Jump to content

Camera Choice: Cycle Touring Documentary?


Tulpa
 Share

Recommended Posts

On 8/6/2025 at 4:54 AM, kye said:

 If you're a masochist then you can even go ahead, setup the mirrorless and hit record, go back again and ride through the frame, then go back and retrieve the camera.  It seems like a great way to shoot a film and a spectacular way to remove as much pleasure from the experience as possible.

This is hilarious… and exactly true! 😂

The other option is to just put this upcoming project aside and join a Buddhist monastery… but I’m going to try to take one last run at this type of thing and see what kind of ‘happiness’ it leads to.

Lets see…

Link to comment
Share on other sites

EOSHD Pro Color 5 for Sony cameras EOSHD Z LOG for Nikon CamerasEOSHD C-LOG and Film Profiles for All Canon DSLRs
On 8/6/2025 at 11:54 AM, kye said:

It seems like a great way to shoot a film and a spectacular way to remove as much pleasure from the experience as possible

Indeed. These kind of productions seem to be as much about the presenter as they do the subject/location with every scene being, “here’s me on my epic adventure and here’s me talking to an impoverished local and here’s me deeply respectful at the local temple”.

Ie, if it isn’t about you, you can skip all that shit.

Some folks are famous because they are in front of the camera and others from being behind.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm going to revise my choice for this type of use. Camping and biking mean to me that one camera might not suffice if going Panasonic. I do not think that the OM-3 will give acceptable levels of noise inside a tent at night unless with a small light; nor do I believe the S9 by itself will give acceptable levels of weather resistance (by the way, I doubt the Panasonic 14-140 does either even though it's rated weather resistant).

Therefore, I would still go for the S9 with a 18mm f/1.8 lens for dark, inside a tent scenes and the 28-200. For bad weather, I'd get an action cam. This will eliminate bad-weather low light; maybe pick up a camera cover for the S9. At MPB, that setup will set you back 2500 euros.

The other option is the "do everything" set-up with the OM-3 with the Olympus 14-150 ii and the Panasonic 9mm for about the same amount of money, but you'll be spending more on the camera (double!) for less quality output (but still great).

If you are a disciplined shooter that usually uses a tripod and manual focus, there are options that will cost way less.

1899375802_Screenshot2025-08-08at06_40_06.thumb.png.d3ba7baad0134d9cd137be1b0869fffb.png

That OM-3 setup is about 950g and the S9 + action cam setup is 1300g. Note: Camera size doesn't have the Panasonic 18mm list, but it's the same size as the 24mm.

Again, this is for 10-bit with great IBIS and AF being the priority. I'd go with a much cheaper setup if it were me. I wouldn't want to take that expensive of gear out into the unknown. It's a close call though. There are so many good choices. It almost makes you say "screw it" and just use whatever you have with its limitations. If you're a creative, this is usually better.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

35 minutes ago, John Matthews said:

I'm going to revise my choice for this type of use. Camping and biking mean to me that one camera might not suffice if going Panasonic. I do not think that the OM-3 will give acceptable levels of noise inside a tent at night unless with a small light; nor do I believe the S9 by itself will give acceptable levels of weather resistance (by the way, I doubt the Panasonic 14-140 does either even though it's rated weather resistant).

Therefore, I would still go for the S9 with a 18mm f/1.8 lens for dark, inside a tent scenes and the 28-200. For bad weather, I'd get an action cam. This will eliminate bad-weather low light; maybe pick up a camera cover for the S9. At MPB, that setup will set you back 2500 euros.

I also doubt that "weather resistant" is sufficient for the random deluges that are likely to happen over that duration of trip, although it's absolutely worth reading the manufacturers description of what "weather resistant" means, just so you know what they are thinking of when they use the phrase.  It might be a lot more (or less) than what you might be thinking.  This is something I have pondered for some time but haven't gotten around to.
Better to just get something completely waterproof and be done with it.  Then you can record in monsoon rains and get good footage of waist-deep water, which would be a highlight of the doco in itself.

I would also suggest that the "bad weather low-light" situation isn't really that important.  Realistically, if it's bad weather due to rain or due to dust at night then you can't see that much anyway.  Just turn on your bike lights or headlamps and film the chaos.
My setup doesn't cover the "long-zoom low-light" combination because it's not a thing that you need to shoot normally, and while it would be great to have, I have only ever wanted this combination for taking shots out of the hotel window at night in Seoul, and that's hardly a situation to design my whole setup around.

I'm also surprised at how compact the 28-200mm lens is on the S9, it seems quite manageable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

  • EOSHD Pro Color 5 for All Sony cameras
    EOSHD C-LOG and Film Profiles for All Canon DSLRs
    EOSHD Dynamic Range Enhancer for H.264/H.265
×
×
  • Create New...