If you are like me, you love summer hiking. The days are long, and the weather is warm and dry, allowing you to adventure on difficult, even multiple-day hikes. It’s the perfect opportunity to explore the wilderness, reconnect with nature, embrace tranquility and peacefulness, and take amazing shots. However, planning a hike, especially a long one, is not easy and requires some good knowledge of the terrain, geography, weather forecast, and hiking gear.
It’s also a resource management task because you will carry everything in your backpack: clothes, food, water, shelter if you plan to camp, a first aid kit, communication devices, and photo gear. So, what should you take with you to ensure you come back with outstanding photographs, and what should you leave at home?
A Lightweight Camera Body
Your go-to camera may not be appropriate for a hike. Carrying a heavy DSLR and exposing it to sun, wind, dust, and scratches is far from ideal. Furthermore, you will need a special photo bag just for it, which will restrict your moves and slow you down. Instead, opt for a lightweight mirrorless camera or even a high-end compact camera.
Nowadays, a mirrorless camera can do almost everything that a DSLR does. It has interchangeable lenses, offers all the settings you need, and weighs much less than a DSLR. You can find a broad range of good lenses for mirrorless cameras, which also weigh less than DSLR lenses.
Compact Cameras
Even though compact cameras don’t have interchangeable lenses, they usually feature a zoom lens that provides a range of focal lengths. High-end compact cameras offer manual settings just like a professional camera does, high resolutions, impressive image quality, and lots of automatic modes for when you are in a hurry. Keep in mind that you don’t have much time for photography while on a hike. You will most likely rely on automatic modes and settings, fixed photo setups, and handheld camera angles. A compact camera is small enough to carry in a pocket and strong enough to deliver amazing shots while on the move.
The Leica D-Lux 8 is one of the best compact cameras you can find. Leica has been making cameras for precisely this type of activity for over a century. They were the first travel cameras, war cameras, and news cameras, a legacy that Leica preserves to this day.
It features a 21MP 4/3“ CMOS sensor, the Leica DC Vario-Summilux 10.9-34 f/1.7-2.8 ASPH lens with optical zoom, a 2.4-megapixel OLED viewfinder, and even 4K video capability. D-Lux 8 offers a focal length range between 24–75 mm, which is all you need for summer hiking photographs. It has a wide maximum aperture you will appreciate when shooting in low light conditions, a built-in UV filter and RGB filter for bright summer days, a two-stage shutter button just like DSLRs have, manual focus and autofocus, and an impressive ISO range of ISO100 – ISO25000. It weighs less than 400g, including the lens, battery, and the built-in flash.
A Zoom Lens (or a Maximum of Two Prime Lenses)
You won’t have much time to change lenses on a hike. Trust me on this one. You simply won’t. Therefore, instead of carrying all your lenses with you just to realize when you return that you didn’t use them, choose a zoom lens or one or two prime lenses you can’t imagine photography without.
For example, if you are a landscape photographer, go for a wide-angle lens. If you prefer to photograph flowers and insects, go for a prime macro lens. If you can’t land on one focal length, opt for a zoom lens that covers both wide-angle focal lengths and telephoto focal lengths, such as a 55 – 200mm lens or two prime lenses, one wide-angle and one telephoto.
A Normal Lens is Versatile
I find a prime 50mm lens ideal for summer hiking. It’s not as heavy as a telephoto lens and produces clear, sharp, and naturally-looking photographs that capture my experience perfectly. The 50mm lens captures the world as the human eye sees it. It’s also a very versatile focal length because it allows you to photograph landscapes but has a short minimum focusing distance that allows you to get close to small subjects and create close-ups. Being a prime lens, the risk of chromatic aberrations and glare is lower.
The Nikon NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.8 S lens provides clarity, sharpness, advanced flare resistance, a wide maximum aperture, and, of course, the natural perspective of a 50mm lens. It features the Z-mount system of Nikon’s mirrorless cameras. Thus, it won’t make your backpack too heavy. It is also small and compact, and it is effortless to handle in combination with a mirrorless Nikon camera.
The optical design is exquisite, helping you take amazing photographs in any environment, whether shooting in sunny turquoise lagoons, the rainforest, or rocky mountains and caves. It can focus as close as 1.32 ft. (0.4 m) using a noiseless and precise autofocus system. To avoid getting behind your summer hiking schedule, use the programmable control ring for exposure settings and take photos as fast as possible.
A Carbon Fiber Tripod
Some types of photography require using a tripod, such as HDR photography, low-light photography, night sky photography, and even some macro photography. If you must bring a tripod on your hike, go for a carbon fiber one with multiple-section legs. It’s lighter than other types of tripods but sturdy enough to provide the stabilization you need.
The multiple-section legs ensure that the tripod’s folded dimensions are appropriate for a backpack. They also provide more versatility because you can create photo setups at different heights. Go for the ones with flip locks because they speed up the installation process.
There are also hiking poles that convert to a monopod when necessary. Even though they don’t provide the same stability as a regular tripod and don’t support much weight, they may come in handy when you can’t afford to add a tripod to your hike load.
The Novoflex Foldable Photo Hiking Pole/Walking Stick is a dual-purpose item. You can use them as hiking poles and convert them to a monopod or tripod leg when needed. You will need a TrioPod or QuadroPod system for that, but it saves you a lot of space and weight.
The poles are made of carbon fiber with an aluminum alloy handle for comfort, resist rough terrain, fold in 4 sections, and come with padded wrist straps. The height of a pole used as a monopod is 44.88″ (114cm), while the folded size is 18.11″ (46cm). One pole weighs only 8.46oz (240g), which is far less than any regular tripod or monopod.
Filters
Filters don’t take up much space and can make a big difference for your photography. Consider mounting a UV filter on every lens you take on the hike as a protective measure. They protect the lens from UV rays, of course. In addition, they are likely to take any direct shock in the lens’s place, protect it from scratches and dust, and keep the lens away from oily fingers and sweat.
I’m speaking from experience here, as I’ve had a UV filter save the front element of my lens when I accidentally dropped my camera once.
Because you hike on summer days, consider also bringing a polarizing filter for the harsh midday sun. It will help you capture blue skies instead of washed-out ones. You may also consider bringing a color intensifier filter and an ND gradual filter for scenery that lacks color or has a high contrast difference.
Consider the Hoya NXT Plus 10-Layer HMC Multi-Coated UV lens filter for your hike. It comes in a variety of sizes (from 37mm to 82mm), is waterproof, and weighs only 2.39oz (68g). Mount one on every lens and focus on taking amazing photos in any environment.
A Rain Cover
Summer storms are magnificent photography subjects, but they are very unpredictable and potentially harmful to your photo gear. You pack a rain jacket for yourself and a rain cover for your backpack, so you should pack a rain cover for your camera and lens, too. They come in different sizes. Pick the one that fits your camera and lens combo. For example, you may need a larger rain cover for a telephoto lens.
The Canon RC-E5M rain cover is designed for Canon EOS cameras and lenses. It’s durable, water-resistant, and perfectly adapted to your gear. For example, it has a transparent window to let you see the LCD monitor, a snug and secure fit for a wide range of Canon cameras and lenses, and three sizes to accommodate larger or smaller gear. The RC-E5M weighs only 4.41oz (125g) and fits any pocket.
Memory Cards and Batteries
It’s useless to have a good camera and lens when summer hiking if you don’t bring enough memory cards and batteries for it. Especially on multiple-day hikes, you need more than one of each. Not only do you capture a large volume of photographs that need storing space (especially if you shoot in RAW), but you also want to have one or two spare memory cards in case something goes wrong.
Even though it is less likely to have an accidental discharge of battery due to cold weather when you hike in summer, it is still possible. Pack a couple extra just in case, and keep them in a safe, dry space.
Try SanDisk Extreme PRO 256GB UHS-I U3 SDXC memory card with a high-capacity 256GB storage and ultra-fast 200MB/s transfer speed. It’s water and shock-resistant and will be a trustworthy accessory for summer hiking.
Extra Tip: With a power bank, you can actually charge the battery by connecting the power bank to the USB-C port of the camera. Ideal for longer hikes.
Conclusion
Summer hiking is a great experience and a good test for a photographer. It tests the smoothness of your workflow, speed, technical skills, storytelling skills, and how well you perform in a less-than-ideal photo setup. A hike includes a temporal line, landmarks, and events that should be reflected in your photos. Furthermore, it provides an opportunity to try intuitive photography instead of the very stable, technical approach you probably have otherwise. So, enjoy the summer and go for a hike with the right photo gear in your backpack!
