M8 on a bicycle tour

[jobe]

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I'm going on a 2 month bicycle ride (Florida to Maine and a lot of meandering) in the early spring. I have taken a point and shoot in a handlebar bag on other trips and don't want to do that this time. I will take the M8 and 28 and 75 Summicrons. I will carry everything needed for the trip on my bike. Anyone done this kind of trip with an M camera? How did you carry your camera/lens to protect them from the elements and vibration? What worked and what didn't? Charger, P2000, etc. will go in panniers. I will be trying out various options over the next few months on short trips to see if there is an off the shelf solution or if something must be fabricated.

Thanks for your suggestions.

Joe

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[ChrisC]

Joseph - I too cycle to photograph but I don't have the particular long-tour experience to give satisfactory answers to your query. However, a while back there was a substantial thread relating to motorcycling with the M8 and I'm sure you will find good advice in the thread if you use the search facility. Good luck, have a great ride.

 

............... Chris

[Speenth]

Hi' Joe,

 

Have a great ride! I'm very envious.

 

I never use a handlebar bag because it affects the handling so badly. I also rarely use panniers, even though I may be riding for days! This is because I often go off-road and I need my bike to stay nimble and wieldy.

 

I take an M8, CV 15 and Leica 24 and 50mm lenses everywhere I go. Soon I'll be adding a 90mm to that. Together with the inevitable accessories (including a small tripod) that adds up to a lot of gear on one bicycle.

 

Over the years I've refined my baggage system as follows:

 

On my back goes a superb (10 year old) Jack Wolfskin 'Mr Bike' rucksack. its as good as the day it was bought, takes a heavy load and stays comfortable. Its ingeniously constructed so there seems to be a place for everything. Inside it goes my clothes (very few) and other personal gear, my mp3 player and mobile phone, various chargers including the Leica 'housebrick' charger and my bike maintenance stuff.

 

Water is carried on the bike frame. A Camelbak makes you tote a heavy load high up and on your person - why?? All that water also seriously limits the space in the bag on your back - daft.

 

On a Topeak seatpost rack goes my bike lock (a seriously heavy, but resilient Abus) and a Kalahari Mata Mata camera bag containing my full photographic kit and the small tripod. Most of the time the bag is wrapped in a bin liner, but such that everything is quickly accessible just by my twisting in the saddle. The camera bag has extra layers of foam inside just in case I come a cropper and also to damp down vibration.

 

(Incidentally, Topeak bags designed to fit their seatpost racks make perfect camera bags - take a look at the 'Topeak MTX Trunk Bag DX' ).

 

Most of the time the M8, inside its neoprene softbag and usually sporting the 24mm, is around my neck. I use a short neck strap and a body strap to hold it close to my chest.

 

 

With this set up everything is easily portable and readily accessible. Its protected from the weather and prying eyes and its all easily hauled on to my shoulders whenever I leave the bike.

 

The M8 is the ideal companion on a bicycle - a high quality imaging system that's genuinely portable, robust and versatile.

 

 

Have a great ride and don't forget to post the pictures!

[Mauribix]

Hi Joe,

dunno if my experience should be interesting for you, but some days ago i did i trip in Camargue riding on a Horse... vibrations were hard, dust was really the first problem, but after all... i carried my lenses (15cv,28cron,50elmarit,75lux) in a National Geografic Small bag (but heavy enough) adding some cotton in it to avoid lenses to touch....

it was difficult to change lenses when the horse was moving....but with some tricks i finally did it!

Hope to see your posts then.....

 

regards

maurizio

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[ChrisC]

Joseph - I assumed from your post that you are an experienced cyclist and that the bicycle side of your equipment is well resolved, but perhaps I assumed too quickly. Like Steven I too don't like the handling when using a handlebar bag, but unlike him I never carry anything on my back [years of back pain] and always seem to have four panniers full.

 

My bike is a made to measure tourer with a high riding position and 'Low Riders' on the front forks; they are the key to easy cadence road riding, I really like my Carradice bags on the front and when my Karrimor rear bags bite the dust they too will be replaced by Carradice ones. I always pack my bags the same way, and my M8 bag is always at the top of my near-side rear pannier. I recommend finding a good mirror which will help your road instincts riding on the right hand side of the road, but a lot of mirrors are very poorly designed.

 

Foot comfort is essential, after cycling for about 40 years with toe clips and having tried expensive touring shoes I have arrived at my perfect combination; broad, ordinary, peddles without clips, and the steel toe-cap boots I bought to photograph a construction site. I can now shift my feet according to gradient or cadence, and the stiffness of the boots gives fabulous power transition to the peddles without harmful flexing and undue stiffening in one's feet.

 

For many years I have added my own padding to all my camera bags. The sturdy black liner bags from 6x8 and 10x8 boxes of enlarging paper were perfect; lightly fill such bags with those knobbly polystyrene [?] clumps used as a common packing material, these padding bags will provide a considerable additional cushion to shocks within your camera holdall.

 

I hope some of this proves relevant for you.

 

.................... Chris

 

EDIT - Oh yes, and under no circumstances consider scrimping on the weight of your lock; leave lenses behind rather than do that!

[DaveB]

I haven't spent two months on a bike, but I'm just back from two months in a canoe.

 

I'm very protective of my M8 and worry about impact and water damage. Hence, I packed all my stuff in a Pelican 1200 case.

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[como]

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Dear Joe,

 

I am making bicycle tours for about 15 years always with my Leica M equipment in the handlebar bag in front of me. We made tours in France and Scandinavia up to the Barents Sea, each yaer about 1000-1200km in four weeks. Especially in Scandinavia there are much unpaved roads. This has never been a problem for camera and lenses. In case of rain I have an seperate cover around my camera-cycling bag. For the lenses with the M8 I take the CV 15 mm, Elmarit 24 mm, Summilux 35mm and Summicron 90 mm. Also the small table top tripod from Leica goes in the panniers. Two times I also took the Visoflex III with 280 mm lens but hardly used it.

I wish you a pleasant journey without rain.

 

Kind regards,

 

Co Morriën

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[doug_m]

I'm a pretty serious cyclist but don't ride fully loaded. Did a 2 week cycling trip in France in July. Took the M8 on about 1/2 the riding days but carried it with one lens- 50 1.4 ASPH or WATE- only. Used a fanny pack to carry the M8 as I was concerned that the bike vibration would be bad if the camera was in a rack pack, panniers or handlebar bag.

 

However, I have a friend who has been riding with the M8 in a well padded handlebar bag and I'll ask him if he has had problems. Please post about your M8 cycling experience after your trip.

[steich]

Hi,

I had my M8 plus CV15 and 35 and 90´cron with me in a Tamrac 601 bag that I stuffed into a Ortlieb Ultimate waterproof handlebar bag (without the Ortlieb camera insert). Worked perfectly, very fast- if you leave the Tamrac´s ziploc open, you just unbutton the Ortlieb flap and you have your camera.

Have a nice trip!

Stefan

[vanhulsenbeek]

Hi,

I had my M8 plus CV15 and 35 and 90´cron with me in a Tamrac 601 bag that I stuffed into a Ortlieb Ultimate waterproof handlebar bag (without the Ortlieb camera insert). Worked perfectly, very fast- if you leave the Tamrac´s ziploc open, you just unbutton the Ortlieb flap and you have your camera.

Have a nice trip!

Stefan

 

Ortlibe have several camerabags, padded as well, that could serve you. Not only waterproof but also dustproof; an underestimated advantage.

Dust is often much more a PITA than rain.

 

Have look at: Ortlieb USA, LLC: Ortlieb Products » Camera Bags

[elviskennedy]

I understand the desire to take the M8 along (always). But on a bike I think it's better to take a smaller, cheaper, pocketable camera. You're free from worries that way. I wrote a short article on picking a camera to use while biking. You can read it here; Worth a Thousand Words | Bike Equipment Reviews | Elvis Kennedy

 

It also includes some advice for shooting while riding.

 

In addition, if you use one of the point and shoots you can do videos too. Here is a good example of the kind of quality (both pix and video) you can get from a Canon SD800; Texas Trip Report #5 | Cycling | Elvis Kennedy Just click on "Play Video".

[jobe]

Thank you all for your help. I value your input and great suggestions. It seems that I have tapped into a wealth of experience here!. I have tried a number of "on the body" solutions with my Nikon kit in the past incliding the Lowepro Microtreker, the Think Tank Speed Freak and a small Crumpler bag with a cobbled up chest/waist belt thingy. The Lowepro backpack was just too hot .The Think Tank bag has a large waistbelt which is hotter than blazes and I never could get the belt adjusted comfortably. The Cumpler had the nasty tendency to swing around at the most inopportune moments. All these did a very good job at keeping the equipment protected (as long as I stayed upright ) . Each was worn over my rainjacket and they kept the equipment dry either with their own raincoats or using plastic bags for covers. Quick access to the camera was an issue with these methods. I have also tried a handlebar bag with some success. I guess I was just not as concerned with banging around a NIkon F3 or a D2X. The D2 was just too darned bulky and heavy and consumed too much of the limited capacity of the Ortlieb barbag.

At the end of the day its a tradeoff between protection, comfort and access. I'm pleased to hear that the Leica does not appear to be so fragile as to rule it out and while I can't begin to argue the "other camera" logic, my heart says I'd miss my M8 too much. So... looks like I'm going to fabricate some sort of insert for the barbag and keep the spare lens in the panniers. I'll see how it works on a one week trial trip at ther end of the month. Thanks to all again. I'll keep you posted!

Best

Joe

[Tony Wright]

Did bicycle tour of London at weekend - Saturday freewheeling city; Sunday Thames costal path Tate Gallery to Barrage.

Saturday in city used Camera Care Sytems bag for M8; 24aspherical; 35 summicron last non-aspherical & 50 summicron. Bag worn in small of back fixed in place by large velcro belt by CCS - problem free on roads & pavement : seen in image Le10.jpg on bench at Royal Academy of Art next to fellow cyclists with belt removed.

Sunday riding down flights of steps and over Thames path obstacles CCS belt with Lowepro Apex 100AW seen in image Bag.jpg: bag again worn in small of back - no problems with slippage or movement even through roughest parts of path : M8 + 35 Summicron v snug fit + well cushioned. Only one lens but equivalent of 50mm in film camera 35mm terms so just like old days with 3f & collapsible 50mm Summicron - similar size & weight also.

Last image L5.jpg - group from Thames path.

For what it's worth M8 has so far performed faultlessly in Europe & Caribbean with above lenses focussing perfectly and IR/UV filters all arriving in reasonable time with excellent advice & service from Frank Foster in Woolacombe.

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