Last Summer I did a week long hike in the wilderness. Even though I was there to have a good time and relax, I wanted to bring my camera.
There are many difficulties with bringing a camera to a hike. Whether it’s a couple day visit or a week long hike, there are many dangers to look out for. Humidity is one of the most dangerous ones if you are not careful. It’s not like you can just go and dry your camera inside a warm building.
These are my tips to keep your gear safe and get those beautiful hiking pictures and memories captured.
What to pack when hiking with a camera?
If you are preparing for a long hike, you are going to have a lot of stuff already with you. Clothes, food, sleeping bag and the list goes on. Camera is going to add a lot more weight to your back and that is very important to remember. This brings us to my first point: Only bring the camera gear you will need. You should not carry anything extra you might not need. I only brought my camera with the lens and one circular polarizer. I also only had one battery, but I suggest you to bring atleast two so you can charge the other one while you are using the other.
Let’s talk about power. This of course depends on how much you are intending to shoot but I suggest you to bring more than think you need. Having extra power in the wilderness is crucial for survival also. If anything happens, you want to have enough power to use your phone. I brought multiple power banks with me. Altogether it was like 35 000 mA worth of power. I didn’t end up using even close to that but atleast I had extra power if something would have happened.
Other things you will need in terms of camera gear are extra plastic bags and ziplock bags (I’ll talk about why in a second), rocket blower and other lens cleaning accessories and extra SD-card. You want to prepare for everything that may happen during the hike.
How to keep the gear safe?
The most important part of keeping the gear safe are the plastic bags and ziplock bags. This will keep the humidity away from them and keep them dry. Make sure everything is in their own bags. Camera in one, power banks in the other and so on. This ensures that if something happens the loss is as minimal as possible.
You have to be careful when using the gear also. I would recommend to keep the camera in the backpack while hiking from a location to another. When I was hiking the camera was on my neck the whole time. It was pretty uncomfortable and it made the hiking itself much more difficult.
If you do want to carry the camera the whole time however, I suggest you look into camera capture clips that let you strap your camera on your backpack. I have not used one yet, but I really want one. I have only heard good things about them.
Lastly I want to say that be careful when entering any interior spaces like wilderness huts or anything else. Depending on the weather outside, your lens could fog up inside. Also, if it does fog up, do not try to dry it on a campfire. It will make the situation worse. Instead, let it dry slowly.
Winter hikes
Winter hikes with a camera can be much more difficult than summer hikes, but not impossible by any means. I have only done a couple day long winter hikes but I do want to do a longer one at some point.
Handling the camera in the cold is actually pretty easy. The problems start when something happens to the camera. For example, you set up a campfire and your camera is too close for too long, the lens might fog up inside. This can be very difficult, maybe impossible, to get rid of. Warming it up on the campfire is probably the worst thing you could do in that situation.
Another things that is a problem during winter is power. Batteries and power banks drain power much quicker in cold temperatures so be aware of that. Just like in the summer, you want to have extra power in case of any emergincies.
If you want to read a more detailed guide, I suggest reading my recent blog post on how to keep your camera gear safe from the cold.
That's it! Now you're ready to conquer more beautiful places that are further away than you could ever have imagined. I hope this helps. Now, I wish you good luck on your adventures!
