Thread: Who here rides with their DSLR?

Just curious...

Haven't tried it yet, but I feel like I'm missing some good pics by not bringing it. The P&S is hard to go back to after shooting with the D90 for the last 6 weeks or so.

I'm thinking about wrapping it in a plastic bag and throwing it in the camelbak during mtn biking, but i'm sure it's a risk...

I've skied/biked both with my dslr... It's an xti, so not the most expensive body in the world.

That said, I definitely bike much more cautious with it in my pack... Skiing is about the same either way.

I've taken mine out once- same carrying method as when I take it skiing.... I put it inside a small topload camera bag, and then put it inside of my Dakine backpack. Sure its heavy, but I'm not riding to break any time records.... and like you said- I'm always missing some pretty killer photo ops.

I have to admit though- the 30D plus a heavy lens isn't much fun to lug around.

i usually pack my extra clothes and stuff around it, and hope for the best. certainly makes me more nervous on a bike than skiing, 'cause the crashes are generally harder.

if you blow up your body though, excuse to upgrade!

I tend not to....I've broken 2 P&S cameras w/ them in my camelbak, and I'm really not in the mood to shatter a lens or my 40D body if I happen to take a quick exit from my bike.

Anyone buy extended warantees or anything like that? I usually don't but with the D90 I got 2 years product replacement for $59.99. With that I'd be more likely to bring it out when I go to ride.

^^^ Im not so much worried about the body, I have an extended warranty for the same reason, but Im worried about shattering a lens. That would make me cry

Moral of the story -- I bring my DSLR along on mellow stuff where crashes most likely wont happen and bring a P&S on stuff where I plan on falling.

check out the Dakine mission pack.

http://www.dakine.com/sport-packs/photo/mission-photo/


Little smaller then the sequence, but still offers the protection of a camera block. Not sure how much gear you are taking about carrying.

Originally Posted by 7cs

Anyone buy extended warantees or anything like that?

I got an idiot-proof insurance when I bought the body (30D), and I bring it whenever I think I can get some pictures, i.e. nearly always. No point in having a fancy camera if you can't afford to take it out and put it to use, IMHO.

I've taken some big tumbles, both with camera in the pack and with camera in front (used both a tamrac bag and a lowe pro toploader). I prefer to ride with the camera packed in the bag (mostly an Osprey Switch) when skiing, even if it's a little inconvenient to take off the pack to get some shots. The tamrac bag moves around a bit, and the lowe pro (with harness) is a bit too much bulk in front.. After a crash I've never had any issues with camera or lenses, which are most often the 70-200/4 or 10-22. Lenses aren't covered in insurance or warantee, but I figure if my body can take a beating, so can those.

I don't do big hucks or a lot of air, though.

Edit: I see now the post is mostly targeted for biking, which I don't do to a point where I risk a fall. But I would bring camera, maybe with some extra padding, in a pack.

I bring my D90 with me, but I only road bike. I don't plan on crashing at all...I'm sure it will happen one of these days, but like you said. I went out a few times without it, and I just felt like I was missing so many photos.

I generally ride with a backpack. I'll put the camera and my 18-105 and 70-300 lenses inside a camera bag in the backpack. yeah it gets heavy on some of the climbs, but as smmokan said, I'm not biking to set records.

I've converted an old hardtail frame I have into sort of a singlespeed "photo bike". Basically just built up an old frame with less expensive parts and slapped a rack on the back. I have a gimongous Topeak bag that has rails that interface with rack that I use, once that suckers on, it's not falling off.
I put my E510 with a cheap kit lens, a macro lens, a little lowepro battery/CF card pouch, a polarizer and sometimes a flash in there. Pack a jacket or extra jersey around it and I'm good to go.

I also purchased extended idiot warranties for the damage coverage, it covers the kit lenses too, so I'm covered on those too. I wouldn't bring expensive glass out mountain biking, but the kit lenses and a macro cover any naturey type shots I'd want to take. I've even slapped a small cheesey tripod on top of the bag before too.

Funny thing is, I've found that this rebuilt circa 94 hardtail has become my favorite bike to ride lately.

go buy a small kids soft lunchbox. The insulation acts as padding and it's moldable (I compress the bag around the lens for a better shape).

drop it in my Dakine bag and away we go. 1 lens 17-50. Any more that I want to bring and I pack my Mission bag, which can hold plenty for big photo stuff (like a 70-200 and a flash and 50 and brush/air)

ride on

Originally Posted by Tap

go buy a small kids soft lunchbox. The insulation acts as padding and it's moldable (I compress the bag around the lens for a better shape).

drop it in my Dakine bag and away we go. 1 lens 17-50. Any more that I want to bring and I pack my Mission bag, which can hold plenty for big photo stuff (like a 70-200 and a flash and 50 and brush/air)

ride on

Tap, that is an excellent suggestion. Definitely going to try that out. Thanks

the biggest issue I've had is cf cards get finicky at low temps. The Dakine sequence pack has a very ergonomic fit to it.

I wear a topload bag, but on my chest. It's very protected this way, and you'll never miss a shot because you need to take your bag off in order to get the camera out. You look goofy, but who cares.

It depends on the circumstances. I have taken the dslr on rides before, but like others have said I always find myself being very cautious. Much more so than when skiing. I found towards the end of last season that if I wanted to make the most of my ride I was better off with just a p&s. If your main mission is snapping pics then pack accordingly. In addition I ended up leaving the p&s at home and packing an old x700 and a 2 primes, better optics and fun to shoot if u ask me.

I've packed a 20D plus three lenses down 26 miles of Hazard/Kok/UPS/LPS/Porcupine. Discovered this year its alot more fun just to wear a helmet cam! My back feels much better too! Did get some nice shots though.

I'm contemplating taking mine biking, I just don't want to squeeze the camera and the 70-200 into my dirty, small camelbak

I'm gonna bump this...I'll be heading down to Portillo in 2 weeks (fkna) and I don't wanna miss so many photo ops, so I'm just gonna take my 40D, my 24-105, and 2 batteries, 3 memory cards etc. I will be skiing all day every day so I need to carry my Mammut pack with ski gear in it, photo backpacks aren't an option because I'm not bringing enough stuff to merit bringing my Mission.

I was looking at the Think Tank Digital Holster 20 and I plan on putting that inside my skiing pack, but the question is, how big is it? How will it fit in the pack? And most importantly, if I crash will the camera not break? I don't crash that often but it happens to everyone. I know if I take a super hard fall down some rocks the camera might break, but I wanna make sure it won't break any time I take a spill

Also I'm wondering if it's decently quick draw from the pack, the guys I'm skiing with like to charge but they also like photos of themselves so they'd be willing to wait but I don't wanna hold them up for 10 mins, have them blow by, and then take another 10 putting everything back so I have to catch up with them

If you're looking at taking just the 40D and your 24-105, have you thought about slipping a topload camera bag into your regular backpack? That's what I do (in my Dakine Heli Pro), and it literally takes me less than a minute to take my pack off and get my camera out and ready- I have a 30D and I usually carry one or two lenses with me. This bag holds two (but probably not something as big as the 70-200).

This is the type of bag I'm talking about- enough padding to protect it from a fall, and I just throw a sweatshirt in the bottom of the bag to keep it more evenly loaded.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1059573932872

smmokan that just seems a bit big, I'm gonna be carrying lots of stuff in my pack so I need a very compact case that just fits the camera+lens+other small things. But yeah that is my plan...just throw the toploader in the Mammut pack because I need the ski specific pack so I can load my skis on it, throw a hydration bladder in there, and use all my tricky spots for shovel, probe, etc.

Do you think this bag will have enough padding to protect from a crash? I'll probably have some clothes inside the pack to cushion it as well. I know think tank gets a very high rep

I also plan on attaching it somehow to the top loop on the inside of the pack, that way it won't slowly slip down into the bottom. If it attach it somehow inside it will always be at the top of the pack for easy access

FWIW- I've gone on a couple BC tours with that setup, and held all of my BC gear along with the camera no problem. It was a little tight, but really not a problem since the camera was at the top.

I like the bag you linked to- definitely smaller and that should fit without an issue.

I took my 30D out once, wrapped in a jacket or something in my pack (don't remember what exactly), took a couple good falls (one right on my back) and it was fine. Got some decent shots too.

I ski but don't bike with it.