Traveling with RF while on a bike

kshapero

kshapero

South Florida Man
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I am using my bike now for almost all travel within the town I live in. I have never really gotten comfortable with how to have my RF with me on the bike. Any ideas? Looking for safety of my camera, and having it accessible to shoot with.
 
How about a real messenger bag --> they have additional waist belt to keep it in place. The ones from TimBuk2 also have messenger bags with padding for a laptop. Would stick the RF in there padded area unless you are talking about a big RF like a Fuiji 690 (Texas Leica 🙂)

Before I started using messenger bags in general, I used to have a front bike bag for my bike on the handle bars that I could remove and take with me (came with a shoulder strap for that).

Gary
 
I ride every day, everywhere.

I often ride with DSLR or RF around my neck and 1 arm. You generally need to keep pulling it around to rest on your back, unless you have a strap that has a grippy rubber patch on it... like the ones that come with DSLRs....

Nice A&A, leather,rope etc, RF straps often do not have this, so they keep creeping around in front of your body, but I find that even when dangling there in front, I can ride in comfort, especially with a smaller lighter lens attached.

For colder weather times, I like having it around my neck, but under a zip up jacket.... if I need to whip it out quickly, just unzip my jacket and it falls out nicely...

For bags, messenger bags are the obvious choice, but I really prefer rucksuck/backpack type, because again, with a messenger bag, you have the same problem as a camera strap! They keep creeping around the front or to your side....

PS, I own a bike shop, and deal in a lot of types of bags for riding including messenger and rucksacks, and ride with cameras on many types of bikes every day... I am used to it, but for some people I am sure that constantly worrying about your camera, can be annoying. It never bothers me anymore.... My best suggestion is to have a strap which has a rubber patch on it, so that you can sling the camera as far around your back as possible, without it slipping back around the front...

Here are some of my older bikes.... I have no photos ready to upload of my current bikes... 🙂


http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_65_aiRx88Wc/SZuISmEg6sI/AAAAAAAABbA/z7BnLbIAiqw/s1600-h/IMGP4695.jpg


http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_65_aiRx88Wc/SZuGrveedwI/AAAAAAAABa4/lGVudi7nPSs/s1600-h/Image106.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_65_aiRx88Wc/SSFurqavQFI/AAAAAAAABB8/GC5H3FmYDKg/s1600-h/IMGP2936.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_65_aiRx88Wc/SOCvlQU1iEI/AAAAAAAAAxI/gqjn52gSquU/s1600-h/IMGP2461.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_65_aiRx88Wc/SMT6JwOhaLI/AAAAAAAAApA/SE9OjSArWGM/s1600-h/naka5.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_65_aiRx88Wc/SK911MW6vLI/AAAAAAAAAhg/Sge5veDOmCc/s1600-h/kiyo2.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_65_aiRx88Wc/SK910nkkPFI/AAAAAAAAAhY/nhqCUtUPzZQ/s1600-h/kiyo1.jpg
 
Last edited:
ReneSpudvilas said:
I ride every day, everywhere.

I often ride with DSLR or RF around my neck and 1 arm. You generally need to keep pulling it around to rest on your back, unless you have a strap that has a grippy rubber patch on it... like the ones that come with DSLRs....

Nice A&A, leather,rope etc, RF straps often do not have this, so they keep creeping around in front of your body, but I find that even when dangling there in front, I can ride in comfort, especially with a smaller lighter lens attached.

For colder weather times, I like having it around my neck, but under a zip up jacket.... if I need to whip it out quickly, just unzip my jacket and it falls out nicely...

For bags, messenger bags are the obvious choice, but I really prefer rucksuck/backpack type, because again, with a messenger bag, you have the same problem as a camera strap! They keep creeping around the front or to your side....

PS, I own a bike shop, and deal in a lot of types of bags for riding including messenger and rucksacks, and ride with cameras on many types of bikes every day... I am used to it, but for some people I am sure that constantly worrying about your camera, can be annoying. It never bothers me anymore.... My best suggestion is to have a strap which has a rubber patch on it, so that you can sling the camera as far around your back as possible, without it slipping back around the front...

Here are some of my older bikes.... I have no photos ready to upload of my current bikes... 🙂


http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_65_aiRx88Wc/SZuISmEg6sI/AAAAAAAABbA/z7BnLbIAiqw/s1600-h/IMGP4695.jpg


http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_65_aiRx88Wc/SZuGrveedwI/AAAAAAAABa4/lGVudi7nPSs/s1600-h/Image106.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_65_aiRx88Wc/SSFurqavQFI/AAAAAAAABB8/GC5H3FmYDKg/s1600-h/IMGP2936.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_65_aiRx88Wc/SOCvlQU1iEI/AAAAAAAAAxI/gqjn52gSquU/s1600-h/IMGP2461.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_65_aiRx88Wc/SMT6JwOhaLI/AAAAAAAAApA/SE9OjSArWGM/s1600-h/naka5.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_65_aiRx88Wc/SK911MW6vLI/AAAAAAAAAhg/Sge5veDOmCc/s1600-h/kiyo2.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_65_aiRx88Wc/SK910nkkPFI/AAAAAAAAAhY/nhqCUtUPzZQ/s1600-h/kiyo1.jpg
Click to expand...
Thanks, great post.
 
Yep! - the old wicker basket takes some beating! 😀
Dave
4352474086_337283ae59_b.jpg
 
Just having my cam on a shoulder strap works fine on my beater bike because I sit upright, but not on my racing bike because my back is to low. (just tested it). So on my racing bike (don't worry I am a racing poser) I will use my messenger bag because it has a cross strap which keeps it from moving.

se093.jpg
 
If you go with messenger bike route, I recommend Chrome bags. (http://www.chromebagsstore.com/)

It's just not a "messenger style" bag, but the REAL messenger bag.

Made to last forever, will not swing in front, easy to loosen or detach strap for quick access, water proof, thief/picker proof design, left and right shoulder models available as default, etc etc. Oh and it's made in USA by a small company from my home town San Francisco.

I commute with this bag with a laptop and Leica M in perfectly sized built-in compartment. When I'm out for shooting, I put Tenba messenger bag insert and the bag becomes super sturdy camera bag.
 
Strap over the shoulder does it for me when it's sunny, but I live in Vancouver, and that only seems to happen during the Winter Olympics!

When it's not sunny, I tend to use a messenger bag. I don't have a problem with slippage unless I really load them up. I don't like cross-straps, so I just shove it back into place; it's second nature pretty quickly.

More important than the specific bag, for me, is that the shape of the bag –*long and wide –*puts basically the entire contents in easy reach, much like the classic Domke/Bellingham/&c camera bags. I use a small, single-camera-size insert in one corner of the bag, extra film, lenses and so forth go wherever the pockets happen to be.

Downsides of a messenger bag: apart from slippage, back pain when you carry heavy loads; the more upright your riding position, the less it distributes the weight. Walking with a heavy messenger bag for an extended period tends to make me fairly stiff for a day or so after. When it's just camera/lens/film/lunch it's just fine for me, but if you have any problems with your neck/upper back, you might think twice.

More specifically, I've had a Chrome bag for almost ten years, for all but the last year it was with me just about every time I left the house and has stood up to the Canadian and Scottish weather without even a blink. I've been using a smaller Timbuk2 laptop messenger for work recently; just a bit more convenient, bit less bulk, and I got it in grey wool, so looks a little more 'serious' than the red Chrome. I might've got the smaller Chrome, but sold some work to T2 & got paid partly in trade.
 
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