Teimme Studiovarustamolla yhteistyötä Sonyn kanssa ja järjestimme ultralight -vaeltaja Paul Ingramille kalustokokonaisuuden vaellusmatkalle halki Islannin. Paul lähti matkaan mukanaan Sony A7s III runko ja toivoimme hänen kertovan meille kuinka A7s III toimi haastavissa olosuhteissa. Lue alta Paulin monipuolinen ja kattava fiilistely reissun vaatimuksista, mitä hän pakkasi matkaan ja kuinka kaikki toimi. Lopusta löytyy juuri julkaistu osa 1 Paulin Vlogista halki Islannin.
I walk long distances, like really long distances. In late summer of 2021, me and my long-term hiking pal Josh hiked from the northwest corner of Iceland to the south coast over the course of about 25 days, covering between 20 and 55 km per day. As a filmmaker and content creator, I need a camera setup that allows me to capture beautiful images (70% video, 30% photo) in a compact, sturdy package. Studiovarustamo hooked me up with the Sony A7siii for the trip and it blew all my expectations out of the water.
Firstly, it’s important to understand my objectives and gear requirements for such a trip.
The objective for the trip was to hike across Iceland from coast to coast whilst shooting a vlog-style video series, as well as photos for social media and clients and sponsors.
Weight is of the utmost importance on a trip such as this. I’m an avid proponent of lightweight/ultralight backpacking and my backpack weight for this trip without food, water, and camera equipment was around 7kg and went up to around 10kg with camera gear. Most people that attempt these kinds of hikes don’t bring a dedicated camera and opt to use their phone camera.
With that said, the weight of every single piece of camera gear is taken into consideration. Then there are specific things I wanted my setup to be able to do:
Shoot 4k footage with 10-bit color up to 120fps – although 95% of the footage I shoot on a trip like this is 23.976 fps, it was essential for me to be able to shoot 60fps and sometimes 120fps in full-frame 4k without any cropping and with 10-bit color. The Sony A7siii does that without any issues.
I wanted to be able to quickly switch between shooting video and photo – To do this I took advantage of the A7sii’s customizable dial mode. For video I get all my settings correct then use position 1 for 23.976, position 2 for 60fps, and position 3 for 120fps. This enables me to quickly switch between these three frame rates, make slight adjustments to aperture or ISO, and then capture the moment. For photography, I switch to M and snap away, knowing that the camera will remember whatever settings I used previously. The convenience of this is huge.
Secondly, I think it’s helpful to understand exactly the camera equipment I had along with me and why with further details and explanations further into the article.
I could write a standalone article with all my thoughts on the positives and negatives of the camera, how I have it set up for me, and review each individual element of the camera. However, to keep this article somewhat concise I’ll just highlight some key points.
On average we were in a town/gas station where we would charge up our devices every 4-5 days. That meant having enough battery capacity for several different devices including a phone (which is used as the primary navigation device), a satellite communicator, camera equipment, drone, etc.
From a camera and drone perspective that meant having three batteries for the A7Siii and three batteries for the Mavic Mini 2. This was usually enough to get me between charges but If not I was carrying a 10,000mah Nitecore external battery pack. The battery packs’ primary role was to keep my phone charged. But, 2 to 3 days into a section it became easier to assess how much battery each device had and charge accordingly.
All devices were on airplane mode at all times and I took care to use battery power only when necessary. IE, not flying the drone “because” but assessing the landscape first, envisioning the shots, and then flying for as little time as possible to get the shots before landing.
Carrying external hard drives etc was not something I could do on this trip, instead, I employed the backup method below.
The A7siiis’ dual memory card slot made this all possible. One Angelbird memory card in slot one, one Lexar memory card in slot two with the camera set to record all footage and stills simultaneously to both memory cards. Both these memory cards were labeled “1” with a permanent marker. There were five pairs, labeled “2”, “3” “4” and “5”.
Every few days I would remove the matching pair of cards from the camera and replace them with the next pair in line, storing the cards separately from one another, but safely inside my backpack. This then meant all footage recorded was backed up twice. If I lost a matching pair of memory cards it wouldn’t mean losing all footage from that section of the hike, only from a few days here, a few days there, etc.
The camera was set to label recorded files in sequence which made it easy to sort files by date captured when I got home.
This sounds complicated but in reality, it’s not, and makes for a reliable backup method in the field. The only downside of this method is the necessity to buy so many memory cards, which were not cheap.
Having my camera on hand is extremely important to me. If my camera is inside my backpack whilst hiking then I don’t use it. I’ve discovered two systems for carrying my camera on my chest. One for when environmental conditions will be consistently bad and one for fairer weather.
On the Iceland trip, I used the Zpacks Multipack. The Multipack is made by American ultralight hiking company Zpacks and is designed as a multifunctional pouch to be used in various ways. It is lightweight, water-resistant, fastens securely to my backpacks’ shoulder straps, and holds a full-frame Sony camera with a medium-size lens. Exactly what I needed for the trip.
On hikes where there will be less rain and adverse conditions I use the “Keyhole Camera Holder”. This is something my friend Josh discovered years ago on Amazon. It works great. You screw the including “button” to the cameras’ tripod mount and affix the Keyholes’ strap system to your backpack shoulder straps. Then you slide the button in place on the baseplate and you’re good to go. I clip the cameras’ shoulder strap into the buckle for extra security but rarely has the camera bumped up and out of the Keyhole. The camera is stable and doesn’t bounce to the point that it gets annoying.
The A7Siii is a weather-sealed camera and when placed inside the Zpacks Multipack mentioned above I was fine having the camera on my chest during light rainstorms. However, when the weather really turns for the worse the camera goes inside the main body of the backpack inside a waterproof stuff sack and then comes back out again when the weather allows.
Condensation – Condensation on this kind of trip is often a big issue and I recently released a video all about it. When it comes to cameras and electronics all you can really do is to try to prevent them from getting damp in the first place and then have a healthy amount of dry toilet paper on hand to dry your gear when necessary 🙂
Physical Knocks – With this carry setup outlined above I rarely have to worry about physical damage to the camera. I take care of my equipment but I don’t baby it.
That’s my thoughts on the Sony A7Siii and my down and dirty documentary-style video shooting on long-distance hiking trips. I’m extremely happy with how my setup worked and the A7Siii captured some beautiful images. I’m currently editing the video series together with a planned release in February so subscribe to my Youtube channel to catch those.
I hope you found this article useful, if you have questions for me or want to let me know what gear and tips you put into play, then reach out to me on my Instagram @pieonthetrail
Cheers and happy hiking!
Katso Paulin ensimmäinen osa vlog-sarjassa vaelluksesta läpi Islannin!
