Hiking with An SLR camera

[stlouishiker]

This is pretty late, but my school is taking a hiking trip tomorrow and I can take our Canon 50d, but how do you hike with an SLR? It seems like it would be big and awkward to carry around your neck, but I don't want to have to get it out of my pack whenever I want to take a picture.

Thanks

[hatidua]

I leave mine in my pack with various lenses until I'm in an area that merits bringing it out. Most hikes aren't great the entire time so it stays put. When things get good, it's no bother having it around my neck as there is enough interesting subjects for me to forget about the device dangling from my neck.

[Cruiser]

I've hiked with mine a good bit. If you have a decent holster you can attach it to your pack's waist band with a couple of carabiners. Don't try to hike with it with just the neck strap though. That's a recipe for disaster.

[Tory Wells]

When I used to hike with an SLR, I would put the strap around my neck and hold the camera in my hand as I hiked, or I would wrap the strap around my hand/wrist and hold the camera in the same hand. I was also able to run down mountains in this fashion, which surprisingly worked quite well. I never liked putting it in my pack because you never know when an excellent shot will present itself and the time taken to get it from your pack could cause you to miss the shot (think wildlife).

[stlouishiker]

When I used to hike with an SLR, I would put the strap around my neck and hold the camera in my hand as I hiked, or I would wrap the strap around my hand/wrist and hold the camera in the same hand. I was also able to run down mountains in this fashion, which surprisingly worked quite well. I never liked putting it in my pack because you never know when an excellent shot will present itself and the time taken to get it from your pack could cause you to miss the shot (think wildlife).

I don't have a holster, so I'll try that if its not raining tomorrow morning

Thanks

[prestone818]

bring the slr and a p&s. keep the slr in ur pack. pull it out when necessary

[Kapelmuur]

When I used to hike with an SLR, I would put the strap around my neck and hold the camera in my hand as I hiked, or I would wrap the strap around my hand/wrist and hold the camera in the same hand. I was also able to run down mountains in this fashion, which surprisingly worked quite well. I never liked putting it in my pack because you never know when an excellent shot will present itself and the time taken to get it from your pack could cause you to miss the shot (think wildlife).

That's some serious dedication! As for me, it gets stuffed into the top of the pack.

[GravityPilot]

I have a Lowe Pro Top Load Zoom. I've made a belt out of 2" flat webbing that it hangs on separately from my pack. Then I take the shoulder strap and run it under each arm but over the top of my main pack. It hangs quite nice in the middle but I can push it over to the side to be out of the way of the fly on my pants, harness etc. It's been great for ski touring, mountaineering and general hiking. I can even run with it and it doesn't really bounce. The only pain is if I need to take my pack off, it's best to remove the whole rig, but that price is easy to pay for the ease of use and camera protection. It's also a system that anyone can wear so I can hand it off to someone else if need be.

[Tory Wells]

When I used to hike with an SLR, I would put the strap around my neck and hold the camera in my hand as I hiked, or I would wrap the strap around my hand/wrist and hold the camera in the same hand. I was also able to run down mountains in this fashion, which surprisingly worked quite well. I never liked putting it in my pack because you never know when an excellent shot will present itself and the time taken to get it from your pack could cause you to miss the shot (think wildlife).

That's some serious dedication! As for me, it gets stuffed into the top of the pack.

And it's also the reason I don't hike with it anymore....too much bulk and annoyance. I've since bought the Canon Powershot S90, a compact digital that performs like a DSLR. I can run with that in my hand no problem.

[astromwall]

i have a top loading "m rock" brand camera dealy. I wear my normal day pack and then use a couple little caribeaners (howerver you spell that one) to strap it to my chest/stomach area. I strap the caribeaners to the shoulder straps of my daypack. Like this....here i am hiking yale.

[GA_peach]

I used to carry a Nikon FE2 with a 28mm lens, I put it in a army one quart canteen cover pouch and it fit fine. The army web gear I always wore gave you both hands free for anything and the ammo pouches on front would hold my 70-300mm lens but I rarely cared that, I used those more for snacks.

Alan

[Dancesatmoonrise]

When I used to hike with an SLR, I would put the strap around my neck and hold the camera in my hand as I hiked, or I would wrap the strap around my hand/wrist and hold the camera in the same hand. I was also able to run down mountains in this fashion, which surprisingly worked quite well. I never liked putting it in my pack because you never know when an excellent shot will present itself and the time taken to get it from your pack could cause you to miss the shot (think wildlife).

That's some serious dedication! As for me, it gets stuffed into the top of the pack.

And it's also the reason I don't hike with it anymore....too much bulk and annoyance. I've since bought the Canon Powershot S90, a compact digital that performs like a DSLR. I can run with that in my hand no problem.

I know what you mean.

How do you like that S90? I've heard that the EV is always active via the dial thing on the back and often gets turned when you don't want it to - messing up exposure - in the Program mode. Has that been a problem?