[northshore]

A friend of mine recommends these:

http://www.kata-bags.com/index.asp

Military grade bags. He hikes, skies, and travels a ton with these bags and never had a single issue carrying around his Nikon SLR.

[ghixon]

Eric's photos always come out looking great. Shoot a PM to MTBBill as well. He usually has his DSLR with him on rides and his photos come out great as well.

[Winston]

I carry my Nikon D80 w/ Tokina AF 12-24mm f/4 AT-X Pro DX lens in a Tamrac Zoom 5 Camera Bag.


The bag has a zipper enclosure and a buckle down flap.

I secure the bag to my chest via the chest strap on my Camelbak. (I currently use a Dakine Apex.) I feed the chest strap through the plastic shoulder strap loops on the camera bag.

Since the DSLR has more weight to it than a typical point & shoot camera, I have added a Dakine snow board leash as insurance. (In case the chest strap were to fail.) One end attached to the plastic loop on the camera bag and the other end attached to the plastic loop on the Camelbak shoulder strap.

I've only ejected the camera once after I forgot to buckle the flap. Fortunately for me the camera landed in sand.

An older picture of me in action with my Nikon D80 hanging from my chest. Yea haw!!!

[Misael441]

thanks, everyone for your input. I personally am a nikon user, nothing against canon, actually do plan on getting one of the P&S. Probably will do a set up like winston ( nice pic..... I will test my set up in the exact same way) ) and ericfoltz ( I check out your site.........nice!). I read mtb bills faq's and saw what he posted in regards to his equipment. taking all that into consideration probabaly going to go with the tamrac [FONT=Arial]Adventure Messenger 3 inside the dakine ridge and/or around my chest. So if you see ashort kid on a diamondback slowly making its way up a climb with a grey pack and a red face around daley ranch and hodges....probably me. [/FONT]

[jeffj]

Tamrac makes a chest harness (S-500) to fit their 5xxx series bags for transporting a DSLR with lens. The 5xx series bags only have two attachment points and would not be as secure as the ones with four attachment points.

Personally, unless I have a very compelling reason to take the best shots possible, I'm leaving my DSLR at home. It's just too unsatisfying as far as the ride is concerned to deal with the bulk and worry about thousands of dollars worth of body and lens being damaged. Tried it and didn't have near as much fun riding.

A good P&S digital will take very decent shots in most conditions. I even have a small slave flash (Canon HF-DC1) that I can easily take on rides with nowhere near the bulk or potential for lo$$. It is a compromise, but not as much as you might think. My P&S even takes some pretty good video which a DSLR won't. JMHO.

[mntbiker12]

+1 for Canon SD1000. Love mine!