Total Weight?

[Bonzo]

For those that carry a camera and/or all the trimmings that seem to go with one: what do you currently carry, and how much does your total setup weigh?  I’ve begun to suspect that I’m terribly out-of-touch with the reality of camera system weights, so I thought I’d ask around and get some information and see exactly how unreasonable and delusional I really am.

[Kevin Babione]

Can you give us a little more detail about what kind of photos you want to take?  For example, are you doing time-lapse photos of the stars, epic landscapes that will be enlarged to poster size, or macro work of flora & fauna?

I think that will help refine the answers you receive.  I typically carry a Sony Rx100 (either a II or a V) and it meets my need for good photos to record the trip, but I don’t publish or mount anything I take.

[Paul Wagner]

I carry a tiny little Canon Powershot 780–it must be at least ten years old, weighs ounces, and fits in my shirt pocket–the very reasons I chose it.

But I suspect that’s not an answer you will find helpful.  I’ll leave it to more polished photographers to address the issue of their pack weight…

[Ian]

FWIW I’m just a hobbyist and novice photographer.  I don’t make any money doing this so my gear choices are a reflection of someone who has to acknowledge that the money spent on bodies and lenses won’t make me money.

My backpacking trips aren’t photo centric so I mostly just bring my iPhone 8, Moment lenses, and some small light weight tripod that can be weighed in a few ounces, tops.  If I were to go on a photography centric trip, my miles would be very limited to ensure I’m at the right place at golden hour twice per day or siting in wait for wildlife.

On the rare occasion that I do bring my for-realsies camera, I’d lean towards my A6600, both kit lenses and the 16mm f2.8, and Sirui tripod.  At some point I’ll swap out the 16mm for the Samyang 12mm f2.

I wouldn’t bring my full frame kit on a trip where we would cover more than five miles per day.  Beyond not wanting to carry that weight for 20+ miles, I’m not going to have the time to hike all that far due to the time spent taking pictures and waiting for light.

I’m going off the posted specs.  I’ve never weighed anything below.    Also, I’ll use full frame lenses with my APSC body all of the time.  My travel tripod can handle my full frame body and lenses.

APSC kit 

A6600 17.7 oz  (not including L bracket)

Kit lens 16-50 (APSC) 4.1 oz

Kit telephoto lens (APSC) 55-210 12.2 oz

16mm f2.8 (APSC) 2.4 oz

Sirui T-025x Travel Tripod about 2 lbs with ballhead

Full frame kit 

A7 16.72 oz (not including L bracket)

Tamron 17-28 14.8 oz

Sigma 150-600 Contemporary (lighter than Sport) 4.25 lbs

AS80C full sized tripod 3.3 lbs

Sirui K40x full sized ballhead 1.5 lbs

 

[Bonzo]

Can you give us a little more detail about what kind of photos you want to take?

I’m not looking for system suggestions in order to get better photos – and I have a near-theological opposition to that doctrine, for what it’s worth – rather, I’m just interested in seeing how much weight people are actually comfortable carrying, insofar as dedicated photo equipment is concerned.  If you’re carrying an RX100, then it’s about nine ounces or so, yes?

I carry a tiny little Canon Powershot 780–it must be at least ten years old, weighs ounces, and fits in my shirt pocket–the very reasons I chose it.  But I suspect that’s not an answer you will find helpful.  I’ll leave it to more polished photographers to address the issue of their pack weight…

That’s actually a perfect answer.  I may not be able to find an exact weight for that camera unless I find some older sales literature or a manual, but that’s unimportant: you got close enough and provided reasons for the choice.  Thanks!

My backpacking trips aren’t photo centric so I mostly just bring my iPhone 8, Moment lenses, and some small light weight tripod that can be weighed in a few ounces, tops…

I was figuring that some variety of this setup would be a popular combination.  Also, it looks like your “small” kit is about 4.25 pounds and the full-frame kit is about 11 or so…and that’s assuming that you can give or take a few ounces for caps, bags, clips, straps, and published inaccuracies.

[Ian]

I was figuring that some variety of this setup would be a popular combination.  Also, it looks like your “small” kit is about 4.25 pounds and the full-frame kit is about 11 or so…and that’s assuming that you can give or take a few ounces for caps, bags, clips, straps, and published inaccuracies.

The images from an iPhone are acceptable, occasionally great.

What I gain from my two cameras is better low light performance and the ability to zoom in up to 900mm (FF equivalent) without having to crop an image by some absurd amount.  The iPhone also really suffers in suboptimal light.

Something I assume everyone understands, perfect is the enemy of good enough.   If you can accept its limitations, cell phones can be incredible tools for photography, although it pains me anytime I see what could be a perfect shot but I don’t have the gear to capture it.

 

[Ian]

Gotta love software that automatically creates a Feathered Friends link in a conversation where FF means Full Frame.

[Kevin Babione]

I just weighed my RX100 and it came in just under 10 ounces (with the battery and SD card).  I keep it in my right hip-belt pocket to make it quick to pull out when I want a shot.  I’ve found it to be the perfect camera for capturing my trips, from landscapes to candid shots.

My first couple of trips with it I always carried an extra battery but realized that I get 150-200 shots out of a fully charged battery and I never take that many on a weekend trip so the spare battery stays home.  I figure I always have my iPhone with me too if my battery were to die and I came across that perfect shot (or wildlife).

[Bonzo]

I just weighed my RX100 and it came in just under 10 ounces (with the battery and SD card).

Excellent; thank you for doing that!

Something I assume everyone understands, perfect is the enemy of good enough.

When I find an image, I try to do the best job I can with capturing it; when I print it, I try to do the best job that I can do with my printing.  Over time, I get better, but if I waited on perfection I would never photograph anything.  I treat my equipment the same way; I do the best I can do with what I have at the time, and if I find a shot that I can’t make I realize that I still have the idea for it in my head, so I try to make it work the next time I see it.

Also, for reference, I just weighed my normal, carry-around-every-day-and-on-hikes camera, and it clocks in at 33.4 ounces with a 50mm lens.  I thought that was reasonably heavy for what I consider to be a “lighter” setup, but maybe it really isn’t, comparatively.  Hmmm.

[Bonzo]

Secondary question: what is everyone doing for body/lens protection when storing the camera?  I’ve had a real time with finding anything that actually fits into my packs and that also protects adequately; I could tell a story about a $1400 lens that had the entire front end crushed while in the padded bag insert that I was using, but if I bring it up I’ll just get upset thinking about it.

Great.  Now I’m upset…but this is why we invented day-drinking.

[Michael B]

Haha. I don’t do photography, but if I had to protect a lens, I’d likely get some CCF, some of that flexible cutting board, and a little pack material (pick your MYOG poison), and fashion a custom container to pad, seal from wetness, and prevent damage from any reasonable crusher events.

[NJ Drew]

A bit late to the topic, but I used to do some amateur photography many years ago for most car-related stuff, had a DSLR Canon 10d with all the fixings. Having carried it around, I’m not sure I could do it on a backcountry trip. Currently, I use a Nikon COOLPIX AW300 Camera base weight 7.5 oz and each battery is .75 oz. I usually carry 4 extra batteries, but admittedly don’t usually go through all of them. The AW300 is only a point-and-shoot but is waterproof/freezeproof/shockproof so it is pretty versatile.

[Bill K]

Hobbiest, shoot RAW and only print to 60″ max. typically 3’x4′. 99% of all viewing is on 4k or 5k monitors/tvs so I no longer use the Sony A7RIV. A7IV is better in many ways and RX100VII is much better then my iPhone 12 Pro Max.

I have 3 basic kits (ounces) so it depends on the trip specifics.

Good – Sony RX100VII (9.8) + Leofoto MT-03 & MBC-20 (9.7) + spare battery (1)

Better – Sony A7IV (25), Sigma 24(11), Sigma 45(10), Sigma 90(14) + Aoka CMP163C & KB20 (15) + filters(6) + spare(4)

Great – Sony A7IV(25), Sony 20G(15), Sony 35GM(20), Batis 85(18) OR Batis 135(24) + Gitzo GT1542T &Markin (48) + Filters(6) +spare(4)

I may add a CV15(12) if needed to either the Better or Great. Seldom take both the 85 and 135

 

[Alf B]

What you have to remember is that most people these days have a smartphone, which they carry with them all the time when they are outdoors.  The cameras on smartphones are now so good that they have reached, or in many cases, even surpassed the image quality available from small dedicated cameras, and therefore it is no longer necessary to carry a dedicated photography camera with you, which of course saves a lot of weight.

I used to carry  a 24mp full frame Sony A7C (508g), fitted with a Samyang AF 35mm f2.8 lens (the lightest full frame AF lens in the world at only 84g)) plus extra batteries, but stopped doing so when I realised I could get very similar results from my Huawei P30 Pro smartphone.

In fact the camera on the P30 pro is so good that I never felt the need to upgrade to a newer smartphone after my 24 month SIM contract with EE ran out, I simply bought another 24 month sim only contract with EE .  Then after that ran out I went with a 12 month SIM only contract with Vodafone (much cheaper than EE), and I’m on my second 12 month SIM only contract with them…So I have been using the exact same smartphone for almost 6 years now and I still feel no need to upgrade to a newer smartphone because of it’s amazing camera.

The only con is the battery no longer lasts as long as it used to, but I still get a couple of days with it on standby.  Now the price of smartphones has rocketed, yet none of them seem to offer better features than my old P30 Pro so I will probably keep it till it finally stops working.

So we all carry one these days, but how many people wonder about or even care about how heavy their phone is?  As an ultralighter, I do.  The P30 Pro weighs 192g, but with my drop case fitted it weighs 216g.  To some that is not a huge weight, but when every gram matters, it is.  I can really notice that weight when my phone is in the pocket of my ultralight synthetic hoody jacket and I take my jacket off or when I’m putting it on…It sometimes feels like there is a kg of extra weight sitting in my pocket!  It also becomes an issue when using my phone to film myself on video using a selfie stick…After 10 minutes of holding the phone out on the end of a 3-4 foot pole it does start to feel a bit on the heavy side.

I know it’s controversial, but my solution is not to get a lighter phone (as if that was even possible), but it’s to get a lighter camera instead.   That is because I can’t do anything about the weight of my phone, and as I always need to have it with me, it’s simply unavoidable weight that I just have to live with.  But, I can now get a much lighter camera, which has better video and photo features, 40mp stills, far better image stabilisation, that has a huge battery life, that is waterproof down to 20m (66feet) just as it is, without needing an additional dive case, that can film in 4K for over 3 hours on a single battery (!), it can take 960fps ultra slow mo’s (!), it has a a super night mode for shooting in low light, a 13.5 stop dynamic range (!), that can use 2 wireless bluetooth mics at the same time (DJI Mic 2’s), which have a a TX range of over 800 feet (!), it can keep everything in focus from 12 inches to infinity at the same time, it has a much wider FOV than my phone, so I can get more into my videos, and it even has subject tracking, where it will follow you around the frame while the camera itself stays fixed in position!  Perfect for filming myself doing activities such as pitching my tent, where I might normally end up going out of frame several times when filming with my phone and it even has 48gb of storage built in so your day wont be ruined if you forget to bring a memory card. And, it only weighs 145g.

So what is this amazing lightweight camera, with all these amazing features?  It’s the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro, action camera.  I have just bought one and am really looking forward to trying it out.

Sometimes you just have to add a little more weight to your pack weight to make your outdoor activities much easier to do and far more pleasurable. After all, we all do it for pleasure…

 

[Jerry Adams]

5.2 ounces for camera is good.  How much does the battery weigh?

[Alf B]

The batteries weigh 34g (1.19 oz) each.  If you get the adventure combo, you will get three batteries and  a three way charging hub as part of the kit.  The hub on it’s own appears to weigh 150g (5.29 oz) (according to Amazon), but I don’t know if that is with packaging or not.  Assuming you want to take the hub with you, with two batteries stored in it, that would be another 218g (7.68 oz) to carry.   As the batteries last so long though, you could probably get away with leaving the hub at home, or back in your car, and just taking a single battery with you in the camera for an overnight camping trip or two batteries for a weekend trip, saving a lot of weight.  Thinking about it, you don’t actually need the hub to charge the battery in the camera anyway…You can just plug your power bank into the 5 Pro via a the  USB-C connector, so one battery could end up being enough for a trip of several days.  The 5 Pro also has a very fast charge time too, so you won’t have to wait long to use it again once it’s on charge.

I have been researching add-on lens options for the Action 5 Pro (the same options will also fit the Action 3 and the action 4) and I have now bought a clip-on 49mm thread adapter, a smallish 2x screw on teleconverter with a 49mm thread mount to give a true 2x optical magnification, and a 10x-20x focusable zoom/macro converter with a 52mm thread mount, that allows the 5 Pro to focus as close as 1.5cm (about 5/8 inch) from a macro subject(!), along with a 49-52mm step up ring so I can use it on the 5 Pro via the previously mentioned 49mm adapter.  (I will let you know how much they weigh when they get here).  There is a much smaller and lighter clip-on 15x macro lens available too, but I wasn’t impressed with the sharpness I saw with it on youtube.  I have also bought a clip-on circular polariser (CPL) and a clip-on ND16 filter (which one particular youtube vid clearly showed was the only ND worth using with the Action 5 Pro).  The latter filters weight between 3-4g each.  Of course once I have the 49mm adapter I can just use my standard 49mm camera filters on the 5 Pro should I wish…And that will give me even more filter options, like an ND grad filter or a tobacco grad filter etc.  You can get some other useful clip-on filters for the 5 Pro, like a star filter, that gives bright light sources 5 light rays, or a night filter to get rid of light pollution, a dark mist filter which is basically a fancy diffuser you can use to film fantasy dream sequences say, and a pink filter (which is apparently to be used underwater to correct the colours) and several more.  The only lens I haven’t found for the 5 Pro yet is a clip on anamorphic lens, but I have found screw-on wide angle lenses that can give ultrawide footage that can be cropped in height in post to give a similar effect, without the ugly blue horizontal flaring and weird oval bokeh that you get from anamorphic lenses.

[Jerry Adams]

hmmm… I wonder how close my s23 can focus

That’s about an inch away.  Modern phone cameras are pretty good

[Alf B]

Yes, my P30 Pro can do that as well, but that is because it has a dedicated lens and sensor specifically for macro use.  Actions cams don’t…They only have one sensor, with a wide angle lens in front of it, usually  set to infinity by default, so they need an add on macro lens to allow them to focus closer.   The trick is getting the right macro lens as it is pointless making it focus closer if the image quality sucks as a result.

[Murali C]

I took a Pixel 2 and RX100 (iv or v – not sure) on my JMT and I thought my Pixel pictures were much better. I cherish the Pixel pictures much more than the RX100 pictures.

I only take my Pixel now. Waterproof and what a great multi-use tool.

 

[Steve B]

For long exposure night time lapse photography I bring:

1.78oz, 3 filters in MYOG case

8oz Genie Mini rotator

1.88oz, one extra battery

2.13oz, Tripod

20.76oz, Panasonic G7 w/ 12mm 2.0 lens, padded case (MYOG DCF/CCF/fleece interior, draw string closure on both ends to form a tubish case, carried at the top of pack)

Total: 2.16lbs

If I’m not doing night time lapse, and I’m only bringing my phone, I use this tripod and phone holder.  I don’t remember the weight.

[Alf B]

I have just got myself the DJI Mic 2 combo…It consists of a mic charging case, 2 transmitters (TX’s), a receiver (RX) which allows you to use the TX’s on any Phone, action cam, DSLR or Mirrorless camera that has a USB-C mic input.  It comes with Lightning and USB-C adapters, a double ended 3.5mm jack plug lead and two “Deadcats” (furry mic covers to get rid of wind noise outdoors), and finally it can all be stored in the supplied PVC/Leatherette storage bag that has a zip across the top to open and close it.

If you use these mics with the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro, you do not need even need to use the RX at all…The TX’s connect seamlessly with it.  Once they are paired with the Action 5 (which is done one TX at a time) it remembers them and they will automatically connect with the camera (if you have external mic selected in the settings).

They have a secure lapel clip which has a powerful built in magnet.  Allowing you to instantly and securely attach a TX to anything magnetic.

Probably the most standout feature of the Mic 2 TX’s is their huge range…They have a maximum range of 250 metres (273.3 Yards, or 820 feet!) outdoors with clear line of sight between the TX’s and the camera.  That means you can be over 800 feet away from the camera and your audio can be heard just as clearly as if you were standing right next to the camera!

The Mic 2 TX batteries will last 6 hours per charge.  The Rode Wireless Mic Go 2 batteries on the hand will last an extra hour, but that is only because they have a much smaller TX range…Only 200 metres (656 feet).

You can imagine an extreme situation that the DJI Mic 2’s make possible, where the camera is set up on a tripod in huge open space, like a farmers field say, and one person with a Mic 2 TX was 820 feet away from the camera in one direction and another person with the other Mic 2 TX was 820 feet away from the camera but in the opposite direction…They would be half a Kilometre (1640 feet) away from each other, probably beyond the range where they could shout to each other and be heard, but the camera would still be able to hear them both perfectly clearly!

Each Mic 2 TX weighs 34g (1.1 oz), or 36g (1.26 oz) with the deadcat fitted.

The charging case weighs 205g (7.23 oz), the empty storage bag weighs 93g (3.28 oz), and the entire Mic 2 combo kit weighs 432g (15.23oz or 0.95 lbs).

You do not need to use the charging case to charge the Mic 2 TX’s or the Mic 2 RX…All three can actually be charged individually via a USB-C lead, even while they are still in use, say via a power bank in your pocket.

The Mic 2 Combo kit is not cheap, but it’s probably the best Mic kit on the market so it is to be expected.

I paid £308 ($381.8) for mine here in the UK, which was the lowest new price I could find here.

 

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