Hello there! Any hobby photographers out there?

Hey All,

Just picked up a 98 VFR, loving the tips and people on the forum.

I was wondering if anyone takes their camera out for a spin to take some pictures. If so, how do you ensure it's safety? I would carry a backpack but that's a little dangerous and tricky? :juggle: Any pointers?

Cheers.

 

Well I guess it depends on how big your camera is....a tank bag is the best for me....

 

I have a DSLR which should fit in a tank bag, wondering about the vibrations though.

 

I think I can help. We shoot lots of video from onboard bikes, and use the following setup. To obtain a variety of angles, we use small bullet cameras hardwired to a camcorder in a hardshell backpack. A small lavalier mike goes into the helmet, while a standard powered mike goes into the bottom of the backpack with a large wind sock. This way, it is easy to adjust narration input, or eliminate it and use ambient only. I tend to cuss my bike at 9/10ths or faster, so using the balance can make it more family friendly. The small bullet cameras can be mounted in a variety of locations, to avoid boring your viewers.
If you are going to use a camcorder alone, avoid any hard mounts to the bike. The enemy of camcorder recording from a bike is not vibration, but bumps. To avoid "dropouts" that is a burst of static when you hit a bump, you must allow the camcorder to float. The dropouts are caused by the magnetic tape momentarily lifting from the recording head. I have caused them with heavy braking as well.
We fabricate custom mounts for camcorders that are tunable for vibratory amplitude, but you can fab a servicable camera platform from a non-magnetic tankbag, a camping foam closed cell mat, and some eggcrate foam. In addition, an inexpensive wide angle adapter will create more motion in frame while reducing visible vibrations.
I could go on and on, but I will not bore you. I will be happy to answer questions as they arise.