John Muir Trail Packing Guide: Camera Gear
Thank you all so much for the great insight into packing for the JMT. As time comes a bit closer I think that we will be doing some revisions to our overall packing list based on the snow pack. It will be a really interesting year to be on the trail… but I think that’s just fuel to our fire.
Alright lets talk camera gear!
Shot in 35mm on MAK’s Nikon FE with expired Velvia
Owen and I will be carrying separate systems for the trail to be sure that we’re capturing our experience to the best of our ability without duplicating anything or overloading ourselves with unnecessary gear.
Shot on Owen’s 35mm Olympus Range Finder with Fuji 800
Owen’s Camera Gear:
Owen will be representing the digital camera on trail! This is what he’ll have with him:
Lens one: SONY E-mount interchangeable lens Sonnar T FE 55mm F1.8
Lens two: Sony 16-35mm Vario-Tessar T FE F4 ZA OSS E-Mount Lens
Ankler Power Pack - For charging said batteries
No, the A6300 isn’t the latest and greatest, but that camera takes great pictures and amazing video. While on trail I’ll be filming a daily vlog before we get on trail and will put together a video with it post trail. I think it will be a cool and informal way to document our thoughts and feelings while being in the moment.
For a while now, we’ve debated on updating our cameras and lenses. They’re something that we use and love so it’s a 100% a valid investment but we just can’t bring ourselves to spend that kind of money when we’re about to take a month off of work. As much as we wanted to make those upgrades pre-trail, we’ve already had to spend so much money on gear. That’s the real talk for you guys. All of that being said, Owen feels that between these two lenses and the A6300 body (all things that we already have and love) that we can do a great job of capturing our time on the trail! Maybe later this year we can circle back for some new camera gear… and I can’t wait!
Shot on MAK’s Sony A6300
MAK’s Camera Gear
Call me crazy guys, but I can’t get enough of shooting film these days. I’ll be carrying a film camera and a boat load of film.
Nikon FE - My tried and true film camera
Porta 400 - Favorite film of all time
Ektar 100 - Other favorite film
Fuji Film 800 - Nothing special but my grandmother gave me 20 rolls of hers
I plan on bringing 16 rolls of film. One a day for each that we will be on the trail. I don’t suspect that I’ll use all of it but I would rather the little bit of extra weight to have the film to adequately document the trail. I might need to take out a small loan to get it all developed through The Darkroom Lab when we get back, but I think the photos are worth it. ;)
There’s one other type of film that I would like to carry and it’s Fujichrome Provia 100F. The other-day I asked for recommendations for film that people thought would be nice to shoot on the trail and this was my favorite suggestion by far! The colors are so rich and wonderful, which would be lovely for the high alpine scenery. If I can track down the film, I would love to get a roll or two to try out.
Ok question for you guys, this came to me as I was typing this very second: Should I just pick one type of film and shoot that the entire trip? That way I’d have some consistency in the way the images turn out in both color and feel. Or would it be more interesting to see a few different types of film? Curious what your thoughts are on that! Thank you in advance for your input!
Shot on MAK’s Sony A6300
That covers our camera gear for on the trail! I’d still like to cover food, clothing edits (closer to hiking time), and our overall plan for the trail including what we’ll be doing with our sweet Luna! All of that is yet to come!
Thank you guys for always being there!
MAK (& Owen)
