Backpacking!

[brill]

I'll take all the advise I can get,

I need a camera to take backpacking with me.

Anyone know how these hold up to water? I wont go swimming with it, but if a flash rain hits me, will the world end?

I've heard that RFs are more durable than SLRs? If it's in my bag, it's going to get squished, and if it's tied to the side of my pack, I might fall on it.

I already own a SLR and a DSLR, but they're both big, heavy, and expensive. They stand out too much, making discrete pictures of people hard... not to mention that it's like flapping a roll of cash to everyone that might want to grab it. These RFs may not be cheap, but they can look awfully similar to a disposable camera.

Thanks for any tips!

 

[freeranger]

Take an Olympus XA - Protected in its own clamshell, looks like a disposable, fits in your jeans pocket and takes the ubiquitous SR44 batteries.

http://www.camerapedia.org/wiki/Olympus_XA#XA

 

[Sonnar Brian]

I had a friend many years ago that used a Nikonos II for situations like this. He would take it backpacking and on a canoe. It is not a Rangefinder, but uses scale focus. The 35/2.5 wide-angle is not expensive for it.

 

[Bingley]

I took a Bessa T w/ me this past summer on a week-long backpack trip in the High Sierras near King's Canyon National Park (a sample of photos from the trip is on my flickr). I took along 28-, 40- and 100 mm lenses. I carried the camera in the ERC (which provided protection from some rain we encountered early in the trip). Bottom line: it performed like a champ. It's lighter in weight than an M (or even an R3*), uses batteries only for the meter, and survived quite nicely even though it got knocked around a bit. Can't recommend it highly enough as a lightweight camera for hiking and backpacking.

The XA suggestion is also a good one; I've taken an XA on hikes and backpack trips as well. It's certainly lightweight, w/ a nice sharp lens. It is battery dependent for operation, however, unlike the Bessa T. I left the XA at home on this summer's trip, however, b/c I wanted lens interchangeability.

 

[raid]

When I want to hike with very light equiment, I used to have in one pocket a Minox GT and in the other pocket an Olympus XA.

 

[user237428934]

When I want to hike with very light equiment, I used to have in one pocket a Minox GT and in the other pocket an Olympus XA.

I made the experience that the Olympus XA is prone to electrical failure when it's humid.

 

[Bingley]

The OP asks about SLRs, too. There are a number of older, film-based SLRs (Olympus, Nikon, Minolta) which are relatively lightweight and rugged compared to a pro DSLR, although they're still heavier and bulkier than a small rf like a Bessa T, not to mention an XA. Still, the late Galen Rowell used Nikon SLRs almost exclusively for his mountaineering and travel photography. What kinds of lenses do you want to use? If you'll be using a tele a lot, I'd recommend a small SLR. Otherwise, rf cameras have an advantage b/c their lenses are quite small compared to an SLR lens.

 

[mich8261]

I would say it depends on the type of backpacking trip and your shooting style. If it's backpacking as in traveling by bus or train from town to town and youèll be shooting some rural/landscape and people/village scenes, I would recommend small RF like the Oly XA or maybe two (one for colour and one for B&W), or an XA and another small RF with a fixed 45 or 50mm lens for a different perspective.

If on the other hand you are heading into the backcountry with your backpack I would suggest an SLR. If you like natural detail (plants, rocks, etc.) you might find the close up limitation of RF cameras (typically 2.5 or 3 feet) a problem. I also like to compress landscapes with a long lens (150mm+) which you can't do with an SLR.

Where are you headed?

 

[gho]

For travelling, I would also recommend the XA with its clamshell design. Discreet and small with decent image quality.

If you need something more rugged, what about a Zorki IV with J8? Sunny 16 applies here.

If you want it really simple, what about an Oly Stylus I or later. Fully automatic, autofocus, with built in (weak) flash.

 

[Shac]

For my packing trips in various places around the world I've used an Olympus epic, Nikon FM3a, Nikon D300 and most recently a D60. For flexibility the SLRs win hands down. Waterproofness is another issue however, but ziplocs are great

For the SLRs I use either a small zoom (e.g. 28-70 for the full frame), or a 20/24 and a 50 plus 3T & 4T closeup lenses (for the D300), and for the D60 an 18-55 plus the closeup lenses

 

[MartinP]

For superlight walking and climbing i used to use a Konica Big Mini, so just the one focal-length. These days you might look for an Olympus Stylus, as they are fairly rain-resistant and small and lightweight too. The spot-meter option is handy when the average-meter would get confused, but is not as flexible as the Konica.

For totally the opposite end of the spectrum, within 35mm, you could look for a Leica III and a collapsible Elmar (or Zorki 1 with Industar-22).

 

[venchka]

Hiking or really backpacking? Backpacking = more than 24 hours from the car.

When I backpacked, I took the camera I owned at the time. Either a Pentax 6x7 with 105mm lens or Canon EF with 24-70 lens. In both cases I had double Ziplock bags to protect from both wet and dry disasters. Nothing made of fabric is waterproof. Double plastic bags are light and work.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Wayne has it. ZipLoc. Unless you want to buy a Nikonos. After that it's just a question of how much weight you want to carry.

I wouldn't go for a pre-IIIc Leica: the IIIc was the first with the cast (and much stronger) chassis. Later screw Leicas, or Ms, or Nikon Fs; they'll all stand any normal abuse, but soaking any camera through is not recommended, especially electronic wonders.

Cheers,

R.

 

[tribleyl]

Then --- Rollie 35, XA, or OM-1 w/24, 50, 200. Now --- EP-1, kit zoom, and Pentax 35 Macro and 70 DA Limited lenses.

 

[raid]

I made the experience that the Olympus XA is prone to electrical failure when it's humid.

Tom,
I live in Florida where it is humid almost every day of the year. The XA has never failed during the past years.