What camera do you carry on your bike?

[trumpetguy]

I'm curious if any of you have had a digital camera die due to the vibration of being carried on your GS?  I'm afraid to put my new camera in the tank bag for fear that it will be destroyed.

I'm looking at purchasing a non-optical-zoom digital camera because they have no zoom mechanism to fail, but it occured to me that this may not even be an issue.  So I decided to ask the experts.  If you carry a camera, what is it?  How do you pack it and carry it?

Thanks in advance for responses.

[makenzie71]

I carry my Sony DSC-S40.

[Kerry]

I usually just carry a point-and-shoot digital camera -- WITH zoom!  I often start out with it in the tank bag (with several oil-checking paper towels and stuff on the bottom, so it doesn't rattle around), but if I'm going through a particularly scenic stretch I will pop it into my inside jacket pocket between stops.  Current cameras:  Canon A520 and Kodak CX7530.

Sometimes I will bring my not-quite-SLR Canon Powershot G6 along too, in a box, with a few of the accessories:




On one memorable ride I even brought my old Canon AE-1 film SLR along!

[Alphamazing]

Kerry, how hard was it carrying the AE-1?

I ask because I recently aquired a Canon A-1:


When I ride I carry a Canon Powershot SD100 Digital Elph. I stick it in my jacket pocket (the inside chest pocket) or in my pocket.

[badkarma506]

fuji finepix2400Zoom  3x optical zoom 2.1 mega pixels,  bought new in 2000 in iwakuni Japan. the manual lense cover dosn't stay shut anymore, but it is the basic digi cam and windows ME recognizes the cam when you plug it into the usb port, the drivers are so basic. and it runs off of 4 AA batteries.  it's been white water rafting, flying on helocoptors countless moving MC pics, a couple of MC crashes.  and alot more beatings that i can't remember.

[Kerry]

Kerry, how hard was it carrying the AE-1?

I ask because I recently aquired a Canon A-1:

Good for you!    I acquired an A-1 on eBay about a year ago, but it could use a professional cleaning.

The picture above with both the AE-1 and the Powershot shows them actually in my tankbag.  I've never carried the AE-1 by itself on the bike, but hauling both cameras felt a bit ... bulky and heavy.  (Especially with a couple of mid-sized glass lenses along for the ride.)

If I ever get "serious" about photography I'll put more effort into figuring out an ideal setup.  But so far most of my pictures are shared via email and the web - I think I took over 5,000 digital images before I actually printed any!  (Even then, it was to fulfill assignments for a Community Ed photography class.)

[Lukewarm Wilson]

I have a tank mount for a JVC video camera and a helmet cam with either a sony vid camera attached or a small PMP with record funtion all work well 

[duyster]

dsc-s85 old school digi camera, but pretty good lens n clear images

[GS Jenn]

I take my Olympus Stylus digital point-and-shoot absolutely everywhere I go, including on the bike. Either in the tank bag or my jacket pocket. This is one tough little camera... made of mostly metal as opposed to plastic... I used to be a newspaper photojournalist and I tend to put cameras through a lot, this one has stood up to all the abuse I could dish out.

I also shoot a Canon Rebel SLR but I haven't taken that on the bike. Will have to figure out a good system before I do any major touring though.

[Queso]

Holy cow we got some serious photographers... I keep my camera in my pocket, and every now and then it rings and I talk on it.

[tussey]

Holy cow we got some serious photographers... I keep my camera in my pocket, and every now and then it rings and I talk on it.

haha priceless

[12thmonkey]

i have a Fuji F810 that i keep in a small, quasi-protective, neoprene Lowe Pro case...and i keep that in the side pocket of my tank bag. i get a little leery of having it too close to the magnets. Haven't packed the dSLR yet...but it'll happen.

And yeah, Queso, that was hilarious.

[rangerbrown]

all the cams i have (if filming) stop or have problems if not dampened from the vibration. other than that there fine, never a problem, hell one of them was on the front cowl in my first wreck. still work great.  Sony cybershit 4.1

[CirclesCenter]

I Carry my cameras in my backpack. No digital  hyper shot 83k rev 35b though. Rockin an old school film jobbie, an all metal Pentax. With, hell a bunch of old hand me down lenses that are awesome, I think I even have a 300mm laying around somewhere.

But for the less serious stuff I have a 4.1M pixel Fuji that I stole from my dad (he can't figure out how to use it, so it's kind of justified.)

[ajaxgs]

watch the tank bags a budy of mine f###ed his phone the other day
because of the magnets on the tank bag

[Cal Price]

I carry a Nikon Coolpix 885 and a spare battery in the pocket of my riding jacket just about all the time, also the phone-camera comes in handy occasionally, take-and-send by multimedia or e-mail is sometimes rather handy.

I Have a larger digital (Nikon 8800) and a selection of Olympus SLRs and lenses but would only carry them on the bike for a specific picture.

Many years ago I was a pro photographer, '62-'72 when things were a bit bulkier and had the "Always carry a camera" ethos drummed into me.

[rangerbrown]

watch the tank bags a budy of mine f###ed his phone the other day
because of the magnets on the tank bag

well duuuuu, that why any thing that has a smart chip/HD ect. says to keep away from a magnet.