Anyone jog/run with M6?

[bret_williams]

I would like to take my M with me on runs to take shots of the

various flora and fauna. Looking for suggestions on how to carry it

securely. Prefer not to carry it in my hand. Creative suggestions

appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[abufletcher]

With the condition I've been in lately, I'm lucky to be able to walk with my

camera!

 

The late Galen Rowell was an advocate of (early morning) mountain jogging

with a camera. He hung the camera on his neck and then had a neoprene

chest strap (basically a piece of neoprene with a hole where the lens would

be) that he could slip over the lens to keep it from flopping. He preferred this

to a fanny pack as the camera was always readily at hand.

 

Personally, I'd consider an SLR to be better suited to the task but to each his

own.

[capocheny]

Bret,

 

I use to take my M6 on fairly long runs (6-8 miles x 3/week) but decided not to do

that anymore. Why? Because I run in the city and have had numerous run-ins with

drivers that would rather talk on their cell phones than "drive and watch the road!"

 

Consequently, I stopped carrying my M6 in favor of a Bessa. I decided it's much less

painful to drop a Bessa than the M6.

 

IMHO, the best way to carry the camera is in your hand with the strap wrapped

around your wrist. At first, it's a challenge but as you do it more and more often you'll

find yourself quickly getting use to carrying that extra weight. Of course, you can

switch carrying hands.

 

Having the camera hanging around your neck while running means you're going to

have to hold on to it or strap it down anyway. Otherwise, the running motion is going

to cause that camera to flip and flop all over the place. Not a pleasant thought!

 

The majority of times when I'm shooting with it... I use hyperfocal distance focusing

with a 35 mm. I plan on trying the same thing with my new 21 mm V/C lens.

 

In your situation... since you're not doing street photography it would be easy enough

to carry the camera and any additional lenses in a fanny pack. The major drawback is

that you'd have to stop and pull the camera out before you're able to shoot with it,

which isn't a problem in your case. In mine... it was just too impractical. So, now I

carry one lens and a couple of rolls of film in a waist pack.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Cheers

[olivier_reichenbach]

Have you tried a little tighter strap, then around the neck, over one shoulder and on your

back. Seems to me this should work. I say "seems" because I haven't tried it myself. The

only

serious exercise I do is fast walk on a tread mill at home in a disused room and, frankly,

there isn't much to photograph there besides the vacuum cleaner and the house across

through the window, so I never take my M along. Only my DVD player.

[jack_lo_..._t_o]

But the lens is too slow to keep up. If I had a Noctilux......

[christopher.]

As an avid runner, I think you would be far better served to run to run and shoot to shoot. Combining the two is a compromise in which neither will turn out very well. (at least for me)

[douglas k.]

I agree with Chris. Running with a camera sounds particularly clumsy and annoying. And given all of the reliability problems people here report with M cameras, it would probably end up broken -- either when you dropped it, or you slipped, or just from all of the bouncing around.

[max_fun]

If you're stuck to using 1 lens with your M6, why don't you consider getting a CM/T3 for the purpose? I hate running with added stuff around me, but something small like the T3 would probably go unnoticed around the waist or something.

[kevin m.]

"And given all of the reliability problems people here report with M cameras..."

 

My biggest 'reliability' problem with my M is keeping thumbprints off the viewfinder window.

[gary_brown2]

Bret

I've run numerous times with my M6, using a fannie pack (there are numerous types) and wrapping the camera in a large washcloth and often a plastic bag (I live in washington state). I've found it to be no problem and have gotton shots of subjects, including my running buddies that were appreciated!!

 

Gary

[abufletcher]

Here are some examples of what a talented photographer can do mixing

running and photography:

 

http://www.mountainlight.com/gallery.easternsierra/gallery1.html

 

As I said, Galen used a simple chest strap to keep the camera in place.

[abufletcher]

Here's something like what Galen used.<div></div>

[mattalofs]

I used to run with an N80 and one lens in a variety of fanny packs, but it just bounced too much no matter how tightly things were strapped down. The idea of carrying it in your hand with wrist strap sounds good.

[patricks]

why not use the run to recon places you want to photograph and then return there to do it the right way? let's face it, we men only should concentrate on doing one thing at the time :-)

[MTC Photography]

When I am jogging, I carry only a 2 oz Minox EC

[abufletcher]

Believe it or not, there are time I carry no camera at all -- and don't even think

about photography. It's like a variation on Winogrand: "When I don't have a

camera there ARE no photographs."

[brambor]

I think Lutz should come out wit a Leica Bra in addition to his Sling, Shade etc...Some kind of Leizzier is in order.;-)

[charles_stobbs3]

The wrist strap method would leave a lot of (salty) sweat on the camera.

In my case, anyway.

[john_r._fulton_jr.]

I use to do it with an M4 and a 21f4 SA. It worked okay. I held it in my hand and wrapped

the strap around my wrist, as suggested.

[billsr]

I used to have a harness that was designed for just such a purpose. I believe it was called the "Gypsy Sling" or something similar. Used with a camera or binocular, it held your precious cargo close to the body and restrained it from flopping. I presently use a nice, compact, well padded, ballistic nylon bag made by "M Rock". It has a harness arrangement that allows many options. it can be worn close to the chest, on the back, on the hip or over the shoulder. It's less than $30 well built and does the job. Just the same, I don't think all that jouncing can do a camera much good over the long run! Best wishes, Bill

[bret_williams]

Thank you all for your helpful comments and suggestions. Also, thanks Donald for the link to those beautiful photos by Galen Howell. He's got quite a running route. I think I will try the fanny pack and see how it works for a while, at least until there is a Lutz harness. :)

[bret_williams]

What position did you play? Were you the guy who wears the thingys over his ears and puts his head between the butts of the other players during the scrum?