Carrying photography gear on a ride

[Bicyclista]

Do you put the holster into the Ortlieb pannier? Or?

Yes, the ThinkTank holsters go inside the Ortlieb panniers, two per pannier, on my mountain ebike. The panniers attach to an Old Man Mountain rear rack. I have been doing this for eleven years. No camera has ever been scratched, even as I have fallen off my bike several times and got bruised.

On my cargo ebike I have baskets, front and rear, to hold the holsters and/or camera tubes. The front basket has a cover that holds everything securely. I used bungie cords to secure things on the rear basket.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Yes, the ThinkTank holsters go inside the Ortlieb panniers, two per pannier, on my mountain ebike. The panniers attach to an Old Man Mountain rear rack. I have been doing this for eleven years. No camera has ever been scratched, even as I have fallen off my bike several times and got bruised.

It looks the ThinkTank holsters are made for a camera and its lens. Any idea for a bag that could securely store say up to three lenses of a very reasonable size?

 

[Bicyclista]

It looks the ThinkTank holsters are made for a camera and its lens. Any idea for a bag that could securely store say up to three lenses of a very reasonable size?

ThinkTank has a line of camera cubes called Stash Master. The smallest one (23.5 x 21 x 14 cm) is accessed from the top, so you can leave it inside the pannier when getting your gear out. It seems to be tall enough to stack two extra lenses on top of each other, with a suitable separator, plus a camera with lens attached. I am assuming this is for your Pentax and that the largest lens would be the 135mm. Other brands have similar camera cubes.

The reason I use holsters designed for camera+lens is that I dislike changing lenses out in the field. Inevitably, when I change lenses out in the field, I get dust on the sensor, which is very hard to clean. By taking four cameras with four different lenses I avoid that issue. I have not had to clean sensors in years despite going out to take pictures at least four times a week, and going to foreign destinations such as the Galápagos (though not with my ebike).

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Thank you for the invaluable information!

 

[mschwett]

i have used this type of blackrapid strap to keep a camera at the ready while riding

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...61022_sport_x_extra_comfort_right_handed.html

the camera attaches to a bit that slides around the long part of the strap, while the short padded and curved part attaches the whole thing snugly around your shoulder (not neck)

when riding a road bike the camera sits at the small of your back, and you can reach around and grab it easily. some major drawbacks to this, of course, if you fall the camera has no protection, it bounces around a bit, and dirt and mud (if you don’t have fenders) will get on it a bit. however, i had good luck with this and my nikon z7 with various lenses. haven’t tried it with the slightly heavier and bigger z8.

 

[slpfrsly4]

At the NAMM trade show, I almost brought the 18mm as well as the stock kit lens / zoom, but I figured-- correctly, as it turned out-- that I really needed the extra wide angle from the kit lens, and image stabilization would be more important than having an extra f stop or so of exposure.

I haven't even screened the most amusing video footage yet, which is a stone-cold-sober Cheech and Chong moment with the owner of the boutique guitar company I represent, when he got lost and couldn't find his own booth! Hopefully, I captured the energy of the moment, just the wild, brazen stupidity of having a music gear trade show in a space where it is impossible to hear anything, even to talk to each other. The scene at the food truck was a riot-- when an order came up, they'd shout out someone's name and four people would rush forward. I finally figured it out, "We're all half deaf because we're rock musicians." That got a laugh, and we started working together. "Anyone here named Ed?" "I think he said Ned." And so on.

Stefan, that holster looks way too complicated for me, personally, but I understand the problem. It's taken me over five years of riding to figure out my personal preference: The 18mm on the R100 with no lens cap, just a haze filter, in a cheap, off-brand belt case that is JUST big enough to accommodate the camera, so it doesn't flop around too much when I'm riding. The belt loop is NOT well reinforced, but the loop for the strap is pretty good-- and I have a caribiner big enough to clip to a second belt loop on my pants. If the loop on the case tears loose, I won't lose the camera.



Yeah, I love the little Tank for my Fuji with the kit lens, the smallest version of the older design, it's the perfect size, but as I noted upthread, the Fuji touchscreen drives me crazy. It's too bad, because the form factor of the Fuji with the 40mm is great for a REALLY small camera holster mvvmhabit app. But the camera itself is so slippery, with my arthritic hands... ah, maybe I'll get a better wrist strap (like I have for the Canon) and try it again, because it rides so well on my hip.

It's like you guys are saying: If you don't have the camera with you, or can't get it out fast enough, there'll be no photography at all.

Personal presence of eBiking to watch posts.