Recommendations for a bicycle camera bag

I need a light, handy and unsuspicious camera bag that I can mount on

my classic bicycle and carry with me over my shoulder when I park the

bike.

 

The bag should have room for 1-2 M6 cameras, eventually also a CL or

a Minilux, all with lenses mounted, 1-3 extra lenses, hoods etc., and

accessories including a pol filter, a grey card, a Leica tripod and

ballhead, rolls of film, and, eventually, a SF 20 flash. The bag

should, of course, at the same time be able to accomodate a cellular

phone, a small dictaphone, a wallet, a passport, a pair of

binoculars, chewing gum and other sweets, keys etc.

 

If the bag could instead of the listed M-cameras and lenses etc. also

carry a similar collection of R-cameras and lenses etc., it would be

my ideal companion on any ride on my bike.

 

From time to time a smaller equipment might justify a smaller and

more handy bag.

 

Any experiences and suggestions?

 

Does anyone have experience with the Klickfix Allrounder (KT271) or

Allrounder Mini (KT272)?

 

Thanking in advance all my bicycling Leica-colleagues for their

assistance and proposals.

what do you mean a 'classic' bike. A Colnago? Go with Domke. DeRosa? Has to be a Billingham. Seriously, just go carefully, in a spill your head would explode from trying to save your camera, your paintwork and your ass all at the same time.

have a look at:<br><br>

<a href="http://www.crumplerusa.com">www.crumplerusa.com</a>

<br><br>

<a href="http://www.crumpler.com.au">www.crumpler.com.au</a>

I think you need to carry the bag on you rather than on the bike. Otherwise everything just gets jostled way too much. I use a courier bag from Freitag (www.freitag.ch) but I modified it with a thin foam pad from a camping goods store stitched inside to keep the cameras and my back separated. I also have a Domke insert with three compartments that I use in it that further cushions the cameras. It is a huge bag, so all the sweets, coffee (earlier post) sweaters etc. fit in around the edges. Timbuk2.com makes a nice phone holder for the strap. And custom bags in custom colors and waxed canvas. More pockets would be nice. Courierwareusa.com makes a courier/camera bag with all these features already included, plus more pockets, but only in cordura rather than cool plastic vinyl tarpaulin scavenged from European delivery trucks like my Freitag. Eventually I will have to sew my own. The tripod is the only thing to mount on the bike. Get a nice rack at your local bike shop, or a really retro one from Rivendell Cycles on the web. Velcro bike pump straps hold the legs. Or you can just stuff it all into a Lowepro Stealth backpack, but this might not match the aesthetic of your Colnago, De Rosa, Batavus, Olmo, Ciocc, .... ah bicycles. Do you have a leather saddle?

www.chromebags.com

 

These are proper courier (bicycle) bags. What the professional

couriers use.

I agree with Jon- unless you want your rangefinder outta whack and lenses uncollimated. :D

Michael,

 

I concur with Jorn, and can speak from personal experience, you do not want to carry your camera gear in a bicycle mounted bag. After some non-deterministic amount of bouncing, you will find that your rangefinder, for example, requires alignment.

 

I asked a similar question of the this forum in Oct/01 and purchased the LowePro Photo Runner as a result. You can read all about it here -- http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=002dp8 .

 

-Nick

No problems at all as long as your bike is a Moulton...

My reccomendation is that you develop a need for less

crap. Whether or not that is possible, you can get a

"rhode" gear (brand name in the US) handlebar bag. It

mounts on a rigid mount, but is a synthetic (water resistant)

bag. Put some foam in it to isolate the vibration, it's

a nice one. Had one on my Cinelli. Worked great for camera

plus (ham radio) walkie-talkie, and a snack or two...

The bag quickly removes from the mount, and you can take it

with you...my example was a few years old, but I'm sure

there's a recent equivalent....got mine when a friend

and photographer ("Bicycle John") worked for a cycling

organization that shall remain unnamed. (I think he "appropriated"

the bag for me...it's good to have friends!!!

WAlt

Michael: Several further points: 1) Learn to travel light!

Remember your physics and think of how much harder it will be

carrying all of this UPHILL pedalling the bilke. 2) Never keep your

passport in a bag. US passports are prized by thieves who know

where to resell them. Use a money/passport belt for this

purpose at all times. 3) You may want to consider a backpack

such as a Lowepro, Tenba or Billingham as opposed to a

shoulder bag which can be destabilizing on a bike trip.

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<p>Oh, wait. You wanted a bicycle camera <i>bag</i>. ;-) </p>

I often take my camera when I bike. I use one of my regular camera bags and either double-strap it (one over the shoulder, one around my waist, or put the bag in a standard backpack with other stuff I need.

 

1. I wouldn´t mount the bag on the bike:

 

a. Vibration

 

b. Un-sprung weight increase

 

c. When you fall, the camera bag goes down

Oh BTW,

 

I don't fall very much, a couple of years ago last time, and I bike every dry day down here in Tejas: a whole bunch, maybe 500mi/mo.

 

And when I fall, it's never on my back (or my head); more on my hands (instinct) and/or side.

I use a Lowepro fanny bag and its perfect for 2 bodies & 2 lens. However, I find its essential to travel light by bike. You pay a lot for a lightweight bike, but then loading it up with expensive Leica gear is somewhat like robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Jorn is right; the M6 rangefinder will go out of alignment if the camera is carried in a pannier or even a bag attached to the seat like the Carradice. My cameras of choice for bicycling are now the rangefinderless Rollei 35 [unhappily, long since out of production], recently the Contax T3 [this seems like a tough camera with an excellent lens but much overpriced, IMO] and the Olympus Stylus Epic [laughably underpriced,excellent lens, nicely made, weather resistant, albeit not a speck of titanium in sight or out of sight]

Roots makes a great bag:

 

 

http://www.gentec-intl.com/Default.asp?mode=prd&div_id=&prod_id=N4

Lowepro Photorunner, a great little bag , great value for money

also...Mark

I use a 'normal' camera bag (CCS/Lowe/Kinesis pouches), so that everything is easy to carry away from the bike, carried in a Carradice saddlebag on the bike. Carradice now make an easy to remove attachment to allow instant removal of the saddlebag, if you want that option instead of removing the contents. With a suspension seatpost, vibration is reduced to the minimum (although with the camera gear inside a padded pouch, I'm not convinced that vibration on a pedal bike is a major issue - I've been over some very rough tracks (Iceland) with no problems).

 

Those who suggest carrying on your body have evidently never cycled long distances!

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See my note in today's posting

<br><b>Waist Pack?</b>

<br><a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=004vwH">http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=004vwH</a>

<br>I always use that bag when I'm out on my bike and have never had any

problems with it (or my bike).

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Ralph, nice shoot!

What type of clamp to use for the F5/bike combo?

Ralph, nice shot!

What type of clamp to use for the F5/bike combo?

Patrik - Thanks. The clamp is a Bogen Super Mafer clamp with the 5/8" stud inserted into a Manfrotto #196 accessory normally used to mount portable flash units (or anything light with a 1/4-20 socket) on light stands. I'm not sure that it would work well on the bicycle in practice, but it sufficed for the joke.

Thanks Ralph,

although a joke, would be very intresting to do a test of this works, non-lethal... I am looking to find something for my F5 and 20-35/2.8 AF-D zoom, (I know this is Leica Forum sorry)to get some action mountainbike shots.

I use the LowePro Sideline Shooter

http://www.lowepro.com/pages/series/trekking/sideline.htm

 

Best beltpack around IMO for a small set up.

Many thanks to you all for your kind answers and proposals. I will now study the many bags mentioned in more detail.

 

Special thanks to Ralph for posting the picture of his interesting Nikon bike, which might most certainly prove useful for any photojournalist covering Tour de France (there are still a couple of months to practize shooting with that thing while climbing steep mountain roads). It might perhaps prove easier and safer to climb the mountains using a Leica M7 and not a Nikon mounted on a bicycle in this way, since you don't have to close the other eye while shooting with a M.

 

By the way, Ralph's photo made me start wondering at what time Leica will start using it's valuable brand for marketing bicycles; major German car brands like BMW, Mercedes and Audi have already started marketing luxury bikes, including wonderful MTB's, under their brand name.

 

You should always listen to sound advice from a medical doctor, so I will carefully take note of Dr. Knapp's advice, and consider if I should not reduce, if not my own weight, then at least the weight of the Leica equipment I want to carry with me on my bike. Simple seems to be not only beautiful but also healthy and cheap.

 

The simplest solution, of course, is to strap a M6 titanium with a 50/1.4 or a black paint Millennium M6 with a 35/2.0 asph around the neck or shoulder. I know that some people might argue that I am sick in my head using such equipment for taking pictures instead of keeping it in a bank vault, but I find it more fun to use the gear for the purpose for which it was built than looking at it in the bank.

There is, however, considerably greater risk for damaging the equipment, if it is carried in this way, should I fall with the bike, than if it is packed in a protective bag mounted on the handlebar or in a waist bag.

 

Thanks again to you all, I will take a closer look at all the proposed bags and analyze my needs further.