Alaska Backpacking: F6, FM3a or both?

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Riverman

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In September I'm heading to Denali NP in Alaska for some backcountry backpacking. I'm joining a small, guided group and we're hiking a 50 mile route over 8 days in the park. The hiking is likely to be pretty exhausting physically so I've ditched the idea of carrying my 4x5 - but I still want to bring back some good pictures.

I'm going to carry a 35mm SLR and two Voigt lenses (the 20mm and 40mm). I have no ambitions to shoot pictures of wildlife - just the landscape and my backpacking buddies - so I don't plan to carry any longer lens.

I want to shoot slides and will probably carry a bunch of Velvia 50 and 100. Now I just have to decide which camera to carry: F6 or FM3a?

F6 // Pro: shooting slides with the F6 is a breeze. The matrix metering blows away the FM3a. Not to mention the huge and comfortable finder of the F6 (I wear glasses). Weather sealed // Con: weight.

FM3a // Pro: though not weather sealed, still a tough little camera. Smaller, lighter and fully mechanical // Con: Not the best finder. Would need to bring a Pentax digi spot to really nail the metering in tricky light.

Finally - to tripod or not to tripod? I'd love to leave the tripod at home to keep my pack weight down. I don't need to steady the camera for long lens shooting and I guess I could bring some Provia 400x for dawn and dusk. On the other hand a very light CF pod and ball head would be nice for low light shooting and to aid landscape composition.

So: F6, FM3a or both? // Tripod or not?
 
the needle in the fm3a is a pretty handy tool if you're shooting slide... that and intuition will get you far.

I will always say lighter is better, but in this case I couldn't imagine actually carrying an F6 around my neck or on my hip while carrying a big backpack. The thought horrifies me. And if you're keeping it in your pack all the time, well, I don't see much point to that either.

But like I said, weight considerations come first for me. (I backpacked around Nepal with Canon DSLR's in 2007 and around Tibet and India with an FM3A in 2009 and the FM3A experience was much easier on my body)
 
F6 man, F6 + Matrix Metering + Velvia = Mindblowing. And it's super rugged I would've thought, good for Alaska and the wild. Maybe bring the FM3a simply as a backup camera in case you run out of batteris?

If your weight allows it, do use take a tripod, it's great if you want to take pictures of wildlife, but only if it doesn't weigh everything down.
 
Moriturii said:
F6 man, F6 + Matrix Metering + Velvia = Mindblowing. And it's super rugged I would've thought, good for Alaska and the wild. Maybe bring the FM3a simply as a backup camera in case you run out of batteris?

If your weight allows it, do use take a tripod, it's great if you want to take pictures of wildlife, but only if it doesn't weigh everything down.
Click to expand...

My heart says F6 for those reasons but my head says FM3a for the reasons others pointed out. The F6 is super rugged and the fact that it's not mechanical is no big deal. It is pretty heavy though and it would be a bit of a bitch to carry hanging outside the pack.

In fact I still haven't figured a way to carry the camera while backpacking. I want to have it out of the pack and ready to shoot but I can't carry it in hand (because of poles) and I don't want to just have it hanging round my neck because it will bounce around so much. Need to figure a way to secure it against my chest.
 
Riverman said:
.

In fact I still haven't figured a way to carry the camera while backpacking. I want to have it out of the pack and ready to shoot but I can't carry it in hand (because of poles) and I don't want to just have it hanging round my neck because it will bounce around so much. Need to figure a way to secure it against my chest.
Click to expand...

Binocular harness.
 
I would take the FM3 because it is lighter. I usually take a tripod when I hike, but I remove the bottom sections from the legs to save weight. I carry the camera on top of my pack with the tripod.
 
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I'd leave the F6 at home- along with the spot meter. You should be able to nail exposures- even with chromes- with the meter in the FM3a. I can do it with my FM2 99.9% of the time- those meters are really good for in-camera meters. The F6 is a wonderful camera- but an absolute anchor, and really should be your last choice for a backpacking trip or any other task where weight is an issue. I would also not bother with the tripod- at least not a full size one. Bring a little table top one if you want; you can always find something to rest it on for greater height if you absolutely need a tripod- but I'd bet you won't need it on your trip.

As for a way to carry it, I'd carry it around your shorten your neck. Shorten the strap so that the camera hangs just below the sternum strap on your pack, and then use the sternum strap to hold the camera down. Works like a charm for me while backpacking- you keep the camera at the ready, and the it doesn't bounce around. When you want to shoot, just pop open the sternum strap and you are good to go.

Alaska is really beautiful- you should get some wonderful pictures. Have a great trip!
 
Thanks for the helpful replies. I think the endorsements of the FM3a are probably right on for this trip. I'm just lucky I'm not a wildlife shooter as I don't have to fret about packing some crazy huge 300mm lens!
 
If you're going to the extreme of dumping larger formats for 35mm, why not go one step further and bring two good compact 35mm P&Ss? A Ricoh GR21 and Hexar AF or something along those lines? The metering is fine, you can always bracket.
 
Frank Version Two said:
If you're going to the extreme of dumping larger formats for 35mm, why not go one step further and bring two good compact 35mm P&Ss? A Ricoh GR21 and Hexar AF or something along those lines? The metering is fine, you can always bracket.
Click to expand...

I guess something like the Ricoh would be ideal but I guess I want to use the equipment I have. I definitely don't need to go out and buy another camera!
 
I haven't backpacked like that, but I think I'd carry two bodies. With my luck one would break and I'd have to do without. If you think it is too much weight, then I'd go with the body that gives you the most confidence in getting good slide exposures and get a light pocket camera for emergency use.
 
What Drew said. I wouldn't take you on a hike with me in that sort of terrain if you brought something like an F6. Definitely no spot meter. You would have to be prepared to lose any camera to some accident, a fall on rocks, or dropping it in mud. A small point and shoot back up seems reasonable - reasonable weight wise, which is the only consideration.
 
Richard G said:
What Drew said. I wouldn't take you on a hike with me in that sort of terrain if you brought something like an F6. Definitely no spot meter. You would have to be prepared to lose any camera to some accident, a fall on rocks, or dropping it in mud. A small point and shoot back up seems reasonable - reasonable weight wise, which is the only consideration.
Click to expand...

I don't get this at all. What's the point in having an F6 if you can't take it anywhere for fear of ill fate? Do you want a camera to take photos of or take photos with?
As for weight, I've carried Nikon digital SLR + Leica M body and 2 lenses while backpacking in the Himalaya. It's no great hardship.
I'd take the F6 without hesitation. Rugged, sealed and got the meter for the job you want to do. For backup borrow a p&s but I doubt you will need it.
 
Riverman said:
In fact I still haven't figured a way to carry the camera while backpacking. I want to have it out of the pack and ready to shoot but I can't carry it in hand (because of poles) and I don't want to just have it hanging round my neck because it will bounce around so much. Need to figure a way to secure it against my chest.
Click to expand...

I've backpacked a lot with cameras. What I do is attached a couple of small clips to the top corners of my pack (above my shoulders) and then hang the neck strap of the camera on those. This way, the camera is on your chest ready to go, but the weight is on your pack. You will probably need a longer than normal strap for this, though. If the camera bounces to much against your chest you can secure it with the pack's sternum strap as mentioned above. This system works well for me and is pretty easy to fashion.

Cheers,
Gary
 
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