Cameras

As I start planning for my new trip I have to look back at my last big trip and re-examine everything I did.  My trip to Alaska in 2012 was only 34 days, this new trip will last much longer and involve much more diverse terrain.
Getting weather predictions for a 34 day ride to Alaska in the summer is pretty easy.  There was only one country border to cross, even though I crossed the Canadian border a few times, and it is pretty easy for American citizens.  On my new trip I will be crossing lots of borders with various degrees of difficulties and requirements.

As I keep reflecting back on my trip, one of the issues that keeps popping up is how much I carried and what I will need to carry this time.  The selection of what to include as part of my kit is made more difficult due to the changes in weather, altitude, terrain and the duration of the trip.  The "how to" pack everything on a motorcycle also complicates things, as everyone knows, space on a motorcycle is limited. Another major issue is the carrying capacity of the motorcycle while at the same time keeping in mind that weight is a killer when adventuring off road.  Below is my Yamaha Super Tenere when I rode to Alaska.

I definitely do not want to be like the riders below.

As the start date counts down I will be making a series of post discussing my preparation and the various pieces of equipment I will be taking.  On this post I will be talking about cameras and supporting equipment.

During my Alaska trip I carried a Canon T3i 35mm DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) with two lens for the camera and a small Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T99 point and shoot camera in my tank bag.  Sometimes I would hang the small camera around my neck and inside my jacket so I could pull it out fast and photograph something even while riding like the photos below.  I know, it's not safe but I only do it when I'm alone on the road.  I did manage to break the Sony's back screen and even though I could still use it, I discarded the camera after the trip.





For high-quality photos, there’s no substitute for a DSLR camera. The biggest problem with DSLR's is they are susceptible to being damaged due to vibration and dust specially while changing the lens, and the bulky size makes them difficult to store on the bike. I have been spending a lot of time researching cameras to find out what would be the best compromise between quality and weight.

I'm a photographer and for my photography business I use two Canon 7D's, a full frame Canon 6D and my trusty Canon T3i that I took to Alaska.  For last year's trip to Alaska with my wife in an RV I bought a Canon PowerShot SX60 HS because of the 65x telephoto lens which is equivalent to 21-1365mm SLR lens.

The SX60 is a great camera when you need to take photos from very far as the photos below show.  The sequence of photos below were taken from the top of a mountain in the Alyeska ski resort in Girdwood, Alaska.  I believe on the last photo I actually used 2x digital zoom combined with the 65x telephoto zoom.

Having a great zoom range is not very important when you want to take photos of landscapes as it compacts the image, in fact a wide angle lens is much more useful to expand the surrounding landscape.  The long telephoto lens only comes in handy when you have wildlife to photograph or you can't get near a location but you still want a closeup.  A long telephoto lens is also useful when you want to take candid photos of people without them knowing.

You might be asking yourself now, why am I mentioning all these specs? and that's because I wish one camera could do everything, unfortunately that's never the case, there's always compromises.  The 7D is a very rugged camera used by professional photographers and I'm sure it would be able to withstand the trip and the harsh conditions but it weighs 860 g (1.90 lb) without a lens.

Below is the weight of the Canon cameras I own:
EOS 7D 860 g (1.90 lb) Body only
EOS 6D 770 g (1.70 lb) Body only
XS60 650 g (1.43 lb) with 65x lens
T3i 570 g (1.26 lb) Body only

These are two new Canon cameras I'm considering:
SL2 453 g (1.00 lb) Body only
M6 343 g (0.76 lb) Body only

Since weight is very important as mentioned at the top, I'm now considering two new cameras.  The SL2 is probably the smallest and lightest Canon SLR on the market and the M6 is one of the lightest mirrorless cameras.  The SL2 is almost half the weight of the 7D and the M6 is even lighter.  All these cameras accept the EF-S lens format except for the 6D and the XS60.  Since I own quite a few EF-S lens I will stay with Canon, if I were to buy from a different manufacturer it would entail buying all new lens.  So it all comes down to weight and lenses.  I'm leaning into buying the M6 and pairing it with my 10-22mm lens, a great wide-angle lens allowing me to capture landscapes like the ones below.





I am considering taking the XS60 for the amazing 65x zoom but it's heavy and bulky, would probably take too much space in my tank bag and definitely could not be hung around my neck.  It's also not waterproof but I envision needing a camera for when it's raining or for the occasional dip in the ocean. I might take one of my telephoto lens for whatever camera I end up buying but that means swapping lens, not the ideal when you need to get something fast and certainly not good when in dusty conditions.  The ideal would be a small waterproof camera with a very good telephoto to complement the DSLR I will end up taking but I don't think that camera has been invented.

Camera equipment can be very expensive and the more you carry the greater the risk of damage and theft, however with a little bit of planning these challenges can be overcome.  A DSLR will reward you with stunning photos, much better than anything a point and shoot camera can capture.  Hopefully I will find a solution to these issues because one of my main objectives on this trip is to carry as little and be as light as possible but still be able to capture the stunning scenery I plan to ride.

More to follow as I continue to research.

Travelling with the house

One of the hardest decisions all motorcycle riders have to make at some point before a trip will be what equipment, tools, clothes and other items to carry on the motorcycle adventure.  I have ridden my motorcycle all over the USA and Canada both on short and long rides and have had to make the hard choices.   I am lucky that I have lots of storage on my motorcycle, a luxury not everyone has but the more space you have the more things somehow accumulate as you prepare for a trip.  The more equipment the heavier the motorcycle will be too, not the ideal scenario.

What you carry will depend if you will be staying in motels or camping.  When camping you will have to carry the tent, the sleeping pad, the sleeping bag and cooking equipment.  If you going through very cold weather a much heavier sleeping bag and pad will be needed. The type of weather you are likely to run into will also affect the clothes needed.  You might start the trip from a hot location and end up traveling through cold mountains or high altitudes were it will most likely be cold.  You will need clothes for warm and cold days.  You have to be prepared for the unexpected too.

Then there's the electronic devices and chargers.  Almost everyone carries a phone and a small camera at a minimum and the two chargers that go with it.  If you are a photographer like me than a bigger camera and lens or multiples lenses are a must.  I usually carry my Canon T3i with the 18-135mm lens.  I also carry my 10-22mm wide-angle for the landscape shots.  The camera will need a charger and a spare battery. A tripod is another good option.  If you are a blogger than a laptop is a necessity.  I have a small laptop and since I don't trust laptop hard drives I carry a small portable hard drive for backups.  The laptop requires another power supply but you can get external USB drives that do not need a power supply, they get the power from the USB port.  I carry a 320GB drive with me.  I recently bought a Chromebook to carry on my future trips, it weighs less than 3 pounds.  The power supply is smaller than most.  The photos below show how I prepared for my trip to Alaska.

The duration of the trip and location will throw another curve into the decision.  Everyone should have a few basic tools but if the trip is to remote locations you might need a better assortment of tools.  You might even have to carry tires if the country you are traveling through doesn't have them.  You will have to think about fuel, will your motorcycle have the range needed for certain areas.
The photo below shows how my Super Tenere was loaded the day before my 34 day trip to Alaska. I camped most of the time, I'm a good packer.

The size of your motorcycle will determine how much equipment you can carry too.  On my Super Tenere I can carry quite a load but some world riders ride much smaller bikes.  I'm reading a blog of a woman travelling around the world on a Honda CRF250.  I followed the couple below as they traveled around the world on two SYM Symba 110.  You can read about their adventure here:
Underboning the World - 2 Symbas, 1 Couple, No Sense

I have also seen riders that go completely overboard with their equipment to the point of making the motorcycle dangerous to ride in my opinion.  If you have to ride through soft sand or mud you want the weight on the bike as low as possible and if you tip over you have to be able to pick the bike up again by yourself.  Below are two examples of amazingly overloaded motorcycles.

Now if money was no objection and I was going to travel the world for a few years then maybe something like the truck below would be better.  I would drive the truck to a new country or location, park it and then use the motorcycle to explore the country.   I could have all the amenities of a home and still have the motorcycle for short distance adventures.
When I was in Alaska I met a German couple that was traveling the world in one of these but they were not carrying a motorcycle.  For me a motorcycle would be a requirement.

The trucks are great but the cost of the truck and the transportation to different countries can make it extremely expensive.  A truck like the one above can cost up to a half a million dollars.
So as you prepare for you next big adventure, think about what you will need, make a list and then remove half the stuff.  You can always buy equipment as needed.  Maybe you don't need heavy clothes for cold days for half your trip, you could pack light and later buy or have the warmer clothes shipped to a location on your trip or vice versa, start with heavier clothes and equipment and then ship it home when it is no longer needed.  If you are traveling with a companion and both have the same motorcycle, maybe you can split the tools.  If you are a couple traveling together on two motorcycles than one can carry the tent and sleeping bag while the other can carry the cooking utensils and sleeping pads. One carries the computer and the other the cameras.  What's important is that you travel as light as possible while still prepared for the unexpected.
If you have to carry the house on the motorcycle than it's no longer a motorcycle adventure.