Bicycle touring with photo gear?

[KD5NRH]

What's the best way to carry, say, two SLRs and a laptop with reasonably quick access to the cameras, good protection from weather and in case of a fall, and at least moderate theft protection so I don't have to unload everything and carry it into a bathroom with me?

Front wheel panniers look like the quickest-access option, but also the most likely to get squashed if something goes wrong. Does anybody make something like a lockable, weatherproof hardshell SLR holster that would work there?

Right now I'm on a Trek 7100, but I'm thinking that for more serious touring I might get something along the lines of the Windsor Tourist. It would still be nice to be able to carry at least one camera on the Trek for local area rides, though. Eventually, I'd like to do 5-10 day trips, camping in state parks most nights, but for now it's all one-day out-and-back stuff where I'm not likely to need (or want the extra weight of) the laptop.

I'm also working on ideas to convert my old IronHorse AT20 into more of a cargo/utility bike for my three-mile commute, but there's no way I'd want to try a long tour on it.

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

You definitely want some sort of hard lockable case that can be locked to the frame of the bike. The hard shell, make sure that it has a high impact rating otherwise your just buying looks, is necessary to protect the contents (really do you want to whack the bejeesus out of your slr if you have to lay the bike down for some reason) and then i would add extra custom cut foam to form fit your equipment.

[studiocygnet]

I've always put my camera gear and lunch bars in a handlebar bag. It's suspended between the bars, so it doesn't transfer all the road vibration and jars to the gear, and it's protected by the bars if the bike falls over. However, you just want the minimum of equipment up there, or the front end gets kinda waggy, and hard to hold up. No 300mm lenses, just the body and a couple small lenses. I've found that stuff attached to a rack really gets a lot of vibration, to the point of lenses coming off the body.
As far as the bike, those Windsor's are a POS. Bad wheels, bad brakes, you're better off converting an old mountain bike. And it's not because the wheels are "machine built" as referred to in some forums. Most all wheels except custom hand built wheels are built by a machine, some just use much better brand name components. And there's a reason why all mountain bikes switched from cantilever brakes to linear pull (and now some discs). Cantilever's are hard to adjust, don't have as much leverage, and stick out past the frame and catch on your panniers.
If you really want a new bike I'd look at the Fuji or KHS tourers at just over $1000. Or maybe the Surly Long Haul Trucker, even though it's got canti's. I like the bar end shifters versus the STI. No cables in the way of your handlebar bag, and no delicate mechanism to break down. Ask at a bike shop how many of those cheap Tiagra STI brake lever/shifter sets they replace. And clipless pedals are much easier to deal with than toe clips and straps.
And you need good tires that have some puncture resistance, with Kevlar belts and reinforced sidewalls.
You get a cheap bike, you've got to rebuild the wheels, get better tires, and put up with marginal brakes and shifters.
Although I've toured on an actual touring bike, most recently I've used an old Salsa mountain bike I had, put some different bars on it for more hand positions, fenders, racks, and 26 x 1.5 tires. 26" wheels are stronger than 700c, with shorter spokes and wider rims. I was just using rear panniers and the front handlebar bag, no front panniers. I had over 50 lbs. in the back, including a violin case strapped over the top of the sleeping roll. The bike has a tendency to pull wheelies easy with all the weight back there, but I just like to be able to pull into a place and deal with one set of bags instead of two.
There are always the trailers too. I talked to a couple guys the other day in Bastrop, that had started in Arizona and were making their way to Florida. They had BOB trailers, liked them for some things, but didn't like them for bike handling and taking bags in at night. But they make one with suspension which might be great for a lot of camera gear.