KD5NRH

What's the best way to carry, say, two SLRs and a laptop with reasonably quick access to the cameras, good protection from weather and in case of a fall, and at least moderate theft protection so I don't have to unload everything and carry it into a bathroom with me?

Front wheel panniers look like the quickest-access option, but also the most likely to get squashed if something goes wrong. Does anybody make something like a lockable, weatherproof hardshell SLR holster that would work there? The weight of the cameras with the most commonly mounted lenses is under 4lbs each, so their weight shouldn't be a big issue.

I'd also like to be able to carry the lighter of the two SLRs for my regular day-to-day riding, possibly in some sort of handlebar carrier, but with the same weather and impact protection.

I guess the ideal solution would be the above lockable hardshell holster, capable of hanging either as a high-ride front pannier or a handlebar mount and able to be locked to the bike in either position.

B. Carfree

A friend of mine has a lockable, weather-proof hardshell container that mounts on the rear of his bike. It is just like the ones you may have seen on motorcycles. It has room for much more than a couple of slrs and lenses, so the laptop may fit as well. I'll ask the name next time I see him and put it in here. I'm not absolutely sure that his container can mount on a standard rack, but it probably will ( his "bike" is a custom trike semi-recumbent).

chasm54

I'd have thought a hardshell bar bag might be the best option. Here's the Giant version Not sure how you'd lock it to the bars, but given it can double as a shoulder bag it wouldn't be too inconvenient to take into stores etc.

Bacciagalupe

Unless you are a pro shooter or otherwise make money from your photography, 2 SLR's is overkill.

If you have the budget I'd pick up one (yes, one) Micro Four Thirds camera -- Olympus E-PL1 or Panasonic GF1. They're small, light, unobtrusive and produce excellent results as they use a DSLR-sized sensor. I'd couple that with a high-end P&S (e.g. Canon G11). If that is not an option, I'd bring one DSLR and whatever other lens(es) you need, plus the P&S.

For the laptop, if you absolutely need to edit the images while in transit I'd pick up a netbook with a large hard drive ($400?) and a small backup USB drive ($75). Alternately you can get a stand-alone hard drive (e.g. Jobo Giga) to copy images from the camera. Make sure to copy your image files to the backup drive regularly.

I would use a water-resistant handlebar bag to carry the cameras, e.g. Ortlieb. Those pop off easily and even have a lock, if you're paranoid. Put the cameras and the backup hard drive in there and pad it, and leave the laptop in the panniers.

There isn't much need for a hardshell case, if you get hit hard enough that a hardshell would help, your cameras are the least of your worries.

I also don't see much need to worry about theft, once you get out of the big cities, bike tourers rarely get robbed.

KD5NRH

A bar bag works fine for one, and that looks to have room for a couple of extra lenses as well, but the reason I was looking for panniers is so that when I have both the digital and one of the film SLRs with me, I can easily grab the one I want. Front panniers make for an easier grab without even getting off the bike for a quick stop-and-shoot.

As for theft protection, I'm not planning on leaving it all sitting outside a tent or motel room overnight, I'd just like to not have to unload the whole bike to run into a convenience store for a snack or bathroom break, (and a lot of places throw a fit if you walk in with any sort of bags) so I want something that can't just be unhooked and/or defeated with a pocketknife.

Erick L

I carry a SLR with three lenses but no laptop. I use a photo backpack with a non-photo top compartment. My bike has a front rack with platform, which was bought specifically for that.

My current is a Tamrac Aero 70 that i bought with touring in mind. I like it because the photo compartment opens like a handlebar bag. The shoulder straps are stuffed in the side pockets and the bag is attached to the rack with a single strap with buckle. I pass the top handle over the handlebar for added stability. The front panniers also help with stability. I rode without front panniers and it was ok, just not great. I've found a better way for day riding. I'll post about that tomorrow with pictures. I put warm "emergency" socks under the lenses, but no extra padding for the camera and lens attached. There's a closed-cell foam under the bag which adds padding but it's mostly to make a larger fender. I've also used it to sit. I'll post pic of that later too. Under the rain, I just put a pannier rain cover. You can always line the bag with a plastic bag. The only thing I miss is a small outside zippered pocket for my wallet.

Click for larger view:



Before, I had a Lowepro Orion Trekker. It opens by "splitting" the bag in two, which is a bit (very) annoying. The bag was attached with the buckle that closes the bag so every time I opened the bag, it was free to move around. It couldn't fall though. The top compartment was huge and usually carried the camera with lens attached, sometimes an extra lens in the top compartment. I used a fleece to pad a little. Again, since the front panniers stick above the rack's platform, they help suspend and stabilize the photo bag a little. The photo compartment was lined with a plastic bag and I added a layer of closed-cell foam under the bag.






I've also put the photo padding in the top compartment for easier access, which is essentially how the Tamrac bag is set-up for day riding:



My photo gear has around 10 000km and still going strong... sort of. I've dropped the 70-300VR twice on pavement/concrete due to poor carrying setup that I won't mention. It was repaired once and is acting up a little but it's still working.

benajah

Pelican boxes work great. Not so sure about a good way to secure it to a rack unless you run a steel cable with a lock on it or something...but, they are waterproof and you can have an elephant do a jig on one and it won't break.

benajah

If a guy is carrying 2 SLRs, a selection of commonly mounted lenses, and a laptop, I say its a safe assumption that he is serious about his photography and needs the full kit he is carrying.

KD5NRH

Not making much off landscape right now, but then, I haven't been more than 40 miles from home with a camera in months. Combining bike touring and photography seems like a good way to change that, since it's usually the fuel and lodging budget that puts a damper on going to places I'd like to shoot. With good planning, if I can get to the point of doing 50-75 miles/day loaded, I can almost cover the state riding and camping at state parks.

Besides, I'm usually carrying one DSLR, one film SLR, and often another film medium format tucked away in the car somewhere. I could probably give up the MF, but it's a converted Polaroid folder, so it's pretty much a tank and would survive being used as a fender, skid plate or body armor. How to carry it is more of a question of where to put the weight than how to protect it.

I'd rather throw out the spare tube than hope nothing goes wrong with one camera 250 miles from home when the main goal of the trip is to get some great photos.

This is something I've considered, but last trip we did, it was really nice to be able to send a few back home and publish some to SmugMug from the motel.

They rarely get run over by freight trains either, but I don't plan to hang out on the tracks to test that. Also, two of my planned destinations are big cities with high theft rates.

Most of this is still in the early planning stages right now; I haven't picked a touring bike yet, so for now I'll just be carrying the lightweight DSLR and maybe two lenses on my Trek 7100 for short (25-30 mile) runs around the backroads. I don't expect to be doing any overnight or longer runs until at least next spring, since a large part of my riding is still building up the knee I trashed 12 years ago and got lazy on the rehab back then.

Bacciagalupe

Hrm.... I dunno, I haven't found my bike trips to be all that much cheaper than other trips. You still have to sleep somewhere -- especially in cities, and double if you have all kinds of electronics to charge up.

Your range is also severely curtailed. If you are on a highway, you will cover as much distance in one hour of driving as you will in a full day of bike touring. You'd need to live in a highly photogenic area in order for the slower speeds of cycling to really work in your favor. Plus, no AC or heat, it'll be difficult to carry extra supplies and harder to get out of a jam.

For example: Let's say you pack your gear into your car, drive 100 miles from home, spend 3 hours shooting (including stops along the way), then drive back. That's maybe 8 hours with no real limit on carrying gear and food, and you get to sleep in your own bed. On a bicycle, that'll mean at least 2 days to get there and 2 days to get back. You'll likely spend as much on food as you would on gas.

You might be able to get to some areas that are difficult by car or slower on foot, if you can take your bike off-road. But if that's the case, you really need to pare down your kit, far more than if you're sticking to paved roads.

This is not to say that cycle touring isn't fun or beneficial for photography. Rather, it's not a very effective way of saving money. So if you're going to do it, it has to be about more than just your pocketbook.


After you've done a few days toting 20 lbs of camping gear (including the hardshell case), you may realize you won't be able to cover 75 miles and do much photography in a single day.

FWIW you should base your range on covering 10 miles per hour, and that's not including stopping for the photography, for meals or procuring food, for setting up / breaking down camp and/or getting in and out of a hotel, and so forth.


If you're determined to carry that much gear, I'd do the handlebar bag thing for one camera and put the backup in your panniers. Or, get a trailer.


Yes, that's why I recommended a backup camera. Pros have routinely carried high-quality P&S'es as backups for as long as they've been available. Since you shoot film, Nikon Ti35, Yashica T4, Contax T2 are all film cameras that are tiny and can outperform most digital cameras. Or you can pick up an older TLR, which will be cheap and light.

Also, let's face it, pull out any kind of SLR in a big city and you'll stick out like a sore thumb. That may not be a problem, but a Micro 4/3 or high-end P&S camera will be far less noticeable yet still deliver fully usable images in daylight.


In the end you'll figure out what's right for you, but it will help to have some reasonable expectations of what you can achieve and whether it will really work out financially.

The Smokester

For this sort of work (day trips), and after much experimentation, I have gravitated to the LowePro SlingShot 100. It balances well on your back and can be quickly brought down to the side and the camera extracted for a quick shot. It also has a built-in rain cover which can be deployed if you get caught in a deluge. By carrying this on your person, the camera is protected from high-frequency road vibration, the handling of the bike is least effected and you are less vulnerable to theft.

The downside is: The weight (a Nikon D-700 with heavy pro-level glass in my case), can get tiresome to carry on your person especially if you have a heavy extra tele clipped on. However, I have done 100 mile days with this setup.

KD5NRH

Luckily the DSLR battery lasts just shy of 8G worth of photos with flash, and at least 16G without. I can generally get two or three days of moderate shooting without going under 30%, and I have a spare. I was planning to do the camping enroute, and a motel at the final destination.

Day two and three of the trip I'm thinking of would be extremely photogenic areas, to the extent that I'd be burning a ton of fuel and time stopping at all the good photo spots anyway. Obviously this isn't something I'd plan for August in Texas, but we do have a rather long fall and spring here.

I drive a Blazer. At 15MPG, the gas for a 200mi round trip translates into enough food for five or six days, (assuming we're talking camp food and Clif bars here, not fast food) and not nearly as much fun.

Remember; this is Texas, where chipseal is about as good as it gets. Even the "road bikes" I've had could do fine on some trails after they were reconfigured to not come apart on our roads.

The 75 mile stretch is just a long, relatively un-photogenic area, and also fortunately, relatively flat. Most days would be 40-55.

I would expect to buy one meal a day, since I tend to be the sort who can eat snack foods for breakfast, have a Clif bar for lunch, and then demolish a buffet for dinner without any ill effects. Camp would be kept simple, for obvious reasons of weight; I ain't hauling a dutch oven, so good ol' camp cooking ain't happening.

The trailer has a certain appeal, especially since it would allow me to quickly stow most of the gear at camp or a motel and bike to the nearest buffet with less weight

Bit tough for the night shots, though. Architecture often lends itself to longer exposures. I've gotten some good results in caves with a Canon S2, but even those start showing problems over 8x10. The junky little Targus tripod has the advantage of going anywhere with a bungee cord.

Robbery isn't much of a concern; I'm a big guy with a "go the f___ away" look that even works on Jehovah's Witnesses, pepper spray, a CHL and a .357 for the ones who really can't take a hint that I'm not giving up my stuff.

AdamDZ

I suspended a padded camera bag inside my front left pannier. It holds the SLR with one short, wide lens. This way the camera was well protected but kind of a pain to get out. I didn't want any photo specific bags tha scream "expensive equipment inside!". I didn't carry extra lenses as the bike was already to heavy, just one 17-55 lens.

fietsbob

Have a front over the wheel rack then you have a place to attach a camera bag,..
Klick fix can use a rear mount seat post and put handle bar bags back there .
[their panel clip could be fitted to a Pelican Dry Case]

Back in the Film era I got a Lowe Pro Photo Fanny Pack, It stows waterproof in a Small Ortlieb rack pack,
and if you have a wide Porteur type rack , You can put a pretty good sized Bag into that large rack
and grab it when you park the bike.

takeonafrica

I carry my Canon 500D DSLR with 18-200mm lens attached and also a 10-22mm lens in my Ortlieb handlebar bag. They're protected by the foam padding inner from a Naneu Pro shoulder bag I had. (I also carry my GPS, compact camera, documentation, money and a couple of tools plus notebook and pen in the handlebar bag).
This makes it easily accessible for shots when on the road. It's waterproof too.

I then have my notebook and cables and batteries etc in one of the rear panniers which I don't worry about leaving (they are in the pannier which is always against a wall if I leave my bike any time so it's harder to get at if anyone is that way inclined). The harddrive I hide in my clothes in the other rear pannier.

I carry my handlebar bag with me everywhere. I did have a camera bag but ditched this as found the handlebar bag to work well enough.

If I had 2 DSLRs, I'd carry the second one that I wouldn't expect to use much while actually cycling in the pannier with the laptop. And probably take a camerabag that would carry everything if that was necessary when in town or going out specifically to shoot. When I carried a camerabag, I carried it inside one rear pannier with the gear inside it.

I'll just note that the set-up I use is working very well and everything is still working, even after 15,000km most of which is on rough African dirt roads/tracks. The setup of the handlebar bag is particularly good at damping out vibrations and big bumps when hitting potholes and such. The rear pannier has flown off a couple of times and still the netbook is working. It's only wrapped in bubblewrap which is all now burst and one cover.

Oscuro

I plan on using a trailer. Shove the camera bag in the trailer and call it done. Mostly because I don't exactly have the money to afford any more gear at the moment...

blaise_f

Arkel Big Bag + Pelican "pluck" foam

Gotte

I carry camera and camcorder in Handlebar bag, so it's easy to take. Never had any problems with jolting or water, even though I've been photographing in the rain, and the constant opening and closing has led to quite a bit a rain getting in.
As for a laptop, I'd probably put it in a foam holder, and place it up top in a pannier so I can get it easy, or I'd maybe get a netbook (I know, not ideal buying something new), but you could slide it in a panner, in it's case, and in the event of a crash, I'd expect there'd be less chance of damage.

drmweaver2

Back in the Ice Age of the 70's when film SLR's were king, I used to ride with a hard case strapped to my rear rack. It had foam inserts custom cut for 2 camera bodies, 4 lenses, 6-10 film canisters and lens cleaning kit. I have no idea what the exact weight was but the cameras were Canon F-1's so, that gives some idea of the weight.

The bike fell over at least six times with the hard case strapped to it and the equipment took no damage as far as I could tell. When I say "strapped to my rack", I mean STRAPPED with 4 bungees. It would take me 10-30s to unstrap and open the case after stopping.

If I knew that I would be in areas where really fast access was needed, I'd stick a medium length zoom on 1 body and carry it in my handlebar bag. Padding was provided by whatever else was in the bag - no special arrangements/considerations.

Those F-1's were tough SOB's.

Newspaperguy

Before I went to a small digital camera, I had an SLR in a padded bag, stored in my handlebar bag. The padded bag for the camera helped to prevent damage from bumps on the road; the handlebar bag is waterproof and kept the camera protected in case of rough weather.

I carry a computer these days. It's a netbook and I stash it in my left rear pannier, packed in the middle of my clothing. The netbook is small and it has a solid state drive which means it can handle a bit rougher treatment than if it had a standard hard drive.

fietsbob

Seems like with the monitor on the back all digital cameras see thru their lenses..

ullearn

Check out Russ's bike - https://pathlesspedaled.com/?page_id=22 , he just uses a Acron Rando bag for his SLR

timberline12k

I bought a Ortlieb Bike Box for my D700. Even though I am still building up my bike and have not tried it yet, it looks like it will work great. I wanted a hard case and good water resistance. It easily holds the camera and any lens I would trust on a bike including my 16-35/4. It has a quick release system. I purchased foam at a local fabric store to add just a little more padding under the camera. Here is the spec sheet.

https://www.ortlieb.com/_pdf_en/bikebox2.pdf

https://www.ortliebusa.com/CartGenie/...ns.asp?iid=137

It will probably be attached to the rear rack.

MacCruiskeen

Really? I don't know what it's like where you are, but around here, you see lots of folks wandering around with SLRs. A lot of them are tourists, sure. But there they are. Not sticking out.

And you do need two SLRS: one for color and one for b&w!