How do YOU hike with a backpack and camera?

Rhuarc

My girlfriend and I recently started going on hikes every Saturday. I currently have the LowePro CompuRover AW. The bag works great for hiking, can hold plenty of camera gear, room for food and emergency kit, and a really sturdy waist belt with spots to add on for a water bottle and lens case.

For a camera strap I am using the Black Rapids RS-5. This is a great strap that I have really enjoyed using. I like to keep my camera out and available while hiking, but I find that using the BR strap while wearing the backpack can become cumbersome and uncomfortable around the neck because of the way the strap sits over the shoulder straps of the backpack.

Has anyone tried using something like the Spider Camera Holster with a backpack belt? They also have the plate designed so that you can attach the QR plate to the bottom of their plate. I have been looking at getting the adapter from BR to use their strap while still using a Manfrotto compatible QR plate.

Any suggestions anyone can give on this type of scenario would be greatly helpful! At some point in the future I may even be carrying two cameras, one with a UWA, and one with a zoom. Whatever I end up going with I would like to be able to expand to using with 2 cameras.

Thank you!
Rhuarc

Art Scott

My set up" Military Pistol belt with matching suspenders+ 2 LowePro 75Aw's (hold 2 cams with lenses attached and other ger in pockets) with card holders attached to outside of bags, enuff room for adding more gear if needed.........for camera strap...I use either SM straps or change out to Crooked Horn Binoc straps (I use these with my D300+50-500 Sigma....I have had them almost 4 yrs and I need to either buy another set or replace the elastic straps with heavier duty elastic ...I have had 2 cams on at once - heaver long lens on bottom and shorter wide lens and cam on top with no prob), those babes keep all the weight off my neck....now I can add a back pack of any type I want and still be comfortable.....I can get to cam gear with out taking anything off......

Rhuarc

Hmmm, I like your ideas Art. I wonder if I could adapt the 75AW to attach to the belt on the CompuRover. This would be convenient because I wouldn't have additional straps over my shoulders. I'm thinking that some combination of this, with possible the Spider Holster would be a good hiking setup. Do you find that having the cameras in the 75AW hanging down your legs makes walking on inclines, up stairs, etc... more difficult?

Art Scott

Rhuarc wrote: »

Do you find that having the cameras in the 75AW hanging down your legs makes walking on inclines, up stairs, etc... more difficult?

Not at all as they are not over the front of my legs but on my side...this is my same set up I use for riding motorcycle...the suspender straps are narrow and I do not even notice them with larger backpack on......it seems to save my back not having the weight pulling shoulders and back but rather around the hips and legs.....

Wicked_Dark

I have a LowePro pack as well...I forget which one, but on the right shoulder strap is a nylon loop that's fixed to it, to that I've attached a D-ring, from that I hang my camera with wrist strap with a quick release. It hangs at about hip level while I'm hiking and unless I really have to do a lot of rock scrambling, it works really well. I can detach it with the quick release or take the whole wrist strap out of the D-ring. Gloves go on the D-ring too when needed.

lightyear

camera while hiking
I have a very different approach, and have used the binocular harness descibed (still have it) and did not like it because the camera still swung on my chest . I currently use:1) a LowePro backback with lenses, etc., 2) optech neoprene camera strap around the neck, and use RRS camera plates always in place for quick placement on the ballhead quick release on the tripod(which is carried on the backpack) and 3) kinesis camera control strap do not recall the model number> The kinesis waist strap attaches easily around the waist with velcro strip, and has a another clever strap that goes around the front of Optech strap just above the camera. When I want to shoot, I can quickly pull the front velcro stap away from the camera, shoot, and quickly reattach it. This has worked well for me when hiking or horseback, but of course gives no protection per se. When I know that I am coing to be in rainy or very dusty or similar conditions, I use the backpack, do NOT use the Kinesis waist strap, and use an Optech neoprene camera case as well as the OPtech camera strap. The optech case fits my D200, slips off easily, and has a nylon strap on the bottom of it which I hook easily to my belt. When in the case, the strap on the bottom keeps it from swinging, and when I pull the camera out, the case - which is very light- just hands about 4 " below my belt. I went to a camera store to try on this Optech case/rig before I bought it. If I am in really (not much now, as I am getting older)rugged conditons (climbing) the camera is in my backpack. I actually discussed this approach with the late Galen Rowell about a year before his unfortunate death. Galen had invented a nylon camera chest case (which a I also own) years ago, to use when he was running or very active (not climbing, since it has no protective padding),and said that his basic approach was to use a neoprene two -point camera suspension , and then something else(his nylon chest case) to stabilize the camera, but the 'something else' had to stay in place when the camera got pulled out. He also kept the camera in the backpack if he was banging his chest against rocks when climbing.
Sorry this took lots of words, space, but hope the details helped.
Stan

Rhuarc

I am envisioning the following setup at this point...

LowerPro CompuRover Backpack
Lens case on left side of belt to hold zoom lens
The Spider Clip on right side of belt to hold the camera

On the camera would be the Spider Plate, on top of which is the Manfrotto RC2 QR plate, attached to that is the BR D-Ring adapter. This way I could go from belt to tripod to BR strap without having to change adapters. I could get the 75AW to keep in the car, and if it looked like a day of rain then I would use that in place of the Spider holster on the right side of the belt. If I ever get a second camera that I want to always have at the ready then I can get the second 75AW and//or second Spider Holster.

lightyear

Backpack & lens case sound fine, but I personally would be afraid that camera hung on belt hp might bang into something, but you may be more careful in walking than I .
Stan

zoomer

Carry the camera in a holster attached to my belt.

Rhuarc

zoomer wrote: »

Carry the camera in a holster attached to my belt.

Which holster do you use?

zoomer

Rhuarc wrote: »

Which holster do you use?

check

www.thinktankphoto.com

rickp

Check out this vest from cotton carrier.
http://cottoncarrier.com/

FIGHT ON

I have an osprey stratos 24 pack. http://www.rei.com/product/796730
On the harness pockets are zipper pull loops. On the one on the left I crimped a mini bungee cord and left the other end open which hooks on the right loop. It holds the camera tight against my body as I hike and is easily unhooked when I need to take a quick shot. I also have other packs including this one http://www.rei.com/product/778466 no loops but the lower strap does the same thing. amost zero money! I know it's a cheap idea but it really works! I'm used to the strap on my neck but I like Art's binoc straps idea!

Marcy

the Cotton Carrier and my Think Tank belt and Holster and lens pouch are great - I usually get my husband to carry the water etc and the tripod if necessary -

Rhuarc

For my eyes the 2x3 feels better than 3x4. I think it is because our vision is wider than it is tall, a photo that is noticeably wider than tall feels more right.

piolet_rampe

I use a Lowe Pro top zoom with chest harness. Frees your hands for scrambling, and climbing or whatever, but keeps the camera accessible.

waywardfool

I've carried a pack and film or digital SLR backpacking for over 30 years. Here's what works for me:

Most backpacks and daypacks have a handle/haul loop just above the top shoulder strap attachment points. I hook a carabiner here, and then hook the neck strap of the camera to that. It gets the weight off your neck and shoulder. I usually carry it on my right side, and my right arm goes thru the strap, just as if I had it slung over my shoulder. If I'm using trekking poles, I'll hook another small 'biner, or sometimes a loop of velcro, between the camera strap and a point low on the shoulder straps, to keep it from swinging and swaying.

Works for me.

Matthew Saville

Call me psycho, but I hike with my camera attached to my tripod, in-hand, no strap. Sometimes I use an Op-Tech strap with the main part detatched, so it's mostly just a hand strap but it can wrap around the tripod head just once. I cradle it in the crook of my arm like a shotgun in a western, ...and I have yet to smack it on anything. (Knock on wood) What can I say, I stop to take pictures OFTEN. And most of the time I need a tripod...

If it's cold and I've got a jacket, a spare lens or a polarizer or other thing can go in a pocket.

If I need to scramble up a rock or something, I don't mess around with a holster or a sling, I put the camera away in my backpack. (Tamrac Expedition 5 or 6, I think...)

=Matt=

FIGHT ON

I think this would bang around too much but it looks pretty cool!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szQOYCIzevU

Matthew Saville

FIGHT ON wrote: »

I think this would bang around too much but it looks pretty cool!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szQOYCIzevU

...Did that guy just shoot a landscape in continuous at 3 FPS? I hope he was bracketing an HDR or something, otherwise I'm just not going to take him seriously haha. Cool product though!

Rhuarc

I like the idea behind that, it just seems like it isn't that stable hanging off of the chest strap. I also wonder what it would start doing if you were doing a lot of leaning over, etc...

I really like the idea of going with the Spider system attached to my LowePro backpack's belt. This still leaves my hands free for scrambline and things.

racer

This is the setup I go hiking with
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_CBTzTuBfK8A/SfhvkSQCxzI/AAAAAAAAAMg/zvRFImhkff4/s1600/donkey%2B2.bmp

sorry, couldn't resist
I always get a chuckle out of seeing someone with the 'every lens I own + the kitchen sink' setup. These people usually stick out with improper hiking wear and shoes

I usually go out carrying my camera with 400 and flash attached, in my hand or on a tripod, with no camera strap. My second camera is slung around my back with a zoom attached. I usually carry a messenger style camera bag over my back, with a wide angle and various stuff, food and a drink. If I am going out all day, or for a long hike, I use a National Geographic pack
http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/ngs/product/photography/photography-gear-and-bags/earth-explorer-backpack
Nice cotton pack with brass hardware, with plenty of room for hiking gear. No cheap nylon or plastic buckles

To finish off the setup
http://www.walkabout.com/shop/hat-wk-croc.asp (I wish )

JustinThyme

Two words
Think Tank
They have alot of gear on their site that covers just about anything you can imagine. I had a miriad of different bags, harnesses etc and got rid of everything but my thinktank gear. If hiking Im normally packing one of their backpacks, I like the street walker pro, and have a set of their straps that hooks right to the drings on the bag.

I have a new source for getting such items, they have limited selection but what they do have is good stuff and the best pricing I have come across.

http://www.outdoorphotogear.com/store/All-Bags-and-Cases/

here is a nice setup
http://www.outdoorphotogear.com/store/think-tank-photo-backpack-connection-kit.html

Wicked_Dark

Street Walker Pro.
Now there's an unfortunate name.

JustinThyme

Wicked_Dark wrote: »

Street Walker Pro.
Now there's an unfortunate name.

Depends on where you live

Definitely not for the vegas strip..:D

Want to see some funny names take a tour of the Crumpler site. Dont know If I would want to put my gear in a bag named "Sinking Barge" or us a camera strap named "Industry Disgrace" .