dSLR cameras and biking?

[lbendel]

Well said Colebatch. I'll chip in with my own experience, now almost at the end of my 18-months tour of Africa and middle-east on an F800GS.

The most important thing to remember is to take the camera that you will enjoy using when time comes to take a picture: if it's too big, too slow or stowed away, you just won't bother take the picture. A picture not taken is always worse than the one taken by the crappiest camera in the world!

I enjoy very much photography, so I took my best toy - the Canon 5d MKII. But it's BIG and heavy, which goes against the rule when you're traveling by bike. I put in in the hard panniers to protect it, and I take it out only when I decide to stop for a while and do some photography.

So I needed a second camera: a simple point-and-shoot in those cases when I need to take a quick snapshot and the quality is less important than the fact that I'll get the shot that I want. So it needed to be:
- small, to fit in my jacket's pocket, when I'm riding, and in my trouser's pocket, when I'm strolling in town
- robust, because it will be exposed to dust, sand, humidity, shocks, etc..
- responsive! I want to be able to stop, put in neutral, reach for the camera, compose, shoot and stow it away, all in 5 seconds or less.
- lastly, have decent image quality. For me this is less important than the first 3 criteria, but the Sony is producing very nice pictures. If a scene is really worth it, then I park, take off my helmet and gloves, take the 5dMKII out and shoot. But this takes 10x more time. Often the scene will be gone, or the people scared off, etc..

When I left, the only camera that fulfilled my conditions was the Sony TX5. It's waterproof (so dust-proof), has few moving parts so it's robust. Most importantly, I can hold it with one hand, power it up by lowering the cover with my middle finger, and it will be ready to shoot in 1 second. I can compose with the helmet and goggles on, and it will autofocus in a split second. Then, immediately after taking the picture, I just slide down the cover and put it back in my jacket, and off I go.

It's (almost) perfect!

The only fly in the ointment is the LCD screen which is not protected, so after rubbing against the fabric of my pockets, it lost the anti-reflective coating and then it was just impossible to see anything in bright sunlight.

And then I lost it.. so my girl-friend who joined me left me her camera, who was also a Sony point-and-shoot, but a more traditional one, the WX7. It's terrible: you have to reach for a tiny button to power it up, which is impossible with the gloves on. Then it needs to extend the lens, which takes at least 2 seconds. And even worse, after you've taken the shot, you have to wait for the lens to retract before putting it back into the pocket, of course, and this is incredibly annoying (just as annoying as using a smartphone, don't get me started on those..).

Finally, after just a couple months, it just broke down, the lens extraction mechanism would make a grinding noise and wouldn't retract: sand and dust obviously jammed the mechanism. How good is your 1-year warranty in the middle of Africa ?

These gadgets are designed as cheaply as possible and they will break down. On the other hand, the 5D mkII feels solid and indeed it is very well built: after 1 year and multiple crashes, it still was working like clockwork, even with many moving parts (mirror, shutter, diaphragm, IS, etc..). If I had taken a Rebel or other entry-level dSRL, I'm convinced it would have broken down half-way through. And no chance to fix it.

Actually, I flew back shortly to Europe after 1 year. I sent the 5D mkII, which was still working perfectly, to Canon for CLA (clean - lube - adjust). It cost me as much as a new entry-level camera but it came back like new! it may sound crazy to take a 3000$ photo kit in an off-road bike trip, but knowing that you can rely on it, and that it can be serviced and fixed is invaluable.

Lastly, one practical problem with the DSLR is that it is a bit too "flashy". People in the street (much more so in African than in Asia it seems) are more easily scared/angered by the big photo camera pointed at them than by a tiny point and shoot. Especially so if you can get it out of your pocket and take a shot in 2 seconds before they can react (pose, ask for money, walk away, etc..)

At the end of the day, there are photos that I've taken with the small kit that I wished I had taken with the DSLR for the extra image quality; but I just know that I wouldn't have been able to take it at all with it, so I have absolutely no regret.

For me the combination of a high-end kit and a small cheap one was better than the compromise of a single medium quality kit. For most people it makes sense to take only a small point and shoot, and I respect this very much. Also, the industry has made some great progress since I left, so I may review my decision in a future trip (e.g., Sony NEX-7, Fuji X-100).

Lastly, whatever your gear, do post the photos and share them with us!

Laurent