cheap & light SLR for backpacking

[leicapixie]

In my experience the Canon A series, AE-1,Ae-1p:the best, Av-1 and A-1 are great cameras. The bodies are light. The lenses very good but in short supply..I don't see many. It may be different elsewhere. The Pentax MX, Me-Super are wonderful, light and easy to use. The M series lenses very small and light.
The Nikon F3 is a superb camera, the best mentioned but very heavy although it is not large. Nikkor lenses easily available.
The Olympus system i don't know.
There are many SLR out there, mostly cheap with good availability of original lenses. Try a few out, see what fits your hands, fingers and eyes.
Remember most are old. They may need some maintenance or simply add another body or lens..
If I was on a long hike, needing superb reliability, the original Nikon-F or F2 would truly be the one I would choose.

 

[JMQ]

Just bring a good P&S and enjoy the hike.

 

[pschauss]

Fujica ST605. It is small and light and it only needs a battery for the meter. You get a great selection of inexpensive M42 lenses.

 

[ferider]

I've looked at your flickr stream. Some very nice B+W work.

A Hasselblad 500C with 80 Planar isn't so much bigger than any of the above.

If you want significantly smaller, much less film changing, etc., and since you develop yourself, have you considered half frame, like an Olympus Pen F ?

Roland.

 

[ornate_wrasse]

Lighter than the F2 and F3, the FM2N would be great for hiking. I think a fast 50 should be in your bag. For a wide angle, I recommend the Zeiss 25mm Distagon. Although a bit on the heavy side, the results with this lens are well worth it.

Ellen

 

[Tom33]

Nikon FG, Nikon Series E 50mm f/1.8 and ? (I vote Series E 100mm, YMMV)

Cheers,

Tom

 

[venchka]

A Canon EF and Sigma 24-70 was my last backpacking camera and lens. Real backpacking, multi-day, Canadian Rockies.
I now own an A-1 as well. Next time, I'll take the A-1 and 24-70. I have also carried a Pentax 6x7 and 105 lens on multi-day trips in the Colorado Rockies. Love the big negatives of the mountains.
Bottom Line: For 35, I find 24-70 the perfect backcountry lens. Not much larger or heavier than my 50/1.4. Plenty wide and long enough to isolate subjects. Turn it vertical at 70 and shot overlapping frames for stitching. Required accessory: a hiking staff cut to the exact hight to function as an impromptu monopod. My 6x7 negatives benefited greatly from a steady hold on my hiking stick.

Wayne

 

[Bingley]

Minolta SLRs like the XD series or the X700 are pretty cheap these days, and are just as compact as Olympus OM film cams. The MD Rokkor lenses generally have very good optics, are lightweight, and are also cheap with one or two exceptions. Compare prices to Olympus and Nikon over at KEH.

I know the OP is looking for an SLR, but one "thinking outside the box" suggestion would be to go with a film camera kit that's even smaller than an SLR. Here's my favorite backpack camera kit; if I wanted to go even lighter I would take just the IIIc and the two lenses:


Travel Companions by bingley0522, on Flickr

 

[DNG]

I have a Nikon FE, and a 24/2.8 AiS, and 100mm f/2.8 E is a nice 2 lens kit.
If just one Zoom: the Nikkor AF 28-85mm f/3.5-4.5 may be a good fit. under $140. used in most places.

If, you want a manual camera to work w/o bats... Nikon FM.. I suggest the FE/FM because the can use Non-Ai Lenses... The FM2x, FE2, can not use Non-Ai lenses.. for a tighter budget...

More Budget: FE2, or FM3m ($$ Used), The FA is nice body also, The FG is like a cheap FE (or FA) made by Cosina, but a good value.. similar in quality to the Canon AE-1P.

 

[Greyscale]

Cheap and light ... the Minolta QTSI immediately springs to my mind. They can often be found on eBay for about $25, with the 35mm~80mm zoom. And at that price, no great financial loss if you happen to drop it off a mountain.

 

[Argenticien]

pentax ME Super, your lenses of choice. as much as i liked the om-1, i like the ME even more ...

+1 on the ME I got a ME Super SE for cheap at a thrift shop. (The SE designation gets you a 45-degree rotated split-image finder.) It's a nice M42 camera if you put an M42-K adapter in it semi-permanently as I've done. Both K-mount and M42 lenses can be had cheap. Some Pentax lenses are affordable, plus I'd hazard a guess that those two mounts had more third-party lenses made than did any others. There's just loads, when you consider all the Ricoh, Chinon, Sears, Penney's, Ward's, Mamiya, Fujica, Yashica, etc. -- beyond the usual suspects like Vivitar, Tamron, Sigma...

--Dave

 

[farlymac]

Minolta X-700 for it's priority mode, and the X-570 for better viewfinder info. Both very light, and the MD lenses are good performers. Lighter than my Nikon FG kit with comparable lenses. I wouldn't go with an EM, unless you are wanting to scare off every creature within a half mile with the mirror slap.

PF

 

[GaryLH]

Lightest nikons bodies would be fg, fg-20 and em... Stay away from em. Fg and fg-20 are pretty cheap theses days. If u can go heavier, then fm2n or fe2...

Gary

 

[jschrader]

my vote is the Nikon FM or FE. Ridiculously cheap now, this includes MF lenses. Had several Nikons for 30 years, all bought second hand, and never any problem.

 

[Bill58]

Nikon EM--it doesn't come any smaller/ lighter.

 

[Soeren]

Agree!

OM1 (or OM2n & spare batteries) w: 28/3.5 & 50/1.8.

+1 and if possible add a 135mm. Most compact kit I ever had.

Alternatively the Nikon FE/FM range with 24mm, 50mm and 105mm.
The Zeiss distagon is not only heavy but also a HUGE lens compared to the AIS but it is really that good. I wish I could afford the 50mm F/2 and the 100mm F/2 too.
Best regards

 

[andreios]

Thank you, guys for all your suggestions. I'll have to look round what is available locally (meaning *bay.de/uk and similar)..

Somehow I was never able to come to terms with compacts, and I'd like to have something easy to carry and shoot when I want to leave my tripod behind. I use a Rolleicord often now, but i find myself worrying about it often and that was one reason I've been looking for nothing fancy, just a cheap but somehow reliable slr...

I've looked at your flickr stream. Some very nice B+W work.

A Hasselblad 500C with 80 Planar isn't so much bigger than any of the above.

If you want significantly smaller, much less film changing, etc., and since you develop yourself, have you considered half frame, like an Olympus Pen F ?

Roland.

Thanks for kind comment, roland, and for these sugestions as well - 500blad would be nice, but somehow if I were to use MF, I would not be at ease without tripod. there is this mental connection with me - large negative -> tripod. (Maybe if I were using mamiya 7 or the new fuji folder, I would be healed of this, but...)
And as for half-frame - I considered the digital half-frame for a while - the m4/3 thing, but I'd still prefer to stick with film. And if I am shooting film, I'd like to stay (at least) "full frame" 🙂

 

[gavinlg]

I would go canon elan 7 + voigtlander SL lenses personally. Tiny, quiet, tough, highest optical quality.

 

[swoop]

Just bring a good P&S and enjoy the hike.

P&S are getting pretty advanced.

Nikon P7700, P7100, P310, 1
Canon G15, G1X, EOS M
Olympus XZ-1, XZ-2
Panasonic LX7

Any of those cameras would likely service you well and allow you to take some great shots without a lot of bulk. You're going to need some spare batteries but the same would be true for any digital camera.

 

[JMQ]

In my salad days, I did a lot of hiking with the Contax T. There is enough exposure control to manage most situations. And yes, Swoop is right, don't forget those spare batteries.