![]() ![]() I wanted to see beautiful sights with my own two eyes, and simply document what I saw without worrying about shadow noise, corner sharpness, or print resolution. I was there to prove to myself that I could accomplish a goal. This trip was about enjoying the adventure it wasn’t about “professional” landscape photography. It made each day’s hike downright enjoyable, aside from the mosquito-infested meadows. With an ultralight interval timer, (The RX100 series does have “Bulb” exposure mode, and the standard “multi” USB port) …I was able to capture a star trail!Įach day on the trail, I was definitely glad that my backpack weighed so little. Other than that, it really wasn’t too bad. However, I only really yearned for a full-frame setup at night when I was trying to photograph the Milky Way. I had to stitch a lot of panoramas to achieve a wider angle of view than the 24mm equivalent, that’s for sure. Honestly, there were plenty of moments when I missed my big full-frame kit. So, Did I Regret My Decision?ĭid I make a huge mistake? Did I curse the Sony RX100 for being inadequate, for being unable to do justice to the beautiful sights I saw? No, of course not. ![]() If you’d like to get into mountain landscape photography, I highly recommend the educational content by Dave Morrow. Backpacking into remote wilderness areas is not advisable for anyone who is inexperienced or unprepared. (680 g) (SPOILER: I wound up barely using the Sigma!)ĭISCLAIMER: I also spent 3 months getting in shape, too. So, I decided at the last minute to throw in the Sigma fp L and the Sigma 24mm f/3.5, since together they weigh less than 1.5 lbs. At the final weigh-in, my backpack was well under 40 lbs, making it more than 25 lbs lighter than my record-highest pack weight. The Sony RX100 series only weighs 301 g, (10.62 oz, 0.66 lb) which makes it literally a tenth or a twentieth the weight of the gear I’ve taken on past adventures. (It is discontinued check out the Slik Pro CF 634 instead.) My tripod of choice for backpacking is the Slik Lite series So, I decided to leave all my big full-frame gear at home, and only bring a Sony RX100 VI camera, and “make do” with its 24-200mm equivalent, f/2.8-4.5 lens, and 2.7x crop (1” type) sensor. (~3K m) Some of it would be off-trail, involving route-finding and some sketchy mountain passes. ![]() I had 80 miles to hike in 7 days, and a lot of it would be up at high altitudes above 10K ft. This summer, my objective was very different. ![]() Last summer, I barely survived a mere 3-day backpacking trip because I foolishly lugged multiple full-frame bodies and numerous exotic lenses through the backcountry of Yosemite National Park, without trying to get in shape first. I usually have a very specific project or subject to capture, such as an eclipse, comet, or other special phenomena. This often means that I carry 2-4 camera bodies and 5-7 lenses deep into the wilderness, sometimes hiking up to 10 miles a day with a 50-60+ lb (27+ kg) backpack. In the meantime, however, let’s find out what happens when I leave all that gear at home, and just try to survive a whole week in the mountains.ĭespite my affinity for the best full-frame sensors and the sharpest, fastest lenses, I like to get as far off the beaten path as possible so that I can capture unique landscape & nightscape imagery, instead of just hitting all the popular roadside hotspots. I hope to use real-world photography conditions to showcase which lenses and cameras are truly “the best”. In the coming months, I will be publishing my own in-depth technical reviews, comparisons, and insights. In short, I like to push cameras and lenses to their limits, and I have high enough standards that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Lensrentals articles by Roger which showcase OLAF data, especially for exotic wide-angle lenses. I also like to capture time-lapse videos, both day and night, which means that bracketing exposures (for dynamic range) is often impossible, and using high ISOs (even when I hope to make really big prints) is inevitable. The genres of photography I like are often highly demanding of both sensors and lenses, whether it is traditional landscape photography where I am pushing the limits of sensor dynamic range or nightscape photography at wide-open apertures where I lose my cool over the slightest bit of field curvature or coma/astigmatism. I’ve been obsessed with testing the image quality of both lenses and sensors for as long as I’ve owned a DSLR, starting with a Nikon D70 in 2004. ![]()
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