Camera on the bike

[ladyjai]

I think it was denise who had the setup with her DSLR on a rack on the back of her bike friday?

Anyway, I'm looking at a similar setup. I like the fact that being on a rack puts it in a little safer place than on the cyclist body and I dont have to worry about weight positioning, but i'm concerned about the road jostles. sometimes the road just rattles and rottles. I know that things on my body tend to be protected from much of the jostling, but does that make a big deal? I'm looking at getting a Nikon D50 for taking photos. It's work related, and the camera will be riding my bike for long saturdays. easily getting 50-100 miles a saturday. I'd rather not shorten camera life because of racking. so please, talk to me and let me know how you have things working?
I never thought the rattle was so rough on things until i've had a certain rear light come off and be run over about 3 times by cars. but if i keep it on my body, it never falls off. obviously, the rack wont' come off, but there are electronic innerparts.

am I worrying for naught?

[Velobambina]

LadyJai--Where U been? Have seen ya over at BJ but not here at TE for awhile! Sorry can't help w/your camera issue. Good to see you post.

[ladyjai]

awww.. thanks :)

I was spending too much time on forums, so i backed off most of them. since I log miles on BJ, i ended up occassionally getting sucked into something. and then, of course, Howard challenged me... and ive woafully managed to spend too much time again! I guess it's a good thing I don't watch TV too :eek: :) :)

though I always did love that :eek: smiley. it's the bestest.

[DeniseGoldberg]

You're right, it was me...

I thought about keeping the camera on me, but I didn't think about it too long. All I could think about was falling and landing on the camera. I wasn't concerned so much about the camera in that scenario as I was about breaking ribs!

I have been very happy carrying my camera in an Arkel TailRider (http://www.arkel-od.com/panniers/tailrider/overview.asp). The bag has padding on the bottom, top, and sides, and it has an internal divider that velcros to the sides. I moved the divider so that I can carry my camera in a stable position (as in, it doesn't move within the bag). There is plenty of room in the bag to carry additional lenses if you'd like. Here's a picture of my camera in the TailRider:
http://denise.smugmug.com/photos/114242603-S-1.jpg

And here's a link to the page in my "Panniers or Trailer, Both?" article where I talk about my decision on how to carry the camera on my bike: http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?page_id=32883.

My camera has traveled with me on my bike for quite a few miles this year, and it has weathered the riding just fine.

--- Denise

[ladyjai]

thanks.. i hadn't thought about broken ribs, though that would be much worse. this summer, I had a clipless issue with a camera in my hand and it didn't survive the fall. i was so mad.