How to secure camera for horse riding in Ireland??

[Michiyo-Fir]

I'm planning to go to Ireland for about 10 days of horse riding 4-6 hours each day. Specifically in Grange, riding along the beaches, trails and riding out to uninhabitted islands by trekking through the ocean.

So now my question is what kind of device can I use to secure the camera to my upper body but still have it ready to shoot? I can't have the body dangling or moving otherwise it will hit the horse or myself.

Is there some kind of chest strap or something?

The camera in question is a D7000, and will probably be paired with a fairly small lens, a wide angle one.

 

[dxqcanada]

Possibly this: Camera Harness | Camera Shoulder Harness | Camera Body Harness | Camera Chest Harness

I just had my camera around my neck and under my arm ... this way I could swing it behind me while I ride ... then swing it around to shoot. I was not trotting or galloping, so there was no bouncing.

If you are a very experienced rider ... your body movements should be fairly smooth/minimal, so you may be able to get away with the around the back setup or the above harness.

 

[Michiyo-Fir]

Well my biggest concern is that if the camera swings or something and hits the horse, the horse might spook and we don't get to swap horses during the ride because there won't be any on our 4-6 hr trail...

 

[Jeremy Z]

Michiyo - I think if I were doing that kind of activity, I would leave the SLR at base camp and take a nice compact instead. If you fell, you would not only risk ruining your camera, but also breaking your back, if you landed on it.

 

[Michiyo-Fir]

Unfortunately, bringing a compact will not suffice considering I'm planning to blow up about 10-20 prints to 20x30 or 24x36 or bigger. Plus the only compact I own is a S95, and I find that the lag between shutter click and the photo is too great and it doesn't get any good action shots at all. Even with the shutter speed cranked up to 1/1500. Plus I can't blow them as large with only 10 MP compared to the 16 MP on my D7000.

I'm not that worried about breaking the SLR or my lenses. I guess breaking my back I'll just have to risk. However, I am planning on securing the camera to my front so I guess breaking my ribs would be a bigger concern than breaking my back.

 

[Overread]

Cotton Carrier: Camera Vest

Just the first product from them I found from google, browse around their site as they have a variety of holders on offer. That lets you securely fix the camera to your chest and it should bounce less than if its on a normal strap.

The other option is to consider the pace you travel at. If you can dismount you could always have the camera in a backpack, avoiding snapshots, but allowing you to keep it secure until you dismount to take specific shots.