Herald Scotland

One camera to look at is the Nikon D40, it comes in at 475g and is quite a good camera even though it only has 6.1 mega pixels. I have been using one for a couple of years now and it hasn't disappointed me yet. I just use the standard 18-55mm lense with various filters. I am going to be doing the West Highland Way this year and i am going to try and use a beanbag on the rucksack instead of the tripod.

Hope this helps.

Regards

Frankie

Ooo, Hi folks, I have never posted here before, so forgive me butting in.

I was once a national newspaper photographer, and I never really enjoyed 'photography for fun'. As a consequence the whole digital camera thing just passed me by. That is until I saw some landscape stuff in local galleries, I thought I could do better than that. I bought a D60 which was fairly light by DSLR standards and I started to take digital pictures (which I still dont fully understand). As others have said, the most weighty thing is really the glass that you screw to the front of the camera. I then found, after a couple of years, that my DSLR was being left at home more and more; I was either going on a photographic trip or I was hiking - but not both. I ditched the DSLR for a a Canon G10, as it gives you and excellent level of control over your settings. I have used this for about a year now. I have to say the results are not what I would expect for landscape photography: great for snaps and reportage style but not landscape.

The end result:

I carry the compact for day trips and quickie images, Nikon D80 and WA lenses for landscapes - I am happy with that.

Two new Sony cameras might be of interest for lightweight backpacking as they are the smallest and lightest APS-C sensor cameras with interchangeable lenses yet produced - 239 grams without lens. They are the NEX-5 and NEX-3. The biggest drawback for me is that there is no viewfinder. Details here and here.

Thanks for that Chris. They're certainly strange looking cameras with the body size reduced so much. Very interesting and welcome development though.

I probably wouldn't want a camera without a viewfinder, though I like the tilting LCD display (incredible for such a small camera of this type). I think scrolling through menus (due to lack of buttons) might drive me up the wall too. And I'd want ISO 100. But they still intrigue me, and the price is good too - considering the new design.

I doubt Canon or Nikon will be able to match it for size, assuming they'll be designing bodies to work with DSLR lenses. Presumably their offerings won't be too far off now??

Ian, I wouldn't be surprised if an EVF appears - there is a connection on the top plate. There is an OVF for the 16mm lens. I'd rather have a DSLR for most uses but one of these for long distance walks and as a backup to a DSLR is attractive. The weight saving is in the body of course. The 18-55 kit lens weighs more than those for the micro 4/3 cameras, the NX10 and even my Canon.

I'm surprised Canon and Nikon haven't announced anything yet.