Packing Digital Heat

[Jonnylotto]

So has anyone done anything special with a tank bag for DSLR carrying?

Right now I'm using my Fuji FinePix S7000 packed into a Givi E21 side bag resting on top of whatever jacket is in there. That's only because I don't care what happens to the Fuji. However, I'd like to carry my Maxxum 5D / 18-200/f3.5 combo in a quick access place for those "pull over, quick" kind of shots that we've all seen (and missed). With the 18-200 I don't have to switch lenses while on the bike but I'm worried that the shutter and mirror in the body won't stand up to too much vibration. I also don't want to go with a waist bag or anything else hanging off of my body while riding. (I carried a courier bag while working as a motocourier and hated every slip and slide and bang)

[Compared To What?]

I use a 15L Marsee Teardrop bag (unexpanded)...Small plastic organizer on the bottom with "small Stuff", a spare visor, tire guage, Spare batteries for the Zen and the camera plus the camera (Nikon D70S) itself. Still enough room for spare summer gloves or winter inner gloves and the garage door opener remote.

[divingfroggy]

I usually carry all my gear in my Domke Photog vest, I was whale watching today so no overnight , the stuff was in my Givi 52l case with my rainsuit, while overnighting I put everything in my Givi tank bag(magnetic, never had any problem) and it's all of D70 with 18-70, VR 80-400 and flash and all the gizmos I might need.

[boomslanger]

I have customised a high impact foam packing container that was originally used to ship some highly delicate electonic components from the States to our company in Oz. I've just modified the divider and padded the camera side with foam from another container so the camera cannot move. The other side of the divider holds two lenses and some small accessories. The container fits snugly in my tankbag taking up about two thirds the available space. I use this when I want the camera ready to hand as I only have to unzip the tank bag, remove the container's foam lid and the camera is in my hands ready to go.

For trips where I don't plan to take pictures I have a dedicated padded Explorer camera backpack that can also carry my laptop. If I'm not carrying the laptop I just wear the backpack, otherwise the whole Explorer backpack goes into my Ventura tail pack where it takes up about 80% of the space.

[Jonnylotto]

Some good ideas.

I'm kinda leaning toward a pelican 1600 mounted to a tankring mount from SW-Motech; I haven't seen any other tankbags that I'd like for my best camera. Of course I could just keep using the Finepix but it cycles between shots really slow. I'm also not sure I want something hardmounted where I might hit it.

I use a TB902 Nelson Rigg . It's a big bag, parhaps a bit too big in some respects for the DL650 but it holds essentials and my D70S Nikon with 10-200mm. I velcor'd a small piece of fitted foam (to match D70 profile inside so nothing get's bounced around. Currently exploring my other Nikon (995) for use as a static mount on a special windshield / instrument cover bracket for on road shots but not quite their yet - haven't made the bracket. I did see a mini camera - Olympic that came with a remote i/r trigger - interesting possibilities since one can set camera at infinity and trigger the shutter remotely - not taking hands off the bars - just mount the remote trigger with velcro along side clutch as e.g. I have also used a front loading bag (Lowepro) to carry camera on my chest to make it easy to get at shots once stopped without too much difficulty. It mounts well on body but am leary of coming off with a nice hard camera right on front of my chest when I hit the ground.! :) Also I carry a cleaning cloth and bottle of cleaning solution to keep my Calif Scientific tall windshield clean as possible since it is pretty optically correct.

[rhbell]

Sorry - forgot to log in on my "guest" post.

Safe riding

Bob