Inga Ecker | Vastfreedom

Camera gear can weigh a lot, which isn’t a big deal if you travel by car, but as soon as you get out and want to hike or walk for a little you definitely feel the weight of your backpack. Lenses, filters, tripods, the camera itself, all those things can add up and all of a sudden you carry 30 pounds with you.

In order to avoid that extra bit of workout for your back, try to bring leightweight gear when shooting outdoors.

Here’s what I use on my adventures.

Tripod

My tripod is probably the heaviest and biggest of all the things I usually bring. I thought very often about just leaving it at home when doing hikes, but there are so many situations when I want to use it, for example for long exposure shots.

So I try to safe weight here. There are great alternatives to the big and heavy ones which can be stored easily in a backpack. The only disadvantage of light tripods is, that they are not as stable as the heavier ones and can get blown away more easily if winds get strong. So always make sure to hold on to your cameras shoulder strap when shooting in exposed and windy areas.

The K&F Concept TC2534  is a great tripod made out of carbon, which makes it light but also stable. Because you can fold it, it can be stored in backpacks easily without using too much room.

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Lenses

When shooting outdoors, I usually don’t bring more than two lenses.

For my Nikon D750, I usually bring a wide angle as well as a zoom lens.

My favorite one is the Nikkor 24mm f2.8, it’s small plus doesnt add a lot of weight to my camera. I use this lens for almost all landscape shots.

The second lens I bring is the Nikkor 70-200mm f4.5-5.6 zoom lens. Don’t stick to f values too much if you do landscapes. I rarely shoot with f4.5, most of my photos are taken with f14, because that gives the sharpes results. So why wasting money on better f performances and carrying bigger lenses with you, when you get the same results with a f4.5 to f5.6? I can highly recommend this lens!

Filters

Always bring at least one ND filter, they don’t weigh a lot and lakes or waterfalls look very mystical when you shoot them with a long exposure time.

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Waterproof Bags

I can’t tell you often enough, how important it is to have some of those handy, wherever you are. They are completely waterproof and can safe your gear if you get into a storm. You can get them on Amazon as well as in almost every grocery store.