Registered: 02/05/03
Posts: 3292
Loc: Portland, OR
It all depends on how important photography is as a part of one's hiking experience. I very much want decent quality snapshots of my trips, but I don't pursue high quality to the extent of carrying a DSLR camera and my only tripod is a tiny 2 oz. one that I leave home as often as not.
Because I have not (until a month ago) even owned a smartphone or ever taken any kind of cell phone with me on backpacks, due to the poor to non-existent coverage where I hike, my cameras have been compact digital cameras for the past decade or more. My current one is a 7 oz. Fuji FinePix that claims to be water resistant and shock resistant (but I don't care to test out those claims). I've also owned Olympus and Canon compact digitals and they worked just fine for me, too.
Now that I finally own a smartphone, I may experiment with taking it on short backpacks to see if it adds any benefits (such as GPS, MP3, e-reader) that aren't offset by the rapid depletion of the batteries and the overall less rugged construction that could turn it into a hunk of junk if it gets physically abused during a trip.
Registered: 01/16/13
Posts: 913
Loc: Nacogdoches, TX, USA
Smartphone for me. It's relatively cheap (most people have one anyway), light, and small, but of course you have to baby it a bit and be careful not to run the battery down and the pictures aren't great. It's all a trade-off.
I've tried to get a photographer friend of mine out on the trail for a more photography-centric trip. His equipment would be much better, but so far he hasn't bitten.
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The journey is more important than the destination.
Advanced compact (Panasonic LX or Sigma DP) if I'm traveling as light as possible, mirrorless ILC (Olympus OM-D, Panasonic GM) if I'm more serious about collecting pictures. My DSLR days are over.
Cannon powershot. My wife has a DSLR that I am not allowed to bring. Anyways, I don't like using my phone because of batteries. The powershot can take more than a weeks worth of photos and a lot of video on a single charge. I do want a gopro for better video while walking though.
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I've taken a vow of poverty. To annoy me, send money.
A Pentax WG-3 with GPS for me. Picture quality is fairly good, but has a few issues with white balance and slow focusing. Pros are great durability, waterproofness, a clock/alarm, GPS location , a compass , and a relative altimeter for navigation. The picture taking is good enough for my purposes and has captured a few frameable moments.
We've always carried our Canon Rebel T3i DSLR with a zoom that converts to a macro, but honestly our best scenery and wildlife pictures have been around visitor centers and short hikes around campgrounds etc so I think on our next trip we are leaving it behind and just relying on the cellphone.
Though it is heavier (but not as heavy as my other camera gear), for backpacking, I will generally take a Sony DSLT APS-C with a 16-80mm lens and a 1.4x teleconverter. I also consider taking a GorrillaPod and/or TrailPix for a light tripod.
Hi all, new member here out of Prague Czech republic so big wave to you all
I lug my 70D with me along with my 24-105L lens. On top of that if I want wide angle I also pack my 11-16mm from Tamaron which is great for astro photography as well. Looking forward to using it this weekend for possible Perseids if the sky is clear. I always have a 50mm lens with me as well just for detailed photographs as its super sharp and 1.8f is a charm to have.
Never leave without my tripod and on top of that I am looking at Lee filter system now. My hikes are from day trips to long week hikes.
Hi all, new member here out of Prague Czech republic so big wave to you all
I lug my 70D with me along with my 24-105L lens. On top of that if I want wide angle I also pack my 11-16mm from Tamaron which is great for astro photography as well. Looking forward to using it this weekend for possible Perseids if the sky is clear. I always have a 50mm lens with me as well just for detailed photographs as its super sharp and 1.8f is a charm to have.
Never leave without my tripod and on top of that I am looking at Lee filter system now. My hikes are from day trips to long week hikes.
You carry quite the gear in terms of weight. I would like to carry a full tripod, but those pounds I can very rarely justify on a backpacking trip.
Registered: 06/19/14
Posts: 40
Loc: Albuquerque, New Mexico
for years, I packed a Nikon FtN body with usually a 35 mm f2.8 and a 135 f 2.8. Add 6 or 10 rolls of film and it was a load. It just (as pointed out previously) depends on how important photographs are to the trip. For me, it was important and I recently have been digitizing my slides from those trips and am thankful that I carried that load.
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