CanNik
Active Member
- Region
- United Kingdom
What camera do you use if you are into photography, when cycling
- Thread starter CanNik
- Start date
harryS
Well-Known Member
I've used Olympus cameras since 1967. Have my working OM1 from the mid 70's. Also a Pentax K1000, but it's all digital for past 22 years. I went with micro 43 in 2010. Small mirrorless bodies. Just a amateur/enthusiast. I will usually carry one of my older m43 bodies with a lens, Packed in a bag in case I crash.
I did crash 2 years ago, Up in South Dakota, so I packed my better gear on the panniers. Unfortunately, had the camera on a neck strap when I went down, Scratched the front glass on a nice Panasonic zoom lens.
I did crash 2 years ago, Up in South Dakota, so I packed my better gear on the panniers. Unfortunately, had the camera on a neck strap when I went down, Scratched the front glass on a nice Panasonic zoom lens.
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
I used a DSLR until I discovered how easily it was to damage the camera on the trip. Nowadays, I take photos with a Samsung S24 Ultra, process the photos in Lightroom and improve a little in ON1 Effects.
Catalyzt
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
Ouch for those who have damaged cameras while riding!
I have experimented with several. For a total weight-weenie experience for the steepest climbs, I often brought some kind of early 2000s Canon Elph, even a few years ago, because my 'smart' phones were typically so cheap that their snapshot capability is not much better-- and if I'm running GPS, sometimes using the camera would confuse my phone, and I'd lose signal in places where signal was weak when I switched to the camera app. Strava was terrible for that-- it would crash and lost all my stats whenever I took a photo, so I got rid of Strava... and the phone.
I have also used an older Canon S90, which I found very serviceable, way better than the Elph, sometimes better than the camera on my Samsung A-15, but it depends. The S90 seems to be more reliable in terms of fewer missed and out-of-focus shots, but the A15 definitely has the edge with dynamic range, which is the achilles hell of the S90, an otherwise amazing camera in a tiny, very lightweight form factor.
On other rides, even fairly long ones, if I'm not likely to dump the bike, for a while I was using a Fuji X-A5, though the holster case was bulky with the zoom kit lens. So I got a 39mm lens for it, and it fits in a very small case... but unfortunately, though the Fuji takes great pictures, I have discovered that touch screen, particularly as it's implemented on this series of cameras, is a hard no-go for me. Invariably, I'll hit the wrong spot on the screen, and put the camera into some Weirdo Mode where everything is overexposed, or in cartoon emulation, and while the A5 is wonderfully small for a mirrorless, the form factor makes it too hard to handle, which worsens the touch-screen issues. It's slippery and the thumb rest is way too small. For a while, I tried to train myself to avoid Weirdo Mode, but eventually gave up. After a steep climb, when my hands might be slick with sweat and trembling from exertion + osteoarthritis and vibration from the bars? I WILL be clumsy with the camera. The other issue is, the 39mm just isn't quite wide enough with a cropped sensor.
Eventually, I bit the bullet and got a Canon R100. It has the same sensor size as the A15, and NO touchscreen-- this is a feature, not a bug for me-- but is, unfortunately, bigger. I do have a case that will accommodate the kit zoom lens, but it's enormous, and sticks too far off my belt-- fine for hiking, not great for biking. I got a 50mm lens for it, though... I don't know why, I think I was seduced by being able to go down to f1.8. Anyway, you live and learn, on a cropped sensor, I just don't have much use for a cropped nifty fifty, it's almost too tight even for shooting bands in dark clubs.
Enter the Cannon RF 28mm, which is super compact and fits in a case that's about the same size as the A15's case with the kit lens. So far so good for eBiking-- I'm now using it the Ken Rockwell way = no lens cap, just a clear filter that I'll replace if it cracks or breaks. And yes, I realize there are some kinds of impact the filter won't protect the lens from, it's maybe 70% as protective. The padding in the case-- a Chinese clone of the smallest Mirrorless Mover, though it's slightly wider, the Mirrorless Mover is too tight a fit-- seems entirely sufficient... but the belt loop is not quite robust enough. Solution is a very large aluminum caribiner (!) (yeah, I know) that is threaded through the loop for the neck strap, which is much better secured, and a second belt loop. The biner is really featherweight, it's lighter than the case, and theoretically, if the belt loop rips, the biner will hold the camera to a second belt loop, where it can dangle until I get home.
The thing is, for all eMTB situations, I need to be able to draw the camera and shoot fast with bad hands, particularly for wildlife. (Or shooting deserted streets covered with razor wire and graffiti with homeless dudes zoned out on tranq lurking nearby.) Futzing with a lens cap, or having the camera hang up in the case when I pull it out, is a problem. The R100 is way larger and heavier than a mobile phone, but far easier to grip even with the arthritis, and I have a monster wrist strap for it.
This also eliminates another issue I've feared-- taking photos with my phone, which is hard for me to hold even in a case, and then dropping it off a cliff, losing GPS, and having to bird-dog it home. There are a few trails I ride, though not many, where it is REALLY hard to remember which fork in the trail takes you down the mountain the intermediate or novice way vs. the crazy-pants black diamond route I can't even walk the bike down.
I have experimented with several. For a total weight-weenie experience for the steepest climbs, I often brought some kind of early 2000s Canon Elph, even a few years ago, because my 'smart' phones were typically so cheap that their snapshot capability is not much better-- and if I'm running GPS, sometimes using the camera would confuse my phone, and I'd lose signal in places where signal was weak when I switched to the camera app. Strava was terrible for that-- it would crash and lost all my stats whenever I took a photo, so I got rid of Strava... and the phone.
I have also used an older Canon S90, which I found very serviceable, way better than the Elph, sometimes better than the camera on my Samsung A-15, but it depends. The S90 seems to be more reliable in terms of fewer missed and out-of-focus shots, but the A15 definitely has the edge with dynamic range, which is the achilles hell of the S90, an otherwise amazing camera in a tiny, very lightweight form factor.
On other rides, even fairly long ones, if I'm not likely to dump the bike, for a while I was using a Fuji X-A5, though the holster case was bulky with the zoom kit lens. So I got a 39mm lens for it, and it fits in a very small case... but unfortunately, though the Fuji takes great pictures, I have discovered that touch screen, particularly as it's implemented on this series of cameras, is a hard no-go for me. Invariably, I'll hit the wrong spot on the screen, and put the camera into some Weirdo Mode where everything is overexposed, or in cartoon emulation, and while the A5 is wonderfully small for a mirrorless, the form factor makes it too hard to handle, which worsens the touch-screen issues. It's slippery and the thumb rest is way too small. For a while, I tried to train myself to avoid Weirdo Mode, but eventually gave up. After a steep climb, when my hands might be slick with sweat and trembling from exertion + osteoarthritis and vibration from the bars? I WILL be clumsy with the camera. The other issue is, the 39mm just isn't quite wide enough with a cropped sensor.
Eventually, I bit the bullet and got a Canon R100. It has the same sensor size as the A15, and NO touchscreen-- this is a feature, not a bug for me-- but is, unfortunately, bigger. I do have a case that will accommodate the kit zoom lens, but it's enormous, and sticks too far off my belt-- fine for hiking, not great for biking. I got a 50mm lens for it, though... I don't know why, I think I was seduced by being able to go down to f1.8. Anyway, you live and learn, on a cropped sensor, I just don't have much use for a cropped nifty fifty, it's almost too tight even for shooting bands in dark clubs.
Enter the Cannon RF 28mm, which is super compact and fits in a case that's about the same size as the A15's case with the kit lens. So far so good for eBiking-- I'm now using it the Ken Rockwell way = no lens cap, just a clear filter that I'll replace if it cracks or breaks. And yes, I realize there are some kinds of impact the filter won't protect the lens from, it's maybe 70% as protective. The padding in the case-- a Chinese clone of the smallest Mirrorless Mover, though it's slightly wider, the Mirrorless Mover is too tight a fit-- seems entirely sufficient... but the belt loop is not quite robust enough. Solution is a very large aluminum caribiner (!) (yeah, I know) that is threaded through the loop for the neck strap, which is much better secured, and a second belt loop. The biner is really featherweight, it's lighter than the case, and theoretically, if the belt loop rips, the biner will hold the camera to a second belt loop, where it can dangle until I get home.
The thing is, for all eMTB situations, I need to be able to draw the camera and shoot fast with bad hands, particularly for wildlife. (Or shooting deserted streets covered with razor wire and graffiti with homeless dudes zoned out on tranq lurking nearby.) Futzing with a lens cap, or having the camera hang up in the case when I pull it out, is a problem. The R100 is way larger and heavier than a mobile phone, but far easier to grip even with the arthritis, and I have a monster wrist strap for it.
This also eliminates another issue I've feared-- taking photos with my phone, which is hard for me to hold even in a case, and then dropping it off a cliff, losing GPS, and having to bird-dog it home. There are a few trails I ride, though not many, where it is REALLY hard to remember which fork in the trail takes you down the mountain the intermediate or novice way vs. the crazy-pants black diamond route I can't even walk the bike down.
Bicyclista
Well-Known Member
I bring four cameras plus my iPhone. One Sony a1 with a 100-400mm lens; one Sony a1 Mark II with a 300mm lens + 2X teleconverter; one Leica Q2 Monochrom (with fixed 28mm lens); one Leica Q3 43 (with fixed 43mm lens). I may add my most recent acquisition, a Fujifilm GFX100RF (with fixed 35mm lens, 28mm equivalent). They all fit in two Ortleib panniers. The Sonys are inside Kinesis lens tubes. The Leicas and Fujifilm are inside ThinkTank holsters. They are all fitted with filters and lens hoods, no caps, ready to shoot. I sometimes bring a tripod or a monopod, but I prefer to shoot handheld. Previous to the Sonys I was shooting with Nikon DSLRs. In ten years of riding ebikes and carrying equipment such as this, four times a week for 20 to 40 miles roundtrip, I have not once scratched anything despite being involved a a few falls and getting banged up myself.
Chargeride
Well-Known Member
Yashica is new to me, seems a very stylised company.
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
I was using a Pentax K-1 on my rides. As the camera is big, I was carrying it in an Ortlieb Camera Insert put into a pannier together with some soft clothing items.
I was bombing a rocky descent from the Great Owl Mt. in Poland, riding a Full Suspension e-MTB. The rear rack was a Topeak (one of a very few racks made for FS MTBs). On one violent impact, the Ortlieb pannier "thought" it was manually removed, and it shot in the air then onto the rocks. The impact was as strong as a heavy wide-angle lens was literally torn from the bayonet mount in the camera! It cost me a big money and several months until the repair was done.
Later, I realised the DSLR was too heavy and too vulnerable to the type of rides I do, and a premium smartphone combined with photography software is the ultimate bike camera.
Do you really need a full blown camera for your ride photos?
Last edited:
Aushiker
Well-Known Member
- Region
- Australia
- City
- Walyalup, Western Australia
Shoot in RAW?
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
The smartphone camera algorithms produce a better JPG than I could get from the RAW myself ...
Of course I've always developed from the RAW with the DSLR.
Depends on the intended end use of image, subject and in some cases ambient conditions.
Most of the time, no.
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
If you want to exhibit or put a large picture on the wall or you are a professional, yes. How many of that do we need riding an e-bike?
We often ride ebike to birding sites or arboretum. Phone camera sucks for birding and (depending on ambient conditions) macro work.
Phone is great for "shoot and forget" photos.
stompandgo
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
There's no way in hell that I'll take my R6 on the bike. Not happening. I'll crank the phone up to 50MP and use Expert RAW.
6zfshdb
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Northeast Pennsylvania
Too risky to take the Sony DSLR on the bike. If I want semi pro pictures I'll carry my trusty old Panasonic DMC-FZ70. Takes very good pics and no big loss if it gets damaged or swiped. For every day rides, I rely on my Apple iPhone 16 Pro, which takes amazingly good photos for it's size.
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
I think DSLRs are the worst choice for the macro work because of relatively long focal length compared to smartphones or smaller sensor cameras. That affects the depth-of-field.
The photos above taken by @Brix with a Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini.
The four photos above taken by @Brix with a Panasonic DMC-FZ1000 camera.
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Do you not notice the difference in crispness between the 2 sets of images?
What's bad about a 100mm macro lens that can focus down to 12" (1:1 magnification). Need more magnification?, extension tubes.
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
A bad DOF.
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