About the bits

The Bike

The dashboard you'll see in most of the Daily Rider pictures is a 2008 BMW R1200R. It's what could be called a 'standard', 'naked', or 'roadster' style bike. It's not designed to drag pegs in the twisties (though it can), nor is it covered in plastic to protect the rider from everything Nature has to offer (though it could with a screen), and might not be a first choice to ride 800km days (though it often does). I love this bike because it does all these things in a package that, to me, captures the things that are important to riding daily. It's a real BMW boxer with direct lineage to 1923 (sorry Rotax). The simple air/oil cooled engine, and most everything else, can torn apart and serviced with simple tools and simple expertise. At 198kg it's light for a 1170cc bike and easy to park and swing through traffic. With no drive chain it's pretty much maintenance-free every 10,000km. For real life full of commutes and tours and adventures and sport rides and lugging groceries the R1200R is my choice.

The Photos

I use three cameras for the pictures you see on Daily Rider. Most of the pictures are taken with the small Canon IXY 910 IS (SD 870) point and shoot. The image quality from this little machine is not great, but can sometimes lead to interesting effects. With limited tonal range, the images tend to come out with a black base and contrasting highlights.

The other camera is a Canon EOS 5D (mk1). Despite its comparative old age since release in 2005, the 5D puts out spectacular image quality. These are easy to pick out from the gallery with true colours, nice tonal range, sharpness, and spot-on exposure. The images can also lack the brilliant moodiness of the crappy IXY. Go figure.

A new edition to the stable in spring is a Panasonic GF1. The theory is that with the smaller size of the IXY but the bigger sensor similar to the 5D the little GF1 can push out some nice looking pictures. On top of that, the removable lenses mean it will accommodate some nice wide prime lenses, my personal favourite. I'm looking forward to using it more and increasing it's representation of Daily Rider pics.

The Rider

I'm a 30-something guy based in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Name is Dan. I wear a tie to work.