Date: 2013-01-05
To: Camera considerations
Miles today: 0.0

Photography is a very important element to my walk next year, so I have put plenty of thought into what camera system will come on the Trail with me. Without a doubt, more thought has gone into camera and lens choices than anything else coming with me on backpacking trips. Now that I am committed to walking the Appalachian Trail next year, I am putting more thought into the other gear coming with me, but the choice of camera system is still very important. For an amateur photographer who is accustomed to using a wide variety of prime and zoom lenses, and knowing capabilities and applications for each one, backpacking must involve some compromise. What keeps me thinking, is what combination of camera and lenses I can bring with me that is the most useful, and lets me miss the fewest opportunities.I have been shooting Nikon since I started with system cameras, with the D5000, D7000, and now D800. The D800 seems like the best choice with its incredible image quality, but the camera itself is two pounds before adding any lenses! After adding two relatively lightweight zoom lenses, my camera kit is up to five or six pounds. The zoom lenses I would bring would be the Nikkor 16-35mm f/4G VR and Nikkor 70-200mm f/4G VR. I might substitute the 16-35mm with the Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 VC, an excellent third-party lens. I would also bring the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D - an old "plastic" lens, only four ounces, and surprisingly great image quality.I have toyed with the idea of bringing prime lenses instead of zooms. This would allow me to bring wider-aperture options at their focal lengths, and a handful of small prime lenses would weigh less than two zoom lenses. The combination I would likely bring is 20mm f/2.8, 35mm f/2, 50mm f/1.8, and 85mm f/1.8 primes. The problem with this method is the lost versatility of bringing zoom lenses. I save weight but I miss many shots by needing the right lens on the camera, and not feeling motivated enough to stop and change lenses for the shot.While considering what my camera kit will look like, I thought outside of the Nikon F-mount and considered mirrorless options. Here I looked primarily at a micro 4/3s body like the professional Olympus offering, and at the relatively new Fuji X-mount system. While it is not a bad system, I dismissed the Olympus for its small sensor, relatively poor low-light performance, and inability to use the optical stabilization of Panasonic lenses. I was more excited about the Fuji X - their sensor is APS-C, the same size as those in typical crop sensor DSLRs. It uses a unique layout that is supposed to provide excellent performance compared to normal Bayer-pattern sensors. Its current lens offerings are all small, lightweight primes and one midrange zoom - the X-E1 camera with the zoom lens weighs about 1.5 pounds. Zeiss has also announced that it is producing autofocus lenses for the Fuji X-mount.I decided to try out the Fuji over Christmas week. Unfortunately, circumstances prevented me from using it too much. That limited use was still enough for me to determine that I will not be bringing that system on the Trail with me. I missed the ease of control I have over the D800. It's certainly more weight to bring along, but I will accept adding a few pounds to my kit in exchange for increased confidence in my ability to capture the photos I wish to take away from this walk. The lenses I will bring with me will definitely include an ultrawide zoom lens, the AF-S 16-35mm f/4G VR. I will also take a fast prime lens, for portraiture as well as for photography in low light at the dances I will be attending along my walk. This lens will be either the AF 50mm f/1.8D, or the AF-S 85mm f/1.8G. I may also add a telephoto zoom lens to my kit - the new AF-S 70-200mm f/4G VR.Peace,