[weverka]

Wow, lots of responses. Nice!
...
Thanks for sharing your experience! Did you miss your Irix 15 mm or did the panos with 28 mm do the trick? Buying lighter outdoor gear can be a solution too. Right now I habe a rather heavy but sturdy Nordisk 1 p tent which I love so far but the sleeping bag and mat can be some hundred gramms lighter depending on the weather conditions. But cheap and sturdy means expensive most of the times...

I did miss the Irix 15mm. 28 mm was not short enough for a lot of shots. But the composite panarams do the trick and carrying multiple lenses is a lot of weight.
The bivy is 1 pound, and i have a 2 lb. "two person" tent that I might carry next time.

Here is the pointer to the REI page on lighter backpacking gear.
https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/ultralight-backpacking.html
The other big change I did was to lose 25 pounds of belly fat since spring. That helps a lot.

[C_Jones]

I use a Sirui T-025SK for lengthier distances. It is very light and works well with my K-3II/16-85 combination. Below is a shortcut to its listing at B and H. It comes with its own ball head also.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1420914-REG/sirui_sut025sk_t_025sk_ca...SABEgI2OPD_BwE

[dms]

As robgski asked “The question are you a hiker who takes photos, or a photographer who likes to hike?”
Assuiming the former The K-1 is (IMO) much to much wt/size for multi-day backpacking, especially as the strength of FF is lower light and wider FL, neither are typical of scenery/panoramas. I would take the APS-C body.

If you want a very wide panorama stitching two or three shots is fine. Personally I think 35mm (FF equivalent) is all one needs, and a macro if that is your thing; but this depends on how you look/see, but taking a wide range of FLs on the chance you may use it is inconsistent with backpacking, with friends.

Also I would simply take a cord around your lower back, attached to the camera strap where it meets the camera, that will keep it from bouncing and yet it is available w/o stoping to unload the pack. Basically uinless the shot is really special you will not take the camera out of the pack, except at rest stops.

Unless you plan to take a lot of group shots I also would not take a tripod. Backpacking is about cutting everything to the minimum and still be warm and dry.

[johnmflores]

I take the Pentax Q hiking and biking. Two bodies, three zooms ranging from 18-200mm (35mm equivalent) plus a fast 50.


The travel kit is complete by John Flores, on Flickr

Most of my hiking and biking photos are for personal online sharing anyways, not publication, although I have had shots with the Q published.

[aaacb]

you should try the Peak Design Camera Clip

+1, I'm a happy user. It's a great device in all seasons (going into the backpack with bulky winter gloves isn't eay), and having a slim arca plate as the attachment is great for tripod use.

Isn't the gap too big between those two focal length?

Could be now that I think of it it's 15mm on full frame, not apsc. Depends on personal preference, assuming you'll use 15mm at all where you'll be hiking, if you'd rather have less gear or versatility

[Seb]

I found this and other videos on YouTube:

You Tube

You Tube

What I learned from your posts here is that it it pretty much about weight management. So when you want to carry a heavy DSLR with tripod and filters you will have to invest in light weight hiking gear sooner or later. Or you have to bring a lighter camera and will have to live with a little more noise in your milky way shots or capture the waterfall without too much motion blur. So it is a highly personal choice and you showed different approaches here. I will bite the bullet and go with my K-1 and will honestly report how hard the back pain was if there was any and how I felt the weight of the camera on one shoulder strap (disbalance?).

This is the core hike we do next weekend: 2. Stage ? Soonwaldsteig Around that we do parts of the first stage and hike a different way back to the car on the next day. In the end it will be 20 km on day one and 15ish km on day two.

Have a great weekend!

[Seb]

Hello everyone,

sorry for the late response, but better now then never

So here is what I did in the meanwhile: We changed our plans for the hike I mentioned. So instead of 2 days hiking we did one big loop and slept on a campground. I carried the K-1 with the 28-108 and a tripod (that I didn't used) with me. After some further research I decided to take my small Lowepro Toploader Zoom 45 AW bag and tie it to the left part of my hip belt. Pretty much like this guy did: link (Edit: I used 2 cords with snap hooks. One linked to the hip belt near the lock and the second behind the hip belt on a little flap on the bottom of the backpack. So the weight was distibuted well over the whole left side of my backpack). I was surprisingly comfortable, and it didn't bounce around like I expected. It was most welcome that there wasn't any tension pulling the shoulder straps down. On the opposite I felt a slight unbalance which was noticeable at the end of the hike but it was really insignificant. Together with my tent, sleeping bag und other stuff I had a weight of 10,3 kg to carry around. To get an impression what it is like to hike with all these things I carried my gear over the day instead of leaving it in the car which was parked at the campground. We didn't plan the hike and in the end we hiked 34 km (!). Although I was exhausted in the end, I wouldn't blame it on the K-1 in the first place. I didn't have any pressure marks on my body, so I really liked my Exped backpack on the tour.

I read your advises carefully so I bought 2 things to reduce the base weight (Edit: I bought it after the hike):
- Therm-a-Rest NeoAir X-Lite sleeping pad (on the hike I had the Z-Lite which is okay, but not very comfortable and has a rather poor R-Value. Normally I used a TaR Camp and Comfort which is quite heavy)
- Therm-a-Rest Corus 32 Quilt (Never slept in a camping quilt. It is great, light, comfortable like nothing else I tried so far and highly customizable with a second quilt or an inlet)

What I plan to buy:
- Gorilla Pod (or similar)

Bottom line: It was almost perfect to carry 2,5 kg of Camera gear the way I described it (At least for me). I try to get further experience in packing light but at the end of the day my versatile and loved K-1 can be part of the adventure, even though a more compact und light Pentax FF DSLR would be more than welcome for hiking. So Pentax, surprise me soon

Have a great weekend and stay healthy!

Sebastian

---

Last edited by Seb; 10-09-2020 at 02:23 AM.

[robgski]

I am glad that you had an enjoyable time.

[rogerstg]

I decided to take my small Lowepro Toploader Zoom 45 AW bag and tie it to the left part of my hip belt. Pretty much like this guy did: link (Edit: I used 2 cords with snap hooks. One linked to the hip belt near the lock and the second behind the hip belt on a little flap on the bottom of the backpack. So the weight was distibuted well over the whole left side of my backpack).

That's a clever solution. I recently found the Peak One capture clip to work very well when attached to my right strap. I'll continue to use that, but will use your system to carry additional lens or two, avoiding the need to access my back for those.

[normhead]

My hike a few days ago although not overnight had the DA 18-135 and DA 55-300 PLM.
But I also hike with the DA 55-300 and the 21 ltd.and 40 xs.

These on the K-3.
There is no equivalent with a K-1. I take the D FA 28-105 and DA 55-300 PLM. You have to watch for vignetting but It's the best way to get telephoto coverage on a K-1 or weight.

A lot of hikes I don't use anything but the DA 18-135 even when carrying other lenses.

The biggest thing for me with packs is something like Gregory or Osprey packs with the air flow system to let you back breath. Or to at least to prevent heat build up under the pack.

Another consideration might be something like the Sigma 17-50 with the DFA 100 macro.

The easiest for light wight and convenience is my Panasonic ZS100. 1inch sensor, 24-250mm equivalent (16-175 APS-c) but it produces diffraction softness at longer focal lengths. The ZS10000 would have been better.

[rogerstg]

The biggest thing for me with packs is something like Gregory or Osprey packs with the air flow system to let you back breath

I found that feature of my Osprey pack to be a godsend when hiking parts of Arizona and Utah this past September.

[normhead]

I found that feature of my Osprey pack to be a godsend when hiking parts of Arizona and Utah this past September.

From my last 10 mile hike...


The contents of my Gregory pack spread out on a picnic table when we stopped for lunch. It holds enough that Tess and I can take everything in the one pack, then pass it back and forth to avoid getting too tired.

It containd a healthy lunch, some clothing, snacks, the DA*200, and a camera bag with a few lenses in it as well as my water bottle and emergency gear, compass, pocketknife, and lighter in the external pockets. When it was her turn to carry I only carried my camera, and even when I was carrying it it in no way impeded my ability to take image, or enjoy the walk.

[Biff]

For a multi-day hike it obviously depends on possible photo opportunities, but in general I won't use much more than my KP and DA 18-135. I use quick release clips on my backpack straps which works really well.

[Seb]

Hello fellow Pentaxians and/or hikers

Last year we did the Four Headwaters Trail in Switzerland which has 86 km and 4.550 m of elevation gain. We hiked 5 days and I was fine bringing the K-1 with my 24-70 in a camera bag attached to my backpack as I already described you. Of course, less weight might have been better on very steep parts of the trail, but I loved bringing the cam. This way I was able to shoot like I am used to. I wrote some lines about the trip where you can see the pictures and the setup I choose. It is in German, but it should be okay with a translator.

Trekking auf dem Vier-Quellen-Weg (Schweiz) - Raus Klick Boom

This year we are going to hike the Laugavegur in Iceland and I am very confident that I again won’t regret bringing the heavy cam and tripod. I think by now that it depends on how much effort you are willing to make on a specific trail. I did some trails in the area where I live, and I brought the phone or my K-3 with the 21 ltd. But for some special trails I take the extra weight.
Thanks again for your responses here.

Greetings from Germany

Sebastian

---------- Post added 01-31-22 at 11:51 PM ----------

For a multi-day hike it obviously depends on possible photo opportunities, but in general I won't use much more than my KP and DA 18-135. I use quick release clips on my backpack straps which works really well.

Hey Biff,

I have such a clip as well and I really like it. For the K-1 with a larger lens this was a little bit too bouncy for my taste and it dragged down the shoulder strap a little too much. With the K-3 on the other hand it is great!

[que es tu]

Dear Pentax-Community,

as many others we discovered multi-day hikes and bikepacking during the Corona time. We did some nice trails this year and I won't stop doing it when this strange times are over (I hope everyone is doing well here!). Today I have some time to weigh all my gear and decide what to bring on the next weekend hike with a solo tent. This summer we were in Switzerland and did some day hikes with like 800 m elevation gain, a kid carrier on my back (~ 19 kg) and my K-1 with the 24-70 in the sternal strap of the carrier. This wasn't always funny as you can imagine, but I made great pictures. I guess it was the last opportunity to do this kind of hikes with the family for a couple of years, because our little boy is too heavy now and wants to walk by hinself all the time. So I took the effort. For the multi-day hikes with friends or maybe the small hikes with our boy walking (like 3 km a day and a nice family time on the camp site) I want to be more comfortable. So here are my options:

- K-1 with 24-70 (1820 g)
- K-1 with 28-105 (1450 g)
- K-3 with 21 and 50 macro (1.200 g)
- K-3 with 10-20 and 50 macro (1.520 g)
- Sirui Tripod (~ 950 g)

My scale is a little bit off, so take the weights as an orientation.

This comes together with my sleeping system and back pack which is 5.700 g without clothes and food. For family activities you could easily add 1,5 - 2 kg.

So how do you manage multi-day hikes with your (Pentax) photo gear and what whould you choose if you were me?

Greetings from Germany

Sebastian

Well, I am a bit late to the party, but I will give my 2 cents. I am an avid hiker and backpacker mostly here in the Smokies. I have gone on many multi-day trips, usually two 6-day trips each year plus day hikes. My photography gear consists of the KP with 18-135 lens and a Joby gorilla pod. I also take a polarizer and a Canon 500D close up filter. I can do most everything with this setup. In the past I have taken my HD DA 55-300 and the DA 18-50, but to save weight and eliminate lens swapping I now use the 18-135. I keep the camera out and ready for quick shots of skittish animals, and for candid shots of my hiking partners. The Joby can be mounted on a branch or whatever for tripod shots