The Sony A6000 as a backpacking camera

The body weighs 12.1 ounces. Adding the 7.3 ounce 18-55 lens brings the weight of the package to 19.4 ounces. Let's compare this to some other options I have carried up to now.

Panasonic LX3 point and shoot -- 13 ounces
Canon 5D with 24-70 lens      -- 4 pounds 7 ounces (55 ounces)
Sony A6000 with 18-55 lens    -- 1 pound 3 ounces  (19 ounces)

• Peak Designs Capture Pro
• Adventure Alan on lightweight backpacking cameras
• Adventure Alan: 5 important features of a backpacking camera
• Adventure Alan's notes on the A6000
• Adventure Alan: the point and shoot is dead

Capture Pro

A significant plus for me is that the plate this thing uses is ARCA compatible. Since my tripods are already ARCA configured for my DSLR, this is a nice plus.

The standard plate will interfere with the tilt screen on the A6000. You can still use the a6000 on the standard plate, but you just won't be able to fully tilt the screen. You have several options:

• Issues with the A6000 and tilt screen
• Use the standard plate and don't tilt too much.
• Use a RRS L-bracket with the standard plate.
• Buy the micro plate.
• Use a mill (or a file) to modify the standard plate

Lenses

• Sigma 30mm f/2.8 - comes with high recommendations
• Sigma 30mm f/1.4 - $339 and 9 ounces, very sharp.

Sensor size

The 5Dii is the clear winner with a full size sensor.
The A6000 has a 1.5 crop factor with its APS-C sensor.
The Panasonic LX3 has a 4.2 crop factor with its tiny 1/1.63 sensor.

Also note that a "micro 4/3" sensor (where does this idiotic terminology for sensor sizes come from) has a 2.0 crop factor, so the A6000 is bigger and superior.

As an aside, the LX3 also only delivered 13 megapixels. I always considered this a virtue. I also discovered (through an unfortunate mistake) that the LX3 has attrocious image noise at any ISO setting above the lowest (ISO 50).

Also note for the record that the 5Dii has 21.1 megapixels. The A6000 has 24.3 -- not that this particularly matters.

Batteries and Battery life

Howard recommends something called the "Watson charger". This is available in a single battery flavor for $30 or a dual battery model that costs $80. It has interchangeable "plates" to fit different cameras. It can run off 12 volts and be used in your vehicle.

Battery life is the cameras greatest weakness. People commonly say that they go through a battery each day! The claim is that the battery is good for 250 to 360 shots (call it 300 shots). Seems like a lot of shooting for a day, but everyone is different. There is some kind of issue involving the eyepiece "EVF" and battery drain every when the camera is "turned off" (so clearly off is not off).

• Battery drain issue

With a CIPA rating of 310 shots (using the viewfinder) and 360 shots (using the LCD monitor), the a6000's battery life looks decent on paper. Ratings based on the CIPA standard are generally accurate for basic shooting but don't take into account features such as continuous autofocus, image stabilization or Wi-Fi. As a real-world example, we drained the battery to 46 percent one day after shooting about 220 images (captured as JPEG and RAW), using both the rear LCD and the viewfinder. We did not use Wi-Fi or shoot video, or use continuous AF or flash for any shots.

Or consider something like this:

• Nomad 7 plus solar panel