What is the Best Camera for Trekking?

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Bringing a camera on your trekking trip is very rewarding (doh!). For me, photography is in fact a pretty big part of why I’m trekking in the Himalayas in the first place. The fantastic views in the mountains, the people I meet etc. It’s impressions that I want to capture and keep. Is it the same for you? Even if it isn’t, I’m sure you like to bring a camera on your trek, right?

So what is the best camera for trekking? I could talk about it all day, but to make it simple I've split the post up in 3 categories (+ this little intro post):

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there'll be 2-3 recommendations in each category, so there should be something for everyone!

Why not just one camera named the best trekking camera?

It's important to realize that choosing the best trekking camera depends on your individual preferences. Do you mainly take pictures of landscapes? Portraits? Wildlife? Or a bit of everything? Do you want to make posters to hang on your wall or just look at the pictures on a computer screen? And how much are you willing and able to carry? Answer these questions and you are well on your way to making a good choice here!

If I were to describe the best trekking camera, it would be small and lightweight, while providing top image quality. It would have long battery life, a solid construction and be able to zoom from wide angle to the long tele-photo perspective - while also being dirt cheep! But the ideal trekking camera doesn’t exist. There will always be compromises to be made.

How to choose the best camera for trekking:

To simplify what can be a long and complicated search for the best trekking camera for YOU, the first thing you need to decide on is what price and weight suits you?

  • If you just want to do a few easy snapshots once in a while, perhaps consider one of the slick, small mini-cameras.
  • If you want the full range of creative possibilities and top image quality that can be printed in large poster sizes, you’ll want to go for a SLR camera. Or digital SLR, dSLR camera. These are more pricy and heavy, but for me there’s no real alternative. I want the best! Sometimes my shoulders suffer from it, as do my wallet.
  • A good in-between compromise could be a compact camera. They are light-weight and, if you choose the right one, gives you a very good image quality and ability to shoot a range of different subjects.

All these cameras just keep getting better and better! There’s a lot of really great cameras out there.

Next thing to consider is what do you want to take pictures of? A few quick tips here:

  • For landscapes - a 'wide-angle' is usually recommended. Check the cameras 'focal length' and make sure it's around 28mm or less. (Has to be the so-called "35mm equivalent number".)
  • For snapshots - friends and general scenery, anything in the 28-50 mm range of focal length will do fine.
  • For portraits - of the people you meet on the trail, 50 mm at least and preferably something like 100 mm would be good.
  • For wildlife - you need a long tele-photo lens here. The longer the better. A 300 mm lens is probably minimum.
  • For a bit of this and that - choose either a zoom lens that covers broadly or a SLR camera system with exchangeable lenses.

So, go ahead and see my recommendations of the best cameras for trekking. If you decide to buy one of them, please buy through the links I provide. You'll be supporting my blog and it won't cost you extra. Ok, the 3 categories are:


 

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