Sorry if this isn't the right forum. I bike little day trips and always carry along my old mirrorless camera in a little bag on the handlebars – you never know what you'll see when vibe cycling! I'm thinking of getting a new camera and am currently looking at one with IBIS. Will it be okay to carry an IBIS camera on the handlebars? at all? on a cycling body strap? Or is IBIS too delicate a moving part to be brought along for rides? They are primarily paved paths or roads with the occasional gravel in-between.
by OrganizationAfter332
4 Comments
Carry it on your person with a 3 point strap. The road buzz carrying it on the bike can ruin the IBIS. A bunch of cases of iphones being ruined in phone mounts on motorcycles
I carried a mirrorless camera with IBIS in a handlebar bag for about 16,000km over all manner of rough terrain and it is completely fine – but then other people have apparently broken theirs, so YMMV.
Being a cyclist and an avid photographer for 25 or so years, I have been wondering the same. I think it shouldn’t matter. Once the camera is switched off, the IBIS is “parked”, and is also meant for transportation by other means. While cars have shocks, I think the potential forces on the camera will likely exceed what the camera sees in the handebar (or other) bag. The people in a [German-speaking Fuji forum](https://www.fuji-x-forum.de/topic/50748-ist-eine-kamera-mit-ibis-empfindlicher-auf-vibrationen/) have the same view (question also revolves around a bicycle bag for carrying). Similar conclusion in an [older Reddit thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/canon/comments/1lq80m4/risk_of_ibislens_stabilization_damage/) and in a [Canon forum](https://www.eoshd.com/comments/topic/63355-how-fragile-are-ois-and-ibis-mechanisms/).
I never found a manufacturer statement on it, or a blog post by Lensrentals, unfortunately. I would value this info greater than “random” forum post, but it is what it is.
Edit: Checking again, I found a Blog post by [Roger Cicala of Lensrentals](https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2020/06/the-great-flange-to-sensor-distance-article-part-ii-photo-cameras/)! They have testes 1103 cameras, of which 138 were MFT, rest was full frame (SLR and mirrorless). In this test, they saw 2% of Sony mirrorless cameras with broken IBIS flanges, and Cicala argues that it may be because of the larger mass, but also that Sony has beefier mounts now. Since you want a compact system for touring anyway, MFT might be the best choice, but it’s just one study from 5 years ago, so it’s yours to decide what to make of it.
I have ran many miles with a Ricoh GR iii which has IBIS in the palm of my hand, swinging my arms.
It has exhibited no problems. Cameras are engineered for pretty rugged use cases.