Cycling and photography

simonankor said:
Soooooo since they're so easy to carry... who rides a bike when they're out shooting? How often? More importantly... how do you carry your gear?
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See my Blue Ridge Challenge thread 🙂

At the moment I only have one camera that I take everywhere (but I'm getting the second one soon). I ride a cheap - but good - Avanti hybrid, and everything goes in a backpack. No camera bag for me - I just wrap the Bessa up in something soft and chuck it in.

I'm planning to upgrade to a recumbent touring bike later in the year and I'm heading up to the Snowies to do some touring. That'll involve panniers and probably a better set up for the cameras.
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I ride a racing bike, with relatively minimal gear; I'm probably going to get a
waterproof camera bag that I can use as a fanny pack or something, because
that worked pretty well, except for the fact that my camera was wearing my
windbreaker 🙂

That ride was my first with a camera, so I'm still working on that part. I wasn't
able to shoot nearly as much as I had hoped, mainly due to the weather, and
partly because I didn't know the route, since it was my first time riding it.

I also missed a few nice photo opportunities because of the 40-mph descents
🙂
 
"How do you like the Summaron? I have a Color Skopar 35mm now but I find the contrast too much. How sharp is the Summaron? In comparison to...

thanks, Rob."

I only have two Leitz lenses, both pre-1960 --- a circa. 1931 50 mm f 3.5 Elmar, and the 3.5 cm f 3.5 Summaron. Without getting into the whole "Leitz/Leica lens glow" debate, I will say that I really appreciate them for the "pop" or quasi-3d image quality both exhibit, especially when used wide open. Both are "sharp enough," but neither is as contrasty as the only V/C lens I have, a 75 mm Color Heliar. Both are very compact lenses --- in fact, the Elmar is a collapsible. The Summaron is single-coated, and is marginally less prone to lens flare than the Elmar. Leitz lens shades/hoods cost a small fortune, but have helped on the Elmar. I am slowly saving my pennies (and it will cost a lot of them) for a used Summicron...
 
Well, I've been known to carry a 4x5 inch outfit on the rack on my Overbury. A good rule is that high-density foam guards against knocks and low-density guards against vibration. the latter is even more important with motorcycles, especially singles. For lightest weight, a Retina IIa in an ever-ready case, slung over my back like a bonk bag.

Cheers,

Roger (www.rogerandfrances.com)
 
Bikes that are geared towards racing are often a little handicapped in terms of being able to carry panniers, etc. I have a Trek 5500 OCLV and it just doesn't have braze-ons - plus, if you're going to spend the money to buy a 17-pound bike, you probably want to keep weight off of it - with that in mind, I only carry a Konica C35 either in a jersey or in the small tool case strapped under the seat.

I think the Olympus XA is the ideal camera here - the C35 has gotten a fair amount of shaking under there and it does require periodic attention because of it. I think the XA would endure it better.
 
Update

Update

Well, looks like I'm getting panniers soon, that will be a relief for my back!

A funny thing... lately I've found I've been using my partner's old Canon AE1 while cycling. Why? Well... It's only a touch larger than my (broken) FED 2, and it has a 50mm lens which I don't have for L39 mount. So it's what I'm using at the moment. And I've barely noticed the difference!

In other news, sometime in the next three months I hope to be building myself a touring recumbent bike... it will be interesting to see (a) how much space I have on it, (b) what photo gear I take touring and (c) whether I can find a spot that's easier to reach than on my upright bike.
 
I use my trusty Olympus Stylus Epic (fixed 35mm lens) tucked into a jersey pocket. It's the only camera that I can pull out and shoot one handed while still riding. Anything else requires stopping and dismounting.
 
I ride a Specialized Hardrock that is a more of a hybrid bike than mountain bike. I have a clip on bag for the front handlebars that holds lots of stuff but my Olympus Stylus is what I carry due to weight.
 
I just stuck some road tires on an old Klein mountain bike, and clamped a large size milk crate on the rear rack -- it's my 'round-town cruise now and I throw the camera bag in the crate on top of a jacket for padding. It's all pretty low-tech.

Motorcycle is different: if one or two cameras they go in the tank bag, more than that go in the panniers along with padding, or in the top case (if I'm taking it).
 
The Lowepro removable insert slides neatly into the Ortlieb Classic. For a no-bag ride, the RF body in one pocket and lens in the other. Leg pockets on Army surplus camo daks (standard riding gear). It's a war-zone on the city streets.

Current mounts: Cannondale Bad Boy Ultra, 1980's TREK aluminium racer.
 
Such a small world, and surely proof that I should stop lurking. (I'd been waiting for an R-D1 and a VC 40/1.4 Nokton to arrive before joining.) Hello, forum.

Taffer points to an on-the-bike solar-powered charger that a touring cyclist named Mark (mark-ju.net) built to deal with his camera, laptop, lights and other sundry electronic things.

How bizarre: I rode with Mark and his wife, Juliette, for about a day and a half when they were in Italy three years ago (they ride *verrrry* leisurely -- it looks like they finally got to Australia in December). You can see me on this diary page . I'm the guy halfway down the page.

Mark's system is fantastic if you camp rough almost every single night, as they do. Of course, it does help to be an electrical engineer to put it all together.

Bike touring is why I shoot with rangefinders. I bought a black Hexar AF for the trip through Europe (Ireland to Turkey in six months and 8,000km) on which I met Mark and Ju so that I could have the quality and flexibility of the SLRs I was used to without the weight. I fell in love with the Hexar, and now my girlfriend will be using it on a planned trip this winter through Australia, NZ, Japan and SE Asia while I use the R-D1.

Unfortunately, since I ride a custom singlespeed (!) road bike that's more built for speed than stability -- particularly when it's wearing panniers -- shooting from the saddle is a bit dodgy. I'm always afraid I'll crash while trying to simultaneously ride and shoot.

Here's one example that worked, shot on an earlier singlespeed (this one a Dekerf mountain bike that was subsequently stolen) with a Canon T90 SLR and a 24mm f/2.8, with the shutter tripped while the camera hung from my neck. That's downtown Edmonton (hi, backalley photo, whoever you are!) during a Critical Mass rally.

Let's hope this attachment works.
 
Serendipity at its best !! 😱

Welcome Dan ! It's such a trip you did... with a singlespeed bike !! I'm entering the bicycle world mainly after reading the book from a Spanish guy who went from here to the Himalaya and later from San Francisco to Usuhaia, but before I can take it more seriously I just need to get myself a new body 😛

Hope to see you now as a regular here now, and btw, Edmonton back alley is our fearless moderator Joe !!! 😉

And that's a really nice backlit shot !

Oscar
 
Oscar,
Get the bike and ride, you'll then get the new body. I'm 58 and enjoy riding bikes and find it lowers the blood pressure and does good things to the blood as well as just plain fun. I just got a "new' Olympus 700ZoomBP, a p&s with a zoom to take on the bike. I'll post some of the pics here later. Great travel camera and I don't worry if it falls, cost only $12.
 
Dan:

That is a very cool image! I remember snapping shots of my riding buddies during a century ride several years ago --- I could only manage an Oly Stylus while riding on my old road bike at about 17-18 mph or so. I'll have to scan some of those old shots --- come to think of it, how about that for a thread --- photographs taken while riding?
 
What frightens me from biking in the city is traffic, and the fact that I should carry the bike in commuter train rush hour from St. Boi to Barcelona. Once there it should be quite easy since there's bike path almost all the way from the train station to my work place.

So, meanwhile I'm restricted to my escapes to the countryside, where you just close your house door and start riding 🙂 When I'm there, I don't only find it plain fun, but also way addictive, even though I'm not going to break the speed record 😛
 
Seems to be a few Adelaide folk on this thread. The best way of carrying work gear and cameras, (at least for me) is in a Crumpler Worder Weenie. The third leg thingie keeps the load really close to your body when you're riding. But, unlike backpacks, it's easy to get access to your camera quickly and easily.

Cheers
 
I dont think I would go riding with my new Lowepro backpack. Even with the padding it has, i can see all my cameras going crunch after going head over heals over the handlebars. I know what that feels like all to well. This Crumpler sounds like the ideal thing tho. Altho if you fall, your most likly gonna get knackered anyway 🙂 I think the Adelaide crew is growing slowly, but surly 😉
 
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