cheap & light SLR for backpacking

andreios

andreios

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Hi guys,
just a quick question - I sold recently all of my OM gear, am doing mostly MF now with a LF image here and there, but I came to think that I need something for hiking / mountain walking - cheap and lightweight SLR, with a decent zoom lens - or at the most two primes. Where shall I look first? Some Nikon ideas? Or shall I look at M42 systems? Which ones?

THank you.
 
ok, i bring up the Canon A-1 again.

quite cheap and the fd lenses are cheap too. the body is made with a lot of plastic, so light. but still very reliable. small, very good viewfinder, different auto-modes or full manual, functions for exposure compensation, multi-exposures, etc.

if u want it light, i would look for a new fd-mount lens (in oppostion to the older breech-lock) then. optics is the same, but in the fdnew more plastic is involved, and therefor lighter.

if you don't need any auto-modes, you can also have a look for the quite similar, but full manual Canon AT-1
 
If you will go the Manual Focus route with your hiking SLR, I'd highly recommend a Nikon F3 (the non-HP pentaprism type), as these are some of the most durable cameras I have EVER seen. Been using a combination of two of these for 22 years without even one hiccup.

As for lenses, perhaps a Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 AI-S and Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 would suit your hiking needs, though there are plenty of excellent Nikon Zoom lenses as well.

On another note, the Pentax ME Super is impossibly small with a big, bright viewfinder. And there is never a shortage of all variety of Pentax K-mount and M42 mount (with adapter) lenses.
 
:D BACK TO THE FUTURE!

My manual Nikons feel utterly gargantuan after handling an OM.

OM-1, 28/3.5, and a 50/1.8 is all you (really, anybody) need.
 
Depends on what is cheap....speaking abut few tens of euros, I can recommend Ricoh XR-20sp with Tokina 25-50/4. Camera has light polycarbonate shell, nice VF and decent feature set suitable for such occasion, costs next to nothing. Zoom is barely larger than 50/1.4 lens. This lens were made in other mounts, too.
 
If you are considering auto focus, maybe a Nikon F80. Cheap, light and gives good results.
Or, as suggested above, another OM. The F80 is probably cheaper.
 
Still use my first camera from time to time. Minolta XD-7 + 50/1.7 cheap ansd sturdy enough for a back pack.
 
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Well, I was thinking about the OM - while compact, it felt sometimes too small in my hands (I'm rather tall, well over 6ft). Once I had a nikon FE2 (I think) and it felt just right in my hands, to this day I don't know why I sold it. But the F80 sounds good as well. I just want something I can throw in the backpack or in the car and don't care much about.
So if we consider staying with nikon - what lens(es)? any reasonably priced decent wideangle/short tele?
 
I just used a Nikon F2, 50mm 1.4, and 24mm f/2 backpacking in Yosemite. It worked beautifully but is neither cheap nor light.
Like I said, OM.
 
Small light means OM or possibly a Pentax M series both systems are excellent there are probably more K mount lenses about though.
 
andreios said:
Well, I was thinking about the OM - while compact, it felt sometimes too small in my hands (I'm rather tall, well over 6ft). Once I had a nikon FE2 (I think) and it felt just right in my hands, to this day I don't know why I sold it. But the F80 sounds good as well. I just want something I can throw in the backpack or in the car and don't care much about.
So if we consider staying with nikon - what lens(es)? any reasonably priced decent wideangle/short tele?
Click to expand...

my budget choice:

wide - 24mm f2.8
short tele - 105mm f2.5
 
I have been everywhere, including underwater by accident, with my Nikon FE. I was worried that the electronics would fail but they never did. after 20 years of ownership I sent it in for CLA (when you could still do it) and the guy sent it back saying it did not need it.
 
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