If you guy's/girls ever make it to the states, I can show you some great riding on the right half of the country. Hell, I'll head out west again too
And of course, you can stay at my place.
Pete, thanks again for inviting me over here.
I think someone wanted details about my camera setup. Here ya go:
KKop said:
Dave:
Excellent report! Makes me want to load up the bike and hit the road
Anyhoo; could you comment a little on the camera setup? How did you press the shutter button? Simply take hand off bar and press?
Thanks for taking us on your ride.
Rino
Sure. I pressed the shutter with my left hand. I just made sure the camera was pointed in the right direction.
I would also like to see the camera setup with a close up picture if at all possible.
I like the idea and how did you keep the lens clean.
I'll do my best to show the setup, but asking me to show it with just "a" close up is a tall order
. I got lots of those pics too
I kept the lense clean by wiping it with Plexus and a rag whenever I stopped for gas. I don't recommend using a top notch camera for this setup, unless you're rich
. The camera I used is a Kodak Easyshare DX-6490. I've used this camera for that last several years, and it's always delivered better than expected images. My garage wall is full of 8 x 10 photos from the camera. I figured the camera has been in use long enough to demote it to heavy use
.
One of the first things I bought for the trip was a "camera specific ram mount." It includes the 1/4 x 20 threaded bolt which screws into the base of any camera. Here's the receiver ball mounted to the right side of the handlebar:
and here's the rest of the camera ram mount setup. Notice, with a ram mount, the camera can be position any number of ways:
a photo showing the 1/4 x 20 threaded nut on the bottom of my bug infested camera
normally you would just scew the camera onto the base and be done with it. I remembered a setup I used to use on my 35mm cameras back in the day. It's a nifty little doohickey made by Stroboframe which includes a base with the 1/4 x 20 nut which mounts to a tripod, or in this case, the camera base on my ram mount. The other part includes a mounting plate with a 1/4 x 20 screw, which screws onto the bottom of the camera. Here's the individual components: (this stuff has been sitting in my dresser drawer for years. It works perfectly on the ram mount setup)
a shot of the Stroboframe mounting plate mounted to the camera
a shot of the Stroboframe receiver plate mounted to the ram mount, and the camera about to be mounted. To mount, simply tilt the camera back, position the rear of the camera into the receiver, and drop the unit forward. It is held in place by a spring loaded mechanism, which holds the camera very securely. During the trip, nothing ever came loose.
The camera is now firmly mounted. Notice the lever on the right side of the mounting base has moved to the extended position. To remove the camera, I simply push the lever to the left, and the mechanism releases the camera mounting plate from the receiver. It can be done as quickly so fast. I used this setup to photograph the deer in Bryce Canyon, because releasing the camera was faster than getting my Nikon out of the tank bag. plus the lense on this camera has the equivilant focal length of 38-380mm on a 35mm camera, so I could bring the deer in close.
The camera turned on with the lense extended
a view from the front, complete with bugs
and finally, a photo of the view from the seat
The setup worked well, especially when I remembered to clean the bugs off the lense. The lcd display on this Kodak is large and bright enough I could actually see what I was shooting. However, after draining the battery the first day, I shot with the lcd screen off for the rest of the trip. I didn't need to see the photos while riding. Each evening I downloaded the photos into the laptop from each camera. I then viewed the photos on my laptop screen. Honestly, I only got 8-10 "keepers" for every 100 photos I shot, due mostly to motion blur and bugs. This setup is ineffective in low light. I lost every photo riding through Oak Creek Canyon because the speed of the bike created too much blur in the low light conditions. However, 8 or 10 keepers is more than I would have otherwise, and gave me, and the viewers here, another perspective from the saddle that I was experiencing during the ride.
I purchased the Kodak right after it was introduced for over $500.00:eek1
Today, cameras are available that are twice as good for half the price. I still like the Kodak. It's like an old friend.
My other setup was kept inside the tank bag. A Nikon D-50 body and a 17-55 f2.8 lense. The body now sells for $500.00. That's hard for me to digest. A bargain, really. The lense is slightly more :lol3 . That lense kicks photo butt. It's the reason the photos are so sharp. It has nothing to do with me :deal
Sorry for the long response, but I love talking about photography and bikes