As I start making plans to venture out west and up north more, I'm considering stepping up my camera to better capture some of the sights. I am 100% a novice in this area. I have always just used my cell phone or a cheap digital camera in the past. I'm looking for something that will step up my game some. One thing to think about though is this camera will be carried in a backpack with the rest of my gear in the backcountry. Sent from my LGLS992 using Tapatalk
First and foremost what is your budget? That will help narrow down the choices to a realm of possibilities. Cameras can go for a couple hundred to a couple thousand pretty quickly.
It may not be the best for close ups, but if your going to a scenic picture I highly recommend getting a gopro. Specifically the Hero 4 Silver. you can also make some sweet videos.
If you have a newer smart phone, the camera in those things is better than most baseline point and shoots. I would just carry that for overall pictures. However, if you shoot something you may want to use a point and shoot camera for larger photos. I have a canon camera with 10x optical zoom that I use for this. If you are going to buy a camera, make sure to pay attention to optical zoom and not digital zoom. digital zoom, or even the hybrid zoom that they talk about now, takes quality away to get your zoom. I would suggest a tactacam, which can be used for filming or photos, and can be easily mounted to your bow where legal to capture your shot as well.
My concern with using the cell phone would be battery life. If I make it back to Arizona in January I'll be truck camping, so no issue there. However in Alaska this May I'll be away from the road for a few days and unable to get a charge. Intrigued by using the GoPro and Tactacam for still photos. I'll look into them more. Budget for it will just depend. I don't really know how much or how little I actually need yet or all the ins and outs. I defiantly need to do some more research! Sent from my LGLS992 using Tapatalk
Keep in mind, those cameras are very wide angle so you would have to be very close. They also have a fisheye type lens so you will get that fishbowl look to the photo. If you want something portable that you can take some good trophy photos and some landscapes, I would suggest looking at Sony Mirrorless cameras. You can get one that have a fixed lens or one with interchangable lenses. Something like the Sony A6000 would be a great compact camera that gives you the option to switch out lenses. The Sony RX100 is a really good point and shoot option.
I'm with Skywalker, the Sony a6000 is a great choice for a all around camera. If you want to get some more bells and whistles, you could jump up to the a6300 or a6500. Either of those will do the same great job with photos and take great videos in 4k. I use the a6300 as my B-roll camera these days.
