Hey guys so I have the Nikon d500 for wildlife and I love it. I like to hike with it and I photograph any animal really and then I also do landscapes. My issue is that my backpack is so heavy after I add a ton of water, snacks, and other basic stuff. And I am very experienced with hiking so I’m not taking useless stuff with me.
Here is a weight breakdown of my gear
D500: 2 lbs
Nikkor 200-500mm (wildlife): 5 lbs
Nikkor 24-70mm (scenery): 2 lbs
Nikkor 70-300: 1 lb
So without anything else in my bag I have 10 pounds of camera gear. I like all of those lenses because they basically give the full range of 24-500mm.
So to those who hike or travel a lot and do not use tripods, what do you do with heavy gear? Like do you only go out to shoot one type of thing at once so you don’t carry too much? Or does the bag make a huge difference? I previously had a lowepro but after getting the 200-500, I obviously needed a bigger bag if I even wanted to carry water. Is this just something I will have to deal with?
Sorry if this is not the best question, my back is killing me and I hate to miss the opportunity of a good picture if I don’t have a specific lens on me. I only have one body which is also a pain to switch often.
Oh and does anyone have any ultra lightweight bag recs that are not a bazillion pounds but can hold 3-4L of water?
Thanks
Evaluate your backpack. If your pack is low quality or old an worn out, or doesn’t fit you, nothing else will help you. A quality pack that fits you will seemingly melt some of that weight off. I live in the mountains and use two different mindshift packs depending on time of year and where I’m going.
You have to be in shape. If you don’t regularly hike or hike with a pack then you suffer or could injure yourself. I’m 68 but still work for living outside. My jobs are physical, but, I snowshoe or skin in the winter. I teleski. In the spring I start with some short hikes and work into longer ones.
Water: It seems our society has been taught they need to be drinking water constantly all day long. Yes humans need water but if your loading three times what you need, that’s a lot of extra weight in that pack. In my environment just two 32 oz Nalgene bottles is what I take for long hikes above treeline. One is electrolytes. In the desert that amount may double.
I used to take as much gear as you. I found that I probably missed a lot of shots because I was always screwing around with the gear. Now, each hike is more specific. If I’m after mountain goats up high then it might be the D500 with 200-500mm and that’s it. If it’s landscape/flowers then a body with 28 and 40 mm lenses. If it’s a let’s see what happens trip then I take a 18-400 lens with my D500. A side benefit is I’m learning to be more creative with what I take because I don’t have every lens I own with me.
Good luck with whatever you do.