Hiking with a camera backpack

[Timothy York]

Hello,
I am looking for suggestions to lower the weight of my camera backpack or possibly buy a smaller pack or belt pack.. It is a Lowepro Nature Trekker and in it I carry a 1Ds mkII with a Canon 70-300mm, a 100mm Canon macro, a 28-135mm as well as a Canon 20-35mm. My tripod is a Manfrotto 055 aluminum with a pro pan/tilt head. There are other miscellaneous items in the pack as well.
I will be leaving 2 of the lenses home, namely the 100mm macro and the 20-35mm but I will substitute extension tubes for the macro. There was a time when I could carry the pack for 6 hours or more but I am 63 and time is catching up to me. If any of you have suggestions to lighten the load still further please let me know. I am looking for a CF tripod that is light but price is a concern. Your ideas or suggestions will be most appreciated. Thank you.

Tim

[Rocky Sharwell]

Timothy,

I wonder if you could possibly save weight by using something like the acratech ballhead--It is well designed and really light.

My other thought would be that you might be better off with a different backpack--but that is hard to tell without knowing what about the weight is causing your issues. I have carried over 30-40 pounds of gear in my Kiboku backpack which is really comofortable when properly adjusted and using the hip belt.

I have never found the Lowepro packs comfortable as backpacks when hiking with gear--I would be very tempted to get a good rucksack/backpack made for hiking/camping--perhaps on closeout someplace. I have used a backpack meant for weekend hiking with some success in the past. I know longer have the bag so I cannot tell you which model...

Rocky

[Kurtis Diffenbaugh]

Hey Tim,

When I go for day hikes with only a lens or two and a tripod I often use my Camelbak (similar to the Hawg) that way I have a hydration source, and a somewhat light pack (depending on how much water I carry). Plus they tend to be fairly comfortable packs. The only downfall is that the bag puts most of the weight on your shoulders even when using the waist strap.

As far as tripods I would recommend looking at some of the Benros I bought a carbon fiber one at B&H for a decent price. Overall it's not as rugged as a Gitzo but it was a lot easier on my wallet. I believe they also make some compact all-in-one trekking tripods. For the tripod head I went with a Gitzo ballhead as I couldn't find anything else that was close to the quality & weight.

Hope that helps.

[Roger Clark]

Tim,
One way to reduce weight is to sell the 1Ds II and buy a 5dII. Batteries are much lighter too. That might lead to a lighter tripod.

Roger

[Reza Gorji]

Tim:

I am not sure if this is helpful or not but here is what I did: I went a completely different route: I purchased a thinkthankphoto harness and belt. Recently I was at DisneyWorld and carried the following on me with minimal fatigue:
Nikon D300, D200, 75-300 lens, 24-120 lens, all my personal items like cell phone/wallet.....

Drawback: People look at you when they see you. Once you get used to this, its not a problem.

[Mark Theriot]

Do you pack everything in to a location - and then unpack to shoot - or do you carry your pack with your camera out in shooting position?

A couple ideas:
- Induro CF tripods have really impressed me and the prices are pretty darn good.
- The Think Tank belt and harness is a great solution - how you deal with the tripod could be an issue though.
- What about a Tenba sling pack? The pack itself is light and could handle the tripod as well.

Mark

[Eric Virkler]

Tim, I bought a syncpak last year and love it. (See photo). Hiking with a heavy backpack pulls on our backs and shoulders (even with the waist belt) because all the weight is behind us. This pack goes on front and attaches to whatever backpack you're wearing, redistributing the weight over your center of gravity. It allows you to carry more weight witht the same feel, or reduce the weight in your pack by shifting some forward. It also makes some of your gear more quickly accessible.

Eric Virkler
Faces of Nature Photography
www.ericjvirkler.com

[Tony Whitehead]

LowePro Computrekker is smaller and lighter than your Naturetrekker and would still manage your current gear. The CF version of your Manfrotto would save weight and do the same job.

[Jim Michael]

I needed to come up with a system for my view camera equipment - 4x5 camera, lenses, film holders, light meter, etc. The photo backpacks have a lot of padding and are well made but larger ones can weigh over 10#. I decided to put the padding on each component instead and selected a Kelty Redwing backpack (really light and an excellent backpack for hiking), and then used wraps for the lenses and lightly padded bags for other items. Total weight is well under 20#. The Redwing opens completely giving you easy access to everything.

[Roger Clark]

I needed to come up with a system for my view camera equipment - 4x5 camera, lenses, film holders, light meter, etc.

I've been there too. I went to a Toho (not toyo) a metal 4x5 camera that weighs only 3 pounds. But all those film holders still weigh a lot. The final solution: drop 4x5 and just do digital mosaics. With 20+ megapixels it doesn't take too many frames in a mosaic to equal and surpass 4x5 velvia. (There is such an example on my homepage at the moment). Plus I can do a mosaic faster and in conditions not possible with 4x5 (like a light breeze).

Roger

[Timothy York]

Thank you everyone for your comments and suggestions. I have been helping a buddy put up gyprock and haven't been online till this morning. I appreciate your ideas and at the moment am considering a belt/harness system for my hiking needs, that plus a reduction in the lenses and a CF tripod, hopefully, will ease the weight. Thank you again for your help.

Kindest regards,

Tim