Carrying a camera while riding

Bruce Chang wrote:
Does anyone have any insight into the way they carry a camera while riding?
I'm an avid amateur photographer and have a medium sized SLR that I
typically carry. Last year I wore a back pack with the body and lens
separated and when I needed to take a picture, I zoomed down the hill, got
on my knees and assembled my camera to take some pictures of my friends in
action. It worked pretty well and I managed to stay on my feet the whole
day and the days I didn't, I left my camera at home. The only padding when
carrying my camera was a pull over fleece that I surrounded the body and
lens.

This year I'm trying to think of a better way. I have a camera bag that is
roughly the width of my board and about as wide as my stance so I'm thinking
I *could* some how secure it between my bindings and have it live there as
the danger of getting damaged would be less than if I carried it on my back.
Of course, this would pose a problem when getting on and possibly off a
lift.

My second though is for it to ride between a binding and the tip or tail.
My biggest issue with this is that one side won't be attached properly. One
side can be attached via exposed binding inserts while the other side would
have to clamp to the tip or the tail to really secure it.

Anyone have any insights or seen any contraptions that might do what I'm
looking to do?

Thanks in advance for any help.

-Bruce


I like to carry a camera also, ended up with one of the thin (3/4 inch)
flat Minoltas (Casio has something similar), that I can wrap in a bit of
padding and put into a zippered jacket pocket. Much faster to get at
than the backpack (used to keep one in there also).
gr

On Mon, 15 Nov 2004 16:32:54 GMT, "Bruce Chang"
allegedly wrote:

I like to carry a camera also, ended up with one of the thin (3/4
inch) flat Minoltas (Casio has something similar), that I can wrap in
a bit of padding and put into a zippered jacket pocket. Much faster
to get at than the backpack (used to keep one in there also).
gr

Well, if my SLR were 3/4 thick, I wouldn't need to carry a backpack..

Nice!

I occasionally put my F90 complete with lens down the front of my jacket,
if I'm just moving spots to get another shot, but it certainly makes me
think about not taking a chest plant!!!

- Dave.

--
The only powder to get high on, falls from the sky.
http://www.vpas.org/ - Snowboarding the worlds pow pow -
Securing your e-mail

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"Switters" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 15 Nov 2004 16:32:54 GMT, "Bruce Chang"
allegedly wrote:

I like to carry a camera also, ended up with one of the thin (3/4
inch) flat Minoltas (Casio has something similar), that I can wrap in
a bit of padding and put into a zippered jacket pocket. Much faster
to get at than the backpack (used to keep one in there also).
gr

Well, if my SLR were 3/4 thick, I wouldn't need to carry a backpack..

Nice!

I occasionally put my F90 complete with lens down the front of my jacket,
if I'm just moving spots to get another shot, but it certainly makes me
think about not taking a chest plant!!!

- Dave.

--
The only powder to get high on, falls from the sky.
http://www.vpas.org/ - Snowboarding the worlds pow pow -
Securing your e-mail

The Snowboard FAQ lives here - http://rssFAQ.org/

I've never been courageous enough to ride with my camera. Doing a chest
plant would be hell enough on me, much less my camera/lens. Last season I
had a Canon A2e and the lens was worth twice as much as the body. This year
I've got a digital body that is worth twice as much as the lens. I might
just get out my old 35mm body and shoot film.. =o/

-Bruce

Bruce Chang wrote:

I've never been courageous enough to ride with my camera. Doing a chest
plant would be hell enough on me, much less my camera/lens. Last season I
had a Canon A2e and the lens was worth twice as much as the body. This year
I've got a digital body that is worth twice as much as the lens. I might
just get out my old 35mm body and shoot film.. =o/

Why not just get a cheap small digital for riding? I've got a Canon
A75, I think the quality is surprisingly good. I'm not a pro or even a
dedicated amateur but the guys over at dpreview and Steve's digicams
seem to think highly of it. You can override everything manually, which
is fairly unusual for such an inexpensive and small camera.

Neil

"Neil Gendzwill" wrote in message
...
Bruce Chang wrote:

I've never been courageous enough to ride with my camera. Doing a chest
plant would be hell enough on me, much less my camera/lens. Last season
I had a Canon A2e and the lens was worth twice as much as the body. This
year I've got a digital body that is worth twice as much as the lens. I
might just get out my old 35mm body and shoot film.. =o/

Why not just get a cheap small digital for riding? I've got a Canon A75,
I think the quality is surprisingly good. I'm not a pro or even a
dedicated amateur but the guys over at dpreview and Steve's digicams seem
to think highly of it. You can override everything manually, which is
fairly unusual for such an inexpensive and small camera.

Neil



I guess after spending so much, I'd like to use it, if possible. I'm also
used to it and it's one less thing that I'd have to pack for my trip. I
don't mind carrying the body and lens separately in a backpack like I have
before, I'm just trying to figure out how to carry it without separating the
two so it's easier to get in and out and less time consuming.

-Bruce

I've never seen anyone attatch anything to a board like that, but it
doesn't sound at all like a good idea for a whole bunch of reasons.

If you have a diddy camera, then you wouldn't be asking the question.

For serious cameras, there appear to be two schools of boarding
photogs:
- those who use a backpack;
- those who use a chest mount bag
Take your pick. If you use a backpack then the ones with "rear access"
are probably better as you can in principle get to the contents
without dumping the whole thing into the snow. That said, you're goign
to be way slow if you keep the machine in a backpack, and it won't fit
on lifts or in heli seats.

I use a chest mount pack - Lowe Pro TLZ or equivalent. This will take
a full-sized pro SLR with a decent lens (eg Canon 1 plus 100-400). I
stick other lenses in a shovel pack. The chest mount works
brilliantly, as you can get the camera out in double-quick time.

Tip: wear mitts, and tie them to your jacket so you can dump them
quickly. If it's very cold then wear thin gloves under the mitts or
your hands will freeze whilst changing memory cards.


Here's a snap of a TLZ in action:
http://www.wigglesworld.klebos.com/s...3-0387_IMG.jpg


I've never damaged any photo gear snowboarding, although I managed to
trash a 15mm lens on a dry slope in the uk when it was hit by the tail
of someone's board. Perhaps I shouldn't have been quite that close. If
you're really worried about it, stick the camera on your house
insurance (about £50 a year for all risks against about £5,000 value)
but I wouldn't bother.

As someone said, take lots of those little hotel towels and dry it all
of when you're done, but don't molly-coddle the thing: they're just
tools and they're designed to be used.

phil

"phil" wrote:

Here's a snap of a TLZ in action:

http://www.wigglesworld.klebos.com/s...oarders/images
/103-0387_IMG.jpg

....great photo!!

Iain

"Iain Hendry" wrote in message
...
"phil" wrote:

Here's a snap of a TLZ in action:


http://www.wigglesworld.klebos.com/s...oarders/images
/103-0387_IMG.jpg

...great photo!!


that site has some SERIOUS photos. great site!
checkout the snowmen section:
http://www.wigglesworld.klebos.com/s...wmen/index.asp

8-)
8-)
8-)

(let it snow, let it snow, let it snow)

--


jmed

Wow, I'd be sketchy about anything being attached to my board. Is a
problem with large cameras though, which has kept me away from SLRs for
boarding. (too bad for me)

I always look for snowboard pants with very large cargo (side) pockets.
One of the advantages of snowboarding is that anything in your side
pockets tends to be safe. You usually fall forward or back, but when
you think about it, it is extremely rare for you to hit the side of
your leg while strapped into your bindings. Never happened to me and I
keep a large digital there, in a small case, inside a zip-lock freezer
bag. fwiw.

I wonder if you could hook something up where you can keep your SLR
body on one leg and the lens on the other. ?

-todd

"todd" wrote in message
oups.com...
Wow, I'd be sketchy about anything being attached to my board. Is a
problem with large cameras though, which has kept me away from SLRs for
boarding. (too bad for me)

I always look for snowboard pants with very large cargo (side) pockets.
One of the advantages of snowboarding is that anything in your side
pockets tends to be safe. You usually fall forward or back, but when
you think about it, it is extremely rare for you to hit the side of
your leg while strapped into your bindings. Never happened to me and I
keep a large digital there, in a small case, inside a zip-lock freezer
bag. fwiw.

I wonder if you could hook something up where you can keep your SLR
body on one leg and the lens on the other. ?

-todd


Hmm.. interesting suggestion. I could rig up a "holster" of sorts to hold
the body in one and the lens in the other, however, I would still have to
assemble the camera when I needed it. One idea is to holster the two
components without their caps. If it was rigged up properly, I woudln't
have to take my gloves off to put the two together..

I'm probably going to do what Phil suggested and get a Lowe Pro TLZ and see
if my SLR will fit in it. It looks like it'll be a tight fit and the good
thing is that it can be slung any which way I please. Front, back, side...