Motorcycle and a Mamiya 7II

J

JCT

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Hi all,

A little off-the-wall, but I figured someone might know.

I finally took the plunge and bought the M7II + 80mm that I have had my eye on for traveling. Over the past year I have been shooting large format, but it is clear that when I am with others (e.g. family) -- that is not the way to go as they don't get the contemplative "thing" ;) .

My husband and I often take motorcycle day trips -- I'd like to take the Mamiya, but i am concerned that the vibrations may take a toll on the rangefinder alignment. I am planning on picking up a small Pelican for storage tomorrow and I could easily strap it to the bike, or my husband could carry the camera in his saddle bag, but I am a bit paranoid.

Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks,

JT
 
I don't know.. but the simple idea of the Mamiya 7ii and transport to where you want to go sounds so great. I am going to get some slide roll film, boot up the Fuji GA and go shoot some falling leaves.

Thanks
 
The Pelican case should dampen the vibration...even on a Harley like mine ;)

Todd
 
So long as it doesn't have a firm connection to any part of the bike, you should be fine. For example, the lower portion of soft throw over panniers will be well isolated from vibration - provided they are not sitting against the bike. A small shoulder bag or back pack would definitely keep camera isolated if you don't mind carrying one. I would avoid a rear rack, strapping a pelican straight to one probably a poor solution. If you use a tank bag, roll up some waterproof leggings or something soft and thick, put in first, then camera on top. That would also do it.

I'm sure you will be fine whatever, but it's better safe than sorry. What sort of bike is it? The worst I can think of is a Buell, I'm suprised they don't fall to pieces when sitting at idle!

Ted.
 
Not sure about the Mamiya, but I carried an Olympus OM10 for years in the tank bag on my bike. It even survived an end-over-end incident once.
 
I carried a Pentax MX and different fixed lens rangefinders in a tank bag for many many thousand miles with no apparent ill effects.

KenD
 
Ah great-- tons of bike guys!

My bike is a late model H-D Sportster (883L -- I'm a pretty tiny female), the engine isn't frame mounted, but I think my paranoia is winning out, so I I'm leaning towards the backpack approach.

Maybe I can find the smallest Pelican that will fit my camera with the 80mm mounted and toss that into a lightweight backpack.

Took a nice long ride today with the leaves just starting to turn, really sorry I didn't bring a camera! Next time I'll be ready.

Thanks guys and ride safe!

JT

Ack, Chris --- end-over-end ? Yikes
 
I have done a cross country trip from NY to CA on a 2 stroke with a TLR in a tank bag with no problems. The tank tend to vibrate the least. For safety sake do not ride wearing a back pack with anything hard inside. If you wipe and land on your back then something in your back pack can do damage to your spine. For weekend rides I always wear a back protector under my leather jacket.
 
Never had a problem with a well padded camera bag in the saddlebag and a RF (not a Mamiya though). Be it a Panhead, Chief (essentially a hardtail), Roadking or BMWs.
 
Yeah tot of doing the same thing with my M8 but will it make any difference if the body is placed lying on its baseplate or on its back with a lens attached?
Will the magnets from the tankbag cause defects to the camera electronics too?
 
I've been mixing bikes and cameras for 30+ years, mostly without problems; the distillation of those decades is in
http://www.rogerandfrances.com/photoschool/ps photo-moto.html

One thing I would NO do is carry the camera on your person. If you fall off and land in it, it hurts, and it doesn't do the camera any good either -- though when I tried this with a Nikonos it came off better than I did.

I've also carried Leicas (including M8, in a magnetic tank bag), Mamiyas, Nikons, Linhofs, Toho 4x5...

You might also care to look at the Motorcycle Touring in Europe (McTiE) sections of The Semi-Adventurous Traveller:

http://www.semiadventuroustraveler.com/semi list a.html

IMPORTANT: Gain access to the articles via 'Countries and Regions' in the above link, where they are free, and NOT via mctie.com, an earlier generation of the same thing.

Cheers,

Roger
 
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I'm with FrankS-- Roger, thanks a million for those links. I completely agree about the combo of the open road and photography.

And yup, was discussing this with the better half and he immediately nixed the backpack approach (he's been riding for many more years than I have).

So I am leaning towards a smallish tank bag (my bike has a classic peanut tank) and will modify it with a bit of foam padding.

Today after my trip to B&H I had a chance to try out the Mamiya for the first time. Holy cow what the hell had I been waiting for, I should have bought one a long time ago. It's my first modern rangefinder, my other one is an M3 that was born the same year that I was :eek: . What a pleasure to shoot!

OK, off to track down a suitable tank bag!

JT
 
We went to the Chateau de Berrie today to take some pictures.

In the tank bag: MP + 35/1.4 Summilux, M4-P + 75/2 Summicron, R2 + 50/2.5 Summarit, Zeiss Ikon SW + 18/4, all in OpTech cases. The tank bag is a magnetic Held with a 1-inch layer of low-density open-cell foam (from a camera bag) in the bottom, in a plastic Zip-Loc bag so it doesn't pick up and hold moisture.

I took a wrong turning and had to turn around on a narrow grass verge with an adverse camber (not 'adverse camera' as initially mistyped). At zero mph we toppled over and fell off. (Yes, I know, Frances should have got off first.)

Pride and dignity bruised; grass marks on the edge of the fairing; no harm to the cameras... Could have been quite nasty if we'd had the cameras in pockets/round our necks.

Pictures (on HP5, Delta 3200 and Ektar 100)? Don't know yet...

Cheers,

R.
 
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