Carrying a digital SLR camera on a bike?

[Peter.S]

Does anyone have experience carrying a digital SLR camera on a bike?

I have my SLR and a few lenses which I usually carry over my shoulder for short trips or on my back for longer trips. But I would much prefer to put them in a tank bag.

I'm worried about the vibrations stuffing up the sensitive electronics in the camera. I would pad it of course but several hours of constant vibration is not the same as just swinging from ones shoulder and being plonked on the ground like what conventional camera bags are designed for.

Any advice is welcome...

P

[AliBaba]

Originally Posted by Peter.S

Does anyone have experience carrying a digital SLR camera on a bike?

I have my SLR and a few lenses which I usually carry over my shoulder for short trips or on my back for longer trips. But I would much prefer to put them in a tank bag.

I'm worried about the vibrations stuffing up the sensitive electronics in the camera. I would pad it of course but several hours of constant vibration is not the same as just swinging from ones shoulder and being plonked on the ground like what conventional camera bags are designed for.

Any advice is welcome...

P

Maybe this one?


Touratech Webshop

Search for "photo"
Haven't tried it myself but a friend of mine think it is great.

[Mermaid]

I carry a Digital SLR (with 18-70 lens) and a 70-300 lens when touring. Both are in individual cases with minimal/no padding and I keep them in a Buffalo bag that straps to the rear rack - it then converts to a rucksack for walking around. the Buffalo bag is unpadded but it's rain cover tucks up under the bag so effectively my camera kit sits on that. Basically I ensure that everything is well packed in so nothing can move about.
I ride a Triumph Tiger which isn't the smoothest bike out there but have not had any problems - long may it continue!

[Bill Holland]

There are several posts about this in the photo forum.
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/photo-forum/

[ahkeong_m]

Originally Posted by Mermaid

I carry a Digital SLR (with 18-70 lens) and a 70-300 lens when touring. Both are in individual cases with minimal/no padding and I keep them in a Buffalo bag that straps to the rear rack - it then converts to a rucksack for walking around. the Buffalo bag is unpadded but it's rain cover tucks up under the bag so effectively my camera kit sits on that. Basically I ensure that everything is well packed in so nothing can move about.
I ride a Triumph Tiger which isn't the smoothest bike out there but have not had any problems - long may it continue!

hi guy
can you share your bag photo and how you strap on the rear rack? Do you have pillion on the road? Will the bag block the pillion?

[mollydog]

It's always a bit of a risk taking a nice camera

[MarkLG]

I put my SLR in the top of a pannier in a basic LowePro padded case. I've done a lot of miles this way, on and off road, with no problems.
Be very careful carry something as large and solid as an SLR on your body - you could do yourself a lot of damage if you land on it in a tumble.

I regard everything I carry with me on a trip as disposable or replaceable - if your worrying about your gear all the time it can ruin a trip.
If your SLR is an expensive one and you're concerned about damaging it then it may be worth trying to find an older model secondhand off ebay which will use the same lenses, and use this for bike trips. The lenses are pretty sturdy, so I wouldn't be too worried about them as long as they're packed properly.

[Matt Cartney]

Originally Posted by MarkLG

If your SLR is an expensive one and you're concerned about damaging it then it may be worth trying to find an older model secondhand off ebay which will use the same lenses, and use this for bike trips. The lenses are pretty sturdy, so I wouldn't be too worried about them as long as they're packed properly.

This ain't a bad idea. I bet you could get a Nikon D100 body or similar for peanuts on e-bay. The D100 is a great camera with 6mp. It's pretty slow if you are shooting RAW but this isn't necessary unless you're planning to sell your pix. But it's getting pretty outdated now, so should be quite cheap.

Matt

[demito]

I had mine in a padded camera bag in my left pannier during my Morocco trip. My pannier was always pretty full so things didn't move around. When offroading I laid the bike down from time to time without any harm. We did some pretty rough terrain.
My camera broke when riding with minimal luggage on a bumpy piste. No side panniers, just a half full top box so the bag could move around. Also the top box gets a lot more beating on rough terrain than side panniers.

I also have the TT camera tankbag which I used for a road holiday in Schotland. Very happy with it. Well padded and converts into a backpack. The advantage of a tankbag is easier access.

T

[Walkabout]

For my twopence worth, no one has mentioned a bumbag which is what I use to carry the digi camera on my body - wouldn't want it anywhere else if it is to be used as quickly as possible, including when I am off the bike, while having some protection against vibes etc.
I have never considered keeping it on the bike for the vibe reasons alone; while touring, the valuables, including the camera, are always on my body. In an off, there is a poss of damaging myself on the camera or damaging the camera itself; hence the camera is not the latest state of the art stuff.

Cheers,

Dave

[Mermaid]

Hi ahkeong_m,

If someone can tell me how to post a picture of my bag I'll happily do it.

I don't ride with a pillion but strap tent/sleeping bags etc. on the seat instead. The Buffalo bag is well clear of the pillion seat so wouldn't be a problem if I had a passenger.

I wanted the bag to be quick/easy to put on and take off so I made a couple of modifications to things.
Originally it was designed to strap to the rear seat and so has a couple of D rings at the front. I added a couple of hooks to the rear rack of my bike so that the D rings hooked on to them.
I also added a couple of extra 'rucksack type' straps on the bag - I could have used the original straps but they were too long and made fitting it fiddly. The extra straps are short enough to go from the top of the bag, round one bar of the rack and back up to the squeeze clip. I can then apply as much tension as necessary to ensure that everything is good and firm.
When I want to carry the bag I untuck the original rucksack straps from their hiding place and off I go.

I use the same bag for money, passport etc. so always take it with me when I'm not with the bike - hence wanting it to be easy to put on/take off!

[cozcan]

Tank bags are ok for cameras. I have a Hein Gericke Toureg with several pockets one for the camera, one for my leather sandals, one for mobile, etc... But ı usually prefer one of my touring jacket's pockets. I could never imagine such a camera just a few years ago that I can carry in my pocket and gives such a quality both in soft and hard formats.

can

[jkrijt]

My son takes his Nikon D50 with extra lens etc with him in the topcase of his moped. He has done that for the last two years, on- and off-road and it still works fine.

I take my Nikon D70 in a camerabag in the topcase of my BMW but I don't ride off-road with it.

I don't want to have anything on my back when I'm driving so no backpack for me. I value my back and spine more then any camera.
I can't lock my tankbag and I don't want to take my tankbag with me every tankstop so a tankbag is not a good place for an expensive camera for me.

I do have a very small and cheap camera (Kodak Easyshare C653) that I have in a pocket of my bike jacked to capture those moments that you have to make a picture NOW.

If I knew I would do a lot of rough off-road, I wouldn't take the Nikon but use my wifes Minolta Z10. That was mine before I bought the Nikon and it has been in my topcase on various bikes on- and off-road with no problem for thousands of kilometers.