[LargeFormat] Dragging the gear around in a roller, is that harmless ?

[Christiane ROH]

Hi all,

I've  been mostly a lurker on this list, mainly because lately I've not used
my ArcaSwiss 6x9 a lot : I'm getting older with some pains in the back and I
need something more comfortable to drag the view camera along, even if it's
only a small view camera.

That camera is fairly compact - despite of its weight - and presently holds
in a Lowepro MiniTrekker (look here to see the kind of bag it is :
http://www.lowepro.com/pages/series/trekking/minitrk.htm).

My main shooting subject involves cityscapes, streets and buildings, with
occasional landscape photography. I don't really hike in the wild, but I
walk a lot in the streets. So I've been wondering whether I couldn't put the
viewcamera gear in a roller ?  There are some nice ones advertised by
Lowepro here for instance :

http://www.lowepro.com/pages/bySeries/ProRoll.htm
(hesitating between a Proroller Mini (about the same size as the
MiniTrekker, but without the stand for easy grabbing) or the Proroller 1
(may be too big, but with that stand for easier grabbing).

http://www.lowepro.com/pages/bySeries/rolling.htm
Looks even better, because these are combined roller/backpacks which would
be very versatile; the wheelsystem (judging from the pictures) seems to be
the same as that of the Proroller series.

Now while it would be very convenient to be able to drag the view camera on
wheels and avoid the hassle of backpacking, there are some questions :


1)  I've not been able to see one of these bags here around, so I'll have to
order without seeing any.. Did any of you have some experience with one of
these bags, or did any of you get an occasion to look at them ? Any usefull
thoughts, or experience to share, especially concerning the wheel system ?

2) My main concern is with the vibrations caused to the gear and especially
to the lenses and shutter mechanism : supposing that I drag the gear in one
of these wheeled bag all of the time, would that harm the lenses in the end
?  Lowepro advertises mainly the stability of their wheels system .. But the
wheels look fairly small and Lowepro doesn't say anything about how the
vibration of the wheels is softened.. Should I be concerned about it ? Or
isn't not a real issue ?

3) Would you use that kind of bag as cabin luggage ? Or even for checking on
an flight ? (seems ok to me for the first situation, but not for the
second). 

3) If vibration is too much of a concern, do you see any other solution
which would allow me to wheel the camera gear through the streets of the
cities ? Would a roller made of a hardcase avoid vibration better ? Do they
come along with larger wheels ? May be, after all, that soft cases/packs
transfer less vibrations than hardcases ?

Thanks in advance for sharing your experience or advice.

-- 
Christiane