Advice for hiking photography

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Originally Posted by Tronhard

the Routeburn Track. To me it is actually better than the much more famous Milford

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A guide that took three of us on a day hike at the start of the Routeburn who had hiked both the Routeburn and the Milford said the same thing.

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Originally Posted by Mike Buckley

A guide that took three of us on a day hike at the start of the Routeburn who had hiked both the Routeburn and the Milford said the same thing.

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Great fellow then! :) To be fair the Milford was given the title of "the Greatest Walk in the World" back in 1908 a poet and journalist (in the Victorian, not press sense), Blanche Baughan who walked the track - at that time a much more hazardous undertaking. Not to decry the beauty of the Milford, it IS a fabulous walk, but the Routeburn has not had the press the other track had and a lot of people don't know it's there.

The NZ Dept. of Conservation (doc.co.nz) have lots of information on the major tracks and in particular the Great Walks. They even partnered with Google Earth to have someone walk the tracks and use their 360deg video so you can check the tracks out before you go! That said there is nothing like being there! :)

Just in case some one reading this is interested in M 4/3 I had a nose on Flikr to see if there was much about. There are several groups, one on any and an old one that is still running on the E-PL1. However to get better consistency on the shots that are posted the 9-18mm group looks to be best. This is the 9-18 group photo stream

https://www.flickr.com/groups/zd9-18/pool/page1

and I quickly found this set which is more in line with the topic

https://www.flickr.com/photos/130380...57659596308941

No matter many wont take the format seriously. I'll be out shooting tomorrow. Think I will weigh the bag out of curiosity. From memory a lot of the weight is the bag itself. In the UK so water proof is essential.

John
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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tronhard

...I am so glad you enjoyed the Routeburn Track. To me it is actually better than the much more famous Milford...

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Milford Sound and the Milford Track look a lot like home to us. We skipped them both during our previous visit :) This time we're not going to make it to the South Island at all. Sun, sand, and gannets are our priorities this time :)

Still, if you can encourage anyone to pass on advice to those considering doing a great walk I would be grateful. I don't seem to be able to elicit the kind of information I was really hoping for. :rolleyes:

When you go to the North Island, make sure you do the Tongariro Alpine Crossing day walk, or the Northern Circuit Great walk - just watch out, Ruapehu volcano is getting a bit hot and bothered right now.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8401...ic-tremor-rise

http://i66.tinypic.com/nmgvpc.jpg

Maybe you were not clear enough in your original question Trev. Most assumed you meant camera gear.

Hiking and exposure to me has been of two types. Lake District in winter usually very early in the year as the weather usually excludes snow. Main problem is cold. Some take a foil space blanket just incase but the main requirement is warm dry clothes wit decent wind protaction. As some one may step on snow and find themselves in stream spare socks can be a good idea. Just in case a path gets lost a contour map and compass is a very good idea. I've had the need for that contour walking to switch paths. Ice in the uk is often very slipy. Cramp ons doen't weigh much. Usually a small supply of high energy bars just in case get stuck over night. Always let some one know where you are going and when you expect to be back. People do get killed in this area. Mostly climbers and it's a pretty mad time of the year to do it.

I've also spent time in Sweden at the same part of the year. -25C not that unusual. Mountaineering gear seems to work out best.Eiderdown jackets for instance fold up small and weigh very little. Costly but the ones with Korean duck stuff in them are cheaper. Some wear thermal tights but over trousers are available. Silk under gloves can help. The best approach is more layers of light stuff according to how it is and the Eiderdown for when it's rather cold and or windy.

Something to drink in both cases and watch it doesn't freeze in one.

I'd guess that you have mountaineering gear dealers in your part of the world. In the UK it's an odd area and the best ones are not big shops. Most of my stuff came out of a house some one sold it from. No shop at all just his front room. The big chains sell all sorts of junk.

John
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Hi John:

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Originally Posted by Tronhard

I should have mentioned that I have hiked in NZ for about 20 years and have encompassed that experience into my presentation, a good half of which (about 2 hours) is dedicated to the nuts and bolts of the NZ climate, geography, how to get about, the nature of Great Walks and hiking preparedness - including clothing, advice choosing and using a pack, pack weight, food choices, and hiking safety protocols (including how to use huts, safety, advisories, contacts and security).
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I am SPECIFICALLY looking for advice as to what photographic gear one would take on a hike over, say 4 days. Things to consider:
1. What range of gear would you consider: bodies, lenses, camera support etc.
2. How would you carry your gear - holder(s), pack, or whatever?

In doing so I am assuming you will consider performance, weight and compactness, reliability and robustness.

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As you can see from my quote from my earlier post ,actually I DID mean camera gear! :)

Well you did get some :) maybe not what you use yourself when walking.

:) You did mention not the sort of info you were looking for.

I don't rate powershots. I have walked with a number of types of compact. The problem I found was that conditions in a day can vary dramatically. Get the sky and some of the rest comes out rather dark so needs processing. The best super light super small I found was a Sony DST type. No raw but plenty of detail buried in the blacks. M 4/3 came as a boon. Decent sensors and good dynamic range. Also the ability to see what the exposure is going to be through the view finder. Can't handle the light range then take 2 and merge later. I'm mostly a snap shot shooter. Often if it comes out wrong I don't want to have to go back and take it again. They are one off opportunities to me and not much time to take them. Same can be done with dslr's but when conditions are all over the place m 4/3 is far better in my view.

Powershots and other small cameras as I see them can be great providing conditions are reasonable and they can handle what's there pretty easily. In some ways I think they have got worse as the pixel count has gone up and up. It can be interesting to download raw of some of them from the review sites and then see how long it takes you to match the jpg they produce some of which are nvg looked at closely. Some may offer raw but they can also show just how crap the camera is. A good site for doing that goes by the name of something like photographers blog.

M 4/3 needn't look like a dslr either. The 2 lenses I mentioned are tiny. Some would take one look at them and shudder but both are capable of taking high quality photo's so the rest is up to who ever is using them.

John
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My daughter and her husband live in Bozeman, Montana and spend a lot of time in the back country. They are avid hikers, fly fishermen (and women) and bird hunters. She carries the Fujifilm X 30 and her pictures are stunning. IT is an advanced compact and unlike the X100T it has a nice zoom. It is also half of the price.